20th CENTURY LP T-508: Alan Parsons Project - Edgar Allan Poe - OOP 1976 USA NM

$

39

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Background on this eBay item -

The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians.

Behind the revolving lineup and the regular sidemen, the true core of the Project was the duo of Parsons and Woolfson. Woolfson was a lawyer by profession, but also a composer and pianist. Parsons was a successful producer and accomplished engineer. Almost all songs on the band's albums are credited to "Woolfson/Parsons".

• Alan Parsons - keyboards, acoustic guitar, flute, bass, vocoder, vocals, engineering, production
• Eric Woolfson - keyboards, vocals, executive production
  

Englishman Alan Parsons met Scotsman Eric Woolfson in the canteen of Abbey Road Studios in the summer of 1974. Parsons had already acted as assistant engineer on The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, had recently engineered Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, and had produced several acts for EMI Records. Woolfson, a songwriter and composer, was working as a session pianist; he had also composed material for a concept album idea based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe.

Parsons asked Woolfson to become his manager and Woolfson managed Parsons' career as a producer and engineer through a string of successes including Pilot, Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel, John Miles, Al Stewart, Ambrosia and The Hollies. Parsons commented at the time that he felt frustrated in having to accommodate the views of some of the musicians, which he felt interfered with his production. Woolfson came up with the idea of making an album based on developments in the film industry, where directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick were the focal point of the film's promotion, rather than individual film stars. If the film industry was becoming a director's medium, Woolfson felt the music business might well become a producer's medium.

Recalling his earlier Edgar Allan Poe material, Woolfson saw a way to combine his and Parsons' respective talents. Parsons would produce and engineer songs written by the two, and the Alan Parsons Project was born. Their first album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, including major contributions by all members of Pilot and Ambrosia, was a success, reaching the Top 40 in the US Billboard 200 chart. The song "The Raven" featured lead vocals by the actor Leonard Whiting, and, according to the 2007 remastered album liner notes, was the first rock song to use a digital vocoder, with Alan Parsons speaking lyrics through it.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe is the debut album by the progressive rock group The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1976. The album's avant-garde soundscapes kept it from being a blockbuster, but the interesting lyrical and musical themes — retellings of horror stories and poetry by Edgar Allan Poe — attracted a cult audience. The title of the album is taken from a popular title for a collection of Poe's macabre tales of the same name, Tales of Mystery & Imagination, first published in 1908 and reprinted many times since.

Musicians featured on the album include vocalist Arthur Brown of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (who sings The Tell Tale Heart) and Francis Monkman, who had played with Curved Air and later founded Sky.

Tales of Mystery and Imagination peaked at #38 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. "(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether" peaked at #37 on the Pop Singles chart. 

Release date of this ebay listed item: 1976

This ebay listing is for a super rare, long out of print and near mint LP title -

• 20th Century Records LP Item - BLUE record labels with BLACK lettering, sporting the record label logo on the labels.

• LP was made in the USA
  

• Pressing is in STEREO

• LP was issued in 1976
  

• Record Catalog Number: T-508
  

Featuring -

The Alan Parsons Project

Alan Parsons - Organ, Synthesizer, Guitar, Keyboards, Recorder, Vocals, *Producer, Engineer, Projection
Eric Woolfson - Synthesizer, Harpsichord, Keyboards, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Executive Producer
Orson Welles - Narrator (1987 version only)
Leonard Whiting - Vocals, Narrator
Arthur Brown - Vocals
John Miles - Guitar, Vocals
Jack Harris - Vocals
Francis Monkman - Organ, Keyboards
Kevin Peek - Guitar (Acoustic)
Terry Sylvester - Vocals
Laurence Juber - Guitar (Acoustic)
Andrew Powell - Keyboards, Arranger
David Paton - Guitar (Acoustic), Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
Ian Bairnson - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric)
Chris Blair - Assistant Engineer
Peter Christopherson - Photography
David Katz - Violin, Leader, Orchestra Contractor
Burleigh Drummond - Drums
English Chorale - Vocals
Bob Howes - Choir, Chorus
John Leach - Percussion, Vocals, Cimbalom, Kantele
David Pack - Guitar
Smokey Parsons - Vocals
Joe Puerta - Bass
Tony Richards - Assistant Engineer
Jack Rothstein - Leader
Daryl Runswick - Bass, String Bass
David Snell - Harp
The English Chorale and Played Ti - Choir, Chorus
Stuart Tosh - Cymbals, Drums, Vocals, Tympani [Timpani]
Tom Trefethen - Assistant Engineer
Pat Stapley - Assistant Engineer
Aubrey Powell - Photography
Storm Thorgerson - Photography
Hipgnosis - Design, Cover Art
Sam Emerson - Photography
Colin Elgie - Artwork, Graphic Design, Layout Design
Billy Lyall - Piano, Drums, Glockenspiel, Keyboards, Recorder, Fender Rhodes
Gordon Parry - Engineer
Jane Powell - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
Les Hurdle - Bass
Christopher North - Keyboards

LP Title -

Tales of Mystery And Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe

Track Listing -

1. "A Dream Within A Dream" [instrumental] – 4:14
2. "The Raven" – 3:57 (ft. Leonard Whiting on lead vocals, Alan Parsons lead vocal through an EMI vocoder)
3. "The Tell-Tale Heart" – 4:38 (ft. Arthur Brown)
4. "The Cask of Amontillado" – 4:33 (ft. John Miles)
5. "(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" – 4:20 (ft. John Miles and Jack Harris)
6. "The Fall of the House of Usher [instrumental] - 16:10 "Prelude" – 7:02 "Arrival" – 2:39 "Intermezzo" – 1:00 "Pavane" – 4:36 "Fall" – 0:51
7. "To One in Paradise" – 4:46 (ft. Terry Sylvester on lead vocals, backing vocals by Eric Woolfson)
   

CONDITION Details:

LP JACKET:

• The GATE-FOLD LP jacket is in near excellent plus condition!

• The jacket has NO seam splits - it is completely intact and only shows some shelf wear, primarily along the seams and corners.
  

• It has NO drill holes or saw marks of any kind - see picture with this listing for a better understanding of the condition of this item.
  

• There is NO hand writing on the front or back of the jacket. There is just a slight bit of color foxing that can be seen primarily due to the color that was used on the jacket. Further there is the remains of a price sticker on the front, top, right corner of the jacket.
  

• The cover has clean and sharp colors - see picture with this listing for more detail. 

The LP (vinyl) itself:

• The LP is in near MINT minus condition!
  

• The LP retains most of the original gloss and sheen - looks like it's rarely been played!
  

• The record has no serious marks on it, obviously well taken care of.
  

• NO significant spindle marks either - perhaps a light one or two!
  

• This is the copy you have always wanted in your collection - any picky audiophile or collector should be happy with this one!
  

• This LP may have a slight mark or two (spider marks) which are caused by sliding the LP in and out of the inner sleeve and are usually not audible on most audio systems, depending of course, on the sensitivity of your turntable, arm and cartridge - as for any record, we recommend a thorough cleaning before playing!

A Short Note About LP GRADING -

• Mint = Only used for sealed items.
• Near Mint = Virtually flawless in every way.
• Near Mint Minus = Item has some minor imperfections, some audible.
• Excellent = Item obviously played and enjoyed with some noise.
• Very Good Plus = Many more imperfections which are noticeable and obtrusive.

Don't let this rarity slip by!!!