Ambrose Slade: "Beginnings". Fontana, 1969. Original example of v. scarce album

	£		366
	$		485

Ambrose Slade: Beginnings

Fontana STL 5492 and 886 766TY, 1969

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE FIRST:

If you think you’ve seen this listing before, then you probably have! I originally listed this album three or four weeks ago. It sold for £450 to a buyer in Germany. I posted the record the following day using an express service but unfortunately when it arrived, it had sustained some damage to the sleeve in transit. I offered the buyer a 25% refund to compensate but he declined and returned the album to me for a full refund.

The damage to the sleeve was not that bad. The record had obviously moved around in the sleeve during its journey to Germany and had slightly split both the spine and the top edge of the sleeve. Neither of the splits was very long. They were both pretty much  the same length at about 2½ inches (65mm).

As it happens, because I have been dealing in ephemera for many years and have had lots of tips from the professional conservator that I use, I have good skills when it comes to to repairing paper and card. I have made neat, permanent repairs to both splits from the inside using short sections of card (no sticky tape involved). The split to the top edge is now effectively invisible and I think most people would only see the split to spine if they knew to look for it.

The final two photos show the sites of both repairs. Please bear in mind when bidding that the sleeve has been repaired.

The description below is unaltered from the one I posted in the original lisitng

This is an original 1969 copy of this rare and sought-after record. It has the “Y//2 420 1 1” stamp in the run-out grooves, which I think makes it the earlier of the two pressings. As everyone knows, Ambrose Slade was the previous name of glam rock legends, Slade. Beginnings was the band’s first album and the source of their first single, Genesis (unless you count the band’s 1966 single, You Better Run, released under the even earlier name of the ‘N Betweens).

The album has twelve tracks, four of which were written by the band themselves. The other tracks are a highly eclectic range of covers which show Slade’s wide range of influences. The covers include: the Beatles’ Martha My Dear; Frank Zappa’s Ain’t Got No Heart; Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild; the Amboy Dukes’ Journey To The Centre Of Your Mind; the Idle Race’s Knocking Nails Into My House; and even Marvin Gaye’s If This World Were Mine.

I’m going to describe the condition of this LP carefully. I know this can be an expensive record so I want to be sure I give an accurate impression of this particular example. Be assured that it is in perfectly acceptable, playable condition but it is certainly not in mint or excellent condition, so I don’t want to mislead anyone.

You should be able to get an accurate impression of the sleeve from the images above. The sleeve is clean and intact, and has not been written on. The laminated film is almost entirely fine but like many old laminated sleeves, the film has begun to lift a little in some places at the opening edges. There is some creasing to the sleeve, particularly to the bottom right corner at the front. The corners are a little bumped, more so at the top right and bottom left. All this is visible in the images.

The labels to both sides of the record are in nice, clean condition to both sides. The playing surface of the record has quite a lot of surface marks and couple of small scuffed areas. Both sides play perfectly well all the way through with no loud clicks but there is light crackling in the run-in grooves and between all the tracks. Background crackling is also audible during some of the quieter introductions and the quieter passages within some tracks but cannot be heard during the noisier tracks - which of course is most of them! There are perhaps three or four places where a more noticeable click can be heard over a handful of grooves but this is still quite slight. Much of the crackling of course, is caused by static, so if you have a good anti-static system you may be able to make a noticeable improvement to that. I’ve included a couple of images of the playing surface above but actually they aren’t that much help in showing the marks – in fact they give rather a misleadingly good impression! They do demonstrate however that there are no deep scratches.

I understand by the way, that there are counterfeit copies of this record in circulation. I have been collecting records since the 1970s and - although I have not owned this record from new - I am as certain as I can be that this example is an original issue from 1969. If however, the winning bidder identifies it as a counterfeit by some piece of evidence of which I am unaware, then I will accept the record back and refund the purchase price. 

I hope that all helps. I’m starting the album at a very reasonable £50.00 which, even allowing for the fact that the sound quality on this example is not perfect, is a very good price for such a rare album.

UK Postage and packing:  £3.00

International postage and packing:  Postage charges to international destinations are given below.

All postage prices quoted (UK and international) are maximum charges.  If postage and packing costs less than these estimates, I will refund the difference after posting (subject to the difference being £1.00 or more. Unless otherwise indicated, the postage prices I give in the listing are for a tracked and signed-for service, as required by eBay. If however, winning buyers would prefer cheaper options, I am always happy to help with that if I can. Please contact me for a quote.

I hope this description has given you enough to go on but should you require any further information, or more images, please do e-mail.  Please also look carefully at the hi-res photos – they are part of the description.  Thanks for your interest in this auction and good luck if you decide to bid.

Please note:  I will not respond to requests to close the auction early regardless of the value of the offer made.  Ending early is contrary to both the principle and spirit of an auction. It is also unfair to other eBayers who may be watching the auction intending to bid at a later time.

Noddy holder jimmy lea dave hill don powell wild winds are blowing shape of things to come