CAT STEVENS, Mona Bone Jakon RARE Robert Ludwig B-side master USA 1st press LP

$

23

Cat Stevens ?– Mona Bone Jakon Label: A&M Records ?– SP-4260 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Terre Haute Press  Country: US Released: Jul 1970 Genre: Rock, Pop, Folk, World, & Country Style: Folk Rock, Pop Rock Tracklist  A1 Lady D'Arbanville 3:40 A2 Maybe You're Right 3:20 A3 Pop Star 4:10 A4 I Think I See The Light 4:00 A5 Trouble 2:50 B1 Mona Bone Jakon 1:38 B2 I Wish, I Wish 3:45 B3 Katmandu 3:17 B4a Time 1:26 B4b Fill My Eyes 2:58 B5 Lilywhite 3:40 Companies, etc. Mastered At – Sterling Sound Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute Published By – Irving Music, Inc. Credits Arranged By [Additional] – Del Newman Bass – John Ryan Flute – Peter Gabriel Guitar [Additional] – Alun Davies Illustration [Front Cover] – Cat Stevens Mastered By [Runout Etch] – RL* (tracks: B1 to B5), LH* (tracks: A1 to A5)  Percussion – Harvey Burns Photography By – Richard Stirling Producer – Paul Samwell-Smith Written-By – Cat Stevens Notes Original Terre Haute Pressing from Ludwig master on B side and Hulko master on A side, variant of this Terre Haute press.  

USA FIRST PRESSING BROWN LABEL VINYL ALBUM WITH ORIGINAL COMPANY INNER SLEEVE.

MATRIX:  SIDE A: A&M SP 4419-7 B3 STERLING LH T 1 /  SIDE B: SP 4420-8 B STERLING RL/L.. T 1.

This is the seriously rare and seldom seen first STERLING pressing that has a Robert Ludwig mastering on the B-side.  Most copies have Lee Hulko or Ted Jenson mastering. Lee Hulko is on the A-side only on this copy.  All the brown label first A&M USA pressings with STERLING stampers have excellent audio (alas, the vinyl quality is rarely as good though), but cleanish copies are second only to the UK pink Island pressings.  But finding a Robert Ludwig stamper on this title is extemely difficult and is as infrequently seen as his one side stamper on some pressings of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours'.

SLEEVE: MOSTLY VERY GOOD+ WITH SHELF, CORNER, EDGE AND RING WEAR, BUT TOP SPINE EDGE DAMAGED.   INNER SLEEVE VERY GOOD+ WITH NO SEAM SPLITS.

DISC: VERY GOOD+. NO SCRATCHES, BUT THERE ARE SOME PLAY SCUFFS AND FINGERPRINT SPOTS WHICH WILL NEED A GOOD VPI TYPE CLEAN PRIOR TO FIRST PLAY. CLEAN LABELS.

Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album?

First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm.

First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.

On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.