Mr Crowley Signed 7" single - Real or Fake?

[murkey]

Hi everybody, my first post and bit of a story..

Okay so to try and cut a long story short, I have always been a 80's metal fan and have dreamt about learning the guitar one day, its getting middle life for me now so thought I would take the plunge and get a guitar so I bought a second hand Yamaha...all good so far.

I needed a amp so trolled the second hand websites again and came across a cheap Line 6 75 watt, so I called the guy and had a chat, turns out he is a real metal fan that has hit hard times, he also mentions to me that he has a signed 7" Mr Crowley single signed by Ozzy and Randy that he would like to sell, I was very sceptical as I know there are a lot of fakes around so I just go along with intentions of the amp and see what the RR autograph is like.

I took the Yamaha along to try out the amp, all I can say is, the hour that followed with the seller was one of the most humbling moments of my life, this guy lived in - lets just say very bad conditions, he never had a penny and was selling everything to keep going, so he plugs in my Yammy and what followed was just mind blowing, he played like a true metal guitarist and never missed a note, I was dumb struck that someone with so much talent could live in such bad conditions and not have a penny.

So to the autograph, he says he personally got is signed when Ozzy played at the Colston Hall in Bristol in 1980, back then he said after a gig a table would be set out and the band would come out to meet and sign memorabilia, he said he was only interested in Ozzy's signature but it passed on to Randy so he signed it.

So I bought the amp and signed Mr Crowley, basically I said I didn't dis-believe him but the value is hard to tell with no verification, it worked out I got the amp for a fair price and the signature was more or less thrown in..

Just to say I'am not looking for a appraisal or sale here as I like to keep memorabilia and it just so happens Mr Crowley is one of my favourite 80's metal tracks, what I would like to know is, does it look real? The N connecting to the D looks a bit different than usual and the R in Randy is a bit different as the pen has hit the step down in the vinyl + the S in Rhoads look differnt but its crammed for space on the label..

Sorry about all the blab but is was an amazing experience to see my guitar played like that in front of me..

[strontium90]

I sold R.R. autograph for 1000 dollars a few years back to a serious collector. That looks real to me.

[murkey]

I sold R.R. autograph for 1000 dollars a few years back to a serious collector. That looks real to me.

Thanks, I would love so much for it to be real as RR is a legend in my eyes, I want to believe the guy but you never know??

I'll be honest, if it is authentic it aint going nowhere apart from my wall in frame

[GUITARIDOL5682]

With my experience of seeing plenty Ozzy and Randy signatures i would say that is 100% fake. If the guy has any providence of the time he got this signed and when. I would ask to see if he knows enough about this record i.e the date it was released may not tally up to when he got it signed. That would be a good indication of it being fake. The Ozzy signature is sloppy and in 1980 81 Ozzy's signature wasn't wrote out in full it was Ozzy Osb.... Randy's signature looks to be too large and all the ones i have seen wrote in marker pen are neat and wrote tight... the only thing that looks convincing is the 'andy' but i look for that in all his signatures. I would pass on this one, you see enough signatures for sale and believe me i have been burnt in the past.

[murkey]

Thanks for your detailed reply and appreciate your experienced eye looking over it, well I can't pass on it as I have it!!
The guy was a old through and through metal head, thing is I bought the amp off him for a fair price and he threw the signed Crowley in as a sweetner, his words to me were, I can't prove it to you but I know it's real as he signed it in front of me and it's been on my guitar wall for over 30 years...he had no reason to lie as he wasn't getting any money as such for it + he wasn't Internet savvy to know it's worth.

Also the ridges in the vinyl have guided the pen like on the R in Randy..

If it's not real then hey ho it didn't cost me anything but would have been nice...thanks again

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Another question which is puzzling me if he got this signed at the Bristol Colston hall gig that would of been on the 20th October 1980. The single had not long been out it would of came in a picture sleeve. The back of the single would of been perfect for getting signed. Plus the whole band did signings after their gigs. So why didn't he get the whole band to sign it ??. This and other reasons to say if it is original, the later pressings would of been in a plain white cover.

[orion_damage]

Honestly I would just have it authenticated. Anything that rare should be.

[murkey]

Another question which is puzzling me if he got this signed at the Bristol Colston hall gig that would of been on the 20th October 1980. The single had not long been out it would of came in a picture sleeve. The back of the single would of been perfect for getting signed. Plus the whole band did signings after their gigs. So why didn't he get the whole band to sign it ??. This and other reasons to say if it is original, the later pressings would of been in a plain white cover.

That's good to hear Ozzy played Bristol in 1980, I could only find November 29th - Colston Hall 1981, he did say he had pictures with the band but didn't know where they were and looking at his house I could understand why he couldn't find them!!

Maybe I'll get onto him again and see if he can dig out the pictures but I'm not holding out any hope, if its real great if not then up in the loft it goes with the other vinyl...

[murkey]

Honestly I would just have it authenticated. Anything that rare should be.

Sounds good, where would you suggest is a good place to take it??

[dannyahansen]

From my eyes it looks fake but it can be hard to tell because sometimes they singed things fast and their signature did not always look that good. The "R"'s just look wrong to me and that is the give away. His last name does not look right either. It could be legit but I am skeptical. Since you are not out any money it would not hurt to get it authenticated, and find out it was fake.

[orion_damage]

Honestly I would just have it authenticated. Anything that rare should be.

Sounds good, where would you suggest is a good place to take it??

Normally I'd say PSA but I think they only do sports items.

From Google I pulled these two:

http://www.paasautographs.com/
https://www.globalauthentics.com/authen ... _rates.asp

I haven't researched them but if you're serious about getting it authenticated I would do some research to make sure they're credible.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Honestly these signature authenticity places are only as good as anyone who has seen enough signatures to be able to recognise Randy and Ozzy signatures. I spoke to a guy who went to PSA and paid $80.00 to get a set of signatures authenticated. Then another collector seen them and told him the total opposite Fakes...For any one on this site will be able to say i have probably seen more Randy and Ozzy signatures then any PSA authenticity worker. I wouldn't say this was fake if i thought any different honestly. Don't waste your money getting this authenticated.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

That's good to hear Ozzy played Bristol in 1980, I could only find November 29th - Colston Hall 1981, he did say he had pictures with the band but didn't know where they were and looking at his house I could understand why he couldn't find them!!

Maybe I'll get onto him again and see if he can dig out the pictures but I'm not holding out any hope, if its real great if not then up in the loft it goes with the other vinyl...

Well that has just sealed it for me.... i have photographic proof ????. It was very rare to have a camera at gigs back in the 80's for one you'd get your camera taking off you or your film removed from your camera. Or at worse asked to leave the gig. Yeah some people did risk it, i even done it a few times. From what your saying about the guy's house ? Was this guys house like a jumble sale in a tumble drier. Someone trying to make a fast buck his BS tells me he's talking out of his arse mate.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

I was questioning the release date of this single was it released in November 1980. As i can only remember the Crazy Train single being out in September October. A look in the Mick Wall book Diary of a madman has the release date down as November 1980 ?. This is the live version of Mr Crowley this wasn't recorded until 2nd October 1980 and it was out in the shops just under 3 weeks before the Bristol gig on the 20th October ???. Has anyone got any more details on this release date ?

[friday]

isnt it the etched number on the blank section just out side the central label ????