BOB DYLAN LIVE 1966:ROYAL ALBERT HALL MINT 2-LP BOX SET

$

248

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·       BOB DYLAN – LIVE 1966: THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL CONCERT – ORIGINAL 1998 SONY/COLUMBIA – CLASSIC RECORDS 2-LP BOX SET WITH A 40-PAGE BOOK

·       AUDIOPHILE, ANALOG STEREO PRESSING ON A 180-GRAM, HI-GRADE, 'VIRGIN VINYL' BY CLASSIC RECORDS, OFFICIALLY LICENSED FROM THE SONY/COLUMIA AND BOB DYLAN HIMSELF – MASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES - CLASSIC RECORDS STEREO 2-LP STEREO BOX SET CK-2657591

·       QUICKLY BECOMING ONE OF THE RAREST BOB DYLAN VINYL PRESSINGS IN EXISTENCE

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·       INCLUDES ORIGINAL, CUSTOM INNER SLEEVES, UNIQUE TO THIS TITLE.

·       ORIGINAL RED AND YELLOW SONY/COLUMBIA LABEL WHICH MIMICS THE ORIGINAL 1960’S “360 STEREO” LABEL

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE (NO REISSUES EXIST), AN IMPORT (NO IMPORTS EXIST) , OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING (TONS OF COUNTERFEITS EXIST).

·       ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER BOX IN ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, P-E-R-F-E-C-T CONDITION.

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you'll get. GUARANTEED!)

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In 1998, succumbing to the popular pressure after 32 years of defiant refusal (funny how a rapidly aging process can accomplish what a voice of reason never could…), Bob Dylan finally caved in and agreed to release the first-ever official version of his legendary 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” concert (actually, his Manchester performance), recorded during his legendary – and sometimes rather confrontational – 1966 tour of England. For four decades this album was by far the single most (in)famous bootleg album in existence, available in a variety of forms and copied illicitly by numerous generations of bootleggers on all continents. Other than the absolutely gorgeous music, easily the finest known Bob Dylan concert performance, the album gained notoriety when the member of the audience - apparently disappointed with Dylan’s new “electric” style - shouted what many believe was an anti-Semitic slur at Dylan. In one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, Bobby shouted back an equally offensive invective, raising the level of tension in the concert hall to the bursting point. Sure enough, Bob sings, and the Band plays “Tell me Mamma” (which follows the angry exchange) with all the vicious intensity of a 15,000,000-volt thunderbolt hitting the Mount Sinai. If Iggy Pop and the Stooges, MC5 and Jimi Hendrix had all backed Bob Dylan that night, he would not have sounded any LESS intense than he does here. At one point Dylan can actually be heard instructing The Band to “play fu¢k!ng loud !!!”. And The Band, of course, proceeds to delivers a real sucker punch !!!

When Columbia/Legacy records finally issued this masterpiece in 1998, they did a remarkably idiotic, bird-brained, retarded decision (oh, we are being quite lenient on Columbia here) to issue this album on Compact Disc ONLY (well, duh…). Then, shortly thereafter, they had a change of heart , and decided to license a VERY LIMITED, INFINITESIMALLY SMALL edition (less than 2,000 copies, as we understand) of high-quality 2-LP box sets to the Classic Records (an audiophile label affiliated with Sony/Columbia, known for their fantastic audiophile pressings; the company which is a main rival of Mobile Fidelity in the audiophile vinyl market).

Fearing excessive overhead and distribution costs for a luxurious 2-LP box set with booklet, custom made sleeves and a sturdy, high-quality cardboard box, and not being able to identify a major market demand necessitating additional print runs of this album (Ha ?! You mean: the greatest Rock artist of the Century and his most-rumored-about unreleased album cannot justify production costs?!) Classic Records produced, ONE, SINGLE batch of pressings of this album with a laughably small number of copies (despite the fact that Bob Dylan must have been one of Columbia’s biggest sellers and undoubtedly BY FAR the single most influential artist in the label’s history), presumably because they had misgivings about the commercial potential of the album, and because the label could not immediately identify any obvious market demand to warrant their enthusiasm. Um, yes. No Britney Spears, this Dylan guy…

The 2-LP box set was released shortly after the CD set, supported by ZERO marketing promotion (at the time, most Dylan collectors didn’t even realize it was issued) and promptly disappeared without a trace. Even in 1999, barely weeks after it was released, you could no longer find this box set in or around New York City. Not even a steep price sticker of $55.00 succeeded in diminishing the market demand for the set. And no wonder – every Dylan collector in the world, and there must be millions of them – wanted to complete his Dylan vinyl collection by adding what REALLY, TRULY is a critical missing link in Bob Dylan’s discography.

Facing increasing criticism, SONY/Columbia then promised to come up with a regular, budget-friendly 2-LP set that would satisfy the needs of the insatiable market. The throngs of hungry Dylan fans and collectors waited…and waited…and waited…and then waited some more…and now, seven years later, they are still waiting. Surprise, surprise: Columbia was –oh, gosh, how shall we say this – fibbing !!! The promised vinyl edition of the album never materialized.

