CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Strictly Personal RARER ORIG UK 1968 STEREO E++ LP.

	£		125
	$		166

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.75. Europe (including Russia) £12.50. Rest of World £16.50. All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all. More details on this nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible even yet another Royal Mail price hike, I will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably a little heavier.

Artist or Band: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND

Album Title: Strictly Personal.

Producer(s): Bob Krasnow.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Ah Feel Like Ahcid; Safe As Milk; Trust Us; Son of Mirror Man—Mere Man.

Side 2: On Tomorrow; Beatle Bones n’ Smokin Stones; Gimme Dat Harp Boy; Kandy Korn.

Label/Format: Liberty – original blue Liberty format with matt, smooth surfaces (please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle marks, very few, fine and faint. A superb copy with sound to match.

Cat Number: LBS 83172.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 131 grams. A very good average weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England – that is both record AND cover. Some copies of this had imported American covers, this one, totally British.

Rarity: SCARCE: and hardly a big seller. Initial copies were on the blue Liberty label and then a few repressed on the black before being revamped with a new cover on the Sunset label. Less easy to find with a UK-made cover and never easy to find in clean conditions, most bought my certain types and rarely hi-fi connoisseurs. Also this is one of the few I have seen with minimal traces of dulling caused by the polylining of the inner sleeve. A album that rarely seems to avoid this as the record reacts badly to the polymer of the inner over the years. I have seen several severely affected by this and if indeed I did not own a copy like this myself, I would not even offer this one. The merest hint when viewed under angled bright light and, of course,s totally harmless. Finding one with less will prove near impossible. One of my favourite Beefheart albums ever and always difficult to find this clean.

Original Year of Release: 1968.

Matrix Nos: LBS 83172 A // 1 420 & LBS 83172 B // 1 420

Musicians: Don van Vliet - lead vocal and mouthharp; Alex St Claire - guitar; Jeff Cotton - guitar; Jerry Handley - bass; John French - Drums.

Brief Info: After the stunning debut Safe as Milk failed to sell, this second album appeared on a different label – Liberty – again only very briefly. Beefheart was finding it very difficult to find a loyal label that would offer his brand of music. This remains one of the most controversial in the Captain’s early catalogue mainly due to the production of Bob Krasnow. Vastly divided opinions on it’s sound and use of phasing has always divided Beefheart fans. This is a strictly personal opinion: I think it sounds fantastic and makes a pretty strange band sound even more weird. But some think is obscured their real sound, including van Vliet himself. This wonderful album was a great prelude to Beefheart’s classic Trout Mask Replica which again was issued on a new label – Zappa’s newly formed Straight which specialised in the more ‘out-there’ artists. Here Beefheart’s sound progressed still further from the debut and was now becoming even more challenging. The Captain was no ordinary artist and his music had few rules, his genius is at last being more and more recognised as time passes. This landmark album was the last not to include those outlandish names for The Magic Band, the members real names were correctly used. Weirdness however was the order of the day – just check out the inside cover pictures. A man fast approaching his creative heights and this stereo record does it superb justice. Skillfully blending blues with psychedelia, I have never heard anything quite like this before. Never easy to find playable copies of this original title, this was a real pleasure to hear again. One of the very few I have seen with two shiny surfaces and only near minuscule traces of dulling caused by reaction with the lining. Also a very clean UK-made cover, those are also at more of a premium. This is a highly important recording, it’s twisted and at times difficult melodies quickly get into the subconscious and for those unfamiliar, it’s a wonderful experience. Only with Zappa’s total unrestricted artistic freedom did the Captain excel to even greater heights on his next masterpiece. To phase or not to phase? – who really cares, just enjoy this unique and brilliant album for what it is.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: an unlaminated gatefold format with matt and very slightly textured surfaces. Printed and made in the UK with NO Blue Thumb logo and LBS stereo Catalogue Number.

Cover Front: The front is fragile and delicate as it is made with single thickness card. It has not survived totally unscathed, but will prove very difficult to find better. A small, gentle crease near the top right corner, a light mark near the left edge central and a couple of reasonably light press marks seen more under angled light. However, this has far more positives than negatives: it is clean, fresh with lovely deep colour. Also crisp with mimimal wear to the vulnerable right edge and spine fold. No sticker issues or grubbiness, this will take a lot of beating.

Cover Back: The back is superb and grades little short of Mint(-) with barely anything to fault at all – just a super-faint edge surface crease and look hard to see it. The lack of ring wear, grubbiness and rubbing makes this an outstanding back and few will even come close to matching it.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Geninely weird and bizarre and worth the price alone as this will not be found elsewhere. Just as wear-prone as the outside faces, possible even more so being black. This has again has little to fault with just the odd small tip crease on thte left. Rare seen a much better all-round example of this cover.

Top Edges: Incredibly neat and crisp with minimal traces of any thickening or burring, few survive better.

Bottom Edges: The main black fold has a little surface rubbing which is patchy. The two thinner card surfaces are again crisp and neat. Importantly, all the edges lie almost dead flat with no curl or bowing.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Both the thin front and back opening edges are clean, neat and sharp, barely thickened or burred, one microscopic nick on back, both guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Quite solid, but being single thickness card, this has a gentle tilt to right, but has avoided any crushing or significant compression. Barely any rubbing and only small traces on either fold. All text intact, sharp and clear as seen in close-up. A vulnerable part of this under-strength designed part of the cover unusually still in very fine condition.

Corners: All corners neat with minimal softening of the front right pair. A little creasing on them but little else and very fine to excellent shape is retained.

Cover Summary: Original UK covers for this album are scarce. As mentioned already, many had American import covers and then when repressed in the UK, a totally different single cover was printed. So a vintage collector’s piece in excellent condition. It should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(–): mainly due to creasing near the front top. A Polydor-style polylined inner that is importantly date-coded 1/069. The album was issued in October 1968, so this one is very early indeed. Two crisp neat window circles and clear lining. Fairly light age darkening only with all edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): this is a very fine visual copy that has minimal traces of any surface marks. Under bright angled light, there is only gentle hint of inner bag reaction to the surface, but amongst the lightest I have ever seen. On a scale of 1 to 10, less than 2. Clean, and still with a lovely shine, intense black and very solidly pressed – a record rarely purchased by hi-fi connoisseurs and those of a certain type – finding a copy this clean is very difficult. Hardly played and it sounds great too, a super example of one of the earliest ever made.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This elusive record, that when seen is invariably in very poor conditions, plays up to and most all even exceeds it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is high with a wide dynamic range. The controversial use of phasing is highly interesting and I love it. The stereo imagery works well too and the overall sound is presentated very differently to the mono version. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a record that can sometimes suffers indifferent pressing quality. Overall a lovely pressing for a fairly difficult album, this has little to fault at all and I enjoyed it immensely. This is an album I can compare to nothing else heard – a superb follow-up to the classic ‘Safe as Milk’ debut – quite why this divides opinion so much still baffles me. It includes brilliant material and the mix gives quite a psych-edge to it. You can imagine the fate for probably the majority of these, played on goodness knows what, this is always a joy to hear when sounding this clean. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record which remains high in my favourites list from this period. Both cover and record will prove very difficult to find significantly better and merit my strongest recommendation. This master avant garde bluesman rarely failed to please and this was the perfect prelude to the main event that followed…

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 10,000+ items sold in over 12 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.