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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 12, 2013 at 12:47am

Here are a few more Muddy Autographs. These will be my last Muddy items b/c i have listed so many, but please feel free to add yours.

Here is a typical Muddy courtesy of Mr Bebop at Larrys Autographs and Books. He has probably the best blues collection in the world.

Here is a cool item signed by Muddy that was on ebay. It appears to be a dry erase type of board, and i think thats what it was from memory, but im not entirely sure.

Here is a Muddy from ebay i believe

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Permalink Reply by Nate on April 30, 2014 at 4:24am

I wouldn't normally have added to the already congested list of Muddy Waters autographs, but I just had to show this corker (which set me back a pretty penny, but is just about worth it in my opinion for such a superb piece):

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Permalink Reply by Tacoma Blues on January 24, 2017 at 10:01pm

Here is another example.

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Permalink Reply by Mr Mojo Risin on February 13, 2019 at 11:10am

Please Carl, can you contact me in private? I have a question of a Muddy Waters signature. THANKS.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 12, 2013 at 1:28am

Thank you William. I appreciate the encouragement. I will be listing a bunch more over the next few days.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 12, 2013 at 12:39am

Ok, i thought i would throw in one of my favorite and most valuable autographs. He is a Jazz guitarist and not a Blues man, although he could play both amazingly. John Leslie Montgomery, better known as Wes Montgomery was possibly the greatest Jazz guitarist to ever live. He influenced probably more modern day guitar legends than anyone.

Wes's autographs are incredibly rare. Wes lived into the late sixties and died fairly early in his career. The relatively early age of death may be why so few examples of his autograph exist. But the ones that do are very valuable and are sought after by many collectors. I am proud to say that i own one such item, and LP in fact, and i will post a pic below. Wes autographs typically dont pop up period, and when they do, its typically on a major auction site. However, i was able to get mine off ebay. And boy was it a deal!!!  Wes autographs typically average between 500 to 2500 dollars depending on item and condition. And sometimes they achieve even higher prices. 

Below are some signed examples of authentic signatures. Wes often wrote his full name out, but did sign with just "Wes" on occasion. One of the things i find really neat is that Wes was really had great penmanship and his signature would be very difficult for a forger to get right.

This is my signed LP i purchased off ebay for a steal. It is on the inside of a gatefold for the album "Travelin Wes". The album is also in mint condition. This is only the 2nd LP i have ever seen signed. The story on this item was that it was signed by a bar manager that hosted Wes and his band one evening and then put the item away. A true gem.

This image came from google image and is authentic in my opinion. Its the only other LP i have ever seen.

Here is a typical example of his signature from RR Auction

And lastly a signed pic from RR auction. This one signed only with Wes.  I have seen so few of these that i am not all that familiar with just his first name signatures. I do know that Wes signed just Wes on occasion, but this is an example that just shows how hard it is to find good examples of these guys. In my personal opinion i dont think this example is authentic. But again i havent seen enough items signed just "Wes" to tell for sure. Wes had a very elegant style and great cursive. He also wrote very small and compact. HIs salutations are also very elegant, the fancy "T" in "To" is quite unique. This item doesnt show his typical characteristics in my opinion though. The only characteristic that looks similar to exemplars i have seen is the "Best" inscription. The B looks similar, and that coupled with the few "Wes" signatures i have seen, leave this up in the air for me.

All in all Wes signatures are extremely rare and valuable. My advice if you are looking for one is watch the major auction houses but also search ebay Uk and USA daily for items. Thats how i found mine by shear luck.

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Permalink Reply by Nate on June 26, 2014 at 2:54am

Hi Carl,

I’m now the proud owner of a Wes Montgomery signed piece.  Its condition is not great, but considering its background for me it kinda adds to its charm.  It is signed on the inside of a table card from the Bohemian Caverns. 

The Bohemian Caverns was/is predominantly a Jazz club (though Blues artists like Muddy Waters did play there), in its time it has featured a who’s who list of Jazz performers like: Holiday, Gillespie, Calloway, Basie, Armstrong, Parker, Davis, Coltrane, Monk and of course Montgomery.

