BLACK SABBATH - VOL. 4 Vertigo Swirl UK 1st Press EX PORKY/PECKO

	£		55
	$		72

BLACK SABBATH

VERTIGO SWIRL

VOL. 4

6360 071 (VO PRICE CODE)

First HEAVY vinyl, a whopping 142 gr. in weight!

 early stamped machined matrices 1Y//1 and 2Y//1

   UK  PRESS 1972  "PORKY and PECKO" etched into the run-off grooves

A very earliest press of this magnificent fourth and to many fans best Black Sabbath album. This is the extremely early heavy vinyl . Absolutely very scarce these days as a first press , most have been bought up now. I hadn't seen one for over two years before this one turned up!!

Black Sabbath were signed to Philips Records in November 1969, and released their first single, "Evil Woman" (a cover of a song by the band Crow) through Philips subsidiary Fontana Records in January 1970 at Trident Studios. Later releases were handled by Philips' newly formed progressive rock label, Vertigo Records. Although the single failed to chart, the band were afforded two days of studio time in November to record their debut album with producer Rodger Bain. Iommi recalls recording live: "We thought 'We have two days to do it and one of the days is mixing.' So we played live. Ozzy was singing at the same time, we just put him in a separate booth and off we went. We never had a second run of most of the stuff. The rest as we say is history".

Brief Info: 

Black Sabbath are an English rock band, formed in Birmingham in 1969, by vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassistGeezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. Originally formed in 1968 as a heavy blues rock band named Earth and renamed Black Sabbath in 1969, the band began incorporating occult and horror inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars and achieving multiple platinum records in the 1970s. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social instability, political corruption, the dangers of drug abuse and apocalyptic prophecies of the horrors of war.

Vol. 4 demonstrates Black Sabbath beginning to experiment with the heavy sound they had become known for. Although some songs are in their trademark style, others demonstrate a soft, orchestral approach. This is exemplified by the song "Changes". Written by Tony Iommi, it is entirely in the form of a piano ballad with mellotron. Although the band had used piano on some songs previously, it had played only a minor role in the songs.

At least two songs on the album reference the use of cocaine. The lyrics and title of "Snowblind" is an example of this. The song "Snowblind" also had to be re-recorded because the original version features Osbourne yelling the word "cocaine!" after each verse. On the officially released version, "cocaine" is whispered quite audibly after the first verse, approximately 41 seconds into the song. (During live performances Osbourne would again scream the word at the top of his lungs.)

Vinyl: VG++ to EX. I have listened to the full album and am happy to conclude that the audio is simply stunning. The vinyl is the earliest ULTRA heavy quality and has a deep glossy sheen. Later issues are flimsier and far lighter in weight. Although it has a few light hairlines, these do not have any impact on the audio which is awesome. This is the way to listen to this classic album and has far greater dynamics than any later re-issue or cd version can ever offer.  Needless to say there are NO jumps, NO sticks or clicks. A very worthy vinyl that is getting extremely scarce as a first press!!

Gatefold sleeve: VG+ to EX. A great matt gatefold sleeve with the inner photo booklet still present. There is an owner's name to the front, light edges scuffs but the spine is fully readable. The inner gatefold is close to NM. All in all this is a very respectable sleeve.

Labels: EX. Simply beautiful and unmarked. Lightest spindle traces only.

THE STEREO REPRODUCTION IS SUPERB AND EVERY NOTE IS HEARD CLEARLY AND CRISPLY.  NO MARKS, LIGHT HAIRLINES ONLY,  NONE DEEP, NEEDLESS TO SAY, NO STICKS OR JUMPS!

             This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next psych album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 45.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.