DEEP PURPLE - SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE PCS7055 RARE 1st Pr

	£		255
	$		338

DEEP PURPLE’s first LP - "SHADES OF DEEP PURPLE" on EMI PARLOPHONE RECORDS LTD - PCS 7055 ~ (Stereo 1968)

This is in heavy vinyl and has the matrix numbers "YEX 689-1" on side 1 and "YEX 690-1 " on side 2, (repeated on the labels), with the Mother numbers "1" and Stamper letters "R" on both sides, all confirming a genuine first pressing copy of this very hard to find LP, in fact, pressed from only the second stamper pair from the first Mothers!!

This auction then is for an early first pressing copy, which is thus extremely rare in such good playing condition, with a good and clean original laminated Garrod & Lofthouse cover and a good purple printed "EMITEX" advertising sleeve as well.

Check my bidder’s feedback - you will see I describe my records 100% truthfully so you can bid in confidence.

The record itself is pressed in stiff, heavy 149 gram vinyl and very clean on both sides, with barely any spindle marks or wear on the labels because I have owned this from new and always looked after it.

The labels are the correct silver print with black ground and yellow PARLOPHONE and "£" logo, there is no writing on the them but there are a couple of very small areas of discolouration. 

VERY unusually, it has NO sleeve marks on the record surfaces; there is no surface noise, no crackles or pops, no jumps and absolutely NO scratches.
(I have just played it really LOUD to check it properly and cannot find a fault at all, it plays really well and clearly and I cannot detect any audible distortion or wear).
~ Actually, it’s so good that I have played it twice - I must be mad to let this one go!!

There a few really minor creases at the spine, about 15mm long and one slight area on Ritchie’s head where a crease has slightly delaminated, apart from this there are no folds or tears on the cover, no sticker marks or writing, NO shelf wear and just really minor corner leading edge wear, (see the pictures). There is slight pressure marking of the lamination plastic as one would expect, but this cover is about as good as it gets really!

The sleeve is the correct radiussed corners plain paper EMI *advertising one, printed in purple for this first issue copy and has just one corner folded over, no wear, no tears, no writing and really minor age browning.
(*It promotes the first Pink Floyd LP, Simon Dupree, Sgt Pepper’s and so on!)

Using the Record Collector grading system; the vinyl is thus Excellent on both sides, as is the sleeve and the cover.

I saw Deep Purple quite a lot back in the day when they were a gigging college band and bought the album at the time it came out, but I found it less interesting as time went by than the band’s live performances and so I rarely played it, but nevertheless, it’s still an original record and stands the test of time.

All my records are from my own personal collection, built up since the early 1960’s and have genuinely been played very little and then only on quality turntables, (Garrard Zero 100, Lab 80 and Goldring GL75), set up with a low tracking force, using Shure, then Grado then Stanton cartridges over the years. All records have been dry stored, vertically, in the dark in a proper custom made record shelving system and only ever played by myself and NEVER loaned to anyone and especially, never ever partied!

If you are interested in early British R & B and Progressive Rock Bands and the USA West Coast bands of the time then please add me to your favourites as I do have some rarities that I have never seen on eBay. I generally do not go in for all the b******s about rare first pressings and the excessive detailing of group histories that I see other sellers boring eBay members with, but have put more details in than usual as this band are not well known, and will describe the records honestly, just indicating the basics.

The packed weight of this item is estimated at 490g and signed for postage via 2nd class Recorded Delivery is now shown as £2.35 to UK addresses, insured to £34.00, (if the final value goes over this, then I shall send it Special Delivery in the UK, insured to £500.00 at £5.05).
LP’s will now be sent in the heaviest grade of mailer available, (600gm) with double board stiffeners, and this is charged at an additional cost of £0.62 but will take up to 3 LP's safely for those who wish to combine postage on multiple bids, (each LP will be protected with a waterproof plastic bag).
No other packing charges are added; you just pay what I pay!

NB: This item may be picked up in person, or will be despatched securely, so it will need to be signed for on delivery; I will not send it care of a business address without written acceptance of your liability for loss, theft or damage, nor to a PO box.
Carriage charges, where indicated, are for zone 1 UK post codes only. If you are in other zones or are an overseas bidder, you can get an estimate of carriage costs by checking with the www.royalmail.co.uk web site, entering the package dimensions and estimated volumetric shipping weight shown above and choosing the International Shipping options, plus an additional insurance fee if appropriate to the item's final value, but please note that additional packing may increase the packed weight and hence the actual cost.

Payment may be by bank transfer, Pay Pal, cash if collecting in person, or cheque, but please note that I am now very reluctant to accept cheques over £100 net and am also advised by the bank that I must wait at least 12 working days for clearance on both cheques and bank transfers before items can be despatched or picked up; this means that items will not be released on average until two weeks have elapsed from a transfer or a cheque's deposit at the bank, so please be patient! International buyers paying by PayPal should expect to pay their International fee on JUST the shipping part of the transaction, which I will add to the eBay invoice in accordance with eBay rules.
NB: If you wish to pay by postal order(s), you should be aware that these are treated exactly the same as cheques now and so you should contact me first before sending any.

Please confirm your full address when completing the transaction via the eBay and PayPal notes system to avoid delays on despatch; I now check identifies before sending items because of fraud attempts

I will immediately cancel the bids of anyone who has only just joined eBay, or is bidding from Cambodia or Nigeria, etc. (including any winning bids at the last second); sorry, but I am fed up with losing fees that eBay will not refund!