CRESSIDA: CRESSIDA (RARE ORIGINAL VERTIGO LP)

	£		211
	$		279

Here is a chance to acquire an album which is beginning to demand mega money at a reasonable price. On offer is an original UK copy of Cressida by Cressida on the sought-after Vertigo swirl label (catalogue no. V0 7) from 1970. It's a hardly played original slab of vinyl with a reasonable gatefold sleeve. Why the bargain? Simply because it left the Philips factory with a pressing fault (though this hardly intrudes on the music or I wouldn't be offering it).

This is the very first Vertigo pressing of this elusive album, with first pressing 1Y/1 and 2Y/1 matrices and 'Philips Record Product' credit and large Vertigo swirl on the textual label. Both textual and full swirl labels are clean and show only moderate signs of spindle activity (certainly no spindle 'wear'). The record has been little played and carefully looked after and shows only the lightest of surface marks when examined under harsh halogen lighting.

The unlaminated gatefold cover is solid and fully intact and has no tears or unwanted writing but suffers from the usual wear - edgewear along the top and bottom, some spinewear, rubbing at the top and bottom of the spine, a few little indentations on the rear and some slight discolouration on the inside panel. A grade of G+ (Record Collector grading) would be appropriate.

The heavy slab of vinyl looks excellent and lies perfectly flat on the turntable but please let me remind you of that pressing fault on this album. It hardly intrudes on the music and since you can't really see it on my photos I will describe it fully so you know it like a flawed friend. First of all, let us be clear that this is a pressing fault and not a scuff or damage of any kind … quite simply, this is exactly how the record left the factory, so really it can't have been too bad to have eluded the Philips factory's 'quality control'. At first glance you might not notice anything, until you angle the disc to the light. Hold the record up, label text towards you and there's a ruler-straight 'faultline' from about 12-o-clock, an inch or so above the label, to about 2-o-clock on the perimeter of the disc. On the other side of the disc you can make out the reverse impression of the 'faultline' if you angle it to the light. The next thing is to reassure you that it's hardly of any sonic consequence. Just occasionally, during a very quiet passage or during the silence between tracks, you can detect a dull muted background blip (possibly because you are listening out for it) as the stylus passes over. But really you are only briefly aware of it on the very quiet intro to the opening track, To Play Your little Game', and from then on it's hardly apparent, hardly noticeable even between tracks. I wish I had the technology to link a recording to this listing to allay your fears but, having just listened to this album fully, I am satisfied that what I have given here is a full, accurate and honest description (the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!) and therefore I feel confident in offering this vinyl to you, in the knowledge that it is excellent in other respects and will surely bring you much listening pleasure, since it is in any case a delightful album. The warmth and clarity of sound and the stereo separation offered by this original first pressing vinyl is a pleasure - just check out the gorgeous guitar solo on 'Winter Is Coming Again' or the complex cross-channel arrangements and brilliant musicianship on the title track, 'Cressida' or the dense instrumentation of the spine-tingling Tomorrow is a Whole New Day' - pure Caravan! So yes, it performs very well, with the brightness and clarity of a hardly played record and none of the distortion of a well worn passed from party to party copy that's clogged up with background crackle. Just one other point - although I have had 40-odd years' experience with vinyl, how do you grade an otherwise perfectly fine record that has a pressing fault? G+ maybe? I really don't know.

In conclusion, here is one bargain worth bidding for because the music crammed into the grooves of Cressida's debut is wonderful. Just as Bakerloo could have been Harvest's Cream, Cressida were Vertigo's Caravan. Dreamy, effortless, flowing psych, just like early period Verve Caravan, but with the precision percussive punch of King Crimson thrown in. No wonder 'Cressida' by Cressida is held in such regard by the few in the know. It's one of the very best albums on Vertigo.

Good luck if you are bidding then ... hope you bag a bargain! And any queries - just ask (I don't broadcast your questions). You can see from the last of my pictures that I'm starting to sell off my collection … and there are many more goodies to come. I'm adding them as and when I can … even in the midnight hour, if necessary!