"GETZ/GILBERTO" RARE VAN GELDER MONO PRESSING + '64 FIRST PRESSING STEREO 2 LP's

$

48

"GETZ/GILBERTO" RARE VAN GELDER MONO PRESSING + 1964 FIRST PRESSING STEREO 
STAN GETZ / JOAO GILBERTO "GETZ / GILBERTO" LABEL: VERVE 8545 RECORDED: MARCH 18–19, 1963 ~ A&R STUDIOS NYC RELEASED: MARCH 1964 RECORDING COMPANY: MGM VERVE RECORDS V-8545 RECORDING ENGINEERING: PHIL RAMONE PRODUCER: CREED TAYLOR LINER NOTES BY GILBERTO, GETZ & GENE LEES COVER ART PAINTING: OLGA ALBIZU
THE MONO PRESSING
LABEL: VERVE RECORDS V-8545 A/B (63-V-160) EARLY PRESSING ~ MONO ~ RUDY VAN GELDER MASTERING: RUDY VAN GELDER PRESSING: MGM RECORD MANUFACTURING DIVISION "ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM" IN CAPITAL LETTERS ON LABEL MATRIX (SIDE A): V-8545 - S1 63 VG-160 - RE-3 1C VAN GELDER (Block-shaped S symbol) MATRIX (SIDE B): V-8545 S-2 63-VG-161 RE-2 9 ([Block-shaped S symbol) F.G. Runouts are etched except stamped 'Van Gelder'.
CONDITION: VINYL: VG to VG+   JACKET: VG+
STEREO FIRST PRESSING VERSION
LABEL: MGM VERVE V6-8545 'DEEP GROOVE' PRESSING RING "VERVE CONTEMPORARY MUSIC" ON COVER RECORD LABEL CATALOG NUBER: V6/8545, WITH 'SLASH' NOT 'DASH' NO HYPHENS BETWEEN SONG TITLES AND TIMES NO PARENTHESIS AROUND BMI's A2 SAYS 'ASCAP' NOT 'BMI' A3 reads "Para Machucar Meu Coracao (To Hurt My Heart)" B2 reads "So Danco Samba (Jazz Samba) from the film "Copacabana Palace" RIM TEXT: "MGM RECORDS - A DIVISION OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER, INC. - Made in U.S.A." MATRIX A: V6-8545 SIDE-1 63-VGS - 560 RE-1 F.G. MATRIX B: V6-8545 SIDE-2 63-VGS - 561 RE-1 F.G.
CONDTION: VINYL VG+ JACKET: VG
BOTH RECORDS w/ ORIGINAL VERVE 'JAZZ OF AMERICA' INNER SLEEVES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 want 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 we are offering up this nice early vintage Mono/Stereo pair of the classic timeless Jazz album "Getz/Gilberto" from 1964
There are 2 records in this lot, but the main record is a rare Rudy Van Gelder mastered Mono version of the record. This is an early rare version that rarely comes up for sale.
These are both very early pressings. The Stereo copy is a First Pressing from 1964 and the Mono Van Gelder pressing was done in limited numbers in late 1965 or early 1966.
I was going to list these separately, but they really belong together and let you hear how amazing these early pressings sound, as well as hear how very 'different' the Mono and Stereo versions sound from one another.
Two fantastic, classic, essential Jazz albums that belong in any collection.
I tried to give pertinent details of each record above, but I'll describe each in more detail near the bottom of this listing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE RARE RUDY VAN GELDER MASTERED PRESSING
As mentioned, the first record is a rare 'Van Gelder' mastered Mono pressing.
Some time around late 1965, early 1966, when famous recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder was working on mastering the "Getz/Gilberto #2" album, he got his hands on the first "Getz/Gilberto" session tapes and remastered at least one side (both sides?) of this very rare Mono version of the album. His 'stamp' is only on side One.
I'm sure Rudy was eager to put his 'sound' to this album, which by then had become an International hit.
