My October 1, 2026 Strachwitz Pre-War Blues 78's Auction #2 (the LAST ONE!) Highlights!
Closes Thursday, October 1st, 2025 at 7:00 pm PT
My October 1, 2026 Strachwitz Pre-War Blues 78's auction #2 (The LAST One!) complete list
Printed (PDF) version of my October 1, 2026 Strachwitz Pre-War Blues 78's auction #2
How to bid on my Monthly Auction
* * * Hello Blues 78's Collectors! * * *
Chris Strachwitz was one of THE Pioneer Collectors of Vintage Rural American Music! He started collecting Blues records in the South in 1958! He owned the Arhoolie Label and recorded GREAT Blues music and GREAT MUSIC OF ALL KINDS. Chris passed away in May of 2023 at 91 years of age.
I purchased his entire personal collection of just under 50,000 78's last November. This is the first of several auctions featuring GEMS from his collection (with a few of my own thrown in for good measure) and IT'S A DOOZY!!
Read the listings carefully and don't miss anything! There are great records in all price ranges and conditions. (Auction #2 of the Strachwitz Pre-War Blues collection will come later this year and at least one more next year.)
This collection is one of the very LAST great 78 collections from the first generation of 78 collectors to come up for sale. Some items offered here may never be offered again . . . FOR DECADES!
"This Ain't No Mouse Music" was painted on the side of Chris' DownHome Music Store in El Cerrito, California. There AIN'T NO MOUSE MUSIC in this auction! So bid like you really want to win and ask for a call back for any records you just can't live without!
Chris also had a World Class collection of Ethnic, Cajun and Mexican 78's as well as some "off-condition" Blues, Gospel, Jug Band and Post War Country 78's. Check my weekly eBay listings for these records.
CHRIS STRACHWITZ' Top Ten Pre-War BLUES Rarities! (Records 1 – 10)!
1. Walter Coleman "Mama Let Me Lay It On You / Smack That Thing" DECCA 7157 • E+ FABULOUS GUITAR BLUES and VERY scarce! Some collectors don't realize how GREAT some DECCA releases can be . . . or how RARE they can be! MB $500
2. Sam Collins "The Jailhouse Blues / Riverside Blues" BLACK PATTI 8025 • G Only a FEW known copies on BLACK PATTI. This one has label damage on the A-side, B-side label looks great! Also 1 1/2 inch hair crack. Find another one! MB $300
3. Walter Hawkins "Snatch It And Grab It / A Rag Blues" PARAMOUNT 12814 • E+ ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE!!! And super rare in this condition! Aka Buddy Boy Hawkins! You probably will never see another one this clean! MB $3,000
4. Blind Lemon Jefferson "Booster Blues / Dry Southern Blues" PARAMOUNT 12347 • E+ Just about PERFECT copy of Lemon Jefferson classic! You just never see CLEAN Lemons and this is a good one. MB $500
5. Robert Johnson "Stop Breakin' Down / Honeymoon Blues" VOCALION 04002 • V+One of the RARER of the Johnson releases! This one is a nice, great playing copy with average wear. These are getting scarcer and more in demand all the time. MB $6,000
6. Tommy Johnson "Canned Heat Blues / Big Fat Mama Blues"VICTOR 38535 • V+/VALL TIME TOMMY JOHNSON CLASSIC! Decent playing copy! MB $500
