My copy of "the rarest 45 in the world"

The Sultan/Aurora, by Neil Young and the Squires

by Arthur Jarvinen

Read the whole story, unless you want to skip to the climax...

Here's the story, or as much of it as I can tell:

From 1965 to 1969 I lived in Port Arthur Ontario, Canada, which is now Thunder Bay. I went to grades 4 through 7 there.
Sometime during that period - and it is impossible for me to say just when - a friend of my older brother Roland, by the name of Lee Johnson, gave me a 45 rpm record by a group called The Squires. He said they were from Winnipeg.

My family moved to Ohio in 1969. At some point during my highschool years I read an article or interview in some rock magazine - probably Circus - and learned that Neil Young had been in a band called The Squires, from Winnipeg. I still had that 45, and figured it had to be the same band. But both tracks are instrumentals, sort of like The Shadows or slow surf music, so I sure couldn't tell by listening if Neil was on the recording,  and there are no song writing credits on the label. Even if it was the same band, he might not have been in it at the time. But I figured I would hang on to the record, and maybe some day it might be worth a few bucks. Besides which, I rather liked the tunes.

Now let's jump ahead to December of 2005. I was doing a web search on something, I don't recall what, and stumbled on to a reference to Neil Young and the Squires. I dropped my search and started following links, and this is what I learned:

Neil Young started a band called Neil Young and the Squires, when he was in highschool in Winnipeg. In 1963, when Neil Young was 17, they recorded a single. The two tracks are titled "The Sultan" and "Aurora", both composed by Young. The record was recorded at KCRC, a radio station in Winnipeg, produced by Bob Bradburn, and released on V Records, a predominantly polka label. Three hundred copies were pressed, making it a pretty rare record even then. They were sold directly to the audience at gigs in the area, just like bands still do with their self-released CDs.

As I continued searching and reading web pages, I learned that this record has been called "the rarest 45 in the world" and "the Holy Grail of Neil Young collecting". Supposedly only 8 or 10 copies are known to still exist, which is not at all hard to believe. Okay, now we have to make that 11 copies, including mine.

Supposedly even Neil Young doesn't have one.

The last time a copy changed hands was in July of 2005, on e-bay. The bidding started at $1,400, and the item sold for $2,828.

News Flash!! This just in -

Winning bid: US $3,430.00
Ended: Jan-08-06 19:17:02 PST
Start time: Dec-29-05 19:17:02 PST
History: 56 bids (US $0.99 starting bid)

It's going up..

So, what condition is my copy in, and how much do I want for it, you may be inclined to ask.

Below are scans of both sides, in an old sleeve that I cannot guarantee is the original. It might be, I simply don't know.








On Side A, under the producer credit, Lee Johnson wrote his name in very small letters, in blue ballpoint pen.




The record is intact - no chips, cracks, or warpage.


Side A had some pretty crusty dirt on the surface near the edge, so the worst sounding part of the record, fidelity-wise, is the intro to The Sultan. With care, that part of the record could be cleaned up better than what I did. In any case THE RECORD DOES NOT SKIP. I played both sides straight through without problems and recorded to hard drive. The record will not be played again, at least not by me.

Here are MP3s of excerpts of both tunes. Obviously, I have no right to upload the complete tracks, but this will give you a taste for the style of the music Neil was playing in 1963, as well as the condition of the record and its fidelity.


The Sultan,  top             Aurora, ending


Obviously, not in pristine condition - pops and noise aplenty - but no skips.

This is pure conjecture on my part, but I suspect that the tam-tam on The Sultan and the "Aurora" voice at the end of side B were the producer's idea. I doubt Neil's drummer was schlepping around a tam-tam with his drum set in 1963, that's the kind of instrument you might find in a radio studio, and it is a good sounding instrument besides. The voice sounds like a radio announcer, and I can't really imagine Neil squeeking out "Aurora" in his tenor at the end of live performances of the tune. But I am only guessing on this matter.

I am trying to track down Lee Johnson and see if I can find out exactly where this record was originally obtained, and by whom. Being only few years older than me, he would have been too young to get into clubs, and I don't even know if he was the original owner. But then, Neil would also have been too young, as it were, and I just read a little more. Apparently the Squires played a lot of teenage dances.

