CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Lick My Decals Off, Baby - RARE ORIG UK 1970 STRAIGHT EX+ LP.

	£		37
	$		48

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 – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks 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. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers will now be blocked at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND

Album Title: Lick My Decals Off, Baby.

Producer(s): Captain Beefheart.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Lick My Decals Off, Baby; Doctor Dark; I Love You, You Big Dummy; Peon; Bellerin’ Plain; Woe-is-uh-me-bop; Japan in a Dishpan.

Side 2: I Wanna Find a Woman That’ll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have to Go; Petrified Forest; One Red Rose That I Mean; the Buggy Boogie Woogie; The Smithsonian Institute Blues (or the big dig); Space-Age Couple; The Clouds Are Full of Wine (not whisky or rye); Flash Gordon’s Ape.

Label/Format: Original UK Straight with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both immaculate: ulre clean, fresh and very attractive, there is barely a spindle trace to be seen, even under a magnifying glass. This has been my own personal copy for around a dozen years, it has taken me that long to find one with just a very slightly better cover – but this is indeed marginal – this is a superb record and impressive cover.

Cat Number: STS 1063.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 130 grams. A very good solid weight.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: This title on any label is pretty scarce. The Straight originals are quite rare and seldom seen in decent conditions – the cover’s especially are usually in very poor conditions, rife with heavy ringwear and severe rubbing. This has barely anything like that, just a little rubbing mainly to the bottom storage edge that few can hope to avoid.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: STS-1063-A1 / STS-1063-B1 [both punched, clear and sharp]

Musicians: Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) – vocals, bass clarinet, tenor sax, soprano sax, harmonica; Drumbo (John French) – percussion, broom; Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad) – guitar and glass finger guitar; Rockette Morton (Mark Boston) – ‘bassius-o-pheilius’; Ed Marimba (Art Tripp) – marimba, percussion, broom.

Brief Artist & Album Info: The great Captain’s second recording for Frank Zappa’s Straight label consolidated the artistic freedom expressed on its predecessor Trout Mask Replica (still for me, one of the greatest albums ever made). Avant Garde blues-based rock and free jazz melt into a montage of sound. Jagged guitars and ravaged soprano saxophone splinter through the mix while ex-Mothers of Invention drummer Art Tripp, herein renamed Ed Marimba, brings new rhythmic possibilities to the Captain’s heady sound. Beefheart prowls around the proceedings with consummate ease, his expressive voice and wonderful use of the English language, which echoes bluesman Howlin’ Wolf, emphasizing the adventurous, playful nature of both music and lyrics. By demolishing previous notions of tonality and structure, Captain Beefheart (Don van Vliet) inspired a whole generation of post-punk disciples, from Pere Ubu to Sonic youth. An album for long periods out of print and only very sporadic, very limited issues on CD were available. Always an artist popular with the critics, Beefheart’s music was so groundbreaking and cutting-edge he was always too extreme and weird to be popular with most. Few could understand his music and remains a cult artist with sales being only very modest. Decals is amongst his most challenging work, often referred to as a mini Trout Mask Replica. This second legendary set did not even chart in his native US but surprisingly did make No 20 in the UK. It’s long overdue that Don van Vliet is more understood and appreciated by more listeners than just the critics and musically adventurous – the man was a musical genius and most of his albums should be included in any serious collection – you may just never want to listen to ‘Pop’ music again.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: a single unlaminated format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by Shorewood and includes a plain white inner sleeve.

Cover Front: As stated above, this has been my reference personal copy for around 12 years or so, bought from a quality and very clean personal collection. Given how difficult this cover is, this is very arguably worthy of an extra (+). During that time, I have seen few better until recently, this cover really is that difficult to find without major wear of all types. Any rubbing or ringwear to this front is minimal and very faint indeed. It remains fresh and attractive with just a fine surface crease near the top edge that has very modest visibility. The lack of sticker marks or tears is a major positive not to be dismissed lightly, as this is one that tolerates vintage sticker badly. With a very revealing black surface, this will prove incredibly hard to find better and I have kept this cover-protected all the time I have had it.

Cover Back: The back is pretty much the same again – the lack of ringwear is highly unusual and makes a massive difference.

Top Edge: Light and a little patchy rubbing – NO tip-ins or enhancements.

Bottom Edge: Light to moderate patchy rubbing, this the main reason an extra (+) was not given. All edges straight and still neat put into true perspective.

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

Spine and Text: An impressive spine, and few are these days. Solid, straight, uncompressed with all text present and barely worn at all. This more often seen with much text rubbed or gone altogether.

Corners: Light to moderate tip rubs with very fine shape (or better) retained.

Cover Summary: ‘Difficult’ and ‘wear-prone’ hardly cover this one – this has always been a huge challenge to find with little wear. With most confined to the bottom edge, this is considerably above average and will take a lot of beating.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): and hardly even aged at all. A plain solid white unlined inner with minimal traces of any creasing and all edges unsplit with no repairs. I keep all my own record in replacement soft-lined inners.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): record that can go either way: many are seen totally trashed from heavy use by the big fans… or consequently, in very fine conditions from collectors who bought from curiosity and hated what they heard and hardly played it. This is a fine visual copy that is very clean with fine shine and very solidly pressed. A couple of three fine hairline surface marks on side one with NO sound. Any other blemishes are very fine and faint as seen under bright angled light. Complex groove patterns verify this has intense and intricate sounds and finding a better looking Straight could prove difficult. Visually a super record that should please many 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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This amazing Straight record plays even above its high visual grading with very little to fault. Straight Records were not always the best of pressings and often proved variable. This offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is superb with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sound traces minimal and faint, barely anything with no tracking issues*. This band sounded like no other and the complex musical structures can be followed easily on this excellent example and recording. The Captain’s voice is beyond my words, all remains focused and clear with no stressing to the highly complex signals that create his unique sound. Few copies will outperform this original Straight example significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp and this vintage copy has suffered no needle abuse from the past. Nothing of any real spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, one of the most challenging in the ‘rock’ field ever pressed to vinyl. Both record and cover could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be very strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ortofon Quintet Blue moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records 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 or full story. I will 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 stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, 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 Blue moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 14 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

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 withdrawals. 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 can 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 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.