BEGGAR'S OPERA Act One ORIG 6360 018 UK Vertigo SWIRL

	£		70
	$		93

BEGGAR’S OPERA – Act One ORIG Vertigo Swirl LP / 6360 018 (UK, Stereo, 1970)

Happy to present this Glasgow outfit’s 1st LP for UK Vertigo – a very competent and enjoyable romp through neo-classical prog and with surely one of the best sleeves from the Swirl roster, brought together by the fabulously talented Keef.  Note also that main man Ricky Gardiner went on to play guitar with Bowie on ‘Low’ and co-wrote ‘The Passenger’ with Iggy Pop (though you wouldn’t guess it from the styles on display here!).

The usual non-laminated gatefold sleeve is a very pleasing example.  It’s always a bonus to find A Swirl sleeve without sticker tears (usually top right corner – many of them ended up in 70s bargain bins) and lying nicely flat without ripples or bends.  Well this is one and is without tears, splits or writing anywhere, inside or out.  There’s only one patch of creasing – to the top right corner (hardly noticeable) and only a very light ring impression to the rear.  Main evidence of age is in the spine corners which show moderate rubbing and subsequent softening.  Add to this some edge rubs, mainly to the bottom and you have a solid, flat, bright and firm sleeve which is above average but not absolutely fresh.  Spine shows a few rubs/nicks (all text still bright and legible) and the inner gate is very good indeed with nothing untoward to report.  Many would not hesitate to go EX but I feel the EX grade is often abused as it should mean ‘extremely good’ – this isn’t quite there (due to the corners mainly) but is easily worthy of a VG+ (Very Good Plus) – would still fit proudly in a high grade Swirl collection. Nice!

The correct, late 1970 large Swirl labels are in nice condition – no writing, stickers or residue.  Moderate but light spindle traces are evident, mainly to the info side.  These vintage, 40-odd year old labels have survived better than most!

The solid and sharp medium to heavy weight vinyl bears the following matrices:

Side A: 6360 018 1Y // 1^ 420 1 1 1  (^ denotes the upside down triangle)

Side B: 6360 018 2Y // 1 ^420 1 1     (^ denotes the upside down triangle)

The vinyl surfaces do show some light and fine scuffing on both sides.  It’s the kind of marking that’s invisible until you get the disc under bright light so it’s not deep, ugly or intrusive in any way.  There’s NO scratches, only one hairline that I could make out and no embedded dirt or nasty dust pockets.  However the fine scuffing lines (probably bagrash created as a result of the disc being removed from the inner) have NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER on the audio which plays superbly with NO snap, ticks or pops, no distortion or loss of definition.  My test play didn’t even pick up any surface static or crackle.   Grades VG+ (Very Good Plus) cosmetically but a solid and true EX (Excellent) for the audio which really does sound as good as you’ll get for this 40 year old Swirl.

Supplied in its reverse poly-lined Swirl inner (I have seen this title in both positive and negative inners?) also around the VG+ mark.

Please check my feedback for confirmation of my strict grading and many satisfied customers who tell me the records they’ve received have been some of the very best.

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