EMERSON LAKE & PALMER (ELP) RARE 1st + GATEFOLD COVER

	£		53
	$		70

ONEADAYRECORDS – NO Reserves – LOW Starting Bids – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER

Album Title: Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Country of Manufacture: Germany: this is significant as some Germany pressings on the pink label include a gatefold cover as can be seen on my pictures.

Producer(s): Greg Lake.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Barbarian; Take a Pebble; Knife-Edge.

Side 2: The Three Fates: a) Clotho b) Lachesis c) Atropos; Tank; Lucky Man.

Label/Format: Island – original German full pink with i logo.

Label Conditions: Both look fantastic: very clean, fresh and highly attractive with only a single fine (if a little long) spindle mark each side. These only show under angled light.

Cat Number: 6339 026.

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: 135 grams. A very good average weight for this pressing.

Rarity: Quite rare: German pink Islands seen outside Germany are never easy to find. The cover front and back are the same as the UK version, but with the added bonus of being a gatefold with superb interior band artwork. This is unique, this format cover was not issued here and this has always been a cherished item for prog-rock connoisseurs. Clean pressings on whatever label are difficult. A highly complex and superbly recorded album, but somewhat intolerant of usage on heavy-tracking old equipment that usually ruined the wonderful sound. This very clean German record has hardly been played and offers impressive clean sound. This too when being play-graded on a massively revealing LP12.

Original Year of Release: 1970.

Matrix Nos: 10 AA 6339026 1Y 320 / 10 AA 6339026 2Y 320

Musicians: Keith Emerson – Piano, Royal Festival Hall organ, Moog; Greg Lake - Vocals, bass, electric & Acoustic guitar; Carl Palmer - percussion.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Featuring Keith Emerson, formerly of The Nice, Greg Lake (King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster) these three played high octane progressive music. Keyboard driven rock with a classical feel, this debut for me still remains, for many, their best and definitive album. Featuring only six tracks but every one superb and of course the final song, ‘Lucky Man’ remains one of the definitive prog classics. A sublime song with stunning sound. This has to be heard via the vinyl source, and preferably on a big system. Near it’s end, when the Moog kicks in right at the death, the bass frequencies hit below 60 Hz and on a worthy system this actually pulls at the stomach muscles. This is true hi-fi nirvana and nothing can better it. This is a very impressive copy that plays with very clean sound with little unwanted. I realise this is a bold statement but this gives a hugely enjoyable performance. The lack of often loud, irritating crackle on the quiet passages is so unusual to hear as Island pressings were somewhat inconsistent and variable. This German-made example sets a very high standard, a country well-known for quality and they seldom disappoint. There is no clipping or distortions either, and although absolute silence is a near impossible ask on this album, this has little to fault. The cover is equally delicate and is rarely seen without significant wear and especially ringwear. This one is not laminated and prone to all forms of wear. It has mildish ring arcs but compared to some I have seen, these are relatively light. What makes this special is the gatefold format with superb band artwork as seen on my pictures. A vintage prog classic in all-round very fine condition.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: an unlaminated GATEFOLD format with matt finish, highly intolerant of abuse, overhandling and bad storage. This one was printed and made in Germany.

Cover Front: One of Island’s most intolerant covers and seldom seen without heavy wear. The top left corner has a thumb-crease rub but little else other than fine rubbing to the bottom edge fold. It retains deep rich colour and has minimal traces of any ring rubs. Clean, fresh with any other creases ultra fine and faint and no sticker marks or damage – this is also commonly seen. The famous white dove will seldom be seen a great deal better.

Cover Back: A moderate rim rub at the top and bottom and finding one without will always prove beyond difficult. With thin card this simply cannot withstand over 40 years of storage without some pressure from the record. The odd fine crease or edge rub trace but this is a very fine back in context of this uncomprosing sleeve.

Cover Inside: Rare to have to describe the inside of this cover as most are single formats, the German variant is well-famed and very collectable. Both sides looks superb with no wear and retain fantastic freshness and colour.

Top Edges: Very light and patchy rub traces only.

Bottom Edges: Barely any wear on the front and only moderately light rubbing on the back, mostly towards the right corner area.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with barely any wear and no trimming. Record enters on the back edge, the inside of which as some writing which, of course, is invisible outside.

Spine and Text: Solid, mainly straight with neat compression and mild tilt to right. Some reasonably light rubbing to the top fold and minor chips or rub traces to the main surface. The vulnerable text has not been affected to any real degree being still present and practially unworn. One ‘E’ has a clip.

Corners: All the corners have small tip rubs, but possibly the least seen yet on this cover. All retain very fine shape (some better still), and there are NO tip-ins on this cover at all.

Cover Summary: In terms of this uncompromising cover, this can almost be considered a strong one, one that will prove difficult to find much better. Gatefolds tend to wear less well than single covers, the backs especially so. With all considered this is a very attractive example and the inside superb. I always expect a little ringwear on this cover, it is almost a case of ‘how much’? Not for the perfectionist, but many, if not most collectors will enjoy it.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR MINT: a heavy-duty white polylined inner that the German’s so often used. This is superb and looks little short of as made with pristine window circles and clear lining – no edge splits, creases or repairs. This appears date coded 5.70.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is ultra clean, shiny, with an intense black finish. Very solidly pressed with deep and wide grooves for super-fi sound, these have complex patterns and are very clean and totally unworn. The owner said he played it merely once or maybe twice and looking at these hardly marked playing surfaces, I would not argue for a second. Visually a super record that should please most-all 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This very impressive German pink i ELP debut plays mostly up to it’s high visual grading with little. With such detail and complex sound embedded, this was a record that could be easily destroyed if not treated with due respect and many often have loud crackle and distortion – this has minimal surface sounds and no distortion whatsoever – it’s just a question of if you system can handle it. Strong, dynamic and powerful sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is astonishing with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. This is a vintage record with genuine hi-fi audio quality and will make any worthy system sound great. A record with massive highs and lows, real church organ and deep bass synths, that will shake the foundations and then delicate piano pieces and some real quiet passages. These type of records are the ultimate test for pressing standards and silence is near impossible, but this copy has little unwanted, but the odd minor sound has to be expected here and there. Wouldn’t it be nice in vinyl fantasy-land if all records played as quiet as the digital format. Indeed many records, even when bought brand new failed to offer pristine sound. Overall, this excels and will blow away the CD versions for realism and dynamic range. Possibly the most difficult track is the delicate ‘Take a Pebble’, but this plays well with lovely sound, the acoustic guitar sounds in the room. Few copies will better this significantly I feel sure – I have heard several noisy copies of this before, both on pink and pink rim repressings and often clean looking copies can disappoint. Remember groovewear cannot be seen, only heard, this has none. Both channels are clean and sharp, I feel very sure this record has been played very lightly and has been generally, well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. The piano parts are crisp and sharp and those demanding sonic parts on the finale are beautifully focused and precise. Even the immensely difficult to track church organ is totally focused and devoid of the clipping and crackle that spoil so many of these. Tracking effortless and maximum pleasure is gleaned from this impressive cut. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this vintage prog classic. This copy will prove difficult to find a great deal better and merits strong recommendation.

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 QED Silver 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 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 3 or 4 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). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as 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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (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 [£46 maximum]) = £10. (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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (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’.