HAPSHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT - THE WESTERN FLIER LP

	£		30
	$		39

The very hard to find and very strange second HAPSHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT LP; "THE WESTERN FLIER" on LIBERTY RECORDS - LBS 83212 ~ (1969 STEREO)

The record has the matrix numbers:-
"LBS   83212   A//1     420   121      6" on side 1 and
"LBS   83212   B//1 Ä 420   11      2" on side 2
Put exactly as they appear; these numbers indicate that this is a first issue copy for those that are into that sort of thing.

So, this auction is for the second of only two LP’s from this collective which was a forerunner to T. Rex, it’s a quite rare and collectable album that is tricky to categorise, straggling blues, rock, pop, psychedelia and folk and I confess to not getting it at all and so never played it!
(See below for details on this lot which included Micky Finn, Tony McPhee, Mike Batt and others and who seem to have only ever played the one live gig - in Amsterdam!)

Check my bidder's feedback - you will see I describe my records 100% truthfully so you can bid in confidence! All my records come from a non-smoking, animal free home.

This record is pressed in the stiff and fairly heavy 152 gm vinyl typical of early pressings and has the correct cover and sleeve. No reserve.

The record itself is flat, very shiny and clean on both sides and plays absolutely perfectly; it has got some very, very light paper *surface marks, (see the pictures), but these are obviously completely inaudible and there are absolutely NO scratches, NO surface noise, (except for just a really little bit on the lead in/out grooves, as is usual and entirely normal), NO crackles, NO clicks or pops and NO jumps; it has been played only a few times and so has NO spindle marks on the labels, which are still clean and have no marks or writing or stickers, etc. Side one’s label is stuck on slightly off-centre, which has only a visual effect!
I cannot detect any audible degradation in terms of frequency loss, distortion or fuzziness, etc. and it still sounds brilliant, just the same as when it was new, (which it pretty much is!)
So, this record still plays very well and to evaluate it properly, I have just played it VERY LOUD, to make sure and to properly assess it for this listing.

There is a really tiny horizontal displacement of under 0.3 mm peak to peak  and a mincorresponding vertical movement well under 0.5 mm peak to peak at the record’s periphery, so it runs very true and plays beautifully; (please understand that there is absolutely NO audible effect from these very low levels of mechanical movement, which are typical values for a new record, but I am stating these parameters from now on to further improve the accuracy of my estimates of the records I offer on eBay).

*Surface marks are either a sort of matt area marking over the record surface, (usually from the plastic inner liners of some sleeves and probably due to pressure from adjacent records when stored - caused I believe by migration of the plastisizer from the polythene inner sleeve onto the vinyl surface), or they may be faint lines originating from the withdrawal and reinsertion of the record back into it’s sleeve. Such markings will always be present in a record that has been played and may be quite obvious or may be so faint to be only discernible by holding the record at an angle under a strong light, but these are cosmetic only and are NOT scratches, which are mechanical damage caused by actions such as dropping or knocking the arm so it skates over the record surface, (or worse!)
Such scratches, as I define them, WILL be clearly visible and will definitely be audible at the very least and I shall state if they are there, as well as defining the level of any surface marking.

I will also always provide the best images I can of the actual record surfaces and labels so that bidders can actually SEE the condition of the record in all respects, (any dust specks you may notice on the images are always inside the damn camera lens assembly!). I make no attempts to "tidy" items up to deceive bidders, or play around with the images - all I will do to my eBay listing images is crop the image size to maximise it for bidders inspection and adjust the contrast and brightness, simply because the stupid automatic camera keeps taking very faint pictures!

The cover features a great and original artwork by HAPSHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT in the form of the artistic collaboration of NIGEL WEYMOUTH and MICHAEL MAYHEW, (who went on to do many famous posters of the time as well as artworks in the OZ magazine and other "head’s" mags of the time and even painted The Beatles’ Apple shop - maybe they did the inside though, because I thought THE FOOL, another artistic/musical collective, did the outside!)

This is the original unlaminated, satin surfaced front and rear cover with it’s musician Golliwog artwork in good clean undamaged condition and it is still clean and bright, with only minor creases at the bottom left corner and spine, a tiny bit of corner wear but no feathering or shelf wear, no writing and no tears. It’s only very slightly grubby and has light ringwear on the rear.

The sleeve is the correct square corner, plastic film lined one and has slight creasing but no tears and only minor age browning.

I do try and take the best pictures I can of the record surfaces for bidders to see the real condition, and also try and show the record stampings if possible in the images, (I note that this sort of detail is rarely shown with records offered by others on eBay - ever heard of the expression "do not buy a pig in a poke"?

With me, WYSIWYG.

Using the Record Collector grading system; the vinyl is at least EXCELLENT on both sides, (I would say NEAR MINT, but this is not an accepted category!), the cover and sleeve are also EXCELLENT; I have just played this REALLY LOUD today for the last time to properly assess it and it STILL sounds weird, (but interesting).

HAPSHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT were founded by two art students MICHAEL ENGLISH and NIGEL WEYMOUTH and as well as doing artworks, they made an album in 1968 which is pretty rare, with singers THE HUMAN HOST and percussionists THE HEAVY METAL KIDS, (actually ART who later became SPOOKY TOOTH of course), before going back to more lucrative posters design and the like.

This second album was devised by JOHN IVOR GOLLIWOG (!) and produced by MIKE BATT and included guest superstar blues guitarist T S McPhee from THE GROUNDHOGS, who contributes some basic chops to the tracks of this collection but puts in some great slide guitar work on "FARE YOU WELL". MICKY FINN was also in on the sessions at the MARQUEE STUDIOS, but is not credited.

Musicians

Lead guitar - T.S. McPhee

Guitar - Michael Mayhew

Piano & accordion - Mike Batt

Acoustic bass - Eddie Tripp

Violin - Freddie Ballerini

Vocals - Michael Ramsden

Drums - Andy Renton

Backing vocals - The Rock n’ Roll Women

Percussion - The Heavy Metal Kids

Links:-

• Http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:5-QDhMTzonQJ:www.progarchives.com/artist.asp%3Fid%3D3313+hapshash+%22michael+mayhew%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=uk

This LP has good provenance as I bought it new and so can vouch for it’s history; nearly all my records were purchased new and so are from my own personal collection, built up since the early 1960’s and have genuinely been played very little and then only on quality turntables, (Garrard Zero 100, Lab 80 and Goldring GL75), set up with a low tracking force, using Shure, then Grado then Stanton cartridges over the years. All records have been dry stored, vertically, in the dark in a proper custom made record shelving system and only ever played by myself and NEVER loaned to anyone and especially, never, ever partied!

If you are interested in early British R & B and Progressive Rock Bands and the USA West Coast bands of the time then please add me to your favourites as I do have some rarities that I have never seen on eBay. I generally do not go in for all the b******s about rare first pressings and the excessive detailing of group histories that I see other sellers boring eBay members with and will describe the records honestly, just indicating the basics.

The packed weight of this item is estimated at 490g and signed for postage via 2nd class Recorded Delivery is shown as £2.35 to UK addresses, insured to £36.00, (if the final value goes over this, then I shall send it Special Delivery in the UK, insured to £500.00 at £5.05).
LP’s are now packed inside their inner sleeve, sealed in a water protecting bag, then further protected with aircell foam at the edges and placed alongside the cover inside a further plastic bag. The package is then protected using 600 gm stiffener cards before placing it into a 600 gm mailer, which is the heaviest grade I could find; the cost to me of these is £0.67 and this is added to the postal cost.
No profit or "packing charges" are added; you just pay what I pay to pack and send it!

NB: This item may be picked up in person, or will be despatched securely, so it will need to be signed for on delivery; I will not send it care of a business address without written acceptance of your liability for loss, theft or damage, nor to a PO box.
Carriage charges, where indicated, are for zone 1 UK post codes only. If you are in other zones or are an overseas bidder, you can get an estimate of carriage costs by checking with the www.royalmail.co.uk web site, entering the package dimensions and estimated volumetric shipping weight shown above and choosing the International Shipping options, plus an additional insurance fee if appropriate to the item's final value, but please note that additional packing may increase the packed weight and hence the actual cost.

Payment may be by bank transfer, Pay Pal, cash if collecting in person, or cheque, but please note that I am now very reluctant to accept cheques over £100 net and am also advised by the bank that I must wait at least 12 working days for clearance on both cheques and bank transfers before items can be despatched or picked up; this means that items will not be released on average until two weeks have elapsed from a transfer or a cheque's deposit at the bank, so please be patient! International buyers paying by PayPal should expect to pay an additional 6% of JUST the shipping part of the transaction, to cover the PP doubled International transcations fee, which I will add to the eBay invoice.
NB: If you wish to pay by postal order(s), you should be aware that these are treated exactly the same as cheques now and so you should contact me first before sending any.

Please confirm your full address when completing the transaction via the eBay and PayPal notes system to avoid delays on despatch; I now check identifies before sending items because of fraud attempts

I now also reserve the right to cancel your bid if you have zero or very low/bad feedback; if you are in this situation, you must provide me with your full details by e-mail prior to bidding to avoid this action, and please remember that this auction is in £ Sterling (GBP) and not $ US or Euros or whatever!

I will immediately cancel the bids of anyone who has only just joined eBay, or is bidding from Cambodia or Nigeria, etc. (including any winning bids at the last second); sorry, but I am fed up with losing fees that eBay will not refund!

You can also forget it if you think I will fall for money laundering attempts. All attempts at fraud or deception will be reported and the perpetrator blocked at once.