ROLLING STONES Let It Bleed RARER UK DECCA BOXED MONO. POSTER, STICKER, SUPERB.

	£		186
	$		247

NOTE: These days, I am NO LONGER a professional record seller, but I do occasionally offer a few from my own personal collection. Anything I offer are cleaned on my Okki Nokki record cleaning machine. ALL records are posted removed from the main cover to avoid edge splits in transit and send in professional quality packing as I always have done.

ON OFFER:

Artist or Band: THE ROLLING STONES

Album Title:   Let It Bleed.

Producer:  Jimmy Miller.

TRACK LIST:  

Side 1: Gimme Shelter; Love in Vain; Country Honk; Live with Me; Let It Bleed.
Side 2: Midnight Rambler; You Got the Silver; Monkey Man; You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Label/Format:  Decca – boxed mono format with matt, very gently textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both fresh, clean and attractive with few spindle marks, these being mainly fine and light, all evidence suggests this classic album has been played very little.

Year of Issue:  This album was originally released in November 1969. This elusive boxed version sometime during the early part of 1970.

Catalogue Number:    LK 5025.

Mode / Speed:    Mono / 33.3 rpm.

Country of Manufacture:  England.

Rarity:  Scarcer in mono with demand for this mode now far more limited. This, the final pressing on the boxed format, before the mono format was phased out altogether. By the late 1960s and into the early part of the 70s, the mono format had largely gone, with Decca one of the few record companies still offering the mono/stereo format choice. Let it Bleed was the final Rolling Stones studio album to receive an official mono release. Finding complete, little used copies on the mono boxed label is now proving difficult and challenging.

Matrix / Stampers (Side 1): XARL-9393 . P-2A 1M   JT
Matrix / Stampers (Side 2): XARL-9364 . P-1A 1 I   JT

Album Overview:   One of the most in-demand mono albums ever issued, it proved to be the last by the band in this format, and arguably the last of the true classics to be issued as such. Always a real pleasure offering a complete early-pressed mono copy of one of the greatest albums ever made by one of the world’s major acts ­– a truly essential album for any serious vinyl collector. Not only the last original mono album by the band, it proved to be the last Rolling Stones album to feature the presence of the band’s creator, Brian Jones – albeit quite limited. It was a brilliant culmination of all their musical influences throughout music’s greatest decade. The power of the opening track, ‘Gimme Shelter’, will haunt many forever with the memory of the Altamont murder, Jagger’s top hat and scarf and the death of the 1960s. The repeated line, ‘It’s just a shot away’, complements the repetition of the naively profound lyric of the album’s last track: ‘You can’t always get what you want’. The filling in-between, like the layered cake on the cover, is equally delectable. This a really impressive all-round, and complete copy, and will never prove easy to find a great deal better. Finding a pristine example is becoming near impossible, with many of those who still chose the mono format in the early part of 1970, still probably playing their records on the vintage vinyl wearing Dansettes and similar heavy tracking record -layers of the era. Any minor blemishes on this copy are far outweighed by all the major positives and all but the audiophile purists and perfectionists will enjoy owning this monumental album and copy.

Cover Grade and Format:   EXCELLENT(+): a single format with the front being laminated using Clarifoil and including the “FULL COLOR ROLLING STONES POSTER INCLUDED’ sticker as seen in close-up. The laminate covers the three closed folds and ends on the back near the spine. The back is matt and has the Printed in England credit.

Cover Front:    This is a highly attractive fresh looking front, and one of the best I have seen for some considerable time. The laminate retains superb shine, freshness and clarity with minimal hint at all of dulling of ageing. So the famous cake artwork can be enjoyed to virtually maximum advantage with deep rich colour retained. A fine vertical crease near the spine edge and a couple of gentle half moon surface creases only, with any others very small and faint, mostly near on the edges and showing little. Finding this front with fewer again will be immensely difficult. The crucial sticker is immaculate and has never been removed or picked at, I can confidently grade the sticker as near mint. This is a front to hold and admire.

Cover Back:    The back is also lovely, and has the correct peep-hole mode indicator near the top right corner area. The hole here correctly filled in with the dark red inner sleeve to denote this copy is mono (stereo versions had a blue inner). This hole is pristine with no wear or damage as seen in close-up again. This back is unlaminated, bar the spine edge end, and has a matt finish, hence even more prone to wear. But cover protection for decades has preserved this wear-prone back superbly. It has hardly any creasing and remains clean, fresh with scant hint of any discolouration. The lack of ring wear marking is also a major plus. Like the front, one to admire again.