7. CHARLEY PATTON as The Masked Marvel "Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues / Mississippi Boweavil Blues" PARAMOUNT 12805 • E- A NICE CLEAN PATTON!!! First pressing when he used the name The Masked Marvel. This is a true BLUES MASTERPIECE! MB $8,000
8. Patton And Lee aka CHARLEY PATTON And BERTHA LEE "Oh Death / Troubled 'Bout My Mother" VOCALION 02504 • V- ABSOLUTE PATTON MASTERPIECE! Found in the hills of East Tennessee! ONLY 4 or 5 known copies! Doesn't look pretty, but only one of the known copies does. Plays V. MB $10,000
9. Edward Thompson "West Virginia Blues / Showers Of Rain Blues" PARAMOUNT 13018 • G RARE! RARE! RARE! THREE KNOWN (?) 13000 Paramounts that just never come up for sale—at ANY price! If you want to own one, now is the time! MB $500
10. Bukka White "Special Stream Line / Strange Place Blues" VOCALION 05526 • E/E+ BUKKA WHITE MASTERPIECE!!! His Vocalion releases are all fantastic and while not impossible to find, clean copies are becoming pretty hard to find. MB $1,000
11. Black Ace (B. K. Turner) — "Lowing Heifer/Christmas Time Blues" DECCA 7387 E+/E MB $300
12. Texas Alexander — "Awful Moaning Blues-Part 1/Part 2" OKEH 8731 E+ Stunning copy MB $500
14. Mose Andrews — "Young Heifer Blues/Ten Pound Hammer" DECCA 7338 E- MB $200
17. Kokomo Arnold — "Front Door Blues (3220 Blues)/Back Door Blues" DECCA 7156 E A-side is 32-20 Blues as by both SKIP JAMES and ROBERT JOHNSON MB $250
29. John Henry Barbee — "Six Weeks Old Blues/God Knows I Can't Help It" VOCALION 04417 E FABULOUS MB $500
32. Billy Bird — "Mill Man Blues/Down In The Cemetery" COLUMBIA 14381 E+ MB $300
33. Barbecue Bob — "Barbecue Blues/Cloudy Sky Blues" COLUMBIA 14205 E- MB $200
34. Barbecue Bob — "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues/Mama You Don't Suit Me" COLUMBIA 14222 E+ NO NEED TO EVER UPGRADE THIS ONE! MB $500
35. Robert Hicks aka BARBECUE BOB — "When The Saints Go Marching In/Jesus Blood Can Make Me Whole" COLUMBIA 14231 E+ NO NEED TO EVER UPGRADE THIS ONE EITHER! MB $500
36. Barbecue Bob — "Poor Boy A Long Ways From Home/Honey You Don't Know" COLUMBIA 14246 E MB $300
37. Barbecue Bob — "Brown-Skin Gal / Easy Rider Don't You Deny My Name" COLUMBIA 14257 E+ No need to ever upgrade this one! MB $500
39. Barbecue Bob — "Crooked Woman Blues/'Fo Day Creep" COLUMBIA 14280 E MB $300
40. Barbecue Bob — "Thinkin' Funny Blues/Motherless Child Blues" COLUMBIA 14299 E+ YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO UPGRADE THIS ONE MB $500
41. Barbecue Bob — "Chocolate To The Bone/Waycross Georgia Blues" COLUMBIA 14331 E+ YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO UPGRADE THIS ONE MB $500
42. Barbecue Bob — "My Mistake Blues/How Long Pretty Mama" COLUMBIA 14350 E+ YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO UPGRADE THIS ONE MB $500
45. Barbecue Bob — "Meat Man Pete/Dollar Down Blues" COLUMBIA 14412 E+ MB $500
46. Barbecue Bob — "It Just Won't Hay / It's Just Too Bad" COLUMBIA 14424E+You will never need to upgrade this one either! MB $500
