FAIRPORT CONVENTION Liege & Lief RARER ORIG UK 69 N/M LP

	£		83
	$		110

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.25. Europe £12. Rest of World £16. ALL signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes.

NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible after the very significant Royal Mail price increases and will never compromise on solid, safe packing.

Artist or Band: FAIRPORT CONVENTION

Album Title: Liege and Lief

Producer: Joe Boyd

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Come All Ye; Reynardine; Matty Groves; Farewell, Farewell.

Side 2: The Deserter; Medley: The Lark in the Morning, Rakish Paddy; Foxhunter’s Jog; Toss the Feathers; Tam Lin; Crazy Man Michael.

Label/Format: Island – original pink i format with witches logo.

Label Conditions: Two STUNNING looking examples: ultra clean and super-attractive labels with a fantastic real deep pink colour that is vivid and factory-fresh. I am struggling to find a spindle trace on either and this record simply exudes class.

Rarity: Scarce: more often seen on the pink rim label, this being a fairly late pink i pressing. Even harder to find well pressed, this often suffers considerable, consistent crackle and sometimes pressing issues. Also this copy has the genuine first issue E. J. Day cover in very fine condition.

Cat Number: ILPS 9115.

Original Year of Release: 1969.

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: 135 grams. A good weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9115 * A // 1 1 4 & ILPS 9115 * B // 1 1 1 1 1

Musicians: Sandy Denny - vocals; Dave Swarbrick - fiddle, viola; Richard Thompson - electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals; Simon Nicol - electric, 6-string & 12-string acoustic guitars, backing vocals; Ashley Hutchings - bass guitar, backing vocals; Dave Mattacks - drums, percussion.

Brief Info: Following the wonderful two previous Sandy Denny albums, What We Did On Our Holidays and the sublime Unhalfbricking Fairport Convention issued for me one of the greatest albums ever made: forget any folk categories for this monumental album. For any listener who appreciates fine music will love this classic album. This is top quality folk-rock and has some of the most sublime songs and performances ever recorded. Featuring the strongest ever lineup of this legendary band: Sandy Denny, arguably the finest female vocalist the UK has ever had; Richard Thompson, certainly one of the best guitarists and songwriters with his very distinctive style; Dave Swarbrick, violinist extraordinaire; Simon Nicol; Dave Mattacks and Ashley Hutchings - almost a supergroup. Every song on this legendary album is a classic - beautiful songs, including ‘Matty Groves’, a song of forbidden love and dreadful revenge ending in a blistering solo from Swarbrick. Also the haunting ‘Farewell, Farewell’ a song of such rare beauty it never fails to give me a lump in the throat, Sandy’s vocals are simply impeccable. This is a lovely very early copy and this plays very well indeed and devoid of the usual issues as mentioned above. The final song ‘Crazy Man Michael’ is so often the difficult track and I have heard very few that will play this song well, most crackle and often badly. Well here it plays superbly. ‘Reynardine’ is equally difficult, again very impressive. Finding ‘perfect’ examples and pressings I have found beyond difficult and a little compromise almost has to be given on this one. Two gorgeous labels and immaculate playing surfaces, I doubt if this record has hardly been played and likely not seen light-of-day for decades. The original cover is also in very fine condition and without the usual grubbiness and rubbing issues most seem to acquire. A fairly gentle thumb semi-crease and light press mark on the front have minimal visual impact and that apart, has little to fault. It even includes it’s original 119 (November 1969) date-coded inner sleeve proving just how early this one is. Barely played copies of the true classics are seldom seen or offered, and this is a beauty.

Cover’s Potential for Wear: High: another Island unlaminated gatefold that are always prone to all the perils of ring wear, rubbing, sticker tears and fading.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group.

Cover Front: Very clean, fresh and attractive, a very impressive front with not a great deal to fault. As mentioned above, a gentle semi-crease on the front and a mild press mark with very modest visibility. No fading, sticker marks and any marks or rub traces tiny and faint. A gentle crease on the bottom of the spine corner. This is a real looker that has barely aged at all.

Cover Back: The more vulnerable back is exceptional and has barely anything to fault at all. Clean, fresh with hardly a rub or crease to be seen, the lack of ring wear is unusual and most welcome.

Cover Gatefold Inner: A super centrefold as well that looks little short of as made.

Top Edges: Both in fantastic shape: one tiny surface chip only and that apart, also as made.

Bottom Edges: One small surface chip and a faint rub on the front near the right corner, few will show less on these storage edges.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and sharp with hardly any traces of wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Any thickening or burr traces barely even register.

Spine and Text: This has the thicker and more robust spine with the very deeply coloured text ink (as seen in close-up). Very solid, thick, mosstly erect with minimal compression or tilt. Folded only a fraction off-square and both fold hinges retain all ink, that far from guaranteed. A small tuck on the very top corner and a light rub on the bottom, but clean and ungrubbied.

Corners: The right four are neat and crisp with any tip rubbing gentle and light. The spine pair are described above.

Cover Summary: A very fine example of a cover often seen in apalling conditions with grubbiness and rife with ring wear, this is a very clean and attractive example that should please many, if not most collectors. These early Day ones are far more elusive especially like this.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): with a little mild discolour mostly around the seams where the adhesive has darkened (as per usual). A typical Polydor inner being in way better than average condition. This being clean and only modestly aged. The polylining is firm and ultra clear and seen to near perfection inside two perfectly crisp, undamaged and neat circle windows. Barely any creasing and all edges unsplit with no repairs. This has a date code of /119 (November 1969) as seen in close-up.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy hardly even played on all the evidence and barely run-in in vinyl terms. Even under angled light, hardly a noteworthy mark or blemish to be seen and half wondering if this had been played at all. A hugely unusual find like this and one to please most-all collectors.

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: One of the greatest albums ever to adorn the gorgeous pink Island label. This beautiful ‘pink’ classic plays up to it’s lovely visual. This has 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 one has no distortions or cutting noises, that is far from guaranteed. Any surface sounds are minimal, very infrequent and faint including the often troublesome final song ‘Crazy Man Michael’ and ‘Renadine’. This album is so often spoilt by considerable surface and pressing noises, or simply played to destruction on less than worthy equipment, this is light years from that. Spindle and playing surface evidence suggests it has been little, if indeed at all. The audio quality remains very high, sharp and focused with even Swarbrick’s violin remaining crisp and precise – this critical instrument is often the first to break up and distort if subjected to heavy wear on heavy tracking vintage equipment. Few copies will match, let alone outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Such copies are at a premium and this all-round copy should please most-all collectors.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. 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, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - 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 collector – 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 and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. 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, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 8,000+ items sold in over 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.25

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16 (£17 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.