By the way, Neil went on from the Squires to form Buffalo Springfield with Steven Stills. Lee Johnson also gave me a copy of their single "For What It's Worth", but alas, I no longer have that.


Is it for sale? Well, maybe. I have no intention of having the record graded according to official record collecting standards. The simple fact as I see it is this record is so rare, it has to have value based on that alone, especially to a Neil Young collector.

I have no intention of putting this up for auction, and I don't have to sell it. Let's just say I will entertain any ridiculous offer. If you want it and offer me enough that I really can't justify saying no, I will gladly part with it.

I am not a record collector or dealer. Hell, I'm not even a Neil Young fan. This is by far my favorite of any Neil Young record, although I will say that Helpless is a great song.

In fact, I like it so much that I have re-written the lyrics to it. Below is my version, which you can sing along to the original tune.
SHELLFISH
There is a song playing on the stereo
Cream custard, memories of hair
What it means I will surely never know
All my change is too spare

Two Jew pinkos behind the bar
Yellow dude don't wanna fight
Big girl trying to boff some guy
Throwing ketchup on our fries

Feed us
Shellfish shellfish shellfish
Hey, a beer for me now!
Jane got snockered, tried to toss the dwarf
Say, think you can snag me some chow?

Two cute bimbos behind the bar
Say, when are you off tonight?
Flipped birds saying "get lost you guys"
Throwing ketchup on our fries

Feed us
Shellfish shellfish shellfish

copyright © 2006 Arthur Jarvinen

And while I'm at it, here's a picture of me in high school, when a lot of girls told me I looked like Neil Young. I didn't know if that was supposed to be a good or a bad thing, since none of them seemed to want to get to know me very well. I found this in an old yearbook,which was called, coincidentally, "Aurora".



the climax of the story -

SOLD!

That's right. Here's what happened.
I have a friend from high school  named Pete Broberg. He played in bands with me when we were teenagers, and a while ago he sold me a very nice amp. I wrote to him about this 45, and he wrote me back about his friend Carl. Carl collects things, including Neil Young stuff. So I told Carl, via Pete, that I wanted to get $2500 for the record, and he can have dibs on it. Otherwise, I figured I probably would end up auctioning it, and someone would probably pay more. Carl went for it. So I sold my copy of the rarest 45 in the world to Carl, for $2500.

What's cool about this is that Carl is a true Neil fan. I was just a guy who happened to have the record, and it seems appropriate to me that it be in a collection that will enhance its meaning and value on all levels. And the deal went through my friend Pete, so in a sense it's still "in the family". Not only that, but Carl's cousin's son is Neil Young's personal driver. I kid you not. It is all very serendipitous.

But the final chapter has yet to be written. It is my intention to record  cover versions of both songs with my surf band, The Invisible Guys. Most references to the Squires dismiss these tunes as derivative and inconsequential, but I disagree. I'm not a big fan of Neil's more mature work, but there is nothing wrong with these early tracks, and I like them just fine. For a 17 year old in 1963, Neil nailed the Hank Marvin Shadows thing, and surf vibe, pretty damn well. The songs are memorable, well crafted, and well played. The only reason they seem stupid is the tam-tam on The Sultan, and the vocal interjection that ends Aurora, which I suggest were the producer's fault, not Neil's. Anyway, if you speed them up a little, I think they'll make pretty good surf music, and I'm looking forward to working on these songs.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

That's right. Just when I thought the final chapter of this story had been written, I got an e-mail from my friend Pete. Through his familial connection to Neil's driver, Carl was able to get backstage at one of the CSN&Y reunion tour concerts, and even have dinner with the band. Of course he brought along his copy of The Sultan/Aurora. I'm told that Young was quite surprised that anyone could manage to find a copy of that anymore, and of course, he gladly signed it, on the same side as Lee Johnson's name. Here's a picture -




I still haven't heard from Lee Johnson, although he is apparently still living in Thunder Bay. Someone who had read this web page wrote to say he had gone to high school with Lee, and still occasionaly runs into him in town.
email notned@aol.com

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