ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA INSANELY RARE ORIG'68 WHITE LABEL PROMO-ONLY MONO LP

$

103

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  MORE THAN 300  LISTED ITEMS

►Click here to see ALL our ROCK auctions ►Our PSYCH & PROGRESSIVE  auctions ►Our PUNK & NEW WAVE  auctions ► Our  JAZZ auctions ►Our BLUE NOTE JAZZ auctions  ►Our BLUES auctions ►Our CLASSICAL auctions ►Our COUNTRY auctions ►Our FUNK auctions ►Our LATIN auctions ►Our METAL auctions►Our REGGAE auctions ►Our SOUL auctions ► Our STILL SEALED ITEMS  ►Our PROMO auctions ►Our ACETATE  auctions ►Our TEST PRESSING  auctions  ►Our AUDIOPHILE auctions

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

·       ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA – RARE SAME-TITLED FIRST AND ONLY ORIGINAL 1968 ALBUM BY THE GROUP (“ELMER GANTRY'S VELVET OPERA") –  VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1968 EPIC RECORDS MONO LP BN-26415 PLEASE NOTE: CATALOG NUMBER BN-26415 IS DECEPTIVE; BN- PREFIXES WERE USED FOR STEREO R

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·       *** WHITE LABEL PROMO ***

·       *** IN ADDITION, THE PROMOTIONAL STAMP ON THE COVER CLEARLY IDENTIFIES THE ITEM AS PROMOTIONAL ***

·       *** ULTRA-RARE PROMOTIONAL-ONLY MONO COPY; A DEDICATED MONO MIX OF THIS ALBUM WAS NEVER COMMERCIALLY RELEASED IN ANY WAY OR FORM ***

·       IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE THAT FAKE (BOOTLEG) PROMO-ONLY MONO PRESSINGS OF THIS ALBUM DO EXIST AND SIGNIFICANTLY OUTNUMBER AUTHENTIC COPIES. THEY ARE IDENTIFIABLE BY THICKNESS OF THE VINYL (FAKE COPIES ARE THICKER THAN GENUINE PRESSINGS), HAND-ETCHED MATRIX NUMBERS IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (ORIGINALS TYPICALLY HAVE MACHINE STAMPS) AND CRUEDLY GLUED, UNEVEN AND ROUGH LABELS. WE GUARANTEE THAT THIS PRESSING IS 100% GENUINE, ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC PRESSING;

THIS MONO ALBUM CONTAINS MIXES WHICH ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE MORE COMMON, STEREO VERSION OF THE ALBUM

·       ORIGINAL EPIC MONO LABEL, MID-'60s STYLE, WHITE PROMOTIONAL VERSION

·       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)

·       THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·       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 '-1A/-1A'.  ON SOME LABELS,  SUFFIX '–1' DENOTES THE VERY FIRST, ORIGINAL PRESSING)

·       MONO version of this album has NEVER been available on legitimate Compact Disc or in any other digital format.

(►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!)

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

Although labeled a psychedelic band in their day,  Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera never sat comfortably in that strawberry field, partially because of the diversity of their sound, but also due to the simple fact they were just too far ahead of their time even for the psyched-out crowd. In fact, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera continued to sound thoroughly modern for decades, while their myriad musical meanderings took them down wayward byways that later became stylistic highways -- at least in their native U.K.. So it's no surprise then, that this band would have slotted perfectly into the Britpop scene, or going back further in time, into the R&B-drenched mod scene. The Opera's admiration for R&B is evident on "Intro," an homage to Archie Bell & the Drells, while their equal respect for bluesy jazz is showcased on a fabulous cover of Oscar Brown's "I Was Cool" which absolutely smokes. "Flames," in contrast, fires the band straight into rockabilly, and boasts a thumping intro bassline that, coincidentally enough, would also storm through the Jam's "Town Called Malice." So where's the psychedelia? Well "Air" languidly drifts on sitars across India, but it's heard most magnificently on the instrumental freak-out "Walter Sly Meets Bill Bailey." The rest of the 13-song set, in contrast, slides into gentler, harmony drenched numbers reminiscent of the Kinks, early Small Faces, and of course the Beatles.

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY JO-ANN GREENE, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

THE WHITE LABEL PROMO, RADIO STATION-, AUDITION OR DEMONSTRATION COPIES AND RELEASES (such as the one we have here) were often distributed to the radio stations before the record was released to the public, sometimes as much as four months ahead. These records are generally considered to be the "first among equals": the VERY FIRST generation and the VERY FIRST pressings of the particular title; a PROTOTYPE and the earliest known official pressing of the record.  In this case, though, this is a rather moot point,  since this rare promo-only MONO version of the album was never commercially released to begin with.

The bidders should note that this album contains “dedicated” mono mixes which are considerably different: much more raw and "punchy" than the common, commercially available stereo mixes.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

·                               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 STRONG VG++, JUST A NOTCH BELOW NEAR MINT. A few light abrasions (probably just sleeve scuffs inflicted in storage over the years) ARE VISIBLE, but they appear fairly  insignificant relative to the overall condition of the vinyl, and are only moderately visually distracting. For 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 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!

(c)           White Label Promo-only mono pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more  preferable to its stereo counterpart. We think that the mix is more natural, humane, "organic" and that the mixes are somewhat different than on the stereo version. We estimate that stereo copies of this album outnumber mono pressings by a ratio of at least 120:1.

(d)          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:

-        Back cover has a few yellowish dust speckles scattered across roughly 50% of the back panel.

-        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 some 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 3  (front side) and 5 (back side)

-        Cover shows some light yellowing on back side, apparently from aging  (nothing significant).

-        Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine  (nothing significant)

-        Visible shelf wear noted on the bottom seam.

-        Minor dusty accumulation noted along the seams on the front side (may be possible to wipe off with a minor effort)

-        Cover has two corners slightly worn / dinged (BARELY VISIBLE)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer THREE postage rates for both Domestic and International Mail: Media Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for domestic, and First Class, Priority International Mail, and Express International Mail for international orders. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND that you pay for USPS International Priority Mail OR International Express mail when making a payment in order to obtain tracking information, which is NOT available for First Class International shipments.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from country to country. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates ►click here. While you can be rest assured that ►our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note that damage, loss or theft in transit is always possible, and in the case of some countries even PROBABLE. To discuss this potential problem and ensure flawless delivery, please contact us thru eBay BEFORE placing a bid.

WANT A DISCOUNT ?!? 

IT’S EASY: CLICK ►HERE TO see HOW!

(please note recent changes in our policy)

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

FOR OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW:

►OUR VOLUME DISCOUNTS AND POSTAGE REBATES ►OUR GRADING POLICY ►ITEMS WE DO NOT GRADE ►HOW TO ACKNOWLEDGE WINNING BID OR RESOLVE A DISPUTE ►OUR PAYPAL “CHARGEBACK” POLICY ►ACCEPTABLE PAYMENT METHODS ►OUR REFUND POLICY ►POSTAGE RATES AND DISCLOSURES ►PAYMENT DEADLINES ►FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED (THE BUYER PAYS FOR THE RETURN POSTAGE); Still sealed items MUST be returned sealed in order to be eligible for a refund Some restrictions apply. Please read our complete refund policy before placing a bid. ►Click here  for the full text of our policy

© 2001,2007 MDJ. All rights reserved.