Tractor - Rare 1972 UK Dandelion LP - nice copy

	£		73
	$		97

Hello and thank you for choosing to read this advert.

A word of introduction about myself first of all. My name is James and I’m 44 years old living in the North East of England. I’ve been collecting records for the best part of 30 years now and have amassed a vast amount of music of all genres during that time. Now however, it’s time for a bit of clear out. I’m not selling all of my collection but there are some titles I have duplicate copies of and others that I just can’t find time to listen to as much as I’d like to so these are the things that will be offered for sale here.

I’ve now been advertising on Ebay for about 9 months and for the most part everything has gone pretty smoothly and I haven’t been given any negative feedback which I guess means that people were happy with the deal they got. Ebay aside I have been buying and selling records mail order for over 25 years now and have satisfied customers and trading partners all over the world so I like to think that I have at least an idea of what I’m doing with regard to both the rarity and condition of the records I sell (and unlike a lot of ebay dealers I actually know something about the music too!). At least 3 well known ebay dealers (all with 4 figure feedback figures) buy their stock from me regularly and I have had no complaints from any of them in fact all of them regularly grade the records with a higher grade than I gave them!.

All records which I offer here are play graded all the way through on top class equipment and any faults I find no matter how small will be mentioned. All photos will be of the actual item for sale and will not be doctored in any way. Sleeves will be graded to the same exacting standards with any faults or anything else I think you need to know mentioned, remember that I am primarily a collector myself and I know what it’s like when that eagerly awaited parcel containing the record you’ve just paid a lot of money for arrives and when you open it the record looks and sounds like something the dog’s been eating his dinner off, I’ve been there too many times and I try my best to avoid that happening with anything I sell. I want you to be happy with your purchase so that you’ll but more from me in the future! Obviously though I’m only human so if I do make a mistake then any disputes will be settled to your satisfaction and I will give a full refund to anyone who buys anything and isn’t one hundred per cent happy with their purchase (although this obviously applies to condition only - I can’t guarantee that you’ll like the music!).

There’s one thing you definitely won’t find on any of my adverts though: there seems to be a real problem with ebay dealers overgrading their records (both the condition and the rarity). You know the sort of thing I’m talking about everything is “STUNNING!!!!!!!” or “AWESOME!!!!!!!!” or “MASSIVELY RARE!!!!!!!!!!!!”. I just think that this sort of hype is funny. Does the inclusion of some buzz words and a load of exclamation marks make what are in most cases very ordinary records better and rarer than they actually are? - of course not. Are people actually taken in by this dishonest practice? - of course not. Record collectors are generally pretty clued up about how rare or otherwise the records they’re after are and don’t need a load of exclamation marks to tell them whether something is rare or not. I actually sell to a couple of these people so I know what sort of condition these records are in and I can guarantee that in the majority of cases there was nothing “stunning” about them. So, none of that on any of my adverts instead you’ll get honestly graded records presented in a way in which I would like to see items I buy graded.

Any comments I might make about musical content are entirely my own opinions so if I don’t like a record then I’ll actually say that I don’t like it but that doesn’t mean that you won’t! People like different things, which is a good thing, you know, otherwise we’d all be listening to Kylie! Listen to the music for yourself and make your own mind up - don’t be swayed by anyone else’s hype!

Feedback: I don’t consider a deal concluded until you’ve told me that you’re happy with your purchase so feedback will be left when you have left positive feedback for me. If for any reason you’re not happy with your purchase then please get in touch, I’m a reasonable sort of guy and things can be worked out amicably without any need for negative feedback. At the end of the day I would prefer you to return any item you’re not happy with, I’d rather give you a refund than have an unsatisfied customer.

Terms Of Trade:

Postage:

UK: 1 LP £2.00 then 50p for each additional LP.

Europe: 1 LP £3.00 then £1 for each additional LP

Rest of the World :1LP £6.00 then £2 for each additional LP.

Payment:

UK: Cheque, Postal Orders or cash sent at your own risk by registered mail.

Rest of The World: I really don’t like to do this but I’m afraid that the only payments which I’ll accept from outside the UK are by paypal

Registered (insured) Postage is an extra £3 per package in the UK or £4 for the rest of the world and is recommended for valuable packages. If an item is not sent by insured mail and does not arrive at it’s destination or is damaged en-route then I can’t be held accountable.

The address given to anyone who wins anything is a mailing address only. I don’t live there and no records are stored there so please no callers to that address however it’s perfectly safe to send payment to that address, I’ve used this as a mailing address for many years without any problems.

