DANDO SHAFT - RARE 71 RCA NEON Second Album. HARDLY PLAYED FOLK-ROCK CLASSIC.

	£		162
	$		215

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: DANDO SHAFT

Album Title: Dando Shaft.

Producer(s): Miki Dallon.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Coming Home to Me; Sometimes; Waves Upon the Ether; Riverboat; Dewet.

Side 2: Railway; Whispering Ned; Pass it On; Kalyope Driver; Till the Morning Comes; Prayer.

Label/Format: RCA Neon (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: One of the most beautiful label designs: both very clean, fresh and attractive with any of the tiny few spindle traces being ultra fine and faint and no wear around the hole area. The owner said this record had hardly been played, going by the visual evidence, I have few doubts about that.

Cat Number: NE 5.

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: 137 grams. A very good weight for this particular year.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity & Overview: Rare: Neon was a subsidiary of RCA for bands with a more ‘progressive’ edge and minimal commercial potential. They had only very limited promotion and few albums were made in on it, and few still sold. All Neon albums are scarce, and some rare – this one seldom seen or offered and this a somewhat ‘lost’ progressive rock-rock classic. I always have to mention pressing quality on this label. After leaving Decca for pressing their records, RCA, from my experience of them, went downhill in terms of quality pressing standards. Many albums from around 1970 onwards had pressing issues with invisible cutting noises and distortions and many titles were a pure lottery in what they would sound like. I have found Neon records to be even more at risk, and I am pretty sure many of them were pressed on recycled vinyl, this can be seen with mottled impurities seen within the actual record surfaces with careful viewing, hence many play with surface noises and distortion, also often with pressing rasps and loss of clarity. Bumps and pits also commonly seen too. Also, Neon records in particular often have very shallow and compact grooves making the surfaces almost appear smoother, hence they mark and scratch easier than most standard cut records. This copy has far less issues than most I have had seen and appears hardly even played. With with more compact and fine grooves, they are so easily damaged by vintage, thick and heavy-tracking stylus, so a hardly played example has a far better chance. Lovely hardly marked labels and very clean, shiny playing surfaces with no real evidence of any mixed quality vinyl being used. A delicate folk album, very similar to Pentangle, this fragile album plays mostly very well indeed with little unwanted. Pressing quality is mostly very fine, the only hint of sound degrading – purely within the pressing hasten to add – was towards the end of side one with minor loss of focus. This being played on an ultimately sensitive Linn LP12 turntable which I play-grade all my records on. I feel sure this very collectable label record and band album will prove very difficult to find this clean again. And unless total perfection is mandatory, which I truly feel near impossible to achieve on this incredibly difficult Neon record, I think this should please many, if not most collectors. Mention also has to be made of the cover: this as fragile and wear-prone as the record itself with texturing on all surfaces of soft card. It is one of those that will very rarely be seen without heavy wear, and especially ring wear on the back – the type that goes green, just like The Kinks ‘Muswell Hillbillies’. Overall, this has far less than most with little on the front and only moderate on the back, also a very fine spine, that never to be taken for granted. So, a difficult all-round package and this one way above average, like this a rare album indeed and very collectable.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: AGBS 0517-1E / AGBS 0518-1E

Mothers / Stampers: A1H / A1G

Musicians: Polly Bolton – Vocals; Kevin Dempsey – Guitar, Vocals; Martin Jenkins – Vocals, Flute, Mandolin, Fiddle, Guitar; Ted Kay – Tabla, Percussion; Roger Bullen – Bass; Dave Cooper – Guitar, Vocals.

Brief Info: The second and self-titled album by this wonderful progressive folk-rock band. Now including Polly Bolton on vocals, direct comparisons with the wonderful Pentangle can be made. She has a very impressive voice in a similar vein to Jacqui McShee, and adds an extra dimension to an already impressive line-up. This particular album received terrific reviews on issue, as did the debut, but the usual lack of promotion meant few sales and this lost in the vaults of time. A fate shared by many on Neon, an off-shoot of RCA and not too many albums even made on it. Hence this is a very collectable ‘prog’ label and with a beautiful logo as seen on side one. For fans of classic folk rock like early Fairports, Steeleye Span, Pentangle. Mr Fox and Trees – Dando Shaft are unmissable. A wonderful band that deserved far more success that eluded them.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(–): this being quite critical for an impossibly fragile and wear-prone cover. An unlaminated gatefold format made with thin card that is textured on all surfaces. Printed and made in England by Howard’s.

