'BUCKINGHAM NICKS' 1973 ANTHEM/POLYDOR PD 5058 'RL' MASTERING RARE & CLEAN

$

158

'BUCKINGHAM NICKS' ~ 1973 POLYDOR PD 5058 ~ 'RL' MASTERING ~ RARE OOP & NICE

"BUCKINGHAM NICKS" ARTIST: LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM & STEVIE NICKS LABEL: POLYDOR PD-5058 RELEASED: SEPTEMBER 5, 1973 EDITION: ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING (STERLING/ALL DISC) MASTERING: ROBERT LUDWIG ('RL' IN DEADWAX) PRESSING: ALL DISC PRESSING PLANT ~ NJ ('6' ON LABEL/ '33' IN MATRIX) RECORDED AT: SOUND CITY STUDIOS  LOS ANGELES RECORD COMPANY: ANTHEM RECORD CORPORATION/POLYDOR RECORDS GATEFOLD ~ CLEAN ~ w/ ORIGINAL POLYDOR INNER SLEEVE  JACKET PHOTOGRAPH: LORRIE SULLIVAN MATRIX (SIDE B): PD-5058-B-2-1A RL STERLING MATRIX (SIDE A): PD-5058 AS - AD STERLING 33
CONDITION:  VINYL, INNER & JACKET ALL VG++
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would like for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this original, true First Pressing of the rare and elusive 'Buckingham Nicks' album from 1973. This is my original copy that I've taken great care of for many years. See details on Condition below.
This is a very sought after, but hard to find album on vinyl. It was originally released in September 1973 but, for unknown reasons, it didn't sell well and tanked. Polydor quickly deleted it. Today it's a tough record to find in decent condition. Few copies sold originally, and those few were well loved and played to death. Some 'beat up' copies are still out there, but crisp clean copies are rare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a classic, beautiful, timeless record and is a must-have for any fan of Fleetwood Mac. 
The iconic, classic, cover photo is great. Stevie and Lindsey, in black and white, young, naked, beautiful and clearly in love. Their bodies, like the music on the album, are perfectly entwined, almost as if they are fused into one single being, one single focus. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This 1973 Anthem/Polydor pressing reveals just how deeply layered, dynamic and intense the music is. Lindsey's guitar sounds great. The instruments are well separated, their vocals and amazing harmony are crisp & clear, and there's a good sense of space and depth. The overall sound is warm, intimate, vibrant and dynamic. The 'compressed' flat, digital CD sounds poor in comparison.
This is a terrific sounding album. A surprisingly overlooked gem of '70s pop-rock. From it's starkly sensuous cover, to Lindsey's impeccable guitar work, Stevie's chilling vocals, the beautiful instrumentals, to the fine backing band. 
A true masterpiece; equal to or greater than anything Fleetwood Mac would do in the future.
Buckingham's guitar finger work is brilliant and Stevie's voice is smooth as silk. This album is essential listening for fans of Fleetwood Mac. It's a true lost treasure and a real shame that it's never been re-issued on vinyl.
'Buckingham Nicks' features the songwriting skills of both Buckingham and Nicks in equal measures, with both contributing four songs individually to the LP. 
All of the Nicks-penned tracks are absolute stunners. Her songs and vocals are a snapshot of a woman at a very specific, tumultuous time in her early 20s. She's introspective and full of questions for herself and the world around her; she is deeply in love, but already anticipating the end of that romance.
Stevie Nicks' vocals on this record are some of her best. However, the "magic" really shows when both Buckingham and Nicks harmonize together. The harmonies are where this album shines the brightest.
This album has great guitar work by Buckingham. He plays both 6 and 12 string guitars, vintage Martin guitars, and his unique finger-picking style, now very familiar to Fleetwood Mac fans, but unique at the time, is just fantastic.
Buckingham's voice has a great folk-influenced Californian pop-rock sound that fits the songs perfectly. The songs are all catchy and compact, with every element sounding perfectly placed.
~~~ The band and musicianship on this album is also just fantastic. In addition to Lindsey's fine guitar work, it has some of L.A.'s best studio musicians of the time period playing on it. The album has a bottom-heavy rhythm section with Waddy Wachtel on Guitar, Jim Keltner on Drums, and Jerry Scheff on Bass. 
This album contains songs and music that are as good as anything that would come out later on during Fleetwood Mac's career.