To hear Rudy Van Gelder put his skills, and his 'Blue Note' sound, onto 'Girl From Ipanema" and the other songs, from the original master tape, is just amazing and a real treat for the ears. His version of this recording is one of the best I've ever heard.
Rudy's Mono mastered version sounds incredible, and is so much better than the original Verve mastered Mono version released a year earlier.
Astrud, and her husband João's voices are clear, up front and centered on this Van Gelder mono pressing. Exactly where they should have been all along. All the instruments are blended perfectly.
Original early Mono pressings of "Getz/Gilberto" are hard to find, and almost everyone of them is mastered by "F.G.", whoever that was. The Van Gelder stamped Mono pressings are quite rare and a real treat.
More about this unusual Mono pressing below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To understand the influence and importance of this classic, timeless album, one needs to understand how important Brazilian Samba music was at the time.
Bossa Nova, literally “new wave”, was pioneered by Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto in the late 1950s. By the early 60's, the smooth latin rhythms of samba and bossa nova were becoming very popular and were seen as the 'new' sound of Pop music.
The music was based on a rhythmic, swaying, Samba rhythm, with the music played on a classical nylon-stringed guitar, accompanied by piano. It typically features smooth, passionate vocals sung in Portuguese.
In 1961, jazz/folk guitarist Charlie Byrd went on a diplomatic tour of South America, to spread American musical and political culture.
When he returned, he brought back a deep love and knowledge of the 'new' Brazillian sounds of the Samba and Bossa Nova he heard. He also brought back some records by João Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim that he had bought in Brazil.
Byrd then hooked up with his old friend Stan Getz and introduced Getz to the 'new' sound coming out of Brazil. They both thought that the new sounds could be a fresh direction for their careers, and in October 1961, they worked together on some jazz samba recordings.
In February 1962, they hooked up again and recorded "Jazz Samba." The album was released in April 1962 on Verve and sold very well.
In November 1962, as American interest Brazilian music was on the rise, several important Brazilian musicians, including João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Luis Bonfá were invited to play a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall.
The concerts were a huge success and helped make Brazilian Bossa Nova the latest American musical trend.
As Samba and Bossa Nova music gained popularity, the "Jazz Samba" album, which had already been released, rose in the charts and by March 1963, it had taken over the #1 chart spot.
It was truly an innovative and groundbreaking record.
Verve wanted to quickly follow up on the success of "Jazz Samba", which was sitting high in the charts, when this session was recorded.
"Jazz Samba" was a very influential album, but authenticity-wise, it was essentially just a group of white jazz musicians emulating the Latin sound.
Creed Taylor and Verve were inspired and wanted to improve on the idea by using authentic Brazillian musicians for their next release.
They arranged to bring two of bossa nova's greatest innovators, guitarist/singer João Gilberto and his close collaborator composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, to New York City to record a new album with jazz tenor player Stan Getz.
To bring them all together into a high quality NYC studio was a truly inspired idea. The results were magic.
~~~~~~ The musicians on this album include Stan Getz and the great Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, for which the album is titled, but joining them that day were pianist Antônio Carlos Jobim, Sebastião Neto on bass, drummer Milton Banana and João Gilberto's wife Astrud, whose contributions made this such a remarkable, memorable session.
Most pressings of the album have the bass playing incorrectly credited to a 'Tommy Williams'.
Sebastião (Tião) Neto was the bassist on the session, but he came to New York from Brazil suddenly, didn't bring his own bass with him, and didn't have the proper Local 802 Union card and working papers, so he was never credited on the album or session until the truth came out many years later.
The musicians blended perfectly and they all play with an effortless flow that resulted in arguably some of the best, gentle, breezy, bossa nova ever laid down on vinyl.
Getz himself has never been more lyrical, and Gilberto and Jobim pull off the harmonic and rhythmic sophistication of the songs with ease and a warm, relaxed sound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This session was recorded over 2 days in March 1963 at A&R Studios on West 48th Street in New York City.
