ROLLING STONES UK 64 Decca Unboxed ffrr 1A/3A Mono LP

	£		69
	$		91

Hi, I am Mike, I am 46 and have been a music collector and enthusiast for over 33 years now. We all wish we could turn back the clock and buy those wonderful brand new records from the 60s and 70s, but alas, this is not possible; so I always try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. No vinyl/music lover really would choose to buy second-hand, but this is only way now to own these valuable, prized and ellusive items now. 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 potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirity, not just bits to guess a grade (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 reader – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. 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. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. 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. The only thing I cannot guarantee one hundred percent is exact colour matching - this depends on the lighting at the time and that is out of my control, but I feel sure most items will be very close to the actual real item. Variation can sometimes occur too in colour of the label scans and labels taken next to the sleeve with a digital camera, the scanned full label pictures should be the most accurate. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic , and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps or sticks or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

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. I by quality single items and collections also (Email me please if you have quality items for sale).

Debutant Bidders: Many sellers refuse first time buyers: I do not follow this practice (everybody has to start somewhere), but I would appreciate any first timer letting me know their intentions of their intended payment method and very prompt communication, preferably before any bid or soon after the auctions ends. This gives confidence that their intentions are honourable, and I in return guarantee extra special good feedbacks to get zero rated Ebayers off to a flying start to help them with future transactions. NOTE: I WILL NOT ACCEPT BIDS FROM UNREGISTERED USERS, I will cancel them immediately, and sorry, I cannot give valuations on people’s personal items just for their own curiosity, no item can be accurately valued blindly.

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 - Thankyou.

Artist or Band: THE ROLLING STONES

Album Title: The Rolling Stones

Cat Number: LK 4605 Mono (not issued in stereo).

Track Listing: Route 66; I Just Want to Make Love to You; Honest I Do; I Need You Baby; Now I’ve Got a Witness; Little by Little; I’m a King Bee; Carol; Tell Me; Can I Get a Witness; You Can Make it if You Try; Walking the Dog.

Label/Format: Decca (Original Unboxed Red ffrr - full frequency range recording - with ear logo.

Label Condition: Very clean and attractive with rich colour. Spindle marks in terms of number are very few but just one slightly heavy one on each side from the early heavy thick metal spindle - still minor compared to what most will look like. The facts are this record is around 40 years old now and these spindle numbers are really light and wear around the hole is practically nil - this album, if I had to put an educated guess on number of plays would be around 4 to 5 and that’s probably around as light as they get this incredible age for a ‘popular’ record. What I guarantee is the fact this album plays absolutely superbly - close to perfect. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: I personally think Stones albums are harder to find than Beatles albums - both sold in large numbers, but Stones albums in this kind of condition show up far less often. I consider a copy like this to be very scarce, in this condition bordering on rare. This copy is the unflipbacked smooth version - rarity for both is apparently about the same. This, like the second album is made from very thin paper and is so prone to creasing, but this front especially is trulyl exceptional and one of the very best I have ever seen. This cover does NOT list ‘Mona’ and no its NOT the ultra-rare copy that plays the short version of ‘Tell Me’ - there’s always someone that will ask, but it should be obvious from the matrix numbers.

Original Year of Release: 1964

Matrix Nos: XARL-6271-1A and XARL-6272-3A The stampers are: 2D CA and 1 KC. Tricky to read but I think these are correct.

Brief Artist & Album Info: This was, and will always be a great white R&B record. Recorded swiftly and simply it smells of the London club scene of 1963. Admittedly crude by the Stones’ later high standards it is still a vital and historically important album. They attempt Muddy Waters, ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’, Jimmy Reed, ‘Honest I Do’, a frantic Chuck Berry, ‘Carol’, and even Marvin Gaye’s ‘Can I Get a Witness’. They even improve on Rufus Thomas’s whistle on ‘Walking the Dog’. Primitive but dazzling - it all starting here. This is a very early pressing and in the kind of condition that should appeal to even the serious Stones collectors. The cover is very strong with a stunning front and the record looks and plays fantastic. Most collectors will know what most albums this huge age will look like but this copy is so far apart from the average, its simply quite exceptional.

Cover Grade and Format: For accuracy I will grade the front as EX+++ (at least, most would have this Mint something). The back is more EX, no damage at all but has clearly been handled and has some light toning and mildish discolour or grubbiness (not a word I like but I cant think of any other). An overall grade of EX+ would not be far out I would say. Its a single format, laminated front and laminated with Clarifoill made by British Celanese Limited. Its the smooth, unflipbacked version.

Cover Front and Lamination: By some margin the best lamination I have ever seen on this very early Stones debut. I cannot reiterate enough how delicate this cover is printed on such thin paper, later copies were slightly thicker and more robust - this was as frail as they ever got. And the remarkable thing about this laminate and front in general is the lack of creasing and any indentation from the thick heavy vintage pressing is as light as you will ever find. There are a couple of tiny hairline type creases that are as small and light as they ever get and importantly even these are positioned near the sides and not directly in the line of vision - that is so important for the pleasure of viewing this cover. Little untoward catches the eye and quite honestly there is nothing untoward anyway being realistic. There are just two tiny (and I mean tiny) surface laminate rubs top and bottom but again these are almost invisible. There is little else to fault really, no indentations and even surface traces are almost non-existent too. No peeling, dry areas and this has a beautiful almost semi-matt sheen that has virtually zero dulling. I say again, this lamination is quite exceptional and only rarely will it get seen looking quite like this for this very vintage cover. The front itself is clean with a freshness that defies its age, the band picture is very dark indeed - the early covers were, the laminate has done a stunning job protecting this artwork - just with the back had been laminated as well.

Cover Back: No laminate and black and white, and unlike the stunning front this does show its great a little more. Let’s be very clear, this back is still way above average and still looks nice but it does have some light toning with a mild hint of being handled with some mainly light discolour and light grubbiness (that word again, yuck) around the edges obviously where covers are handled most. Wear and damage though is almost non-existent in real terms, as there is no rubbing, barely a crease to be seen, absolutely no ringwear or indentations. This is so fragile its often seen torn or split with heavy feathering on the entrance edge - not here. This is still a very fine back, it could never be as wonderful as the stunning front but still looking damn fine - my back cover picture does just slightly flatter, my flash has slightly washed out a little of the surface detail - now how honest can I get?

Top Edge: Unworn.

Bottom Edge: Virtually Unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with no wear, feathering, so common on this one is almost totally absent proving this record has not been removed from the cover many times. Record entered on right edge.

Spine and Text: Incredible: Solid and square with no wear, text is perfect and unworn under the uncracked laminate, quite exceptional this spine.

Corners: All four are almost devoid of wear up to the very end of the tips that have microscopic rubs, all still beautifully shaped too.

Cover Summary: It could be a long wait to find this front much better and the back aint half bad either. Quite how this front has remained so clean, fresh and relatively uncreased is astonishing - just breath on this too hard and - oh there’s another crease.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX++, I think this is more than fair for a record this astonishing age. Its super clean, with a fine shine and only showing just a few very light surface traces or the odd very light hairline type mark - all totally superficial and non-sounding of course - this record has clearly been vastly underplayed for its popularity which is to the advantage of the buyer now. No long lecture on what I think about finding a mono in this stunning condition, please just refer to my paragraph below mono vs stereo to put a record like into true perspective. Suffice to say there is no doubt whatsoever this has avoided abuse from pile-driver type thick stylii from the early 60s which wrote so many a classic album like this off totally.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record plays even above its high visual grading with virtually nothing to fault. Strong, undistorted sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear. No pops or ticks and a super fine pressing in a class of its own. That lack of distortion caused by groove-wear is vital for any mono record (and stereo come to that) and is never to be taken for granted. Even some records that look perfect can disappoint when played - groove wear does not show, so my advice is never buy any record that has not been play-graded from start to finish, its the latter tracks that suffer most, so what a pleasure to hear every song on this record playing almost like new. From the very beginning of the music’s opening grooves to the final run outs this is nearly CD quiet proving what even the oldest 33.3 vinyl can be like. Maybe just the faintest of faint surface sound between a couple of tracks just to actually remind the listener that its a record thats being heard. Honestly did anyone think a vintage mono record this age would ever survive to be heard on ultra modern and hyper-critical stereo decks? Well this proves they can still be heard with astonishing detail and dynamic fidelity that almost takes you into the recording studio. A beautiful record to play and enjoy, this outclasses any revamped formats and dont forget even the new card cover CDs recently issued did not include the original UK track listing - this record for sound quality will rarely be matched let alone beaten.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. 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 mark 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 they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung more to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: This record I was told has not seen light of day for around 30 odd years and I am not going to argue, this record has been kept in a time capsule and any wear from its early days of being ‘used’ are only modest put into context. The record came to me in what looks like the original tracing paper type lined inner. It has no patent numbers but has ‘Made in England’ in very small type printed on one side. The text has the word important (in a script font) and ‘take good care of your microgroove records check your gramophone stylus regularly…a worn stylus will give poor reproduction… a chipped stylus will permanently damage a record’ (wasn’t that just the truth). Also ‘Use ‘Emitex’ cleaning cloth to preserve your microgroove records… obtainable from all good record dealers.’ - this text is on both sides of the inner which is in fine shape for its great age. Some mild discolour and light toning but unsplit, torn and only light creasing. The die cut window is super clean and the fragile tracing paper type lining is immaculate. I cannot verify, hand on heart, that this is the original inner but I feel sure its very likely, it really does look the part. This is a very important record and its condition will please most collectors, my only light reservation is the cover back for the connoisseur collector, but the fantastic front and record should even make them think hard - your choice - good luck – Mike.

Having the Powerseller Logo: This is recognition from Ebay for the highest possible customer services, satisfaction and quality, it should reassure any potential bidder that all items are described, graded and shipped to the highest standards possible. Customer care of the highest order is a standard feature here and I am proud to have achieved this recognised standard of excellence from Ebay with help from collectors and buyers from all over the World - I thank you all.

Payment Details please read carefully - I know its boring but essential:

UK First Class: = £3.00; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £5.50 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £7.00

Europe Air Mail: = £4 Insured: £8.00

Overseas, non-Europe e.g. USA, Japan, Australia etc. Airmail:= £7; Insured with recorded delivery (where available) = £11.00

Singles: (Packed to the high standards of the LPs)

UK First class: = £2.00 Insured: £4

Europe Air Mail = £3.00 Insured: £5.50

Overseas, non-Europe (as above) Airmail £3.50 Insured: £6.00

Doubles add extra £1, triples add extra £2. Box sets add extra £3 (£4 overseas and Europe)

Any item that sells for over £85 will be sent Special Delivery in the UK at no extra cost. Items over £125 get the same service Overseas. This is gives peace of mind for the winning bidder and myself for valuable items. Reduced postage of course for multiple items.

The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£28). PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Mailing Details: Please note I do NOTprofit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more and I often actually lose money on this part of service - I simply refuse to compromise with poor packing. All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken OUT of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR professional stiffners for extra protection (if space allows), I do NOT use old cardboard boxes or cereal packets for protection. 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. I will also include in most cases a brand new lined inner, but will include the original inner if available and in a condition to be worthwhile.

I can 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)

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.

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 interesting 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.