ROLLING STONES Let it Bleed Orig mono+poster

	£		283
	$		375

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. I always still try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find - I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any interested collector. You may notice I only submit one or two items a day for Ebay; time rarely allows more as I Play-Grade every record I offer (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story - I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. A ten pounds record that plays close to new is as important to the collector as a 250 pound record that plays less well. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Good luck.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed, you never know - I may just have a copy in stock

Please read all the information carefully - these adverts take an age to compile properly - so it’s well worth a few minutes of your time to read the details thoroughly. I really cannot take any responsibility if any bidder fails to read any facts that are clearly stated in the advert.

Artist or Band: THE ROLLING STONES

Album Title: Let it Bleed

Cat Number: LK 5025 Mono.

Label and Condition: Decca red unboxed logos with ffrr ear logo (full frequency range recording). Two beautiful clean examples showing only very light and faint spindle traces. This copy without doubt has only been lightly played. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: Getting genuinely rare now as a complete UK original mono.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: XARL 9363.P-1A and XARL 9364.P-1A the two tiny pressing codes are 1 and 1. This appears to be a very first pressing.

Genre Type: Classic UK R&B and more.

Brief Artist & Album Info: For sure one of the most important and best records I have yet offered via Ebay. One of the genuine greatest albums ever made by one of the greatest bands ever - and essential to any serious vinyl collection. No CD or reissue will do for this one. This is complete with original inner, poster and stickered cover as a UK mono copy, it was one of the last UK mono albums pressed back in 1969 and is by far the hardest Stones album to find in mono. By then stereo had long since become the more popular way to hear vinyl records. Mono copies were often not even stocked by many shops and had to be ordered from the smaller sellers specially. For sure this masterpiece has to be heard in mono, its one of the great vinyl experiences - it has to be played loud. The sound and mix are quite different and this is not just for the connoisseur, no-one could fail to be awestruck by this very special album and recording. The last Rolling Stones album to feature the presence of the band’s creator, Brian Jones, was a brilliant culmination of all their musical influences over the previous monumental decade. The power of the opening track, ‘Gimme Shelter’, will haunt many of us forever with the memory of the Altamont murder, Jagger’s top hat and scarf and the death of the 60s. The repeated line, ‘Its just a shot away’, complements the repetition of the naively profound lyric of the album’s last track: ‘you cant always get what you want’. The filling in-between, like the layered cake on the cover, is equally delectable. This copy on offer is a fine one, the cover and inner are neat, the poster is mint and the actual record, bar a surface sound for just two revs is as close to perfect as you will find. This vinyl mono original for sound will be almost impossible to find much better.

Cover Condition and Details: EX, single, laminated front, original sticker on front. Peep hole in back to identify mono/stereo copy from the colour coded inner - mono being red. A fine example of one of most famous covers ever produced. A few light signs of wear but bearing in mind its age and scarcity this is a very fine example.

Cover Lamination: Shiny and clean with only a few light hairline type creases that show up little. No peeling or nasty indentations. There is a light dry areas down the very spine edge, quite common on this one due to the sharp pronounced spine edge.

Cover Front: Attractive with little wear. Rich colour and no damage. The important original sticker is one of the neatest I’ve yet seen, it is unpicked and pretty much close to perfect.

Cover Back: Not laminated but still clean and neat. A light press mark is just evident, but lighter than many examples found, this is almost certain to form on most of these due to the very heavy-weight record and slightly thinner than average card used on these covers. It’s as light as can be reasonably expected for its great age and shows and detracts little. The peep-hole is pristine and unscuffed or damaged.

