ELP 1st LP on Orig 69 UK Pink Island. Getting Rare EX +

	£		74
	$		98

Hi, I am Mike, I am 46 and have been a music collector and enthusiast for over 33 years now. We all wish we could turn back the clock and buy those wonderful brand new records from the 60s and 70s, but alas, this is not possible; so I always try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. No vinyl/music lover really would choose to buy second-hand, but this is only way now to own these valuable, prized and ellusive items now. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirity, not just bits to guess a grade (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story - I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested reader – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic , and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps or sticks or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed, you never know - I may just have a copy in stock. I by quality single items and collections also (Email me please if you have quality items for sale).

Debutant Bidders: Many sellers refuse first time buyers: I do not follow this practice (everybody has to start somewhere), but I would appreciate any first timer letting me know their intentions of their intended payment method and very prompt communication, preferably before any bid or soon after the auctions ends. This gives confidence that their intentions are honourable, and I in return guarantee extra special good feedbacks to get zero rated Ebayers off to a flying start to help them with future transactions. NOTE: I WILL NOT ACCEPT BIDS FROM UNREGISTERED USERS, I will cancel them immediately, and sorry, I cannot give valuations on people’s personal items just for their own curiosity, no item can be accurately valued blindly.

Please read all the information carefully - these adverts take an age to compile properly - so it’s well worth a few minutes of your time to read the details thoroughly. I really cannot take any responsibility if any bidder fails to read any facts that are clearly stated in the advert - Thankyou.

Artist or Band: EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER

Album Title: Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Track Listing: The Barbarian; Take a Pebble; Knife-Edge; The Three Fates; Tank; Lucky Man.

Cat Number: ILPS 9132 Stereo (Not issued in mono).

Label and Condition: Island, full pink smooth finish format. with large white i logo. Very clean examples that show only light and light+ spindle traces. Wear around the centre hole is practically zero too. Very attractive deep rich pink finish. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: The first UK full original Pink I have had for some time and I consider this now very scarce in terms of available copies - finding real nice clean copies is even harder.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9132 A-2U and B-1U. The tiny pressing stampers appear to be 2GP and 1GP. I feel sure this is a very early pressing indeed.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Featuring Keith Emerson (keyboards) formerly of The Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, guitars) King Crimson and Carl Palmer (Atomic Rooster) these three made high octane progressive music like no others (Emerson’s former band apart). Keyboard driven rock with a classical feel this debut for me still remains their best and definitive album. Featuring only six tracks but every one superb and of course the final song, ‘Lucky Man’ remains one of the definitive prog classics. A sublime song with stunning sound. This has to be heard via a vinyl source, at the finale when the moogs kick in right at the death, the bass frequencies hit below 60 Hz and on a big system this actually pulls at the stomach muscles. This is true hi-fi nirvana and nothing can better it. This is a very fine copy and ranks as one of the best I have yet had and heard, also for once a very respectable UK cover (still inferior to the German version for me, but most want this one). The record looks lovely and plays strongly too, this has a fair number of quieter moments and will rarely be found to play as quiet as a CD, this one gives a fine performance with any surface sounds quite minimal. This should please most vinyl lovers and Island collectors.

Cover Grade and Format: Strong EX, some would say better because this is just so prone to rubbing and ringwear and this has only minor edgewear and NO ringwear at all. Its a gatefold format and unlaminated. Printed in England by the E. J. Day Group London and Bedford. I have never found a perfect cover for this album, even on the Pink Rim reissues (which are virtually identical) Ringwear is a real curse on this sleeve and its nice for once to offer one devoid of that unsightly wear.

Cover Front: One of the most famous in prog, this looks lovely, devoid of the usual rubbing, fading and ringwear. There are a few mild, light creases but they show very little and remain almost invisible under normal viewing. Its clean and indentation free, some light surface marks but again you have to scrutinize to find most. This front will prove quite hard to find much better (and I rarely have)

Cover Back: Very similar to the front, maybe even better, and still no ringwear.

Top Edge: Very light rub traces only.