Top Edge: Impressive and mainly straight and fully intact with no wear, the laminate fully intact on the fold, perfectly solid and unscuffed.

Bottom Edge:    Largely the same again.

Right Edge:  Clean, quite sharp with any thickening or burring very slight, patchy and light. The laminate on the front edge ends short of full width, and even the exposed strip is still clean lacking the usual grubbiness this area often attracts over time. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text:   Really lovely, this is fairly thinly made but remains solid, straight with all text unworn under the unblemished laminate, and for good measure, superbly centred as well, as seen. There is minimal hint of compression, the ends are factory pinched – which always add class to a vintage cover – and these more fragile ends look fantastic with really lovely shape retained.

Corners:    Three of the four have little to fault with excellent shape retained. The bottom left has the tiniest tip crease (being quite critical), always prone to knocking and bad shape, well these have bucked the trend with careful storage and handling for many years.

Cover Summary:  A very strong all-round example of this true classic late 60s/early 70s cover, one that will prove very difficult to match or find better. It should please most fans and collectors.

The Inner Sleeve:  EXCELLENT(–) and arguably better given its made with the thinnest of thin paper and was not lined. This a dedicated deep red mono mode custom inner with all the album’s details in text. This example has NO blacking out cover-up of the London Bach Choir wording which many had. This is still clean and retains nice colour with hardly any grubbiness. Only marked down a little for some creasing and crinkle that few can hope to avoid totally. The lack of edge splits and tears is almost remarkable given how fragile this paper inner is. The odd tiny corner tip apart, this all remains solidly intact and only offers scant hint of its 56th year of age.

The Poster:  MINT(–) this looks fantastic with little to fault at all – and it is guaranteed genuine. Very fresh, clean and attractive, printed on one side only and on quite thin paper, no wonder so few survive like this. It has two manufactured folds, no splits or weakening on them and barely any hint of creasing or ruffling, even the back is clean and untoned or aged. This is as almost as fresh and clean as manufacture day and the poster appears to have received little handling. The surface has a very gentle surface sheen which is correct for this boxed label version, the very first to make the shops had a flat matt surface and the paper still thinner. Apart from its impressive all-round condition, what makes this extra special is the lack of pin-holes, tape or tack marks on the back – yes, this poster has never been mounted. With all these facts in mind, this elusive poster will also prove very difficult to match, let alone find better.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading:  NEAR EXCELLENT / EXCELLENT arguably better for an ultra popular mono record. An impressive clean copy of this very late mono album. Very clean, fresh with fine shine and very solidly pressed. Side one has a few light marks which are non-feelable, side two very little at all. These marks are purely superficial and I am certain are not stylus created, more abrasive blemishes – at is my honest opinion. But those blemishes aside – and they are stand out much without scrutiny – this is still an outstanding record. One that should please many collectors, but not quite for the absolute perfectionists maybe? If anyone has a genuinely unmarked mono copy of this album, treasure it, because in my time of record collecting and searching, I have yet to find one.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading:    This was play tested on my Linn LP12, Dynavector moving coil cartridge, Naim Supernait II amp and Spendor A7 speakers. It was a joy with little to fault. This was not an album recorded too loud, so it needs to be turned up as the inner sleeve suggests. It offers impressive, mostly very clean distortion-free sound with few blemishes. The odd gentle tick is near impossible to avoid really, especially as this has some very quiet passages and songs too. The lack of irritating crackle and major issues is a huge plus and little heard spoilt my play-grade which was a genuine pleasure. Tracking was effortless and the detail impressive. This will again please many fans and collectors with only just the odd polite minor and very, very infrequent reminder of what you are actually listening too – a 46-year-old vintage vinyl masterpiece in the more challenging mono mode. It will take some very special to better this one and can be highly recommended.

POSTAGE:  UK – £4.95 1st class tracked (or Special Delivery for items over £95).  Europe – tracked £13.95. Due to excessive postage costs and red tape, I will not post outside Europe.

NOTE: I will NOT post to RUSSIA or BELARUS.

PAYMENT: via Paypal please within 48 hours. I will post also within 2 days after payment is received.