ANDREW LEIGH Magician RARE ORIG UK 1970 EX++ POLYDOR LP, SUPER SOUND RARELY SEEN

	£		108
	$		143

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: ANDREW LEIGH

Album Title: Magician

Producer(s): Andrew Leigh & T. Yason

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Magician; Get Myself Together; Goin’ Out to the West; Solitaire; Windy Baker Street.

Side 2: Take Me Back; Leaving Song; Fresh Brown Eggs; Up the USA.

Label/Format: Polydor with matt, gently textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with barely any spindle traces and no wear around the hole area. This ‘lost’ Polydor album looks hardly played and sounds superb.

Catalogue Number: 2343034

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Few vintage records are ever perfectly ‘flat’, so some slight or very gentle arm movement is normal. If any record I offer has more than that, I will mention it, and it can be assumed all I offer should track without issues, even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 144 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Very Scarce, few made or sold, this is seldom seen (and rarely in this condition).

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: 2343034 A//1 420 1 1 1 & 2343034 B//1 420 1 2

Musicians: Andrew Leigh – vocals, bass guitar, recorder, acoustic guitar, piano electric guitar, mellotron, banjo, percussion instruments; Kevin Westlake – bass, drums, guitars, vocals; Bryn Hayward – electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Reggie King – piano, vocals; Gordon Jackson – electric sitar; Gary Farr – harmonica, acoustic guitar; Mike Kellie – tambourine; Vryan Godding – elecgtric guitars; Tony Priestland – tenor saxophone, flute, oboe; Gary Wright – electric piano.

Brief Info: Andrew Leigh made one album with Spooky Tooth (‘Ceremony’) and then he joined Matthews Southern Comfort. Inbetween time, he made this solo album that includes a several top backing musicians that include guest appearances from members of Blossom Toes, Spooky Tooth, Fleurs De Lys and Titus Groan, also Reg King, Gary Farr and Gordon Jackson (who made one rare album on Marmalade). Leigh is a multi-instrumentalist, the music is varied with ballads and rock that includes flute, sitar and effects. A somewhat obscure album for a major label, after his stint with MSC, little has been heard from him thereafter. A very fine set, but few even noticed on issue and another lost in the mist-of-time with few sales and deletion. This a superb example, the first I have ever seen or had. An interesting album more than worth checking out and a rare opportunity for collectors.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single unlaminated format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group, includes the January 1971 codes polylined inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Lovely artwork and very well preserved considering it has no laminate protection. Clean, fresh and attractive with hardly any rubbing , any of the very few creases very fine and faint. Hardly aged and no sticker issues, this rare cover front will seldom be found better.

Cover Back: Clearly this thin black cover back will rarely escape heavy rubbing and ring wear, this has barely any traces at all. Just a couple of fine thumb-crease on the left edge and a trace opposite near the top. This also has minimal traces of handling and given its perilous traits, this back, like the front, has survived in superb condition as-seen.

Top Edge: Very thin, but straight and barely worn at all.

Bottom Edge: Same again, this storage edge in remarkable condition with barely any rub traces. Clearly this sleeve has been cover-protected for most of its time and little handled.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly sharp with any thickening very little and equally light as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression, the ends very gently tapered in manufacture. Tiny rubs to the very ends and patchy light rubbing has eroded a little text on the catalogue number, all other fully intact again as-seen.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and light, near excellent shape retained with no heavy knocks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this very wear prone early 1970’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better, only marked down for mild age discolouration of the white paper. This has two perfect window circles, the polylining very clear and fresh, the paper hardly creased with all edges solidly intact with no repairs. This is date-coded 0171 (January 1971).

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a superb visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy appearing hardly played on all the evidence with any surface traces ultra light, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light, these on side one, side two has hardly anything. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, barely anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors.

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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This ‘lost’ Polydor album plays even above it’s high visual grading with barely anything to fault. Offering 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 hardly even registered and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Few available copies will match, let alone outperform this early first pressing I feel sure. I doubt if this was even available for long and pressing numbers would have been minimal. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. Another rare one, and great opportunity for collectors. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

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] = £4.75

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

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

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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 necessarily 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, 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.