Just about everything Creed Taylor produced for Verve around this time period was amazing, so Taylor was in charge of the project.
Legend has it that getting everybody assembled and working together in the studio to make this album was a challenge, with travel, schedules, work permits, strong personalities and stronger egos. Stan Getz was a stubborn, opinionated, notorious drinker by this stage and there were some minor conflicts in the studio.
Phil Ramone, who was well known at the time for recording classic albums, was chosen as the recording Engineer for the session.
Ramone's preferred method of recording, if the artist could afford it, was recording sessions at 30 ips, instead of the 'normal' 15 ips, to capture every little detail and nuance of the performance.
Phil Ramone's master 3-track 30-ips tape was then used to make the first run of vinyl, both Mono and Stereo. That's why early pressings of this album sound so good; the tape was fresh and crisp. The 'audiophile' of it's day. It won the Grammy for it's incredible engineering and sound.
This session was quickly put together and recorded. There was minimal effort on creating a 'soundstage' or 'feel' in the room. The voices and instruments are beautifully recorded, and the recording sounds crisp, clean, and amazing, but there isn't much 'soundstage' or depth to the recording.
Photographs of the sessions show everyone crowded around the piano, playing in a tight bunch, narrowing the soundstage. That may be why the Stereo pressings have such wide panning effect, to help make the sound 'wider' and fuller than it was. Hard Panning was also the normal approach to making Stereo records in those days.
The panning effects on stereo pressings are somewhat severe, and occasionally disruptive to the flow of the music, and have been discussed and criticized for years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto decided to bring his young wife Astrud with him on his trip to New York. She was a 22 year old amateur singer, who, at that point, had never performed outside her own home, or recorded any songs, prior to this recording session.
This album was Astrud Gilberto's first ever recording, apparently an impromptu and spontaneous decision, but she accomplished something astonishing and amazing that would be loved and appreciated for years.
Astrud Gilberto's voice has a beautiful, relaxed, fragile, life-like quality that I, and millions of other listeners, was completely mesmerized by. She has such a lovely, smooth, natural-sounding voice; beautiful, present, and alive.
With a close listening, you can hear Astrud's breath and slight hesitancy before every line she sings. It's an amazing, warm, life-like quality that gives the song a much more intimate feel.
Original session Engineer Phil Ramone called her voice "sexy and coy, yet innocent at the same time.”
Producer Creed Taylor realized that the song had to be 'Americanized' somewhat for the record buying public and her vocals, written quickly in the studio by Norman Gimbel, and sung in English, were perfect. A wise decision in retrospect.
Astrud’s beautiful clear, dynamic, soft vocals on “Girl From Ipanema” helped propel the song onto the charts around the world, making it one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history.
It's the perfect song to start off this album.
~~ Without the young 22-year-old's beautiful, innocent, sexy voice, singing in English, 'Girl From Ipanema' would not have become the phenomenon and sensation that it did.
According to legend, Stan Getz was a nasty, greedy person and went out of his way to downplay Astrud Gilberto's role and credit for the song. She was never credited on early releases of the album.
Getz went on to make millions from the song and purchased a luxurious mansion, while Astrud was paid $120, union wage, once, for her 'session work' vocals.
~~~~ On the original 30-ips Stereo Master tape, Astrud's voice was panned hard left. When the first pressings were cut, her voice was 'flipped' and was panned hard right on the initial Stereo vinyl pressings, like the one in this lot.
It was originally recorded hard left, first released hard right, and various re-issues have it flipped back and forth. There's been endless discussion in forums about which is 'correct' but it really doesn't matter; it still awkwardly sticks out.
Her hard panned voice is beautiful, but very unusually placed, and more than a bit distracting at first.
On the Mono pressings, her voice is beautifully up front and centered, exactly where it deserves to be and where it belongs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STAN GETZ' INVOLVEMENT
Stan Getz was an excellent choice to accompany the Brazilian musicians.