~~~~~~ Listening to this album today, it's like you stumbled upon vintage Fleetwood Mac songs or outtakes that you had forgotten about or never even heard before. The songs, vocals and musicianship on this album are fantastic. They are the 'roots' of vintage 70's Fleetwood Mac that we all know and love. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Buckingham Nicks" contains several songs that should've been hits. The driving 'Don't Let Me Down Again' sounds like a cross between 'World Turning' and 'Second Hand News'. It has amazing energy.
Nicks’ “Crying in the Night,” about a woman in a relationship who has a wandering eye, was one of the duo's best early songs that they brought with them into Fleetwood Mac. 
'Long Distance Winner' is a fantastic track, with fierce singing from Stevie, her witty lyrics, and Buckingham's wicked electric guitar solos.
The musical highlight of the album is the closer, the 7-minute long “Frozen Love.” Appropriately enough, this is the tune that Mick Fleetwood is rumored to have heard one day while touring Sound City studio, prompting him to offer Buckingham a spot as lead guitarist in Fleetwood Mac. 
If you like the mid to late 70s Fleetwood Mac 'white' cover albums, you'll love this album as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When listing this album on Ebay this morning, I noticed something for the very first time. The vinyl label claims that the band is "Nicks & Buckingham" and that the title of the record is "Buckingham Nicks."
I've never heard this record refered to as being by "Nicks & Buckingham," only as 'Buckingham Nicks,' the album title, not the name of the band. Odd.
~~~~ THE STORY BEHIND STEVIE, LINDSEY, AND THE "BUCKINGHAM NICKS" ALBUM
Most people think that Stevie and Lindsey hooked up just before this 1973 debut album, but they had been making music in bands and as a duo for several years already, and had known each other for much longer. 
Stevie and Lindsey first sang together in 1966, when they both attended the same high school in Palo Alto.
Soon after that, Lindsey was in a Bay Area psych-rock band, 'Fritz', with some of his childhood friends, and asked Stevie to join. With her charismatic persona and amazing powerful voice, she was fronting the group by the summer of 1968.
Nicks was just 19, and her musical heroes included Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. Buckingham was 18, a fan of the Beatles but also a fan of the softer California Folk and Country that was prevalent at the time.
In 1971, a mutual friend, Keith Olsen, who was a young and upcoming record producer, saw 'Fritz' live and liked what he saw and heard in Stevie & Lindsey's onstage chemistry. He offered to work with them as just a duo, without their band, at his run down Van Nuys, L.A. studio, Sound City. 
That was the beginning of 'Buckingham Nicks'.
Lindsey and Stevie had a rough start. Stevie worked as a hostess/waitress to pay rent while Lindsey preferred to hang out, play guitar, write music and party.
They started writing together, purchased a used 4-track reel-to-reel, and recorded some demos in the back room of the Coffee Factory in Daly City, that Lindsey's father owned.
Early on, Stevie had a natural ability for writing lyrics that reflected her everyday life, her uncertainty about the future, and songs which also drew odd symbolism from her interest in mysticism. She and Lindsey also both shared a great gift for melody and songwriting.
Nicks has one of the most immediately identifiable voices in rock, low and deep, like it’s bubbling up from her unconscious. She can sound innocent, sexy and vulnerable, but also commanding and assertive. A perfect voice for a 70's Rock singer.
Lindsey and Stevie eventually put together a tape of 7 original demos and took it to their buddy Olsen. Olsen shopped the tape around different record companies, but nobody in L.A. was interested in developing it into something more.
They continued to struggle, write, and make more demos, often late at night, after hours at Sound City, where Olsen gave them free studio time and a place to hang out. 
Olsen, early on, to his credit, could see and hear their potential, but no-one else did. Olsen even hired Stevie to clean his house, to help them make ends meet.
Eventually a small local record label, Anthem records, finally agreed to release their album. The record label did not have the money or staff to promote it, so Polydor signed on to distribute and promote the album for the duo.
The record was released in September 1973. With lukewarm initial reviews and poor sales, Polydor dropped any interest in the record within months of its release. With Polydor gone, the rights to the album then reverted back to Anthem Records.
That's part of the reason why it's not been reissued. Partly because Lindsey didn't like his voice on the recording and didn't want it reissued, and partly that Anthem privately still owns the rights. 'Buckingham Nicks' has remained out-of-print ever since 1973.
