Chris Barber & His Band - Battersea Rain Dance LP McCARTNEY 1969 MINT

	£		24
	$		32

Artist or Band: CHRIS BARBER’S BAND

Album Title: Battersea Rain Dance.

Producer(s): Chris Barber, Giorgio Gomelsky & Reggie King.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Battersea Rain Dance; Snag It; Revival 69; People Get Ready; Cat Call.

Side 2: Sleepy John; Better Get Hit in Your Soul; Dooji, Wooji; I Think It’s Going to Rain Today; Mercy, Mery, Mercy; Dancy, Dancy.

Label/Format: Marmalade – superb original format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both immaculate Mint as new. Ultra clean, fresh and beautifully attractive and I am struggling to find a single spindle trace – you want 60s records practically like new – this is it.

Cat Number: 608009.

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: 132 grams. About average for it’s era.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Rare as an original – soon to be repressed on Polydor, the first issues were on the beautiful Marmalade label. One of the most striking and iconic labels of the whole decade. This album one of the least seen to adorn it.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: 608009 A // 1 1 1 1 & 608009 B // 2 1 1 1

Musicians: Christ Barber - trombone; Pat Halcox - trumpet; John Crocker - alto saxophone, Ian Wheeler - alto saxophone, harmonica; John Slaughter - guitar; Stu Morrison - banjo; Jackie Flavella - bass guitar; Graham Burbidge - drums; Brian Auger - organ. ‘The Cat Callers’ include Paul McCartney.

Brief Info: A traditional jazz album, often mis-sold as ‘progressive’ which is isn’t. It does feature however, two rock legends in Paul McCartney and Brian Auger and for completists is a somewhat obscure album. Rare on the wonderful Marmalade label and beautifully recorded. Not seen or offered often and for fans of Barber and trad-jazz, this is a supreme example that will prove near impossible to find better.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a single fully laminated format. Printed and made in England by MacNeill.

Lamination – Front & Back: Beautifully fresh, shiny and clear, only marked down a fraction for a couple oR three light surface creases each side, these have little visual impact. Any lifting is tiny, fine and faint on the rear spine, again, it hardly shows and the same for any traces of dulling. This is a really strong looker that totally defies it’s great age.

Top & Bottom Edges: Practically as made for both.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly sharp with minimal wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Any thickening or burr traces very small and minor. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight barely any compression, the ends gently tapered in manufacture. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and faint, all retain excellent to near mint shape.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this elusive late 60’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please most-all collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: MINT(-): a Polydor lined inner that looks almost like new. Clean, fresh with perfect window circles and clear lining, any crinkle very light indeed. No creasing and all edges unsplit, the lack of glue darkening on the seams is very unusual and this looks fantastic.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy played just once prior to my mandatory sound check, with any surface marks tiny, few and ultra faint. Visually a gorgeous Marmalade record that should please most-all collectors again.

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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This magnificent, first press record plays even above it’s high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound, this is audiophile trad-jazz for the connoisseur. Any surface sounds barely even registered and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Mastertape audio quality with the reeds perfectly focused, precise and sharp, few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, clearly well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This copy will prove immensely difficult to find better – the record near impossible in fact – and can be strongly recommended.