THE FOOL Scarce Orig UK 1969 Mercury N/M LP RARELY SEEN

	£		135
	$		179

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Artist or Band: THE FOOL

Album Title: The Fool.

Producer(s): Graham Nash.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fly; Voice on the Wing; Rainbow Man; Cry for Me; No One Will Never Know.

Side 2: Reincarnation; Hello Little Sister; Keep on Pushin’; Inside Your Mind; Lay it Down.

Label/Format: Mercury - original intense black matt finished (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean and attractive with only very light and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Yes, another from that collector of barely played obscurities recently acquired.

Cat Number: 20138 SMCL.

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 and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 144 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 135 to 145 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, many records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite rare: this would have sold very little and actually proved slightly more successful in the US. Another semi ‘lost’ obscurity with a record that looks and plays like new.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: 134095 1Y 2 420 1 1 1 / 134095 2Y 2 420 1 1 1

Brief Info: The Fool were a Dutch band who made one album that was produced by Graham Nash of The Hollies. Better known as fashion and psychedelic graphic designers, they did work famously for Cream album covers. The members were Simon Kooer, Marijke Kooer, Josje Leeger and Barry Finch. This is a lovely psych album with elements of folk and pop, it’s certainly unusual and different, even featuring bagpipes used in a semi-progressive fashion. Slightly mystical, the band apparently took their name from the Tarot card ‘The Fool’. It sold little in the UK and remains an elusive and very interesting obscurity. It sold slightly better in the US where they toured in 1969. The lack of UK attention could not be blamed on the cover which is gorgeous, the front and centrefold is spectacular with quite stunning artwork, as you probably expect from these members who specialised in the art. This one has survived those heady days in lovely condition with only some bottom edge rubbing lowering the grading a little. The record is almost like new and plays Mint (had to download this again for my own future pleasure) and only ever do this on the most perfect sounding records. Other psychedelic record covers included The Incredible String Band’s ‘5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion’, The Move’s debut album and the Hollies’ ‘Evolution’. They are arguably most remembered with The Beatles, for decorating the Apple boutique in London as well as painting a psychedelic Rolls-Royce and grand piano for John Lennon. But in 1969, the group turned to music and used the skills of Graham Nash as producer for this, their one and only record. It went almost unnoticed and they faded away into musical history.

Cover Grade and Format: EX but visually much better with sublime artwork or the highest quality. For cover connoisseurs, this is gorgeous and seldom seen. A laminated gatefold format, the inside not laminated. This is made from very thin card making it very bendy and fragile. Printed and made in England.

Lamination – Front & Back: Firstly, this is very delicate which is a little unusual for what appears to be a robust gatefold cover – far from it – this bends under its own weight and how this has avoided any serious creasing I am not sure, but it has. Any creasing on this are very few and light. Clearly laminate adhesion is a major issue, but glad to state all is fully stuck down with no lifting or blistering. Lovely shine and clarity is retained and the stunning artwork can be enjoyed to maximum advatage. A few light marks visible under light but given the delicate disposition of this unusual cover, blemishes are few and mild. The most noticeable is on the back near the bottom edge towards the left. This has a moderate scuff line, and bar this a higher grading would have applied. For sheer beauty the front is up there with the classic psych gems of the period and the freshness and intense colour of the artwork will be not beaten. This is a visual delight from the era of quality where cover-art was taken to dizzy heights of excellence and this has survived relatively unscathed.

Cover Inner Gatefold: More breathtaking artwork and in lovely condition, the detail and complexity has to be seen for real to be fully appreciated. There is a little mild set-off in places, mostly at the bottom of the right face.

Top Edges: Odd small chip only.

Bottom Edges: These have rubbed more and not quite straight either. The card used on this cover was not really robust enough to support a gatefold format especially with a quite heavy record inside. It would have been no surprise if more bending or distortion had of occured. Any here is slight given the facts, and both front and back faces do lie quite flat when closed.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear and no feathering. Record enters on this back edge.

Spine and Text: A very thick spine but not strong in manufacture. Still fairly solid and reasonably straight, a little compression and a couple of chips, but folded square, both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and mainly solid laminate.

Corners: All the fragile corners have rubbed, light to moderately so. Decent shape is retained by most.

Cover Summary: A highly attractive all round example of this very fragile late 60’s cover, one that will prove difficult to find much better. A slight shame this beautiful cover was not made with more substantial weight card and with that in mind, this is a very fine item. This highly attractive, colourful cover should please many, if not most collectors, but not the perfectionists.

The Inner: The Polydor-style lined inner is included also in fine condition. A little aged but neatly intact and with little creasing and no edge splits.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-) and another stunning, barely played vintage record. A superb visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. The odd ultra fine surface trace of being full Mint. Visually in age defying condition and another real obscure diamond that should please most-all collectors again.

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 snippetts 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 awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This somewhat ‘lost’ record plays up to its high visual grading with nothing 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. Devoid of surface sounds and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing that will prove near impossible to find better. Few copies will match or outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, this being my first ever. This copy will prove near impossible to find better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering 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 potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - 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 – 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 and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. 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, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

THERE IS PACKING – AND THERE IS ONEADAYRECORDS PACKING.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with THREE or EVEN FOUR VERY THICK stiffners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords (please see my picture of these stiffners and compare to the wafer-thin commercially available ones that offer pretty much zero protection). Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. The thick record and stiffner ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 6,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

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 unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. 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 – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £12. Add £3 per extra LP. (insurance optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT neccessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.