After their album didn't find a market, Lindsey and Stevie continued writing new songs. They were determined that the next Buckingham Nicks album would be stronger and better. Lindsey wrote “Monday Morning,” and Nicks, after reading about a Welsh witch, wrote “Rhiannon.” They co-wrote a beautiful ballad that they called “Landslide.” 
Enter Mick Fleetwood.
Fleetwood was shopping around for a new studio and new producer to help with making his next Fleetwood Mac album. Unaware of Stevie and Lindsey, he stopped in to check out Sound City Studio and while he was there, Olsen played some tape reels of his recent studio production work for Fleetwood to hear, including some of the recent 'Buckingham Nicks' mixes. 
Fleetwood liked the sound and feel of the studio and made an agreement with Olsen to start working with Fleetwood Mac on a new album there in February 1975.
Then, suddenly in December 1974, disaster struck. Mick Fleetwood got the news that both Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac's main songwriter, and Bob Weston, Mac's guitarist, were quitting the band.
Now, Fleetwood Mac was booked at the studio to cut an album and in dire need of a guitar player and a songwriter. The story goes that Mick Fleetwood heard 'Frozen Love', wanted that specific guitar sound in his band. He asked Olsen if Lindsey might be interested in joining his band.
Lindsey was reluctant to give up on Buckingham Nicks.  He felt their new material was strong and that the musical bond he and Stevie built over the years would soon turn into something big. He wasn't going to leave Stevie behind. It was both of them, together, or nothing.
After having dinner with the other members of Fleetwood Mac in January 1975, Stevie and Lindsey agreed to join the band, as a team.
Olsen ended up engineering and co-producing Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album, their first with Buckingham and Nicks on board. Stevie and Lindsey dominated every aspect of the mega successful Fleetwood Mac band once they teamed up.
The rest, as they say, is history.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Buckingham Nicks' unquestionably ranks up there with some of Stevie and Lindsey's best work, and is one of the best albums of the early 70s.
It's a masterpiece. Amazing and Ageless. An essential, remarkable album, that should be in every serious music collector's vinyl archive.
Here's your chance to get a nice, clean, complete, original 1973 First Pressing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
This is my own personal copy that I sought out and purchased back in 1975, after first hearing and liking that first self-titled 'white' Fleetwood Mac album. I loved Stevie's voice and went looking for anything else she released. 
I purchased this copy nearly 50 years ago, in Greenwich Village, on one of my regular vinyl digs in those days, and have taken great care of it since. Back then, they were relatively easy to find and relatively cheap. It's been kept in an inner poly sleeve and shelved/sleeved properly for many, many years. 
VINYL: The vinyl still looks quite nice. Bright and shiny, with only a couple of light hairlines and very mild evidence of play. No serious scuffs, palpable scratches, dings or damage. A beautiful used original copy. The vinyl is very thick and heavy.
I'll call it conservatively at least VG+. I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it still looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
The Deadwax has all the 1973 First Pressing indicators as listed above, as well as the 'Sterling RL' stamp indicating amazing sound and mastering by the famous Robert Ludwig at Sterling Sound. 
I've had this record for decades, but have never cleaned it, other than my trusty old 'DiscWasher' brush. I took great care of my records, but this would benefit from a good deep cleaning to make it really jump out of the speakers.
LABELS: This is pressed with the classic early, bold, red Polydor labels. As you can see, the labels are clean and bright. No marks, writing or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks great for a 50 year old OG copy. This record tends to be found with significant jacket wear, shelf wear and ringwear, but this copy looks great. The famous iconic cover photo of a naked Stevie & Lindsey is clean, bright and glossy.
There's a tiny bit of ringwear at the top of the back cover, otherwise the jacket is in fine shape. Corners are sharp, spine straight, no seam splits. Beautiful.
The inner gatefold is clean and bright and the gatefold seam is fine. No cracks, splits or "recreational" stains. This 'white' gatefold tends to show wear and stains, but this one looks great. The gatefold text has all the fantastic lyrics and recording information.
This record also comes with it's original correct Polydor inner sleeve.
This is a 'real' original First Pressing with the Anthem records logo. The cheap, inferior sounding, pirated copies from the early 80's don't have that small detail.
You can see from my pictures that it's still quite nice. Overall a very decent, rare, original first pressing. A true survivor, and still just the way I purchased it nearly 50 years ago. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clean copies like this one are hard to find. This album is a must-have on vinyl, if not for the great music, at least for the classic album jacket art alone. The CD cover just doesn't do it justice.
~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare, and as described, and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,400 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 25 years, so please bid with confidence!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN