Soft Machine Volume 2 - 1st UK Vinyl pressing - Probe SPB 1002 (1969)

	£		49
	$		65

Band: Soft Machine

Album Title: Volume 2

Version: First UK pressing (1969) laminated front cover

Producers: Mike Jeffrey, Soft Machine

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Pataphysical Introduction Pt. 1/ A Concise British Alphabet Pt. 1/ Hibou, Anenome And BearHands / A Concise British Alphabet Pt. 2 / Hulloder/ Dada Was Here/ Thank You Pierrot Lunaire/Have You Ever Been Green?/ Pataphysical Introduction Pt. 2

Side 2: Pataphysical Introduction Pt. 2/As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still/Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening/ Fire Engine Passing With Bells Clanging/ Pig/ Orange Skin Food/A Door Opens And Closes/10:30 Returns To The Bedroom

Label/Format: Probe – original with black background & silver rectangle containing ‘Probe’ logo.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and attractive. Phenomenal for this period!

Cat Number: SPB 1002

Mode / Speed: Stereo/ 33.3 rpm

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables, even ‘budget’ decks.

Country of Manufacture: England

Original Year of Release: 1969

Musicians: 

Bass, Guitar [Acoustic], Performer [Alto] – Hugh Hopper

Composed By – Hugh Hopper (tracks: A2, A4, to A8, A10, B2, B6), Mike Ratledge (tracks: A3, B1, B3 to B7), Robert Wyatt (tracks: A, B1, B7)

Cover [Front Cover] – Byron Goto, Henry Epstein

Drums, Voice – Robert Wyatt

Engineer – George Chkhantz

Organ [Lowry, Hamond], Flute, Piano, Harpsichord – Mike Ratledge

Photography By [Back Cover] – Paul Misso

Producer – Mike Jeffrey, Soft Machine

Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Brian Hopper

Brief Info: 

Volume Two is an LP by The Soft Machine, first released in 1969. A jazz influence is introduced to the humour, dadaism, and psychedelia of The Soft Machine (1968).

The album was inspired by Frank Zappa's Absolutely Free, and consists of two long compositions with "As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still" and "Dedicated to You" serving as interludes. Acting on a recommendation from Zappa, the band split the main tracks into smaller pieces to increase the band's income from the album.
According to the lyrics in Have You Ever Bean Green? The Soft Machine thanked The Jimi Hendrix Experience, with whom they toured through the USA in 1968, that they as a beginning band were exposed to large crowds. The title of this song refers to a soulful plaint in the song Are You Experienced?, "Have you ever been experienced?".

Outside Cover Front: The front, with its iconic ‘mechanised female’ image remains a classic. The only hints of wear are a slight creasing to the mid right hand centre and top left hand corner. The colours are strong, rich and with clear definition.

Outside Cover Back: The back is in superb condition.

Spine and Text: Solid and quite straight with virtually no compression. The spinal text is clear (and for 40 years +) easy to read.

Corners: Moderate rubbing to top right hand side, good shape is retained.

The Inner Sleeve: New polythene inner.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT+: a fine visual copy that is clean, shiny, intense black and solidly pressed. There is one surface mark with virtually no pops or significant clicks heard. Visually a splendid record that should please many a collector.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their phenomenal Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This 1960’s record plays mostly above its visual grading with little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are mainly light and very infrequent, the odd trace on the quiet passage here and there, enough to remind it is a record being played, not a clinical digital format.

Equipment Used for Play-Grading: I now play-grade ALL the records I offer (unless clearly stated to the contrary) on the following equipment:

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.