GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Musicians Mississippi Sarah and Daddy Stovepipe may never have left the United States, but at least one of their records left Virginia, traveled to Switzerland, and then to Belgium before finding its way back to the U.S. and into the collection of John Tefteller.

Tefteller is a record collector. Mississippi Sarah and Daddy Stovepipe were early blues and gospel singers. Tefteller, who has been collecting records for 35 years, has one of the world’s largest inventories of old 78 rpm records with more than 75,000 in his archives.

He already owned three of Mississippi Sarah and Daddy Stovepipe blues records. But there was a hole in his collection. He did not own Read Your ABCs, the only gospel record the duet recorded in Chicago for Vocalion Records in 1931.

Owning the record was important for Tefteller, who specializes in early blues and gospel music from the 1920s to pre-World War II. He not only appreciates the fact that early gospel and blues music are among the few “purely” American musical forms of expression and are the foundation of much of today’s music, but he also restores the records to their original luster and offers them to the public on CDs.

Only one copy is known to exist. Tefteller knew it was owned by a Belgium collector who realized the value and significance of the record. He paid the Belgium owner $3,000 for the record. “That’s a sizable chunk of money,” he says, “but that’s not out of bounds for what I have paid in the past.”

About five years ago Tefteller paid $37,100 on eBay for a rare 78 rpm record by blues legend Tommy Johnson. For the “right record,” he says he will pay $50,000 and up.

“It’s hard to say what the Read Your ABCs is really worth if it’s the only record in existence,” he says. “I’ve talked to other collectors and posted on collector web forums, and no one else says they have one. Right now, this is the only one that exists.”

Mississippi Sarah and Daddy Stovepipe were a husband and wife team (Johnny and Sarah Watson). Daddy Stovepipe (1867-1963), an African American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player was born in Mobile, Alabama, and as early as 1900 was reportedly playing a 12-string guitar in mariachi bands in Mexico. He then reportedly established himself as an entertainer with the Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels touring the southern United States. By 1924, he was working as a one-man band on the famous Maxwell Street in Chicago, where he acquired the name Daddy Stovepipe from the characteristic top hat he wore.

Mississippi Sarah (? – 1937) was an accomplished jug player and singer and the pair became popular on the early minstrel circuit trading husband-wife quips during performances. After recording in Chicago for the Vocalion and Bluebird labels, the coupled settled in Greenville, Miss.

However, when Sarah died in 1937, Stovepipe once again hit the road, gigging in Cajun, zydeco and mariachi bands. By 1948, he was back on Maxwell Street and in 1960 – at the age of 93 – recorded several tunes for a compilation Blues from Maxwell Street anthology. He died three years later of bronchial pneumonia after a gall bladder surgery.

Although a storied bluesman and raconteur, Stovepipe needed Sarah to deliver a more energetic and vibrant brand of music, according to Tefteller.

Shortly after Tefteller bought the record and posted his purchase on a collector website he received a message from a Swiss collector who said he sold the record to a collector from the Netherlands who later sold it to the Belgium dealer.

“I don’t think the other two other owners knew it was the only copy in existence,” Tefteller says. “I asked the guy where he got it, and he said from an East Coast dealer who said he found it in a farmhouse in the hills of Virginia. What’s amazing is, that it has traveled over half the world and still is in such good condition.”

That said, however, it took technicians more than 38 hours to restore the 3-minute song before re-issuing it on his latest annual CD.

Restoring the records, according to Tefteller, is akin “to mowing your lawn with a pair of tweezers.”

“It can drive a mere mortal to near-insanity,” he claims. “Because every click, pop and scratch is digitally removed one … at … a… time.” He doesn’t involve himself too much in the restoration – being the record-finder in chief – but his son, Joel Tefteller, an audio engineering technician, is heavily involved in the process.

“What we do is completely different from anyone else,” Tefteller says. “Most restoration is done by using a sound equalizer and removing the less noisy pops and crackles … by doing so, they take out the high and low note-ends. We remove each defect one at a time, and still leave in the highs and lows.

“That’s why a song like Read Your ABCs has a vibrant and fresh sound. It takes a lot longer to do, but that’s what we’re going for.”

The cadence of Read Your ABCs as delivered by Mississippi Sarah has a modern rap-type quality. “You can hear the way she delivers that song, the roots of modern day hip-hop and rap,” Tefteller says. “That’s one reason why this music is so important – it’s so uniquely American.”

When Tefteller received the record from the Belgium dealer, he was pleased to find a superb graphically enhanced sleeve cover – also considered a rare find that, alone, can bring between $50 and $150.

Most antique dealers won’t buy old 78s because they just “sit and sit there,” Tefteller said. “And they will, if you don’t buy the right ones. There were millions and millions of those produced from the 1920s, some clear up into the early 1960s. But, early records by African Americans were sold to a smaller percentage of Americans.

Among the rarities Tefteller is searching for are Paramount No. 13001 Grandma Blues/Sorry Blues by Willie Brown; Paramount 13099, Picking My Sleep Blues/Window Blues also by Willie Brown; and Paramount 13013, Preaching the Blues Part I and II by the legendary Son House.

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