WATCHING THE E-BAY AUCTIONS FOR WES BRYAN "MEMORABILIA"

We watch the e-Bay auctions from time to time to see what's for sale up there under the "Wes Bryan" heading.  When we first started to blog, there were just a few Wes Bryans with web presence.  There was the DJ, the Christian Minister, and a Real Estate developer.

Now there are several more, with Facebook, Twitter, and other accounts, and on e-Bay, under the Wes Bryan, search comes some items related to the football player, Wes Bryan. 

So we're glad we titled this blog WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC, to separate all those Wes Bryans out a bit! 

In the last weeks, to our surprise there has been a lot of e-Bay action on Wes Bryan records and pictures from the beginning of my United Artist singing - acting sensation days, including a Hep Cat magazine, pictures of me in Central Park and sculpting (these were taken by my then manager and used as part of the United Artists promotions), as well as pressings of my songs that I recorded at Roulette in New York City, some of which made it to be re-pressed in England for London American Recordings, demos and the final products sold in stores.  The bidding action was heavy on these with sales at over $35.00 per item.  Interesting!

EBAY AUCTIONS HOT ON WES BRYAN !

I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS PHOTO OF MYSELF IN YEARS! WHILE THE ONE BELOW IS A BLACK AND WHITE OF MY RECORD COVER. Both pictures were taken by my then manager and used by United Artists for Press releases. Of interest is the back of the second photo which mentions my record as the United Artist Label's first release on a typed sheet of paper. And that these photos prove my likeness to James Dean.


You've seen this one before since it was used IN COLOR for the first colored record cover for a 45 RMP ever! (Elvis' came out very soon after!)

The Morning Call, according to the poster, was the Allentown, Pennsylvania local newspaper circa 1957. Now the Tribune, if we're reading that correctly! In some archives there are lots of press release materials.

EBAY AUCTION OF MY 78 on LONDON RECORDINGS in MINT CONDITION

Yes I do watch the auctions....

RARE LONESOME LOVE SHEET MUSIC UP FOR E-BAY AUCTION NOW

Looks like someone in the UK is auctioning off the Lonesome Love sheet music over the next couple days! WOW! I didn't know this existed! Wes

(Link to the auction here!)


PS. It sold for about $150 U.S.

e-bay AUCTION of my album YESTERDAY, TODAY, and TOMORROW now on

Here is what the auctioneer says:

"WES BRYAN "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow" on U.S International Records (CA.) 12 tracks: Twenty Acres of Land, I'll Cry My Love, Blue Bird Over the Mountain, To Be Alone, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, All for the Love of a Girl, Don't Be Cruel, I Woke Up Dreaming, Dream Lover, Pierre La Fitte, Lonely Weekends, Half as Sweet as You.'

"Liner notes on back cover talks about his songwriting and that Wes was the co-writer and writer on 4 tracks, (Pierre La Fitte, Half as Sweet, I'll Cry My Love, To Be Alone), also mentions that he is a "long time friend of Elvis" and in the Elvis documentary "That's the Way It Is" Elvis mentions Wes by name as being a great songwriter."

Friends, here's more information. I formed my own publishing company called U.S. International Records. My cousin was the designer of the label, which has an American Eagle on baby blue. My friend Ersel Hickey wrote "Blue Birds Over the Mountain." "To Be Alone" was written by me and Buddy Knox, who also recorded it. Yes, as you know if you're reading my blog, I was a long time friend of Elvis Presley's. And yes, in the documentary it's true, Elvis did say something about me being a songwriter. The DVD version has a lot cut out, including his comments about me. I cherish his opinion just the same!

(237) PRICING OLD RECORDS

If you're buying an old record from an e-Bay or other auction Internet site, or a record collector's store, you may wonder how a fare price is achieved. Of course, how much the buyer wants the record and is willing to pay is the most important thing. Here are some things to consider.

First of all the most difficult thing to find is the MASTER recording, which is the recording records were pressed from.

Then, DJ copies are the most rare. That's because these records were pressed to go out to a limited number of radio stations and DJs in comparison with the numbers pressed for initial sales, and in response to selling.

There may have been very few pressed, just for a region that a label did most business in. There may have been a few thousand pressed and sent out across the country, or to England to radio stations. Sometimes the version of the song, based on response to this pressing, was changed in the final press. This is like when advance- copies of a book are sent out pre-publication, trying to generate some press.

