Collectable EPs

The vinyl EP (extended play) was the only common type of UK 45 in the 1950s and 60s to be given a picture sleeve. Very often they featured the A and B sides of two recent hits by the artist, but among them are some featuring tracks that never got a release as a single or even on an LP. Collectors insist of having the picture sleeve as well as the record, so EPs without sleeves are normally not worth much. But some of them (with sleeves) are well worth owning and have high values. For my Vinyl Obscurities this time I'm featuring a dozen of the more collectable EPs of the era, with Youtube links.
1. King Size Taylor & the Dominos - Teenbeat 2. Released in 1964 on Decca DFE 8569. Mint value £130.
This is the EP that prompted me to feature EPs this time, as I picked this copy up for a mere 30p in a charity shop this week. Recorded live at the Star Club in Hamburg (where Liverpool-born Ted Taylor made his name and still lives) the tracks are all rock and roll classics: All Around The World, Slippin' And Slidin', You Can't Sit Down and Hello Josephine. The recordings were licensed from the German Ariola label and are different from a similar EP released over there. None of these tracks are available on Youtube so here's Stupidity by King Size.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJapD9FjYGo

2. Doris Troy - What'cha Gonna Do About It. Released in 1964 on Atlantic AET 6007. Mint value £75.
Doris Troy had one of the great soul voices of the sixties and this EP features the A and B sides of her first two UK singles. They are What'cha Gonna Do About It, Tomorrow Is Another Day, Just One Look and Bossa Nova Blues.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U58cXrK5cGY

3. Wanda Jackson - Part One. Released in 1958 on Capitol EAP1 1041. Mint value £75.
Known as the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda made her biggest impact in the UK with a couple of wild rockers - Let's Have A Party and Mean Mean Man, although she also recorded many country numbers. This EP includes Party but the other tracks weren't released as singles here: Heartbreak Ahead, Money Honey and Just Call Me Lonesome. Wanda still performs today.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwVkbkJ4MO4

4. Zoot Money's Big Roll Band - Big Time Operator. Released in 1966 on Columbia SEG 8519. Mint value £200.
Zoot and his band was one of the leading figures in the British beat boom of the 60s and played regularly at the Flamingo Club in London. The title track of the EP Big Time Operator was the band's biggest hit and the other tracks are It Should've Been Me (the title of the band's debut LP), Florence Of Arabia and Chauffeur (both live tracks). The band went on to become Dantalion's Chariot and Zoot still performs today.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG4T-riqSdc

5. The Majors - Meet The Majors. Released in 1963 on London RE-P 1358. Mint value £100.
The Majors were an R and B group from Philadelphia who sounded, at first listen, like a girl group. But although one of the group's five members was indeed female (Idella Morris) the lead singer was Ricky Cordo, who had a great falsetto voice. Their best known record was A Wonderful Dream but the EP comprises two of their follow ups (What In The World and She's A Troublemaker), a B-side (A Little Bit Now) - plus Twist And Shout.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_lgQ7GTrF0

6. Solomon Burke - Tonight My Heart She Is Crying. Released in 1963 on London Atlantic REK 1379. Mint value £70.
Solomon was a giant of soul music and his death in 2010 was a great loss. This EP features four tracks that weren't released as singles in the UK - the Latin-flavoured title track, I Really Don't Want To Know, I Said I Was Sorry and Go On Back To Him.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azfDI99fYME

7. Various Artists - Singing The Blues. Released in 1963 on London RE-P 1403. Mint value £100.
This EP features four classic New Orleans R and B hits from a couple of years earlier - Mother In Law by Ernie K-Doe, It Will Stand by The Showmen, Ooh Poo Pah Doo by Jessie Hill and I Like It Like That by Chris Kenner. All of them are brilliant, but here's the Showmen track, featuring the voice of General Norman Johnson.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa17h1n5kCw

8. Freddie Bell & The Bell Boys - Rock With The Bell Boys. Released in 1956 on Mercury MEP 9508. Mint value £30.
Freddie was his group were from Philadelphia and had a big hit in the very earliest days of rock and roll with Giddy Up A Ding Dong, which was featured in the film Rock Around The Clock. Other tracks on the EP are All Right, OK, You Win, Stay Loose Mother Goose and I Said It And I'm Glad. Not a particularly valuable EP, but certainly an early one in rock and roll terms.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-ZWhioY1I

9. Charlie Gracie - The Fabulous Charlie Gracie. Released in 1957 on Parlophone  GEP 8630. Mint value £50.
Another early rock and roll EP, this one from a man who is still around well over 50 years after his initial run of hits. The EP features the A and B sides of his first two singles in the UK - Fabulous, Just Lookin', Butterfly and Ninety Nine Ways.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekDIrvVi-gI

10. Various Artists - R and B Chartmakers No 3. Released in 1964 on Stateside SE 1022. Mint value £125.
Four EPs featuring Tamla Motown records were released on Stateside before the label got its own UK outlet (I have two of them) and all are collectable. This one features two well known tracks - Marvin Gaye's Can I Get A Witness and Quicksand by Martha And The Vandellas - and two rather more obscure tracks - Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye by the Darnells and Leaving Here by Eddie Holland. Here's the Eddie Holland track - a real soul stomper:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqd7wNExd_4

11. Martha & The Vandellas - Hittin. Released in 1966 on Tamla Motown TME 2017. Mint value £125.
The series of early EPs on the Tamla Motown label (including two by Martha and the girls) are highly sought after by soul collectors and rightly so. This one features What Am I Going To Do Without Your Love, You've Been In Love Too Long, Nowhere To Run and Quicksand.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68a65lCY49Q

12. Shirley and Lee - Shirley and Lee. Released in 1960 on Vogue VE 170145. Mint value £250.
It's back to New Orleans for this rare EP by the Sweethearts Of The Blues Shirley (Goodman) and (Leonard) Lee, recorded for Aladdin. Tracks are Shirley Come Back To me, Baby, Lee Goofed and Why Did I.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_HkOsbs5uY