JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - SUPER-RARE FOLD-OUT EDITION - NUCLEUS/QUATERMASS

	£		205
	$		272

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER & TIM RICE/VARIOUS: Jesus Christ Superstar: A Rock Opera (MCA, MKPS 2011/2, 1970, 2-LP)
This is the super-rare original limited edition in fold-out sleeve and on the late 1960s style yellow/red labels. By the time of release, the label design had changed to the black/blue design and it is on that label design (and in normal gatefold sleeve) that most copies appear for sale. Remember, no-one knew that this was going to become the block-busting smash that it did (even most of those on it chose session fees over royalties) and serious sales did not begin until after this initial edition had sold out to be replaced with the more usual and less-gimmicky sleeve.
Another difference with this first pressing is that the booklet had rounded corners instead of square and the paper used was lightly gloss, not matt. All in all, this is super-rare - find another one for sale online in this condition at this price!
The sleeve is VG though with some inevitable creasing thanks to its intricate design (most copies are torn in at least one place but this one is not). The booklet has been well thumbed but is still in nice condition. The records play mostly at EX with some light background here and there, still fitting well within an EX grading overall.
The Decca stereo inner sleeves are a little battered but rather than replace them with better condition ones (which would not be from quite the same print run), I have left them here so that what you get is exactly as was issued on day 1 of release. If you want, you can hunt out some better condition matching inners elsewhere.
There is a strong presence of Edwards/Coletta (HEC) artists here - not only Ian Gillan, but Johnny Gustavson from Episode Six (Ian Gillan's old band) and Quatermass. The latter band's organist, Peter Robinson, is named as part of the main band. Yvonne Elliman was another HEC artist.  For the recording, Lloyd Webber and Rice drew personnel from both musical theatre (Murray Head had just left the West End production of Hair) and the British rock and pop scene, including Victor Brox, from the Aynesley Dunbar Retaliation, and Mike d'Abo, from Manfred Mann (and who had also been dabbling in stage appearances).
The main named band is Joe Cocker's old mob, the Grease Band (guitarists Neil Hubbard and Henry McCullough, bassist Alan Spenner, and drummer Bruce Rowland), with Peter Robinson, as already mentioned, and Chris Mercer (saxophone), the latter of which had been with Hubbard in Juicy Lucy. Amongst the cast of supporting musicians are most of Nucleus and others on the British jazz fusion scene, such as (now Sir) Karl Jenkins, Chris Spedding, John Marshall, Jeff Clyne, Kenny Wheeler, and Harold Beckett. Even Wynder K. Frog's Mick Weaver is in there somewhere. Mike Vickers (ex-Manfred Mann), meanwhile, lent his synth and advised on its use.
If it all sounds a bit too much like a cast of thousands, this is because recording took place over about a year and various musicians were or were not available because of other commitments, hence a lot of depping going on.
*    *    *    * Records generally have hairline marks from going in and out of sleeves - I do not mention these unless they cause audible noise. All records are play tested unless explicitly stated otherwise. Most of the records I am selling play at "Excellent" or "Very Good" as per Record Collector grading. Any specific defects are otherwise described in the listing. Please look at the photos carefully for condition of sleeves/labels. 
All items won, up to a value of £50.00, will be sent as Royal Mail 'signed for'. If items are bid above £50.00 (or multiple items combine to more than £50), they will be sent as Royal Mail Special Delivery, so that parcels are correctly insured against loss or damage in transit. If you win multiple items, please wait for me to invoice with correct postage. Note that the postage costs stated include packaging costs. Where possible, packaging will be recycled but sturdy/secure.
Combined postage *for UK buyers only* - 6 single LPs costs the same to post as 1 single LP. Note that if you win items in multiple formats, (e.g., an LP and a CD), these have to be sent as multiple parcels (though I can bundle up 7" records with an LP).
*Non-UK bidders* please note that I use eBay's Global Shipping Programme, which means every item won has to be packaged and sent separately so combined postage is not possible.
Non-paying high bidders will be blocked from bidding on future items.
*    *    *    * Unless stated otherwise, all items are from my own collection. Most has been in storage for nearly 20 years. Lockdowns made me wonder why I have multiple copies of records that I will never listen to. There are about 8,000 more items to come from my rambling progressive, jazz fusion, folk, blues, 1950s stereo classical and easy listening, psychedelic, reggae, ambient, spoken word, comedy, railway, field recordings, electronic and occasionally just plain 'out there' collection.