ELLA FITZGERALD MELLOW MOOD ORIG '54 DECCA BLACK+GOLD LABEL MONO LP

$

153

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  NEARLY 100  LISTED ITEMS

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·      ELLA FITZGERALD – SONGS IN THE MELLOW MOOD - ORIGINAL 1954 DECCA RECORDS MONO LP DL- 8068

·      ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·      MONSTROUSLY RARE ORIGINAL GLOSSY BLACK DECCA LABEL WITH GOLD (NOT SILVER!) PRINT – ONE OF THE FIRST - POSSIBLY THE FIRST - 12-INCH LPS DECCA EVER RELEASED

·      DEEP GROOVE PRESSING .

·      FLAT EDGE PRESSING

·      THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·      ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·      ORIGINAL GLOSSY, LIGHTLY LAMINATED COVER

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·      MACHINE-STAMPED MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) OF THE RECORD

·      MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) ENDS WITH '-T1/-T3'.  ON SOME LABELS,  SUFFIX '–1' DENOTES THE VERY FIRST, ORIGINAL PRESSING)

·      VERY THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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Ella Fitzgerald's Songs in a Mellow Mood finds the singer in the ideal and intimate company of pianist Ellis Larkins. A precursor to her equally stunning Gershwin set with the pianist, this 12-track set includes such first-tier standards as "Imagination," "You Leave Me Breathless," and "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." Presaging her masterful series of songbook recordings, Fitzgerald is equally at home with Gershwin, Porter, and Rodgers & Hammerstein, never faltering while she balances vocal power and interpretive nuances. Larkins only adds to the rarefied atmosphere with supple voicings of his own. A perfect way to soak up one of jazz's most glorious singers.

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY STEPHEN COOK, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

While Ella Fitzgerald would continue to records critically and commercially acclaimed albums after her DECCA tenure (1945-1955), notably for Norman Granz’ Verve family of labels, many Jazz vocals aficionados, yours truly included, feel very strongly that she reached her creative and artistic peak during these early years, in which she recorded five albums for DECCA.

Although we have been collecting records for more than 53 years now, and there is very little that we can find that we haven`t seen before or that can really, truly surprise us, every now and then we see something amazingly uncommon that practically takes our breath away.

Take a look at this Ella Fitzgerald album, for instance. For decades we believed (obviously, we were not alone -- it looks like every author of every record guide and reference book in existence was of the same opinion) that the first pressing of Ella’s FIRST modern 12-incher was pressed on Decca`s classic black-and-silver label.

Clearly, this was not the case. Apparently, this was one of the first titles DECCA ever released on as 12-inch LP, and this otherwise rare album apparently exists on an even more monstrously rare black-and-gold label.

For the novices, DECCA`s black-and-gold label was the first one that the company ever used, and it was commonly used on 10-inch and on the first generation of DECCA`s 12-inch records. The label was discontinued around 1953, which practically means that this album was released A WHOLE YEAR earlier than the record guides tell us – probably in 1953, not 1954.  A piece of modern Jazz history, or what?

TO SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER LISTED ITEMS BY THIS GROUP OR ARTIST ►  CLICK HERE

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·      CONDITION:

·      THE RECORD

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)         WE GRADE THE VINYL AS EXCELLENT. This is one of those albums that are somewhat difficult to grade. It is somewhere between VG++ and NEAR MINT, just a notch below NEAR MINT. A few light abrasions ARE visible, but they are extremely shallow, superficial  and only moderately visually distracting (nothing significant).For the most part, the vinyl looks impeccable without any MAJOR visual flaws or imperfections. Much of the original luster is intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)         The record has a "deep groove" (an indent in the label about 1/2-inch from the edge of the label, which on SOME labels is associated with very early or first pressings).

(c)         This is the original flat edge pressing.

(d)         The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(e)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·                          THE COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-       Cover has a partially split bottom seam (less than 1 inch / 2.5 centimeters)

-       Back cover has the original price sticker, which may be possible to remove with a little effort (we did not attempt to)

-       Back cover has a round sticker residue (small yellowish discoloration from the removed price sticker)

-       Back cover has a small peel-off mark, probably from the careless removal of the price sticker. (less than 1/8 square inch in size)

-       Cover has JUST A HINT of ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 2.

-       Back cover has circular tarnish (grayish, dust-covered sections, which closely follow the contour of the record),  probably caused by friction or by rubbing against other covers during the storage. The tarnish is similar in appearance to a common ring wear, but, UNLIKE ring wear, these grayish areas may be possible to clean up with a minor effort and with a right cleansing solution.

-       Cover has two corners slightly dinged (nothing significant)

-       Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging  (nothing significant)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

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CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

Our love & appreciation for your trust, loyalty and business, always and forever;  Thank You & Good Night!

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