An impossibly rare 1987 U.S. first pressing LP of Prince’s The Black Album.  To our knowledge, this is only the second confirmed example to be offered for sale (the first sold by Rockaway Records more than 20 years ago.) This copy was given by Prince to an employee, who passed it on to another Prince employee, from whom we obtained it.

The Black Album was supposed to be released December 7, 1987 by Warner Bros. Records, but Prince cancelled it at the last minute and virtually all copies were destroyed. Over the years, a handful of original CD copies have surfaced, selling from $3000 to $10,000.  A few original German vinyl pressings have also surfaced, but most that have been sold are very convincing counterfeit copies.  Likewise, a few examples of the two-disc promotional version have surfaced; one is currently listed on Discogs.com for $20,000.  But this original U.S. single-disc commercial LP is among the rarest vinyl records in the world (an exceptional Black Album website is at the-black-album.info ).

The disc is barely played and is in Near Mint condition, as is the all black album cover.  The only printing on the cover is the 1987 catalog number on the spine, 25677-1.  The black pvc inner sleeve is a bit scuffed, but from the look of it, we’d guess this was the case with all of them.  If this had any shrink wrap or stickers, they are gone.  The matrix numbers for Side 1 (until now, undocumented on the web) are 1-25677-A  SH 2 (?stamp) B-28645 SH-2 (delta sign) 18817  1-1.  To prevent bootlegging, we won’t disclose the Side 2 numbers.

In 1994 Prince finally agreed to let Warners release the album, but it was assigned a different catalog number, 1-45793, and wasn’t commercially released on vinyl.  Recordmecca’s Jeff Gold was a senior executive at Warner Bros. Records at the time, and oversaw the 1994 release, including very limited edition promotional-only colored vinyl copies.  Gold worked closely with Prince, and art directed his album covers for Diamonds and Pearls, the Symbol album, and the compilations The Hits 1, The Hits 2, and The Hits/The B-Sides.  Gold has authenticated this Black Album, and his signed letter of authenticity and Recordmecca’s lifetime guarantee of authenticity are included.

Very likely your only chance to obtain the rarest Prince record in the world.