Ep512: The Collectable Records of Elvis Presley
The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds
Nate Goyer
4.7 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 11 August 2025
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lifelong Elvis collector Ian McQuillan discusses the rarest records of Elvis Presley - from Sun Records worth $10,000+, international rarities, even shares insider tips for spotting counterfeits, and explains why young collectors are driving a thriving market for the King's rarest vinyl.
Topics Include:
- Ian McQuillan introduces himself as 55-year Elvis fan since age 2
- Scottish parents in New Zealand exposed him to Elvis on record player
- "Big Hunk of Love" was his first memorable Elvis song obsession
- RCA distributed Elvis records globally, making them widely available worldwide
- Elvis market remains strong while other 50s rockabilly artists declined significantly
- Elvis cornered teenage markets in UK, Australia, New Zealand more than US
- Parkes, Australia hosts massive annual Elvis festival with 20,000+ attendees
- Elvis Week celebration started small, now draws 50,000+ fans to Memphis
- Elvis has bigger catalog depth than any other recording artist
- Sun Records represent collectible pinnacle - only five official 45/78 releases
- 78rpm records rarer due to shellac brittleness, 95% destroyed over time
- Sun 209 "That's All Right" commands $10,000-12,000 in mint condition
- Sam Phillips used multiple pressing plants, creating interesting variants and rarities
- Initial Sun pressings probably 20,000-30,000 copies, reaching 200,000 total eventually
- Early distribution concentrated in American South, spreading through Elvis touring
- Promotional Sun records exist with distinctive red stamps, worth significant premiums
- Jack White famously paid $300,000 for unreleased Elvis acetate recording
- RCA reissues sound much cleaner than original hissy Sun pressings
- Sam Phillips likely pressed extra inventory after selling Elvis to RCA
- Counterfeit Sun records identifiable by shiny vinyl, wrong dates, label gaps
- Pre-army Elvis albums (1954-1960) remain most collectible among LP collectors
- SPD promotional EPs from first album worth $1,200-4,000 in good condition
- Australian gold label first album worth $1,500-2,000, extremely hard to find
- Colored vinyl "Moody Blue" pressings command $2,000-3,000 from collectors
- 8-tracks, reels, cassettes now collectible after being worthless for decades
- Follow That Dream label produces high-quality Elvis reissues for serious fans
- New Elvis footage and recordings still surface regularly from private collections
- Young professionals in 20s-40s driving current strong collector market demand
- Elvis Week features conventions, tributes, candlelight vigil at Graceland annually
- Colonel Parker's merchandising legacy created massive collectible memorabilia market today
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. |
| 0:10.0 | Here's your host, the biggest record nerd of them all, Nate Goyer. |
| 0:13.0 | Ah, well, hey everyone, it's Nate. |
| 0:15.0 | Welcome to episode 512 of the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. |
| 0:22.2 | And dear people, this week I'm going to be speaking with a gentleman that I think everyone's |
| 0:26.5 | going to find quite fascinating, especially those of you who enjoy the records, even collect |
| 0:31.4 | the records of the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley. |
| 0:34.0 | We are talking today with Mr. Ian McQuillan, who's a very renowned record collector, |
| 0:38.3 | lives in Southern California, but travels all over and sells and deals records around the world. |
| 0:44.7 | He tends to focus quite a bit of his time and attention on Elvis Presley. |
| 0:49.5 | And actually, Ian goes well beyond the quote-un unquote collector status when it comes to Elvis. |
| 0:55.3 | He's very much an authority on the King of Rock and Roll and has more experience on the |
| 0:59.8 | ephemera of the Elvis universe than just about anyone I've ever met. |
| 1:03.6 | Ian shares a lot of information today on the collectible records of Elvis Presley. |
| 1:08.5 | We go deep in on the Sun singles. And some of those, man, can go for like |
| 1:13.0 | $8, $10, $12,000 apiece, even beyond if it's extra special. We talk about those conditions today. |
| 1:20.7 | Ian and I also talk about the Elvis market. Why is Elvis still so popular when so many of the |
| 1:26.9 | 50s and 60s artists have fallen out of favor? |
| 1:30.1 | We talk all about the RCA albums, the hypercollectable international Elvis records. |
| 1:35.8 | We even talk eight tracks, reel to reels, and more. |
| 1:38.4 | I had the pleasure of hanging with him on several occasions, including the recent trip to Austin, the Austin record show. |
| 1:45.2 | Ian is a very knowledgeable dude on a myriad of topics, records and beyond. |
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