Getz, one of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, was nicknamed “the sound”, due to the gorgeous, warm & wispy, life-like tones of his horn.
His unique, soft, lyrical, velvety tone is all over this record, making it sound so hip and cool. His tenor seems to be a perfect fit for the music.
On close listening, you can clearly hear his breath control, the intense vibration of his reeds, even the 'gurgle' of his spittle. Great "presence" and definition from his tenor.
Depite his generally soft sound, the Brazillians sometimes felt that Getz's tenor was too loud and too harsh for their smooth, soft samba music.
They also accused Getz of tampering with the mix and equalization, after the session was over, to emphasize his horn over the other instruments and voices. There's certainly audio evidence of that.
His 'hot' intros, where he comes blazing onto the soundstage, on the Stereo tracks do tend to intrude on the more reflective mood set up by the soft vocals and the smooth Brazilian samba sounds of the other instruments. This somewhat annoyed Gilberto.
There are places on this record where the bold sound of his tenor can be a little distracting, and if you play this album loudly, his tenor can be a little too harsh and intense. For example, his entry and solo on 'Girl from Ipanema', which comes late in the song, can be a little startling and jarring if you're not expecting it and ready for it.
Still, his soft, rich, dynamic tenor adds amazing sounds and textures to this whole album.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE RELEASE OF 'GETZ/GILBERTO'
This album was recorded in March 1963 but, at the time, Verve felt that the Samba music market was a passing fad and chose not to release the album. Instead, they stored the 3-track master tapes away.
The success of "Jazz Samba" a year earlier caused all sorts of different Jazz and Pop artists to release samba infused music, creating an exciting trend, but also diluting, flooding and saturating the market. Plus, the British Invasion had landed and musical trends were quickly changing.
Jazz was also changing quickly in 1963/64. Jazz fans, and consumers, were breaking off into different sub-genres and Verve felt that the demand for this type of Samba music had run it's course. Boy, where they wrong.
Verve stuck the tape away in storage choosing to move on to other releases. In 1963, Verve had no idea it would become one of the best selling jazz albums of all time.
João & Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Stan Getz all knew they had made a great album. Why was it sitting on a shelf?
While the tapes were sitting idle, Stan Getz's wife Monica took the initiative to have 7" 45s of 'Girl from Ipanema' pressed and sent to radio stations. It got some limited local airplay, built interest, gained traction, and soon it swept the airwaves. Everyone who heard it loved it.
Verve suddenly had a hit single and realized it was time to dust off the master tape and release the full album.
"Getz/Gilberto" was finally released in March 1964, 60 years ago this month, and a full year after it was originally recorded.
The album was released with stunning cover art and it's one of the most recognized album covers of all time. Olga Albizu’s painting “Alla Africa” is set boldly on an all-black background and the album cover just 'Pops'.
"Getz/Gilberto" sold well and quickly became very popular. The album swept the nation and the charts.
'Getz/Gilberto' also swept the 1964 Grammy Awards, winning four Grammys; album of the year, song of the year, instrumental album of the year, and best engineered (best sounding) album of the year. It was the first time that a jazz album won 'album of the year' and it did so in the 'Pop' category.
The album stayed on the charts for two years, peaking at #2, blocked from #1 by some new band from England called The Beatles.
"Getz/Gilberto" proved conclusively to Verve, and other jazz labels, that jazz can be both commercial and artistically satisfying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE STORY OF THE 'MASTER' TAPES AND LATER TAPE COPIES
Nobody at Verve was expecting the huge demand for "Getz/Gilberto" that sprang up in 1964, and the March 1963 3-track master tape was pulled out of storage.
The tapes weren't initially treated like the 'treasure' they suddenly became. The tapes were not of the highest quality, and by a year later, wear and oxidation had started to take their effect.
Phil Ramone's original 30-ips 3 track master tape was used to make the very first Mono and Stereo vinyl pressings. Those records sound amazing, made when the tapes were fresh, and are very sought after. They were the only vinyl records made from the original 3-track session tapes.
