Phil Spector Lucy From London 66 Preproduction Acetate Lucille Ball DAVE CLARK 5

$

500

PHIL SPECTOR- 

Lucy In London Preproduction Acetate

10" Acetate 

Produced and Performed by Phil Spector in 1966 - 

Acetate Once Belonged to Record Producer Phil Spector 

One Sided 10” Acetate Disk with One Typed Label.

Condition VG+

This particular acetate represents one of the very first times that Phil Spector actually worked for someone else after Spector had started Philles Records. It is also one of the acetates discovered in the Apple Records/ Phil Spector Collection that I have been listing items from since February of 2020.

As many advanced Phil Spector collectors already know, Phil Spector was contracted to come up with a theme song for a television special starring comedy legend Lucille Ball, who was the iconic star of the 1950s to 1960s television show “I Love Lucy” as well as the shows “Here’s Lucy” and “The Lucy Show”

The song was used only as the theme song for this 1966 Lucille Ball comedy special that was set in London, England and featured 1960s rock band The Dave Clark Five. (The Dave Clark Five would also play a vital role in another unreleased to the public Phil Spector composition called “T.J.’s Theme” or “Down At T.J.’s”)

One pre production version of “Lucy in London” is on the label side of this 10” Gold Star Studios acetate originally from Phil Spector’s production vault.

This one of a kind acetate has a deadwax groove that is cut and runs for a full minute right before the music starts. There appears to be a kind of two count prior to the beginning of the music. The condition of both sides of the disk as well as the acetate label is a strong VG+.

This is NOT the unreleased demo acetate version that appears on YouTube with a picture of a different acetate that has "Lucy in London.  Phil Spector" typed on it.  This acetate version has the full Wall of Sound production sound but does not include the Lucille Ball voice over drop ins at the beginning and end of the song.

This appears to be a pre production acetate primarily because although the song is complete as far as the Phil Spector singing and band orchestration goes, however when compared to the completed 1966 video available at blogspot t his acetate does not have the Lucille Ball voice overs at the beginning of the song which includes dialogue between Lucille Ball and a ticket taker nor does it have the voice over at the end when she says a kind of farewell. This version is a kind of preproduction version.

This is one of only two known acetates, it is unlikely that there are more than five acetate versions of this song in various stages of production

There are some background pops and crackles but nothing major. The music overpowers the minor background noise. This acetate plays well with no skips or jumps.
This acetate has no specks and is flat.

_________

This is one music production artifact out of a highly important collection of acetates, test pressings, standard production records and entertainment awards from a collection that ranges from the 1950s through the 1990s and was owned by a highly talented and diverse individual who served in a number of jobs in the music and movie divisions of the entertainment industry from the 1960s through the 1980s most notably  including serving as a Executive in the Promotions Department of the Beatles' record company, Apple Records.  

 This individual also worked in the executive office of Phil Spector Productions in the early to mid 1970s.

Most of the acetates and test pressings in this collection had standard designated acetate labels but there are some from earlier in the audio review stage of record production that have no labels at all. Unlabled reference acetates have to be listened to on a record player in order to determine what they are. 

 This acetate was Phil Spector’s personal work acetate. I would say that this acetate was used for making decisions about the final mixes of the songs on the album or 45.

As I said, The former Apple Records employee who owned this acetate also worked with Phil Spector on a regular basis. I was told by this employee that Phil Spector would frequently discard record production materials, recording equipment and records once he no longer needed those items.  

This acetate came from the same collection of records and acetates as the A&M Studio Label Acetates that I sold last month on Ebay that were used in producing the “The Concert for Bangladesh” three record box on Apple Records featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell.

Check my past and present listings for more rare Philles and Apple Records records, acetates and awards. 

This acetate will come with a Letter of Authenticity signed by myself. My name is Christopher Chatman of Beyond Records and I have been writing and dealing in rare  Beatles and Elvis Presley record acetates and extremely rare music memorabilia such as gold record awards since 1977. 

I have included an article in the photos that I wrote in the 1990s called "What is an acetate and why do they cost so much money? The article was published in the 1990 book "Goldmine's Rock N' Roll 45 rpm Record Price"