Cover Front: Superb artwork and quite famous within it’s field, but very delicate and highly prone to all forms of wear. It is one of those when rubbed, goes a strange shade of green before any bare card is seen – another that springs immediately to mind that does exactly the same, is The Kinks ‘Muswell Hillbillies’, also some Vertigo covers as well like Gentle Giant. This front has little rubbing with only gentle traces near the bottom edge with a tinge of the aforementioned green hue. A few light dull spots are seen nearer the top, mostly under angled light and there are hardly any creasing at all. The gorgeous artwork looks impressive with rich colour and the magnificent Neon logo, near the top right corner, pristine. With mimimal traces of speckle to the textured surface and no ring wear, this front will not be easy to find much better. Incredibly intolerant and seldom seen with little wear or blemishes.

Cover Back: The only real issue on the back is green-tinged rim rubbing and a little near the edges. This trait of the green hue showing from rubbing not easily explained, it has to be part of the process of the ink application on certain covers. The rim rubbing on moderately light here and confined to the bottom left quadrant area. A little corner tip rubbing but little else to fault, and for sure, this unforgiving back will never prove easy to find a great deal better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superbly preserved on the inside with barely any wear at all. The odd small burr trace near the bottom edges, but the textured surfaces are impressively unrubbed with rich deep colour and no ring wear.

Top Edges: Both straight with patchy and mainly light rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Similar again, a little more than above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front edge is tucked and folded with a real edge. This has little wear at all. The end inside panel on it has a little minor thickening and slight burr traces seen viewed end-on. The back opening is generally clean, quite sharp with little wear, any thickening or burring very mild and faint as again seen viewed end-on. This edge not quite flush in manufacture, but very close and has not been trimmed.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with barely any compression and folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. All the fragile silver text is present and unworn with most of any rubbing on this spine at the very ends. Against the odds, there is little rubbing to the folds either with just a few gentle traces (and no tip-ins anywhere).

Corners: All corners have moderate rubbing with fine shape retained.

Cover Summary: Given it’s very fragile and unforgiving tolerance of wear, this is a strong all-round example and it will prove difficult to find much better. A few blemishes and light wear yes, but this beautifully designed cover should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): the original black polylined inner is in super shape. The lining very clear as seen through two crisp undamaged window circles, hardly any creasing and all edges unsplit with no repairs. Genuine Neon inners were matt finished and made with softer paper that had a tendency to go wooly if rubbed, this one has minimal traces of such at all.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: and arguably worthy of a (+). A very fine visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface trace marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Visually a super record that should please many collectors.

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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This very scarce record plays mainly above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. I have given an overview on this and other Neon records further up in my ‘Rarity’ paragraph and please read if if you have not already done so. For most, this has strong, distortion-free sound, just towards the end of side one, and mere traces at the very end of two, a little degrading in the clarity of the mostly excellent sound. As this appears so little played, I feel sure it is within the pressing itself, and this nothing unusual for the label, Neon in particular with it’s shallow depth grooves and variable pressing quality. Overall however, this one is well pressed and most of these quite fragile songs sound lovely with most of any surface sounds gentle, light and infrequent. This never to be dismissed lightly from any Neon album and this particular title being one of the most difficult ever made on it. Few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and quite carefully handled. So fairly gentle reminders near the end of side one in particular it is a vintage record being heard, not a squeaky clean digital format and not for the perfectionist. But a really ask myself, will a ‘perfect’ copy of this album even exist as a Neon original? – I really do doubt it. I would be also very confident most will have far more issues than this one too. Little, overall spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful album – not perfect, but still impresisve. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended when all due consideration is made and allowed for.

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 8,000+ items sold in over 10 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’.