The Stereo record in this lot is one of those very early pressings, cut from the 3-track master.
The Van Gelder Mono record in this lot is from an unknown master tape. Did Rudy have access to Phil Ramone's 3-track master or only the early 2-track master? Nobody's quite sure, but the sound is amazing.
Anyway, very quickly, Verve realized that there would be significant demand on those original 3-track session tapes, so either Phil Ramone or Val Valentin at Verve created a new 2-track stereo master. All further albums, after the very first pressings, were made from that tape copy.
Apparently, Phil Ramone's original 30-ips 3 track master tape was then stashed away and according to latest research has since become 'lost', 'destroyed' or too damaged to salvage.
That made the 2-track master tape the new "Master" for "Getz/Gilberto"
That 2-track master tape was heavily relied on for many many pressings and, over time, it also started to show some oxidation, wear, shedding and minor channel dropouts.
The original tape boxes, as shown in some of the recent Audiophile pressings, has written comments and notes on it that describe some of the 'issues' and faults of that tape as noted by various recording engineers.
The most obvious and glaring is a glitch during the "Ipanema" sax solo. There's also a short dropout in the left channel towards the end of "Doralice."
Some report a disturbance in the 'attack' of the very first chord of "Corcovado" and some report high frequency phase shifts, which are normally associated with tape head misalignment during copying.
These 'artifacts' are nothing major and not problematic to the average listener, but with the advent of recent Audiophile pressings, much of the recent talk on the various record collector forums is about the state of the original master tapes, and which tapes were used for which vinyl pressings.
The consensus is that the very earliest 1960's pressings, like these, made from the still fresh 3-track session tape, have the best sound. But, that doesn't take into account all the 'modern' technology that was employed over the years to 'improve' on that sound.
In February 1980, fresh dubs were made by a PolyGram engineer from the 2-track master tape for back up files, and then the original 2-track 'master' was also stored away for safekeeping.
In 2010, George Marino made a new state of the art master, using the original 2-track master. That 'Marino Master' was then used for most all of the later Audiophile pressings, such as the 2011 Analogue Productions release and those issued by MOFI and Speakers Corner, among others.
Various mastering engineers such as Kevin Gray, George Marino, Ken Lee, and Bernie Grundman have all done their versions of "Getz/Gilberto" and they all sound fantastic, restoring the clarity and detail of the original.
The audiophile pressings of Getz/Gilberto' sound amazing. You can hear breathing, fingerpicking, fingernails scratching, and other hyper-detail nuances. They have better bass and a much more defined & deeper soundstage, but they also make the 'flaws' of the original 2 track master more obvious as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This month, Impex has released their '1 Step' ultimate Audiophile version of "Getz/Gilberto", mastered all-analog from the very original 2-track master tape, by Bernie Grundman.
It's the ultimate version of the album, and never sounded better, but it has stirred up debate about earlier 'audiophile' pressings, and even earlier 'regular' pressings, and what tape sources were used to make them.
The conclusion is that, over the years, different master tapes were used for different releases of this album, each with its own pluses and minuses.
ALL of the pressings of "Getz/Gilberto", both 'regular' and 'audiophile', from the mid-60's onward, have some noticeable 'glitches' in them. The only way to hear the 'true original' 3-track master session tape is by tracking down very early pressings of this album, like these, made when the tape was new, fresh, and undamaged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MONO vs. STEREO SOUND AND MIXING
The original 1964 'Getz/Gilberto' album is a masterpiece, but there's been endless discussion over the years about the 'mixing' and sound, and which is the 'better' version, Stereo or Mono.
Astrud and João's voices, Stan's Tenor sax, João's Guitar, and Jobim's Piano all have amazing presence, quality and reality. They are intense, dynamic, and sharply defined on all of the pressings.
There are no 'bad' pressings of "Getz/Gilberto", just great and greater. Any pressing of this classic album sounds fantastic.