Cover Edges/Corners: Top: unworn. Bottom: unworn. Record entry edge (right): virtually unworn, clean and sharp, minor hint of feathering if being hyper-critical. Spine: Solid and square and unworn, all text is pristine under the uncracked laminate, the delicate tapering top and bottom is still very much apparent. Corners: All four show little wear at all and are still nicely shaped. Summary: A fine all round example of this scarce original 60’s cover, one that would prove hard to find much better. This super cover should please most collectors if not maybe the perfectionists who will only settle for ‘off the shelf’ - but you try finding this one like that.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX++, clean and shiny and pressed on heavy vinyl. Tricky one to visually grade as this does have some circular pressing marks, none affect play but one just one on side two, final track, that sounds for two revolutions as a surface sound (not a tick or pop but a sound). I have seen these circular type marks before on records 99.99 are totally superfical land benign. The record has no scratches and even surface marks are few. The original custom made inner on this album unusually for Decca is not lined, so this album was more prone than the other Stones albums for acquiring some surface marks - this has very few. This ranks as one of the cleanest mono copies of the classic I have ever seen.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Mint(-), and if not for the 2 rev sound this would grade as close to full mint for sound, it plays brilliantly and is a super pressing that is as quiet as any record I have heard. Virtually silent for the most part, this record’s sound and production is near legendary in mono. Available copies usually soon disappear, examples that have been only been lightly played are now rare. My play grading was a total joy - the sound is astonishing with dynamic and detailed sound with no degrading often associated with vintage mono classics. The sound is clear and sharp and suffers no distortion whatsoever - even the linking grooves play close to silent throughout. (please refer to the paragraph below to put an album like this into perspective)

Mono vs Stereo: Always a matter of opinion. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in marks and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure thery are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records.

Inner Condition: EX++, clean and neat and unsplit, minor light ruffles only, this all proves to me again how little this gem has been played.

Poster Condition: Pristine mint and unmounted. No splits on the fold lines and uncreased. It’s the original flat matt version printed on thinnish paper. You will be hard pressed to find this better too. Later posters on later pressings had a more glossy finish. This poster insert was not included in every copy, even first pressings. It is much sort after and very important to any collector for this album

Track Listing: Gimme shelter, Love in vain; Country honk; Live with me; Let it bleed; Midnight rambler; You got the silver; Monkay man; You cant always get what you want.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: Firstly, I can make no apology at my minimum selling price, this lovely copy cost me very deep, they do not come along often and they have to be taken when they do. An album like this in this condition is an investment and is better than money in the bank with prices rising faster each month. An astonishing album and superb copy - not quite mint but for sure a copy that will want some serious beating. This really is the crown jewels of Stones albums and remains totally essential - in mono - its almost the cherry on the cake. My last mention of the two revolution sound on the final track, taken into context for the rest of this brilliant copy its pretty trivial but there - I WILL NOT refund for this minor flaw as it has been mentioned several times and cannot fail to be noticed by any serious collector reading this. The mix and sound on this mono copy is unique, and many seek it out on bootleg CDs - forget it - this is real thing and nothing comes close. Its clear detailed sound takes you into almost into the recording studio and this is the definitive copy to own. This no way undervalues the stereo version because both are vital, they are just different. Let it Bleed charted at one in the UK and three in the US, its an album that always features high in any all-time greats list whether compiled by critics or the record buying public. Its true classic stature and timeless brilliance is etched into these vintage grooves forever. - Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £80 will be sent via Special Delivery as standard at no extra cost which are insured for £250.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully insured to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £5, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £125 at no extra cost.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance with recorded delivery is available too for non-Europe countries but will cost an extra £5 also, the item will be covered for up to £250 or even £500 insurance for some detinations - customs label prices will be kept low.

I accept cash for payments worldwide in UK Pounds Sterling, Euros or US Dollars - but this at the senders own risk. Please send registered and insured if this method is chosen. I cannot accept responsibility if any cash payments do not turn up. This system is very reliable and rarely goes astray. The same goes for any shipped uninsured item, I can only try to claim for any undelivered or damaged article at basic insurance levels if no enhanced insurance is requested and paid for (unless the value threshold is high enough for me insure as standard, see above) PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.7 to cover PayPal or cash conversion costs.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR stiffners for extra protection (if space allows). More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other intesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.