Any record which sells for more than £60 will be sent post free in the UK, any record which sells for more than £80 will be sent post free anywhere in the world. Any record which sells for more than £100 will be sent post free by registered mail in the UK, any record which sells for more than £125 will be sent post free by registered mail anywhere in the world.

Right then that’s the boring stuff out of the way so now the bit you’re really interested in:

The Item For Sale Is:

Band: Tractor

Title: Tractor

Release info: Dandelion 1972 Original UK issue

Condition (Sleeve 1st) : M-/M-

Track List:      All Ends Up

Little Girl In Yellow

The Watcher

Ravenscroft’s 13 Bar Boogie

Shubunkin

Hope in Favour

Everytime It Happens

Make The Journey

One of the things which has kept me collecting records for 30 years is that every so often you hear something which is so good it just makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you just have to go out and find a copy, could be anything, an unreleased Marvin Gaye track, a scarily intense electronic soundtrack to an obscure film, a virtually unheard of privately pressed psychedelic album or maybe a super rare northern soul 7” but whatever it is it suddenly makes ploughing through that pile of otherwise pedestrian music worthwhile. Of course once I’ve got it it quickly becomes just another record amongst the 30,000 or so in my collection but for a while it’s the best thing ever. I first heard this album, oh, it must be about 22 or 23 years ago now when I bought a big pile of mint obscure UK progressive albums from a second hand record shop for a pound each (wish I could do that today!). I got them home and all of the Vertigo and Harvest albums were played once and then filed as part of my own collection and probably haven’t been off the shelf since but this was one that really leapt out and grabbed me and I still think it’s one of the very best albums of it’s era.

Legend has it that when John Peel first heard the demo that Tractor sent into radio one he thought it was a wind up, he thought it was a well known band pretending to be a couple of unknown’s from Lancashire, he just didn’t believe that only two guys could make such an incredible noise, well, he was wrong and they produced two great albums to prove it. This is their second, the first was issued under the name of The Way We Live, also on Dandelion which is great but for me this one has the edge. Good songs well produced and that incredible guitar sound that even today few bands come close to achieving. By way of contrast there are a couple of lightweight acoustic tracks which are nice enough still rock based though without sounding folky but it’s that frighteningly intense driving fuzz guitar sound that grabs everyone by the throat the first time they hear it.

This was way too uncommercial for an era when Slade, T-Rex and Donny Osmond ruled the airwaves so consequently is fairly scarce today. I have to say that there are some really silly prices being paid for rare UK progressive albums which really for the most part are either not as rare as some dealers are claiming and musically well, let’s just say that for the most part they are rare because they simply didn’t deserve to sell. I know because I have them all but the difference is that I bought them in the early eighties for a pound or two not the hugely extortionate prices being charged today. But,there are a handful, not many but a few which really deserve the accolade of being called a lost classic, Fantasy is one that immediately springs to mind, Spring is another, Norman Haines, Stud’s 1st LP, both Catapilla albums but after that you really have to start thinking. This album (along with their first) isn’t one of the really rare ones, there are copies around but as with all of these albums supply is drying up fast as they’re squirreled away in private collections. Musically though this one is up there as one of the best of the rare ones. It’s just so unlike anything else that was being produced at that time or indeed since that it has the fresh timeless feel that all of the best music has. If you have any interest at all then you owe it to yourself to check it out and you won’t find many better copies than this.

Condition:

Sleeve: Nice! The single unlaminated sleeve is clean with no tears, creases or writing front or back. There is a bit of discolouration on the spine where it’s been exposed to daylight but all of the writing is clearly readable. The top seam is virtually unworn but the bottom seam has some wear where it’s been taken on and off the shelf. I’ve had quite a few copies of this album over the years and this is one of the better sleeves I’ve seen.

The labels are in top condition, nice and clean and devoid of any stickers or writing with very little spindle wear present.

Record: Again very strong. It’s very clean and when held under a harsh light the only marks visible are a few hairlines caused by taking the record in and out of it’s sleeve. It still retains a nice original dark sheen and plays as well as it looks - very nicely, with a clean sharp sound that just makes that guitar sound even scarier. I’ve played this at high volume (thankfully the neighbours were out) and it really does sound great with no annoying background noise to spoil your enjoyment of one of the best undiscovered bands of their era.

If you decide to bid for this item I wish you luck and if not, well, thanks for looking and remember to look at my other items for sale you may find something more to your taste there.