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A record collection belonging to English music executive Tony Calder is going under the hammer.
Calder, who promoted the first Beatles single, also co-managed the Rolling Stones with Andrew Loog Oldham, with whom he co-founded the UK's first independent record label, Immediate, in 1965. He died in 2018.
Now his record collection is being auctioned off, and it includes plenty of rare and collectable pieces, including releases by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and The Who.
Pride of place goes to an original copy of Would You Believe, a 1968 album by songwriter Billy Nicholls. The album was commissioned by Immediate as a British response to the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds, and featured all the members of the Small Faces alongside a coterie of familiar session men including Nicky Hopkins, John Paul Jones, Big Jim Sullivan, Jerry Shirley and Dave Greenslade.
Only 100 promotional-only copies of the album were ever pressed, and the album never made it to retail after Immediate went bust.
"People often cite records such as the Sex Pistols' God Save The Queen on A&M Records among the rarest records in the world, and rightly so," says Martin Hughes, vinyl specialist at Wessex Auction Rooms. "Yet in the last six years, I have personally handled and sold five copies of that record, including a world record example.
"I have never handled another copy of Billy Nicholls' Would You Believe, and I know I never will again. For serious record collectors, opportunities to acquire a copy simply do not exist. This is one of those records that most collectors will only ever read about.
"There are certainly rarer one-off artefacts, acetates and unique recordings. But when collectors discuss records that were actually pressed and distributed, Billy Nicholls' Would You Believe is always part of that conversation."
Calder's copy of Would You Believe is estimated to sell for between £6000-£8000. Another original copy of the album, which has been rereleased several times, was sold via Discogs for €5000 in 2023.
Other records in Calder's collection include an acetate of the first side of the Rolling Stones' 1966 live album Have You Seen Your Mother Live!, a previously undocumented press pack for the Stones' Sticky Fingers album, and a 1970 "Spiral Vertigo" copy of the debut album by hard rock power trio May Blitz.
For those with regular-sized wallets, some bargains may be had, including a single lot containing 70 vinyl albums from artists including Buffalo Springfield, The Allman Brothers Band, Stephen Stills, Freddie Mercury, Eric Clapton, David Crosby, The Band, Mountain, Jefferson Starship, It's A Beautiful Day, Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Eagles, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Walker Brothers, Argent, Cat Stevens and more. The guide price? Just £100-£150.
Calder's collection can be viewed at the EasyAuction website.
