American Okeh Values
this page first published by John Wright, 6 Dec 1997
last update 14 Mar 2005
vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk
Note: I lived in US for a time but I have limited knowledge of US labels and current values. If you are American then Tim Gracyk is your expert and you can gain further valuable information at:
A fairly common record label in an American 78rpm collection, Okeh is a
source of all types of music. Some great jazz and blues appeared on Okeh and the content is usually obvious from the details
printed on the labels, but often unusual names and pseudonyms were used for bands so there are many surprises to be found. The values quoted below are
typical prices paid at a British record fair stall where the stall-holder knows the demand for music and records, and they are for records in 'very good' VG to E-
condition as excellent condition Okeh records are difficult to find.
American readers could translate these values directly to $ values as a guide.
For example:
| Cat. No. | Band or Artiste | Issue Date | Typical Value | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4197 | Harry Raderman's Jazz Orch | 1920 | £2 | dance titles |
| 4762 | Vincent Lopez and his Hotel Pennsylvania Orch | 1922 | £2 | dance titles |
| 4886 | Handy's Memphis Blues Band | 1923 | £20 | classic jazz |
| 8090 | Sarah Martin | 1923 | £40 | blues, accomp. Clarence Williams group |
| 8163 | Butterbeans & Susie | 1924 | £50 | duet, accomp. Joe Oliver, Clarence Williams |
| 8299 | Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five | 1926 | £50 | early Louis |
| 8312 | Bertha 'Chippie' Hill | 1926 | £50 | blues with jazz accomp. Louis Armstrong, Richard M.Jones |
| 8584 | Clarence Williams Blue Five | 1928 | £30 | with King Oliver |
| 8613 | Chicago Footwarmers | 1928 | £30 | Johnny Dodds group |
| 8736 | Monarch Jazz Quartet | 1929 | $30 | black vocal group |
| 8774 | Louis Armstrong Orchestra | 1930 | £15 | quite common |
| 40236 | Arkansaw Travellers | 1924 | £8 | quite common |
| 40244 | Goofus Five | 1924 | £15 | hot white band |
| 40318 | Halfway House Orch | 1925 | £75 | rare |
| 40562 | Arcadian Serenaders | 1925 | £30 | St Louis band |
| 40642 | Okeh Syncopators | 1926 | £15 | hot dance |
| 41173 | Bix Beiderbecke & His Gang | 1928 | £15 | classic jazz |
| 41292 | Annette Hanshaw | 1929 | £10 | good accomp. |
| 6553 | Benny Goodman Sextet | 1941 | £4 | small jazz group |
| 6705 | Big Bill Broonzy | 1941 | £10 | blues |
These records are only examples of what kind of values are put on some of Okeh's popular jazz, blues and dance records. There will be some records by the same artistes worth more or less,
depends on the quality of the music and on how many copies of the records were sold.
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