As mention the table card is pretty stained, but you can literarily smell the boozy smoky atmosphere of a 60’s basement Jazz club.  It’s signed to ‘Johnny’ Sneed a guitar player who at one time was part of Link Wray and the Wraymen.

So it is safe to say this isn’t a mint condition Wes Montgomery autograph but what it is, to me anyway, is a piece of Jazz history:

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 12, 2013 at 1:05am

Next up is another super rare signer, the delta blues musician, Big Joe Williams. Williams lived into the early eighties but he very rarely signed. Williams was unusual when he played, in that he favored the nine string guitar. He influenced generations and his innovations on the guitar have helped define the possiblities of the guitar. He was a true delta blues master.

Big Joe Williams signatures are extremely rare, i have only seen maybe 5 in total. Note that their are 2 Joe Williams who achieved popularity in music. One was Big Joe (guitarist), and the other was a singer. If you search for examples be careful, b/c the singer Joe Williams is featured in many autograph auction sites, and is worth relatively little. Big Joe was largely illiterate, and his typical autograph was a series of 3 X's. However, he was capable of writing his first name, although crudely, and i have only seen 2 of those and one i own.

Realistically price is something that would be hard for me to put an amount on. They come up for auction so rarely its just hard to say. Despite the giant that Big Joe was in blues, he is overlooked by alot of blues fans who dont recognize his name right off the bat. This leaves the door open for a good deal to be had, despite an incredibly rare signature. I would say you could by a Joe signature for between 2 and 3 hundred if you could ever find one. Mr. Bebop had one that is pictured below, and he had never seen another, so if interested he might still have it. His signature is rarer than any autograph featured so far, but the demand for him is not as high, so a deal can be had. My item, which is a dual signed piece with T Bone Walker, who will be covered later, was purchased for the 200 mark, although the seller didnt know the other signer, as he originally thought it was john Lee Hooker, who will also be featured later.

Here are some examples:

This is the Big Joe pic from Mr. Bebop. Joe signed his first name, like in mine, which is very rare.

Here is my item. It was signed on the inside of a UK Blues festival program which is still in great conditions. The T Bone signature is one of the biggest i have seen and really cool.

This example comes from a private collectors website. Joe's signature is the series of 3 X's. This item also contains Lonnie Johnson and Matt Guitar Murphy. Lonnie i will cover later.

All in all Big Joe williams is an extremely rare autograph but can be had at a great price if you are lucky enough to ever see one for sale. I would stay away from items you may see with the series of X,s. They really cant be authenticated unless the item is unique like the one above with other signatures that add credibility.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on January 8, 2014 at 11:22pm

Here is another update on Big Joe. I mentioned above that Joe would often sign with a series of 3 X's. Signatures like that are really too hard to authenticate, and i personally wouldnt buy a signed item with just a few X's for an autograph, but each to his own. This came from RR Auction.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on August 12, 2013 at 1:17am

The last one for tonight is Walter Brown McGhee, better known as Brownie McGhee. McGhee was a giant of a Piedmont blues player and played with the likes of Blind Boy Fuller. He was a living guitar legend, much like Muddy, until his death in the nineties. 

Because McGhee lived until relatively recent, his signatures can be obtained but are not exactly common. Muddy signatures for example are far more common. I would put McGhee's obtainability as around the same as Albert King. His signatures typically come up at least once a year and i would put a value of around 100 for cuts up to 300 for larger items. McGhee signatures are out their in number but alot of people dont want to give them up, as he was a colorful character in the Blues world.

Here are some examples to look over

This is my item purchased from RR recently.

 

Here is a Brownie and Terry from google 

Here is a real cool item from google that has both Brownie, Muddy,  Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Otis Span and Cousin Joe.

Here is a Brownie from RR

And here is another from RR

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on December 29, 2013 at 6:01pm

Hi guys,

I also wanted to update the thread with a new Brownie autograph i recently purchased. Its a signed LP that i got at a good deal. It hasnt arrived here yet, but am looking forward to displaying it.

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on January 15, 2014 at 11:55pm

Here is another Brownie example that i feel is authentic and fairly typical from ebay.

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