Bottom Edge: Just light rubbing again, slightly more than the top.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with very little wear and no feathering. Record enters on right outside back edge.

Spine and Text: At last a very solid and clean spine. Square with little wear, text is near perfect and unworn or eroded which believe me is pretty unusual on this one.

Corners: All four show a little, pretty light wear, mainly near the tips. All still quite nicely shaped.

Cover Summary: Not as glamourous as the German version but for most this is THE definitive version to own. Its always a testing one to find in anything like attractive condition - this IS attractive and wear is quite light and little where it really matters - the front, back and spine.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX+/Mint(-). A very fine copy visually, with just the odd faint surface trace or hairline on side one. Superficial virtually, there is about 3 light ticks at the very tip of the fine hairline and little else audible. A super clean and shiny, and jet black record and a typically heavy pressing. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. Visually a very nice one that should please most collectors again.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super looking record plays beautifully and must rank as one of the quietest I have yet heard. There may just be the faintest of faint surface sound just audible on the very quiet passages, but like ‘Moonchild’ on King Crimson’s debut this really is near silent in places and any small sound can be heard. I have heard some real shockers for that aforementioned album and this one too. This one gives a fine account of itself for virtually its entirity. This is an album of intense frequency range - the full spectrum is covered, that bass moog right up to church organ and acoustic piano and guitar. Early copies of this album often suffer badly for distortion and sound breakup and degrading. This one has avoided such groove wear and all the frequencies sounded pin sharp and clear on my revealing Rega. Detail and dynamics and sheer speed is breathtaking, the stereo imagery is amazing with channel to channel sound effects to the fore. This record was highly intolerant of heavy needle abuse and many Pink copies were written off early - not this one I am delighted to say. At times this remarkable album can give that rare tingle factor, ‘Lucky Man’ never fails for me, I would still rather enjoy this via vinyl with its original mix than any remastered CD that lacks that real depth of sound and detail. If dead silence is non-negotiable then stick to that format, yes this does have the odd faint brief tick as mentioned, but the music is of a rare quality anything will simply will wash over you. This is a copy near to its very best and is simply, breathtakingly good.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in mark and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung more to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: Fast coming extinct like many classic Pink Islands. This is usually one of the most popular and I am often asked for it. The sound quality from a Pink Pressing is superior to the thinner pressed later versions. The groove depth and solid pressings were always a factor. Most collectors I feel will enjoy this fine all round copy – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

UK First Class: = £2.50; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £4.00 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £6.00

Europe Air Mail: = £4 Insured: £8.00

Overseas, non-Europe e.g. USA, Japan, Australia etc. Airmail:= £7; Insured with recorded delivery (where available) = £11.00

Singles: (Packed to the high standards of the LPs)

UK First class: = £2.00 Insured: £4

Europe Air Mail = £3.00 Insured: £5.50

Overseas, non-Europe (as above) Airmail £3.50 Insured: £6.00

Doubles add extra £1, triples add extra £2. Box sets add extra £3 (£4 overseas and Europe)

Any item that sells for over £85 will be sent Special Delivery in the UK at no extra cost. Items over £125 get the same service Overseas. This is gives peace of mind for the winning bidder and myself for valuable items. Reduced postage of course for multiple items.

The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£28). PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Mailing Details: Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more. All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR professional stiffners for extra protection (if space allows), I do NOT use old cardboard boxes or cereal packets for protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me. I will also include in most cases a brand new lined inner, but will include the original inner if available and in a condition to be given.

I accept cash for payments worldwide in UK Pounds Sterling, Euros or US Dollars - but this at the senders own risk. Please send registered and insured if this method is chosen. I cannot accept responsibility if any cash payments do not turn up. This system is very reliable and rarely goes astray. The same goes for any shipped uninsured item, I can only try to claim for any undelivered or damaged article at basic insurance levels if no enhanced insurance is requested and paid for (unless the value threshold is high enough for me insure as standard, see above)

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.7 to cover PayPal or cash conversion costs.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other interesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.