47. Barbecue Bob — "Yo Yo Blues/Trouble Done Bore Me Down" COLUMBIA 14479 E/E+ MB $300
48. Barbecue Bob — "She's Gone Blues/Bad Time Blues" COLUMBIA 15561 E+ YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO UPGRADE THIS ONE MB $500
49. Barbecue Bob — "Freeze To Me Mama/Me And My Whiskey" COLUMBIA 14507 E+ YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO UPGRADE THIS ONE MB $500
50. Son Bond — "80 Highway Blues/A Hard Pill To Swallow" BLUEBIRD 8927 E MB $300
51. Son Bonds — "I'll Work Up To You Someday/Old Bachelor Blues" DECCA 7558 E One of the really NICE DECCA releases MB $300
56. Elder Richard Bryant — "The Master Came And Called To Me / Saul, A Wicked Man" VICTOR 21357 • E+ GREAT SANCTIFIED MB $500
57. Bo Carter — "Please Warm My Wiener/She's Gonna Crawl Back Home" BLUEBIRD 6058 E- BO CARTER CLASSIC MB $300
58. Bo Carter/Milton Sparks — "T Baby Blues/Erie Train Blues" BLUEBIRD 6529 V+/E- MB $200
59. Bo Carter — "Sue Cow/Flea On Me" BLUEBIRD 6695 V+ Tough one MB $200
63. Ida Cox — "Graveyard Dream Blues/Weary Way Blues" PARAMOUNT 12044 E MB $150
64. Ida Cox — "Coffin Blues/Rambling Blues" PARAMOUNT 12318 E+ STUNNING COPY MB $300
65. Ida Cox — "Fogyism/Tree Top Tall Papa" PARAMOUNT 12690 E MB $300
67. Dallas String Band With Coley Jones — "Chasin' Rainbows/I Used To Call Her Baby" COLUMBIA 14410 E Just wonderful!!! MB $500
68. Cow Cow Davenport — "Jim Crow Blues / Goin' Home Blues" PARAMOUNT 12439 E+ BEAUTIFUL copy of classic Piano Blues and a JIM CROW theme. Tough to find clean! MB $500
69. Cow Cow Davenport — "Alabama Strut/Chimin' The Blues" VOCALION 1253 E+ Great one MB $300
72. Walter Davis — "What Made Me Love You So?/That Stuff You Sell Ain't No Good" VICTOR 23282 E MB $200
77. The Delta Boys aka SLEEPY JOHN ESTES — "Don't You Want To Know?/Get Up And Go" BLUEBIRD 8915 E+ MB $300
78. The Devil's Daddy-In-Law — "I Don't Want No Hungry Woman/Lookin' For My Baby" VOCALION 04643 E MB $100
80. Baby Doo (Leonard Caston) — "I'm Gonna Walk Your Log/She's Got Something There" DECCA 7773 V+/E- MB $75
81. Little Buddy Doyle — "Grief Will Kill You/Bad In Mind Blues" VOCALION 05111 E- MB $100
82. Little Buddy Doyle — "Three Sixty-Nine Blues/Sweet Man Blues" VOCALION 05246 E- MB $100
83. Black Spider Dumplin' — "Camp Meeting In The Air/Death Of The Gambler" BLUEBIRD 7011 E- MB $100
84. Frank Edwards — "Terraplane Blues/We Got To Get Together" OKEH 06363 E+ NICE ROBERT JOHNSON COVER MB $200
85. "Sleepy" John Estes/Son Bond — "Working Man Blues/Come Back Home" BLUEBIRD 8950 E+/E MB $300
88. Blind Boy Fuller — "Walking And Looking Blues/Working Man Blues" DECCA 7899 E+ BEAUTIFUL COPY MB $150
89. A.C. Forehand — "I'm So Glad Today, Today/Mother's Prayer" VICTOR 20547 E- MB $200
90. Frankie And Clara (Wallace & Burston) — "Frankie And Clara—Part I/Part II" PARAMOUNT 13010 V+ RARE 13000 Paramount MB $200
93. Brother George And His Sanctified Singers — "I See The Sign Of Judgment/I Feel Like Shoutin' " VOCALION 05261 E/E+ BULL CITY RED, SONNY TERRY and BROWNIE MCGHEE very early on! Great Sanctified Blues! MB $200
