UNIQUE RARITY, COLLECTORS ITEM, MISLABELLED BLODWYN PIG “A HEAD RINGS OUT" EX/VG

	£		65
	$		86

UNIQUE, ULTIMATE RARITY, COLLECTORS ITEM, – MISLABELLED BLODWYN PIG “A HEAD RINGS OUT” EX/VG

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE RARE VINYL ALBUM! THE FIRST UK PRESSING OF BLODWYN PIG’S ‘A HEAD RINGS OUT’ WITH BOTH CENTRE LABELS FROM THE ALBUM “SCRAPBOOK” BY CLOUDS! 

I HAVE NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF ANOTHER LIKE IT AND NEITHER HAVE ANY OF THE SPECIALIST DEALERS I’VE CONTACTED. THIS IS A ONCE IN A COLLECTOR’S LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT NO ONE ELSE WILL EVER HAVE.

So what’s the story behind this unique rarity? Well, in August 1969 I went into the legendary Musicland at 44 Berwick Street Soho to buy the newly released Blodwyn Pig album, “ A Head Rings Out.” However, when I took it out the sleeve at home, to my surprise, the label said it was “Scrapbook” by Clouds; also released that week on Island!!!!! Very confused I played the album and found that the tracks were indeed by Blodwyn Pig as stated on the cover!! Curiouser and curiouser! I then checked Side 2 and found it was also labelled as the second side of Clouds but again the tracks were correct for the Blodwyn Pig album! I phoned Musicland who checked their stock and found one other Blodwyn Pig album with the same mistake. They contacted their supplier who said that a few had been wrongly labelled at the pressing plant (they’d even been given the wrong matrix numbers) and a few other shops had reported the fault. All copies were being collected for return to the plant where they’d be destroyed. They said if I returned after the weekend they would still swap it for me. Somehow I never got round to it and, by the time I next remembered, it was a couple of weeks later and a bit too late to expect them to change it. Apart from which, by then I quite liked the novelty of asking people to check out which album was on the turntable and put it in the right sleeve. Well, it was quite amusing to watch the confusion on their face when they picked up the Clouds LP and found the record already in there!

The album’s catalogue number is ILPS 9101 which is correctly shown on the sleeve and the matrix numbers should be: ILPS + 9100 + A and  ILPS + 9101 + B2 But on the vinyl are the Clouds matrix numbers ILPS + 9100 + A and ILPS + 9100 + B. which have been wrongly applied! However they do match up with the Clouds label which is the original August 1969 Pink Island label.

The tracks are all as they should be on Ahead Rings Out: Side 1: It’s Only Love; Dear Jill; Sing Me a Song That I Know; The Modern Alchemist.  Side 2: Up and Coming; Leave it With Me; Change Song; Ain’t Ya Coming Home.

If you haven’t heard it on vinyl or don’t own a copy this could be for you. It certainly doesn’t who left Jethro Tull after just the one album. It has a far richer and varied sound than Tull because of the integration of brass  and a wider range of musical styles.

I would grade the record overall as EXCELLENT to VERY GOOD mainly because of the slight wear to the bottom of the front cover (see below and photos) otherwise I would say it was EXCELLENT.

The record lays flat on the turntable and plays well without the needle sticking or jumping. It’s pressed on heavyweight vinyl and the labels show minimal signs of use, have no writing and there are no visible spindle scratches.( Note the photo of the side one label appears to have a dark mark, but fear not; it is the shadow of the edge of my hand when holding the camera. Those who have devious, suspicious minds can confirm this is true by looking at the photo of the whole of side one and enlarging the centre of the label to see the absence of shadow.)

The unlaminated gatefold sleeve has some very light wear but otherwise is in very good condition with the colours still very bright and there isn’t any writing, taping or stickers; there’s only minimal edge wear (especially at the bottom of the front cover – see photo) and the spine is firm and totally legible with no tears or splits but there is a slight creasing where the edge of the record sits

Until 1970 I only ever played my albums on a Garrard Sp25 Mk11 with a Sonotone 9TAHC cartridge and from 1970 onwards on a Pioneer PL12D with a Shure N75 ED-T2 cartridge and stylus, tracking at 1.5 grams which I continue to use today – although the stylus has been replaced regularly

There are some hairline marks on both sides but nothing ugly or deep to affect the sound quality and the disc retains its deep, black vinyl sheen.

The record itself is clean and glossy and plays well apart from some of the usual vinyl hiss and crackle between tracks that unfortunately are noticeable in some of the quietest passages but vanish after a few seconds and don’t detract from the overall deep, rich sound, which is still amazing. Deep cleaning would easily improve it even further.

I will also include the original plastic outer that I bought which still fits tightly and has successfully kept the dust off for all these years.

A Word About Payment and Postage

Sorry but I accept Paypal only and it will be posted as soon as payment has cleared, which must be paid within 24hours of the end of the auction. This may seem harsh but I’m fed up with time wasters!

I use 12" Vinyl LP Record Cruciform postal mailers and protect them with an additional layer of bubblewrap. In the UK I use Royal Mail Signed For. If you require some other form of postage/delivery, I’m more than happy providing you meet the extra costs. If you are outside the UK, I will use Ebay’s own service.