As mentioned, the 'soundstage' of the original session was not very wide or deep, so the original Stereo pressings featured hard panning of the voices and instruments to give it a fuller, wider sound.
The stereo version indeed has a fuller, wider, rounder sound, but the harsh panning can be quite intense, jarring and offsetting.
The bass and drums come in from the left speaker while the guitar and piano are all right speaker. Stan Getz's sax and Joao Gilberto's voice are center image. It's odd to have Joao Gilberto's guitar and voice separated and not together in unison.
On "Ipanema," Astrud Gilberto's voice is all right speaker, which is very unusual and more than a bit distracting.
Yes, the soundstage of this album is rather narrow, but having it 'widened' by hard panning doesn't improve things.
Brazilian Samba was all about the wonderful blend of voice and instruments to create a smooth, unified, syncopated groove. Breaking up the delicate instrumentation and panning it to the sides, while sonically pleasing to Western ears, causes it to lose some of the natural cohesion and feel of the music.
"Getz/Gilberto" is recorded so well it could be the gold standard for production and audio engineering, but the Mono version takes the album to a whole other level.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mono pressing has great clarity, dynamics, and tone, perfectly bringing out the gentle, breezy feel of it's bossa nova sound.
The sound of the Mono has an immediacy to it that's very satisfying. Beautiful balance of instruments and vocals that sounds warm and inviting. Everything is centralised and blended in the soundstage and there’s a little more expression in the playing, a touch more intimacy.
The Mono puts Joao's voice and guitar center stage, which sounds much more natural and authentic.
When the first track, "Girl from Ipanema" begins with João's smooth solo voice, it's like he's right there in front of you. João’s vocals are clear and present. His voice is so real, so well defined, and up front.
Astrud Gilberto is also centered and up front, the way it sounds best, not flying in from right field. It sounds perfectly balanced, clear, and unobtrusive, unlike the hard panned stereo version.
To my ears, Getz' tenor is slightly more pulled back and doesn't interfere with the soft, smooth, flow and groove of the music as much. It's still powerful and fullbodied, and you can hear his breath before every note, but it seems less 'harsh' than on the Stereo mix. More blended into the mix, rather than being added to it.
The drums, cymbals, and percussion seem to be mixed a little louder which aids the Latin tempo. It just sounds "right."
On the Mono pressing, the instruments all compliment each other and blend well, without overpowering or compromising the soft delicate vocals. The Mono has better definition of the voices and more up font "presence." It has a softer, more cohesive, more intimate feel.
Overall, it's a very soothing and chill record with a 'naturalness' to the timbre of the instruments and the soft beautiful voices.
This is the type of record that sounds best when played at moderate volume, or softly in the background, or on an early Sunday morning.
These early original Mono pressings of 'Getz/Gilberto' just ooze Brazil from every groove.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This original 1964 Getz/Gilberto album is a masterpiece. One of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, not to mention one of bossa nova's finest moments.
It's a great introduction to the sound of Bossa Nova. It was responsible for bringing cool jazz-tinged, soft, elegant Brazillion music, and the exotic sounds of Rio De Janeiro, and it's beaches to mass audiences.
There's an amazing atmosphere created by the way João Gilberto half-sings and half-whispers the Portuguese lyrics, which perfectly float over the smooth rhythms of the songs. His voice is just beautiful and perfect.
The gentle breezy music transcends all tastes and ages and has nearly universal appeal; it's one of those rare accessible jazz records that just about everybody loves.
When I first heard this album, many decades ago, I did not understand a single word, but I was immediately hooked and drawn in by the feel of the music and Gilberto’s voice.
It's interesting in retrospect that this great Brazilian jazz record, that became so popular around the world, was made in New York City with an American producer and an American sound engineer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE 2 RECORDS IN THIS LOT
As I mentioned, there is both an early Mono and Stereo copy of "Getz/Gilberto" in this lot.
