GRAND FUNK RAILROAD On Time VERY RARE ORIG UK 1969 EX+ LP, FEW EVEN MADE – NICE

	£		82
	$		109

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: THE GRAND FUNK RAILROAD

Album Title: On Time

Producer(s): Terry Knight

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Are You Ready; Anybody’s Answer; Time Machine; High on a Horse; T.N.U.C.

Side 2: Into the Sun; Heartbreaker; Call Yourself a Man; Can’t Be Too Long; Ups and Downs.

Label/Format: Capitol, original yellow-green ‘Target’ format with matt, gently textured surfaces. Side two has a Factory Sample sticker as seen, the right end of it torn, but still neat as-seen.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a couple of very light, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. This rare record appears hardly played.

Catalogue Number: E-ST 307

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Few vintage records are ever perfectly ‘flat’, so some slight or very gentle arm movement is normal. If any record I offer has more than that, I will mention it, and it can be assumed all I offer should track without issues, even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 142 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Rare, and that using the term correctly. UK pressings of this are seldom seen or offered. A totally unknown band in the UK in the late 1960s, this record was pressed in tiny numbers and sales were minuscule. It pretty came-and-went without notice and few would have shelled out for an unknown American band, especially with major acts – old and new around in 1969. Reputed to have been pressed once only and then deleted. The stampers below confirm the very small run.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: EST1 307-H4 / EST2 307-H5

Mothers / Stampers: 1 A / 1 G [the third and first stampers within a record run]

Musicians: Mark Farner – guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals; Mel Schacher – bass; Don Brewer – drums, vocals.

Brief Info: The Grand Funk Railroad were a heavy and loud American band, this was their debut album from 1969. They became quite prolific during the 1970s, and although American critics rarely said anything good about them, they went on to become commercially successful. Heavy rock was rarely critically well received in their home land, but Grand Funk found their audience with their live shows which were full-on and very loud. Indeed, they were one of the loudest bands of the early 1970s. It can be considered a surprise this even got a UK press at all, it would have been a loss-leader from day one and few even noticed this here. It fared better in the United States, even with predictable negative reviews, and even charted. But UK copies are lost in the mist-of-time and seldom surface. This a very impressive original, the very first I have ever seen. So for fans and collectors of genuine rare early albums, this a rare opportunity.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: a single format with front laminate, this covers all the folds and ends on three rear flipbacks. The main back panel is matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd, includes the EMI black and white promotional inner sleeve.

Lamination & Front: The laminate remains excellent shine and clarity with any dulling around the rim light as seen under light. Minimal traces of lifting but a few laminate surface creases, mostly near the edges. A fine looking front overall.

Cover Back: Clearly matt and black, this very prone to all forms of wear. This panel has little to fault with barely any rubbing, minimal creasing and no ugly ring wear – that some achievement for a dark cover this age. The three flipbacks are all solid and neat, the ends mostly crisp with minimal traces of any burring. This unforgiving surface has fared very well indeed.

Top Edge: Thin, but straight and fully laminated with barely any wear at all.

Bottom Edge: Virtually the same.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, still quite sharp with any thickening little and light as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with any compression patchy and light. All text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate. This also superbly centred on the narrow depth as-seen.

Corners: Small tip rubs with very fine shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A strong example of this rare G&L 1960s cover, polite clues of age, but this UK-made one will never even be easy to find in any condition. This elusive item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): with little more than fine creasing and a couple or three tiny nicks to the top back opening edge. Still clean and fresh with minimal hint of ageing, all edges fully intact with no repairs, these were not lined.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, little even registers. Visually a super record that should please many 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This ‘lost’ UK pressed album plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will outperform this first (and probably only) British pressing I feel sure. Any factory sample records are rare in their own right, but this made in such tiny numbers, it will rarely be found. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and carefully handled. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this impressive record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. 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] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 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]) = £16.50 (£17.50 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 only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.