LED ZEPPELIN Led Zeppelin IV LP 1971 1st Press EARLIEST EVER DIFFERENT LABELS

	£		95
	$		126

On offer here is a VERY rare LP (especially in this condition!!!!) by Led Zeppelin called "Led Zeppelin IV (Four Symbols)" and is an ORIGINAL 1971 UK 1st Pressing on the 1st Press Red/Maroon (Plum) Atlantic label!!!!  THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!!!!  THIS IS ONE OF LED ZEPPELIN'S RAREST LPs EVER - AND VIRTUALLY NEVER TURNS UP FOR SALE (ESPECIALLY LIKE THIS!)!!!!  JUST TRY AND FIND ANOTHER ONE!!!!  THIS LP IS ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER LPs ON THE ATLANTIC LABEL AND IS INCREDIBLY HARD TO LOCATE TODAY!!!!  BUT WHAT MAKES THIS LP REALLY SPECIAL IS THAT IT IS THIS IS THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING OF THIS LP EVER MADE - WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LABELS & COVER DESIGN, THAT ALL LATER PRESSINGS SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE!!!!  FINDING AN 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING WITH THESE ULTRA RARE LABELS (WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TEXT & CREDITS!) IS EXTREMELY RARE INDEED, AND ONLY EVER APPEARED ON THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP EVER MADE - BEFORE THE LABEL TEXT WAS RADICALLY CHANGED TO THE STANDARD TEXT THAT APPEARS ON ALL LATER PRESSINGS!!!!  AND THIS MEANS THAT FINDING ONE OF THESE ULTRA RARE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSINGS (WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LABELS & COVER DESIGN!) ON THIS LP IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE - AS BARELY ANY WERE EVER MADE!!!!  I WILL EXPLAIN!!!! 

AS MANY LED ZEPPELIN COLLECTORS WILL ALREADY KNOW - ALL STANDARD 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP CAME ON THE RED/MAROON (PLUM) ATLANTIC LABEL.  HOWEVER HAVING THIS RED/MAROON LABEL DOESNT ALWAYS INDICATE A 'TRUE' 1ST PRESSING FROM THE 'DAY OF RELEASE' - AS THERE WERE TWO VERY DIFFERENT LABELS USED IN THE 1ST PRESSING RUN!!!!  I WILL NOW EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIS ULTRA RARE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING (WITH DIFFERENT LABELS!) - AND LATER PRESSINGS!!!!  IF YOU TAKE LOOK AT THESE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSED LABELS IN MY PICTURES BELOW - THE FIRST THING TO NOTICE IS THAT THE "UNDER LICENCE FROM ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPN., U.S.A" IS ABOVE THE WHITE LINE IN THE RED PART OF THE LABEL (LATER LABELS HAVE THIS TEXT INSIDE THE WHITE STRIPE!) - EXACTLY THE SAME AS ALL EARLIER ATLANTIC LPS (LIKE LED ZEPPELIN II FOR EXAMPLE).  THE SECOND THING TO NOTICE IS THAT SOME CREDITS WERE ACCIDENTALLY OMITTED ON THESE EARLIEST 1ST PRESS LABELS!!!!  IF YOU LOOK BELOW AT THE SONG LISTING ON EITHER LABEL, IT MISTAKENLY HAS PRINTED 'KINNEY MUSIC LTD' ONLY.  THIS WAS A MAJOR OMISSION - AS ON ALL LATER RED/PLUM LABELS  (INCLUDING THE MUCH LATER GREEN/ORANGE RE-ISSUES!) THE CREDITS WERE CHANGED TO - 'KINNEY MUSIC/SUPERHYPE MUSIC INC' (WHICH IS HOW THEY SHOULD HAVE APPEARED IN THE FIRST PLACE!).  HOWEVER THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE ON THE LABELS IS WERE THE IMPORTANT TEXT 'LED ZEPPELIN' IS POSITIONED & ALSO THE EXTRA 'PETER GRANT' CREDIT (LATER REMOVED)!!!!  ON THESE MEGA RARE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS LABELS THE TEXT 'LED ZEPPELIN' IS POSITIONED TOWARDS THE BOTTOM OF EACH LABEL AND IS IN SMALL 'THICK' TEXT!!!!  WHEREAS ON ALL LATER LABELS THE 'LED ZEPPELIN' TEXT IS SLIGHTLY LARGER (AND IN THINNER PRINT!) & IS POSITIONED TOWARDS THE TOP - JUST BELOW THE FOUR SYMBOLS!!!!  THESE EARLIEST 1ST PRESS LABELS ALSO HAVE A 'PETER GRANT' PRODUCTION CREDIT AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH LABEL - WHEREAS THIS WAS REMOVED ON ALL LATER LABELS!!!!  NOT ONLY THAT - BUT THE COVER HAS THE RAREST POSSIBLE 1ST PRESS COVER DESIGN - BEING THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS 'MATT' COVER - WITH ABSOLUTELY NO SHINYNESS AT ALL!!!!  AND THE MATRIXES ON THE RECORD - ARE THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS MATRIXES, BEING:- 3/3 (LATER COPIES HAD THESE CHANGED TO 3/4 INSTEAD!)!!!!  SO THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT AT ALL - THAT THIS IS THE 'EARLIEST' & RAREST 1ST PRESSING OF THIS INCREDIBLE LP, THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY GET!!!!

