John Lennon Shaved Fish 1975 Apple 1st Press Factory Sample In Superb Condition

	£		17
	$		23

I am selling off some of my collection and over the next few months and will be listing some very nice and very rare albums and singles from the 50's through to the 90's!! I will be listing The Beatles, Cream, Purple, Zeppplin, The Stones, Small Faces, Floyd, Creedence Clearwater, Beach Boys and many, many more so please add me to your watch list as I may have something you need to help complete you collection!!!!

Artist or Band: John Lennon 

Album Title: Shaved Fish 

Producer(s): John Lennon, Yoko Ono & Phil Spector 

Cat Number: PCS 7173

Label Format: Apple .

Country of Manufacture: UK

Original Year of Release: October 1975  Rarity: Very Rare especially so having a Factory Sample NOT FOR SALE sticker and being in this Superb Whole and Complete condition, with the correct Inner Sleeve that has a Red circle representing Japan on the Front, with the Lyrics on the Reverse. Made by Garrod and Lofthouse. Factory Sample stickers were put on around 500 of the 1st Presses on Albums and Singles and were given to EMI Executives, D J's, Radio Stations and Major Record Outlets. These were NOT for sale to members of the public. 
PLEASE NOTE: There seems to be a fair amount of Controversy regarding Factory Sample stickers. All I really know about them is that in the early 60's they used a Tapered Edged sticker and these were Replaced in late 69 to a Square Edged type. Sadly during the Early years of my Collecting I actually bought a couple that were Incorrect. From that Moment on I decided to use only Reputable sellers to purchase any more.
I can ASSURE you that these ARE the correct Factory Sample stickers attached to these Labels. I Purchased this and Many other from the Reputable Ted Edwards a Well known Beatles Collector.
 To show how Confident I am that these are GENUINE Factory Sample stickers I'm Prepared to let the winning bidder have the Record for 3 MONTHS to do any further research to Confirm that it IS correct. Should I be Proved wrong I will offer a FULL Refund including Postage. I Can NOT be any Fairer and Confident than that so bid with Confidence!!!!
Track list: Side 1: Give Peace A Chance; Cold Turkey; Instant Karma; Power to The People; Mother; Woman Is The Nigger Of The World.

Side 2: Imagine; Whatever Gets You Thru The Night; Mind Games; #9 Dream; Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Matrix Nos: Side 1: YEX-949-1U Side 2: YEX-950-1U

Stamper Codes: Side 1: 1 & GHP Side 2: 2 & TP 

Other Etchings: Side 1: SW1-3421-29 and MCR Side 2: SW-2-3429-29 and MCR. These letters and numbers are etched into the runout grooves.

Musicians: Being a Greatest Hits album their are Too many to list.

Brief Artist & Album Info: "SHAVED FISH" is a compilation album by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, released in October 1975 on Apple Records. It contains all of the singles that he had issued up to that point in the United States as a solo artist, with the exception of "Stand by Me", which had been released earlier that year. The only compilation of his non-Beatles recordings released during his lifetime, it peaked at number 8 in the UK and number 12 in the US. It was also Lennon's final release on Apple Records.

The compilation includes many of Lennon's most popular solo recordings, five of which had not yet appeared on an album: "Cold Turkey", "Instant Karma!", "Power to the People", the holiday single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Give Peace a Chance". The latter appeared in truncated form, split to begin side one and end side two. Eight of these singles made the Top 40 on the Billboard chart, with "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" going to number 1; five made the top ten in the United Kingdom. "Imagine", never previously released as a single in the UK, was issued as such concurrent to the release of this album. Several of the master tapes were unavailable for the compilation, and dubs were used, some with shorter fadeouts. A later compact disc issue used the original masters,(specify) restoring the full fadeouts of these songs.

Its release came less than three weeks after the resolution of Lennon's long-running immigration dispute and the birth of Sean Lennon. The name of the album originates from the Japanese food katsuobushi, a kind of dried fish.

The album was released in the UK on 24 October 1975, peaking at number 8.  Released from the album on the same day in the UK was the single "Imagine", backed with "Working Class Hero", charting at number 6. The single was also Lennon's last single for Apple Records. The album later re-charted in the UK on 17 January 1981, at number 11. After the release of the album, Lennon's recording contract expired, in February 1976; Lennon was uninterested in re-signing with EMI/Capitol.

CONDITION

Labels: The Apple Labels are Both in SUPERB condition with no Spindle Wear or Spider Marks to be seen anywhere. There is no Writing, Label Lifts or Marks showing and the All important Factory Sample sticker is attached to Side 1:. I have gone Over these Labels Several times and I Genuinely cannot find any Fault with them. I would easily grade these as Excellent ++!!!!