This auction is mainly for rare Rudy Van Gelder Mono pressing of 'Getz Gilberto', but as a bonus, I'll toss in a very early First pressing of the Stereo mix.
THE MONO VAN GELDER PRESSING
The Mono pressing is the rare Rudy Van Gelder mastered version. Stamped 'Van Gelder' on side one, the "Ipanema" side, only. The condition of the vinyl is only VG, with some surface wear, but no Serious dings of flaws.
If you're familiar with old Mono pressings, especially Rudy's 'Blue Note' style mastering, these Mono records can take a beating and still sound fanastic. They were built to last and generally indestructible. Clean labels and spindle holes.
On the label, "ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM" is in all-capital letters, unique to this pressing.
I haven't touched either of these records in decades, and a good deep cleaning will likely improve them both.
I tried to show detailed photos in my pictures.
The curved line at 2:00 in my full disc photo is a 'dog hair' NOT a scratch. Just noticed it.
The Jacket of this Mono pressing is still in fabulous condition. Some very mild expected wear, but still quite nice. These all-black jackets are notorious for showing dings, wear, scratches and smudges, but this one still looks great. Crisp and clean.
The inner gatefold is clean, but there are a few small spots of brown foxing. Not bad.
MATRIX (SIDE A): V-8545 - S1 63 VG-160 - RE-3 1C VAN GELDER (Block-shaped S symbol) MATRIX (SIDE B): V-8545 S-2 63-VG-161 RE-2 9 ([Block-shaped S symbol) F.G.
Runouts are etched except the stamped 'Van Gelder'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE FIRST PRESSING STEREO VERSION
Much cleaner vinyl, but the cover is less crisp.
The vinyl on the Stereo record is in much better condition. VG+ with a nice sheen. Some play wear, some hairlines, but quite decent. Labels and spindle holes are clean.
This copy has all of the First Pressing indicators:
'Deep Groove' pressing. The Catalog number on label reads V6/8545, with a slash, not a dash, and is wider than the word 'STEREO' above.
On the label, there are no hyphens in between the song titles and durations. There are no parenthesis around the BMI's. This early First Pressing label seems 'rushed'.
A2 says ASCAP instead of BMI.
A3 is listed on label as "Para Machucar Meu Coracao (To Hurt My Heart)"
B2 is listed on label as "So Danco Samba (Jazz Samba) from the film "Copacabana Palace" (a 1962 film).
Rim Text reads: "MGM RECORDS - A DIVISION OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER, INC. - Made in U.S.A."
MATRIX A: V6-8545 SIDE-1 63-VGS - 560 RE-1 F.G. MATRIX B: V6-8545 SIDE-2 63-VGS - 561 RE-1 F.G.
The jacket on the Stereo copy has a few issues. The main issue is clear archival tape across the bottom seams. It's nicely done, clear, and not immediately noticeable on the covers, but should be pointed out. The tape covers the bottom inch or so of the front & back covers, as well as the inner gatefold.
The inner gatefold seam is split and the previous owner put his name on the inside of the gatefold. Some mild edge wear, but not bad for a 60 year old album.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** 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!
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As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.50 for these 2 old thick heavy records. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy! I will gladly combine multiple records, or other items on my page, and make the shipping much less for you. I don’t inflate the shipping costs; they are what they are. I strive to keep them as low as possible. See my feedback for comments on my quality packing and shipping.
All items are packaged with sturdy cardboard mailers and appropriate padding. I take pride in my packaging and shipping and package all my records as if I were sending them to myself. I refuse to use cheap flimsy packaging material when sending my vinyl. I treat them as if they were my own and mail them the same way.
All orders are processed and shipped within 2 business days of receipt. We package and ship our vinyl records with the greatest care, using proper packaging to ensure that your rare and collectible vinyl records arrive in pristine condition.
Payments can be made by any of the multiple options that Ebay offers.
I will be happy to exchange feedback with anyone I complete a transaction with.
THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far. -- JOHN