THERE ARE ALSO A COUPLE OF INTERESTING POINTS TO NOTE ON THIS LP:-

1) SIDE ONE HAS 2 'FACTORY STICKERS' PUT ON THE LABEL BY ATLANTIC (THEY ARE CLEARLY FACTORY MADE), THOUGH I AM UNSURE OF THEIR PURPOSE.  STRANGELY SIDE 2 DOES NOT HAVE THESE LABELS.

2) THE TOP 'FACTORY STICKER' ('LED ZEPPELIN') ON THE SIDE ONE LABEL HAS CLEARLY BEEN ON THE LABEL SINCE NEW - AND HAS NEVER BEEN TOUCHED OR 'PICKED AT'!  HOWEVER, ALTHOUGH THE BOTTOM 'FACTORY STICKER' (JIMMY PAGE & CREDITS) ON THE SIDE ONE IS FIRMLY STUCK TO THE LABEL NOW, ONE CORNER LOOKS MARGINALLY 'LIFTED' AT SOME POINT IN THE PAST - AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN RE-STUCK DOWN.

NOT ONLY THAT BUT THIS LP IS IN GREAT CONDITION OVERALL - AND ALTHOUGH THIS LP ISN'T IN MINT CONDITION, ITS HUGE RARITY CANNOT BE OVERSTATED!!!!  JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES!!!!  THIS IS THE ORIGINAL 1971 UK 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING ON THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS RED/MAROON (PLUM) LABELS (WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TEXT!), 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS FLIPBACK 'TEXTURED' INNER SLEEVE, AND 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS GATEFOLD 'MATT' COVER!!!!  THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND LIKE THIS - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY!!!!   The Cat. No is 2401 012 on the ORIGINAL 'Earliest' 1st Press Red/Maroon (Plum) Atlantic labels (see picture) and is a Stereo 1st pressing (there were NO Monos!)!!!!  All the tracks are Pure quality Led Zeppelin at their best!!!! Any fan of Led Zeppelin, or 60s music in general, will want to have this in their collection - especially in this condition!!!!

The record labels are in SUPERB condition (see pictures) with NO wear, NO writing, and only a few light spindle marks!!!!  IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT THIS RECORD HASNT BEEN PLAYED MUCH AT ALL!!!!  The vinyl is GREAT condition overall - and at first glance looks SUPERB!!!!  Most of these 60s/70s LPs had been to a lot of wild parties and are usually found totally worn out, and almost unplayable. This one is NOT and under normal room conditions - this record looks SUPERB and a very VERY high grade indeed!!!!  However, even though this record is VERY bright & shiny looking, under light you can see a few small hairlines, and a few light scufflines.  Even under light however, the overall impression is still of JET BLACK and bright & shiny looking vinyl, and it still looks very VERY nice indeed!!!!  THE RECORD STILL RETAINS ITS ORIGINAL 'JUST PRESSED' LOOK!!!!  The record plays with NO skips, only a few light clicks, NO sticking, NO jumps, and barely ANY crackle AT ALL!!!!  However, although the record looks perfectly normal, it does play with some audible background sound.  Now of course 90%+ of this record is VERY loud indeed, and here the background sound is lost well behind it (though never disappears).  However, it is audible on the quietest parts, run on grooves and gaps. As I said, the record looks perfectly normal, and I can see no reason for it.  But it is there and must be mentioned. There is NO distortion and NO groovewear either!!!!  The record must grade Good+ (PROPERLY graded, NOT trashed!) if not better - and though many might be tempted to give a higher grading here, I am being VERY strict to avoid any disappointment!!!!  THAT SAID - THE SHEER RARITY OF THIS RECORD CANNOT BE OVERSTATED, AND THE CHANCES OF EVER FINDING ANOTHER ONE LIKE THIS AGAIN - IS VERY SMALL INDEED!!!!  Believe me this record is NOT overgraded in ANY way!!!!  I use STRICT RC grading standards - it is not in my interest not to!!!! Brillant!!!!  The record also comes in its ORIGINAL 1st Press 'Credits' Flipback 'Textured' inner sleeve which for once holds the record PERFECTLY and although there are a few light creases, and couple of residue traces on the VERY edges, I can see NO splits AT ALL!!!!  The ORIGINAL 1st Press 'Matt' Gatefold Cover is in GREAT condition!!!!  It has NO sticker tears, NO edge splits, slight edge wear, NO spine splits, only VERY slight spinal wear, NO sticker marks, only slight corner wear, only a few VERY light creases (cover is VERY flat looking!), NO ringwear, barely ANY rubbing AT ALL, NO annotations, and NO writing!!!!  The opening edges are beautifully straight with barely ANY feathering!!!!  Even the inside of the cover is in GREAT condition with NO grubbyness, a TINY mark in the top 2 gatefold corners, NO yellowing, NO ringwear, barely ANY rubbing AT ALL, and NO writing!!!!  The cover must MEGA STRICTLY grade Very Good(Minus) (PROPERLY graded, NOT trashed!) if not better!!!!  THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO LOCATE (ESPECIALLY AS THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING EVER MADE - WITH COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LABEL CREDITS & 3/3 MATRIXES!) - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY!!!!

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