Then there is how many records were made which is of course is linked into how they sold. Just as with a best-selling novel, you're bound to find copies of Gold Records at garage sales and thrift stores, because so many were originally made.

With time, of course, records are worn out, or thrown out, or destroyed. So the number of records out there is really an unknown.

Last but not least is the quality of the recording - the condition of the plastic all these years later. Mint is usually a barely or never played record - no visible or audible scratches or skips. A record in a jukebox usually got hundreds of playings. How do you know? You have to play it. Like today's CDs sometimes a problem with the sound quality isn't readily visible.

Condition and the existence of original paper jacket, especially if it remains in cellophane or plastic, are also important. So if you find a mint condition copy of "Lonesome Love"/"Tiny Spaceman" in it's original color jacket, it's valuable. How valuable? Well, that was the VERY FIRST COLOR JACKET ON A 45 RPM record ever. (Elvis' was the second!)

Wes and Christine

MELODIE D'AMOUR LISTEN TO IT ON EBAY NOW

No friends, I'm not selling my personal record collection on e-bay. This seller has it rigged up that when you go to their auction you get to hear me sing, so click on the title above if you're interested and once there click on the record icon! (This is a picture of the flip side - another song I wrote! - called I GUESS I'LL NEVER KNOW!)

LISTEN TO "FREEZE" on this current E-BAY AUCTION

Listen to those saxophones... and me singing...

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2011... The ebay auction link expired but a copy of Freeze has appeared on YOUTUBE...

E-BAY AUCTION ON MY RECORD "ONE SUMMER NIGHT"

Friends, as you know, I check the e-bay auctions from time to time to see what's up there being sold "Wes Bryan."

And if you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you know one of the reasons for blogging is that there is a lot of Wes Bryan "confusion" out there. Christine and I have learned that some of the search engines put me and the Christian minister who has written a book or two and has a CD out together. I'm not the Christian minister. I'm also not the DJ, the athlete, the owner of a mini mall, or any of the other Wes Bryans out there on the Internet or in the world. (It's a great name though, isn't it guys?!)

I am the Wes Bryan who came out of Murphy, North Carolina, discovered off the Akron Beacon Journal - Roto section- who enjoyed a United Artists contract, and who changed labels a couple times to Clock and Roulette before becoming a staff songwriter at American Music.

I also became a record producer and music publisher. Though my story here on this blog is circa about 1960- 1961 about now, we noticed that a record I put out on my OWN LABEL, U. S. International, was being auctioned on e-bay and this seller has a music clip... So for as long as this lasts, enjoy listening to my record "One Summer Night." (Will this posting mean more bids for that record?) After I put "One Summer Night" out on my own label, Randy Wood who had once had Dot Records, put it out on Ranwood, his new label. It sold about 300,000 records.

Oh, I took a truck out to the beach in Malibu to record those seagulls you hear in the background...

(30) LONDON RECORDS puts out "Lonesome Love"

From time to time something related to me or my career - a magazine, a record, a signed photograph, something shows up on the e-Bay auctions or at a record collector's on the Internet. Once in a while I'm suprised to see what's out there on the market and I admit I watch the prices...

A few years ago I had no idea I had any web presence at all, and as I mentioned in a previous post, now there are a lot of Wes Bryan's to sort through to find me, the one born in Murphy, North Carolina in the late 1930's. So Christine Trzyna, my writing partner, and me decided to blog and take a bit of responsibility for what you might read about me.

When I was twenty and launched my career with United Artists Records I trusted my management to do right by me. I was living a planes, trains, and automobiles kind of existence, traveling constantly, touring all over the country, particularly in the markets that seemed to enjoy me - a country boy at heart - the best. I always wanted to go to England, like the Everly Brothers had.

Well LONDON RECORDS put out "Lonesome Love" and "Tiny Spaceman," in the British Isles in 1958, testifying, I think to how long a hit took to get across the Big Pond. I think the one sided "demo" version for radio play that came up on e-Bay recently of another of my songs may be a collectors item because even I don't have a copy!

LINKING HERE TO GLOBAL DOG PRODUCTIONS LONDON RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY which shows my record came out in April 1958.