HAWKWIND - SPACE RITUAL Double UK 1ST PRESS 1973 EX+ orig inners

	£		72
	$		95

HAWKWIND -

SPACE RITUAL

UNITED ARTISTS

UAD 60037/8

1st Press UK

 1973 Ultra Heavy vinyl

Machined FMatrix Nos: UAD 60037 A-2U / UAD 60037 B-2U / UAD 60038 A-2U / UAD 60038 B-2U.

mother stampers:1.GG     2.GR   3.GR  4.GM

These are some of the earliest possible stampers all starting "G"

"RAYS" etched into the run-out groove side 1.

ORIGINAL UK UNITED ARTISTS  FIRST PRESSING (1973) OF HAWKWIND'S SPACE/PROG MASTERPIECE "Space Ritual" IN EXCELLENT CONDITION (barely played, no discernable spindle traces  on the labels) AND DELIVERING BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN, NEAR SILENT AUDIO THROUGHOUT - WHICH IS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO FIND AS THE LP HAS MANY VERY QUIET MOMENTS WHICH ARE COMMONLY SPOILT BY EXCESSIVE SURFACE NOISE - BUT THIS IS ONE OF THE FINEST AND CLEANEST SOUNDING COPIES I HAVE HEARD IN A WHILE  - FANTASTIC COPY AND THEY REALLY DON'T COME MUCH BETTER , MOST COPIES HAVING BEEN PLAYED TO DEATH AND NOT LOOKED AFTER. THIS BEAUTY HAD A VERY CAREFUL OWNER WHO RESPECTED HIS VINYL.

 One of my favourite live albums of all time – Hawkwind never sounded better than on this live acid-rock space-trip. All the early classics are included and with singer Bob Calvert on board, it gave them a new dimension. A stoned-out double set recorded in Liverpool and London – this is largely regarded as Hawkwind’s best ever album and the cover is regularly voted highly as one of the best ever. 

Featuring Lemmy on his grinding bass, play this album loud for full effect, this is the ultimate space trip. Turner’s electrically treated reeds and splintering guitar from Brock and King’s pulsating rhythm, no-one this side of the cosmos sounded like them. It must have been amazing to have been there for this. Visually they were stunning live, mind-bending light shows, volume and at this time, the famous Stacia danced to the pulsating rhythms, often as nature intended, she was a formidable lady and Hawkfans adored her. She joined the band in 1971 and stayed until 1975, a six feet tall lady apparently with a 52 inch chest, she was an integral part of the band’s stage shows in this, their classic period. She wore few clothes, often appearing with none and was decorated in luminous paint and swayed and writhed to the loud electric mayhem. Such a shame there appears no video footage of these live shows from this classic period. Spectacularly packaged in a huge poster cover and including two colourful inners, these are more often seen in very poor conditions if present at all and few survive really. This is a solid and strong example, cover neat with any wear modest. If anyone truly has one of these that looks almost like new, treasure it, because it will be one in many thousands as most suffer badly. Two super clean inners are included and what appear hardly played records – both play superbly with mostly very clean sound with little unwanted.  

The inclusion of the scaled down ultra rare live poster at least gives a fine visual of what this looked like as few copies of this set will ever include an original, also an interesting, rare picture of Stacia. This is one of the better examples I have seen for some time and quite possibly, my best yet.

 Gatefold GIMMIX Poster Sleeve:  EX.  Cover Appearance: All faces look really clean and attractive and any wear is minimal and light with few creases. . Most-all of any creasing present on the edges as fine hairlines. The front and back will always be the most vulnerable to ringwear but any traces here are very light and faint indeed with no ink removal. Bright and vivid colour is retained on all faces and all remain clean. Some of these included price stickers that often lead to tears, but this has also been avoided. There is one small catalogue number on a small square sticker near the bottom with the number 25232524 on it in print. A price sticker deposit on the rear which could be removed, only a very small area of 1x1 cm. The folds are solid and unstressed and importantly, intact. Invariably and practically unavoidably, there is some rubbing to the edges and fold splits but all are intact on this copy with no repairs. Most seen are simply rubbed or eroded away but not the case on this one, it even retains a semblance of shape and not dead flat like most-all found these days. The left and right closed edges retaining some erectness and even the text on the spine is present. This one has been folded reasonably squarely, many are way out of shape, and when fully closed and folded correctly, this is generally quare and neat, slight top edge misalignment is again almost unavoidable. The outside exposed corners have rubbed a little but far from excessive like many, few will escape this as a minimum, this was not a cover made with longevity in mind esp. being matt and thin card, few will even look this good these days, most a mess and literally falling apart. A solid excellent example, not connoisseur standard but most collectors will enjoy it I feel.

Vinyl: EX.  All four surfaces retain their original deep, glossy sheen and are practically unmarked and shine like new. There are one or two very light and superficial hairlines and one has to look very closely to spot them but these have no audio consequence - the record sounds sensational
 Outstanding audio delivery in all respects with a crystal clear, deep, rich, warm and detailed sound and on playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my LPs prior to listing and it's always an immense pleasure to return to this one) there are no scratches, no sticks or jumps, no clicks or pops and barely any surface noise (really hardly anything worth a mention and to be incredibly picky, maybe just a touch on the run-ins). This is a beautifully clean pressing (and I must emphasise again how difficult it is to find a copy which plays this well). The whole LP sounds absolutely stunning and plays to an extremely high standard with superb clarity, no groove-wear and no distortion and is very strictly graded a strong EX for audio  - great copy!! Of course, NO skips, NO jumps, NO ticks.

The two inners have bottom splits, one larger and one small, otherwise in excellent shape without any creases.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  These fees in England have gone up significantly last May. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

***This is a unique prime investment opportunity!!! Finding this classic album in any condition at all is nearly impossible!!! This is  a great and seriously collectable super album!!  You will buy into a piece of  superb prog history.*** 

             This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next psych album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.

This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next prog album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.