100. James Hall — "Coal Man Blues/My Jivin' Woman" VOCALION 04231 E- With 3 inch hair crack MB $20
105. Mary Harris — "No Christmas Blues/Happy New Years Blues" CHAMPION 50045 E MB $100
109. Chippie Hill And Tampa Red — "Christmas Man Blues/Weary Money Blues" VOCAL-ION 1224 E+ MB $300
112. Alberta Hunter — "Chirping The Blues/Someone Else Will Take Your Place" PARAMOUNT 12017 E- MB $100
114. Bessie Jackson — "B. D. Woman's Blues/Jump Steady Daddy" MELOTONE 5-12-58 E MB $100
116. Bessie Jackson — "Alley Boogie/Sloppy Drunk Blues" MELOTONE 12484 E- MB $100
119. Charlie Jackson — "Coal Man Blues / She Belongs To Me Blues" PARAMOUNT 12461 ENICE, TOUGH ONE by him MB $500
120. Jim Jackson — "I Heard The Voice Of A Pork Chop/Old Dog Blue" VICTOR 21387 E- MB $200
121. Mahalia Jackson — "God's Gonna Separate The Wheat From The Tares/Keep Me Every Day" DECCA 7341 E With repaired one inch hair crack, her FIRST RECORD MB $75
123. Blind Willie Johnson — "I'm Gonna Run To The City of Refuge/Jesus Is Coming Soon" COLUMBIA 14391 E VERY NICE COPY MB $500
124. Lonnie Johnson — "Kansas City Blues - Part 1/Part 2" OKEH 8537 E+ GORGEOUS COPY MB $500
129. Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) — "Pig Meat Papa/Becky Deem, She Was A Gamblin' Gal" MELOTONE 6-04-55 E+/E MB $400
131. Charlie Lincoln — "Mojoe Blues / Country Breakdown" COLUMBIA 14475E+GORGEOUS copy of a great record by BARBECUE BOB'S BROTHER! MB $500
132. Rev. Moses Mason — "John The Baptist/Go Wash In The Beautiful Stream" PARAMOUNT 12702 E- MB $300
136. Tommy McClennan — "Cross Cut Saw Blues/You Can't Read My Mind" BLUEBIRD 8897 E/E+ MB $150
137. Tommy McClennan — "I'm A Guitar King/Travelin' Highway Man" BLUEBIRD 8957 E+/E- MB $100
139. Robert Lee McCoy — "G Man/Sweet Pepper Mama" BLUEBIRD 7090 E/E+ GREAT ONE MB $300
142. Ramblin' Bob aka Robert Lee McCoy — "Every Day And Night/Ol' Mose" BLUEBIRD 8020 E+ MB $300
143. Memphis Jug Band — "Peaches In The Springtime/Evergreen Money Blues" VICTOR 21657 E MB $300
144. Kansas Joe And Memphis Minnie — "Bumble Bee / I Want That" COLUMBIA 14542E MASTERPIECE and it sounds SO GOOD on this super clean COLUMBIA.MB $1,000
146. Memphis Minnie, Black Bob, Bill Settles — "Joe Louis Strut/He's In The Ring" VOCALION 03046 E MB $300
150. Memphis Minnie — "Ma Rainey/Finger Print Blues" OKEH 05811 E+ Minnie's tribute to Ma Rainey when she passed away MB $200
152. Buddy Moss — "You Need A Woman/I'm Sittin' Here Tonight" OKEH 06515 E+ TOUGH ONE MB $300
153. Nugrape Twins — "The Road Is Rough And Rocky/Pray Children If You Will" COLUMBIA 14251 E- MB $200
155. Robert Petway — "Boogie Woogie Woman/Hollow Log Blues" BLUEBIRD 8987 E MB $200
157. Pigmeat Pete And Catjuice Charlie — "On Our Turpentine Farm/My Friend John" COLUMBIA 14485 E MB $300
158. Washington Phillips — "Take Your Burden To The Lord And Leave It There/Lift Him Up That's All" COLUMBIA 14277 E BEAUTIFUL MB $500
159. Washington Phillips — "Denomination Blues _ Part 1/Part 2" COLUMBIA 14333 E+ STUNNING COPY MB $500
160. Washington Phillips — "What Are They Doing In Heaven Today / Jesus Is My Friend" COLUMBIA 14404 E/E+ GORGEOUS condition and just beautiful Gospel with Phillips' unique voice and dulcimer playing. MB $500