Vinyl: Plays throughout absolutely Superb with no Pops, Clicks or Jumps. The record still Retains that glossy sheen though there are a couple of Very minimal surface marks/thumbnails to be seen, these in NO way interfere with the superb sound quality. This Album plays up to and  beyond its high visual grading with hardly anything of note to fault. It offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. A typical polished production from John Lennon. Minimal surface sound and no tracking issues. It will prove quite difficult to find a significantly better copy and merits a Very strong recommendation. I would grade both sides as Excellent ++!!!!

Cover/Sleeve: The cover was designed by Roy Kohara and has some excellent drawings by Michael Bryan to illustrate each song. On the rear of the cover the title Shaved Fish adds the epithet "(Collectable Lennon)". The inner sleeve once again has all the lyrics to each track, although once again E.M.I. gets a few words wrong, including the opening whispers in "Happy Xmas".There is a strong Japanese influence to the graphic design throughout, which was provided by designer Roy Kohara who worked again with Lennon as Art Director and Designer for both his “Walls and Bridges” and “Rock’n’Roll” LP’s. 

The sub-title for this album seems to be “Collectable Lennon” as this phrase is printed on the rear covers of both the Italian and British versions of the album. Its Not on the US or Australian rear covers, but does appear on a Big sticker on the front of the US copy.

The Cover is a Single fully Laminated format. 

Cover Lamination: What a fantastic front picture. The laminate retains a fine shine and clarity without Any dulling at all. However there are a couple of light laminate Creases (Not Splits or Tears) to both the Front and Rear of the Cover (These are ONLY noticable when turning the cover to a bright light).The Spine is in Brilliant order, with all writing Readable. All four Corners are lightly Bumped (Nothing too serious). The Opening edge is Frayed and the Glue has come Unstuck at the Bottom edge, (This is easily Repairable but I feel like I would be Cheating if I were to do it). The Top edge has also Frayed. This cover is incredibly difficult to find in Excellent or Better Condition simply because of it's Design and Age. However I would be happy enough to grade this one as Very Good!!!!

Cover/Sleeve Summary: Not seen often, this one is in Nice condition with only Reasonable clues of age, any blemishes mostly light – a couple of laminate creases are incredibly hard to avoid at the barest minimum. This classic cover should (as described) please many collectors.

Inner Sleeve: All Original copies come with an inner sleeve which is Solid Red on one side with the Lyrics for each song printed in White. The other side has a Red Rising Sun, reminiscent of the Japanese National Flag, continuing Kohara’s Japanese theme. There is no Writing, Tears or Splits anywhere. There are a couple of very light Creases (Nothing to worry about) and there Are a couple of Marks showing to the Front. It is in absolutely Lovely condition and I would be more than happy to give it a grading of Very Good ++!!!!

Inner Sleeve: This Also comes supplied with a Lined Paper Inner with Blue printing to one side. There is no Writing, Tears or Splits showing. There is the odd Crease and it has slightly Yellowed from age. I would grade this as Very Good!!!!

Album Played For Grading: I play/grade ALL records I offer before submitting, I also play them in their 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. I use a Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge and Linn Lingo, with my Linn system and Forest Totem Speakers. This system is guaranteed  to pick up any distortion or interference within the sound.

Grading: In my opinion I REFUSE to believe there is ANY record that can be truly graded as Mint, the BEST that could be offered is Mint- (minus)!!!! Especially so from the 50's, 60's, 70's or even up to the present date!!!! Even copies bought new today would have some form of imperfection on the Record or Cover!!!! Under that assumption I will NEVER use the word Mint in any of my descriptions and Mint- is the HIGHEST grade I would ever offer. So I will only GRADE from Mint-, Excellent, Good or Poor with a -(minus), +(plus) or ++(plus,plus)!!!!

Bid With Confidence: I take great care and pride with what I sell and offer a FULL money back guarantee, in the unlikely event of the buyer not agreeing with my description. As long as the item is repacked and returned to me in the same condition it was sent.

Postage: All of my records will be professionally packaged. I use Dependapack Vinyl Record Mailers that have locking tab closures with strong locking tab record wraps. I also use corrugated record stiffeners and extra strong tape marked with Handle With Care. This is to ensure your Valuable Record/s are protected whilst in transit. I will add a nominal fee of .40p to my postage and packaging for this service. Any Record valued at £100 or more I would prefer to send by Special Deliver/International Signed For.

INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS PLEASE NOTE!!

I am NOT here to make a Profit on the Post. However MOST buyers (and rightly so) pay for Economy Postage which goes by Ship and not Plane. I have been instructed by the Post Office that Economy Postage can take UP to 10 weeks (and beyond) to reach some destinations. If you pay for Economy then that HAS to be the method I will ship your Item. Should at any time I (mistakenly) Overcharge I will Immediately Refund the payment. My Word is my Bond so please have Faith. I had to put this statement up because at the moment I seem to be paying more to send my Items than I'm actually charging. Unfortunately I have NO control over Postage rates.