Take my word: IT NEVER WILL. And if it does despite my firm prediction to the contrary, I will chew my cap, gloves, and socks (but not underwear!) in front of Sony’s Corporate Headquarters.

This laughable, tragicomic business decision has made the Classic Records limited vinyl edition of this Dylan masterpiece the ONLY vinyl edition of one of the greatest and most controversial of all Bob Dylan’s albums. This limited edition box set is quickly becoming one of Bob Dylan’s rarest albums in existence. For almost a decade now, Bob Dylan Live: 1966 (vinyl edition box set) has been one of the most coveted, prized possessions among the Dylan collectors. No wonder – not only is it critical missing link in any self-respecting Dylan collection, it is a fabulous piece of music in its own rite. It is simply UNBELIEVABLE that one of the greatest recordings of the century never really saw a release on vinyl, except for this tiny, short-lived batch.

For its extraordinary contribution to the contemporary music, superb production, craftsmanship, fine musicianship, revolutionary significance and influence it exerted on numerous generations of musicians, songwriters and general public, or for some other inherent quality, this album was voted one of top-200 albums of all time in one of the largest poll of critics, music reviewers, show business professionals and producers ever organized: the poll, which was conducted by Paul Gambaccini, the legendary BBC Radio A&R man, surveyed more than 50 top music professionals (including Roy Carr, Jonathan Cott, Robert Christgau, Cameron Crowe, Chet Flippo, Ben Fong-Torres, Charlie Gillett, Greil Marcus, Murray the K., Lenny Kaye, Bruce Morrow (a/k/a "Cousin Brucie"), Tim Rice , Lisa Robinson, Robert Shelton, Ed Ward, Joel Whitburn, Pete Wingfield, etc.). For more details, see: "Critics Choice: Top-200 albums" , Omnibus Press, Library of Congress Catalog No.7855565 (or ► click here for the complete album listing)

THIS IS A NO-RESERVE AUCTION!

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·       CONDITION:

·       RECORD

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)            THE VINYL IS ABSOLUTELY, PERFECTLY MINT, as if never played before. The original luster is totally intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles like brand new. The labels look perfect, simply gorgeous, with absolutely no trace of wear around the spindle hole. The record is TOTAL PERFECTION - ABSOLUTE VISUAL NIRVANA! We are confident that, in this condition, the record we present here is truly once-in-a-lifetime find.

(b)            The album comes with the original booklet still intact.

(c)             The records come in their original, custom, inner sleeves, which are UNIQUE to this album.

(d)            The records are pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(e)             Also, the records are pressed on a beautiful, high-quality, virgin-grade vinyl, which is usually used for audiophile, extended-dynamic-range, half-speed mastered and connoisseur pressings.

(f)              Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·       COVER (box)

COVER IS STONE MINT AND NOTHING SHORT OF ABSOLUTE PERFECTION, WITHOUT EVEN A HINT OF A FLAW OR DEFECT; A KIND OF BEAUTY YOU ONLY GET TO SEE ONCE IN A LIFETIME.

NO IMPERFECTIONS ON THE COVER:

-         No split seams

-         No ring wear

-         No cut-out (drill) holes.

-         No cut-out corners

-         No saw-marks or indents

-         No dirt/dust rubbing stains (friction marks caused by rubbing against other covers)

-         No wrinkles or creases

-         No yellowing from aging

-         No writing

-         No stamps

-         No tearing: no chips, dents or nicks on the seams

-         No peel-off marks

-         No stains

-         No mold or mildew spots

-         No stickers or labels

-         No water damage

-         No razor marks, scratches, pressure marks, lines, streaks, or cuts.

-         No warping

-         No wax, glue, paint or liquid drops on the cover

-         No RIAA stamps or stickers.

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

Generally, US postage is $4.80 per item shipped via priority mail. International postage- and insurance rates vary from country to country. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage and insurance rates ►click here. While you can be rest assured that our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note we are NOT responsible for uninsured items. Please do NOT send $1.00 for international insurance, as this rate applies to domestic (USA) shipments ONLY. As of August 2004, we will charge additional $1.00 per order (not per item) for shipping and handling, in order to offset increasing costs of labor and packaging material.

Media- and Surface Mail rates are available ONLY to orders of $200.00 or more. NO EXCEPTIONS.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

Cash refund will be granted only for ►DEFECTIVE items, but we are flexible and reasonable in reviewing the merits of each individual case. We do not play-grade records and can only make reasonable inference on the item's condition based on its visual appearance. Every bid carries a risk that purchased item might play worse than its visual grade may indicate. Still sealed items MUST be returned sealed in order to be eligible for a refund. Please read our complete refund policy before placing a bid. ►Click here for the full text of our policy .

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