164. Yank Rachell — "Tappin' That Thing/Yellow Yam Blues" BLUEBIRD 8951 E MB $150
176. Elzadie Robinson — "The Santa Claus Crave/St. Louis Cyclone Blues" PARAMOUNT 12573 E- MB $200
178. Washboard Sam — "I'm A Prowlin' Groundhog/Don't Tear My Clothes" MELOTONE 6-10-55 V+ MB $50
180. The Seven Gallon Jug Band — "Wipe 'Em Off/What If I Do" COLUMBIA 2087 E+ MB $300
182. Guitar Slim — "Katie May - Katie May/Ain't It A Shame" MELOTONE 7-06-74 V+ MB $100
187. Bessie Smith — "Gimme A Pigfoot/Take Me For A Buggy Ride" OKEH 8949 E RARE TRUE FIRST PRESSING OF HER ALL TIME CLASSIC MB $200
190. "Pinetop" Smith — "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out/Big Boy" VOCALION 1256 E+ MB $200
191. Victoria Spivey — "Spider Web Blues/Hoodoo Man Blues" OKEH 8370 E+ GORGEOUS COPY MB $200
192. Freeman Stowers "The Cotton Belt Porter" — "Railroad Blues/Medley Of Blues" GENNETT 6814 E-/V+ MB $150
194. Roosevelt Sykes — "D-B-A Blues (You Old Yass Yass)/Ethel Mae Blues" DECCA 7011 E- MB $75
196. Bessie Tucker — "My Man Has Quit Me/Black Name Moan" VICTOR 21692 E+ MB $200
197. Bessie Tucker — "Key To The Bushes/Bogy Man Blues" BLUEBIRD 5128 E/E+ MB $200
199. Lizzie Washington — "Whiskey Head Blues/Every Day Blues" VOCALION 1459 E/E- MB $100
201. Curley Weaver — "Tricks Ain't Walking No More/Early Morning Blues" DECCA 7077 V+ Another one of those VERY RARE AND VERY GREAT DECCA BLUES RELEASES MB $300
202. Sylvester Weaver — "Penitentiary Bound Blues/Can't Be Trusted Blues" OKEH 8504 E+ MB $300
204. Casey Bill Weldon — "My Stove Won't Work/Somebody Changed The Lock On My Door" BLUEBIRD 6243 E/E- MB $100
206. Bukka White — "High Fever Blues / When I Change My Clothes" VOCALION 05489 • E Bukka White Vocalion 78's are among the very best Blues of the late 1930's. They are not common, but also not insanely rare and expensive. MB $1,000
207. Bukka White — "Parchman Farm Blues/District Attorney Blues" OKEH 05683 V+ CLASSIC!!! MB $200
208. Bukka White — "Good Gin Blues / Bukka's Jitterbug Swing" OKEH 05625 • E My candidate for his very BEST release on OKEH and some prefer it as the best of his records in this period. TOUGH to find in clean shape.MB $500
212. Sonny Boy Williamson — "Skinny Woman/Got The Bottle Up And Gone" BLUEBIRD 7012 E- MB $200
213. Sonny Boy Williamson — "Good Morning, School Girl/Sugar Mama Blues" BLUEBIRD 7059 E+/E- MB $200
216. Sonny Boy Williamson — "Decoration Blues/Down South" BLUEBIRD 7665 E/E- MB $75
218. Sonny Boy Williamson — "Good Gravy/T. B. Blues" BLUEBIRD 8333 E MB $100
220. Sonny Boy Williamson — "My Baby Made A Change/Big Apple Blues" BLUEBIRD 8766 E Tiny label tears MB $100
222. Sonny Boy Williamson — "Shady Grove Blues/She Was A Dreamer" BLUEBIRD 8914 E MB $100
224. Sonny Boy Williamson — "Ground-Hog Blues/Broken Heart Blues" BLUEBIRD 9031 E+ MB $100
My October 1, 2026 Strachwitz Pre-War Blues 78's auction #2 (The LAST One!) complete list
Good luck, everybody!
John Tefteller
Next Month's Auction:
Surf / Instrumental 45's!