JETHRO TULL "Aqualung" RARE 1971 UK ISLAND 1st PRESSING

	£		211
	$		280

 
JETHRO TULL "Aqualung" RARE 1971 UK ISLAND 1st PRESSING SCARCE LABEL & EJ DAY SLEEVE VARIANT, STUNNING NM AUDIO

JETHRO TULL
Aqualung

HERE WE HAVE A SUPERB, UK EARLIEST FIRST PRESSING (March 1971) OF JETHRO TULL'S CLASSIC "Aqualung" LP ON THE ISLAND (ILPS 9145) PINK RIM LABEL

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY RARE EARLIEST FIRST PRESSING - VERY, VERY FEW COPIES EXIST ON THE UK ISLAND LABEL AS AT THE POINT OF ITS RELEASE CHRYSALIS BECAME AN AUTONOMOUS COMPANY, INDEPENDENT FROM ISLAND AND VIRTUALLY ALL FIRST PRESSINGS FROM THIS PERIOD ARE ON THEIR GREEN CHRYSALIS LABEL (with the Island White i logo on the top of the label)
COPIES ON ISLAND ARE EXTREMELY HARD TO FIND AND HARDLY EVER TURN UP FOR SALE (in addition the couple that I have seen do not have the GOTHIC font on the label but normal text)
THIS IS A GENUINELY VERY, VERY RARE RECORD INDEED (not even mentioned in Record Collector Rare Record Guide)
AND IT IS POSSIBLY THE RAREST LP IN THE ENTIRE TULL CATALOGUE
AND WHATS MORE IT IS IN BEAUTIFUL CONDITION - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND ONE DEFINITELY NOT TO BE MISSED

THE GATEFOLD SLEEVE, "Printed and made by the E. J. Day Group, London and Bedford" IS ALSO AN INTERESTING VARIANT AS IT IS NOT HEAVILY TEXTURED AS WITH THE FIRST CHRYSALIS PRESSINGS BUT HAS A VERY SHALLOW AND LIGHT TEXTURED MATTE FINISH - THE INSIDE GATEFOLD PAINTING IS ALSO CLEARLY 'PASTED-ON' (please see close-up photographs)

THE LP IS PRESSED ON QUALITY MID-WEIGHT VINYL WHICH DELIVERS TREMENDOUS RICH, POWERFUL AUDIO
EARLIEST UK ISLAND MATRIX: ILPS 9145 A-1U / ILPS 9145 B-3U
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 2/GGA and 3/GMH

BEAUTIFUL COPY OF THIS MUCH SOUGHT AFTER AND EXTREMELY SCARCE EARLIEST FIRST PRESSING ON THE ISLAND LABEL WHICH SOUNDS SENSATIONAL THROUGHOUT

Released at a time when a lot of bands were embracing pop-Christianity (à la Jesus Christ Superstar), Aqualung was a bold statement for a rock group, a pro-God anti-church tract that probably got lots of teenagers wrestling with these ideas for the first time in their lives.
This was the album that made Jethro Tull a fixture on FM radio, with riff-heavy songs like "My God," "Hymn 43," "Locomotive Breath," "Cross-Eyed Mary," "Wind Up," and the title track. And from there, they became a major arena act, and a fixture at the top of the record charts for most of the 1970s.
Mixing hard rock and folk melodies with Ian Anderson's dour musings on faith and religion (mostly how organized religion had restricted man's relationship with God), the record was extremely profound for a mainstream chart hit, one of the most cerebral albums ever to reach millions of rock listeners. Indeed, from this point on, Anderson and company were compelled to stretch the lyrical envelope right to the breaking point.

Track Listing:
Side 1: AQUALUNG: Aqualung / Cross-Eyed Mary / Cheap Day Return / Mother Goose / Wond'ring Aloud / Up To Me
Side 2: MY GOD: My God / Hymn 43 / Slipstream / Locomotive Breath / Wind-Up

LABELS: The Gothic font, ISLAND labels are CLEAN and BRIGHT with NO marks/unwanted writing. On very close inspection there are some light spindles but they really are very hard to see. The spindle hole still retains some vinyl residue indicating that this copy has only seen light play
VINYL Visual: The surfaces have their original DEEP, practically AS-NEW, GLOSSY SHEEN. There are some (mega) light hairlines but nothing of any audio consequence - BEAUTIFUL LOOKING RECORD
VINYL Audio: OUTSTANDING audio - CRYSTAL CLEAR, VERY SHARP, DEEP SOUND. The LP, somewhat surprisingly, has a fairly quiet cut but even when turned up to a loud volume there are NO issues to report. There are NO scratches, NO sticks/jumps, NO clicks or pops and very little evident surface noise - the LP plays to a very, very high standard with NO groove-wear or distortion and sounds AMAZING THROUGHOUT. Must be graded at least a NEAR MINT for audio - the playback is practically FLAWLESS - FANTASTIC COPY OF A TREMENDOUS LP. NOT ONLY DO I THINK A FINER PLAYING COPY WOULD BE PRETTY HARD TO LOCATE BUT AS THE IMPOSSIBLY SCARCE ISLAND PRESSING THIS COPY IS VERY SPECIAL INDEED
SLEEVE: The VARIANT EJ DAY gatefold sleeve is also in NEAR MINT condition. CLEAN, UNMARKED and UNRUBBED surfaces (very, very light ring impression top back only) with CRISP edges and all the text on the spine CLEAR and BOLD. The inner gatefold painting is pasted-on and is CLEAN, UNMARKED and FACTORY-FRESH - SUPERB SLEEVE (please see photos)
INNER SLEEVE: These first issue inner sleeves with the flipback join are very thin and delicate and 99% of the time they are found totally split at either the bottom or sides, or both. This one has a central split to the bottom (10 cms) but the sides are all firm and intact. There are also some age-related 'foxing' spots but nothing major overall, still a very nice original lyric inner - The LP is now housed - and will be posted in - a new inner to prevent any more 'knifing' damage during transit

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY PICTURES AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

PLEASE REFER TO MY 'ABOUT ME' PAGE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON MY PLAY-GRADING, EQUIPMENT USED, P&P etc

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (Recorded Delivery)
EUROPE: Airmail: £5.00 or £8.50 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £9.00 or £12.50 (International Signed For delivery with tracking)
***Any record which sells for more than £50 MUST be sent by a trackable method ie INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
INTERNATIONAL bidders: PayPal ONLY

REDUCED POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS (EACH ADDITIONAL LP: UK: £1.00, EU & INTERNATIONAL £2.00)
I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period. However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you. Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period. I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Insurance: In the unlikely event anything should go wrong I can only try to claim up to the standard compensation rate of £30. Therefore if your item is worth more than £30 I strongly recommend you take out the insured/recorded option.
Guarantee: I try to be as accurate and honest as possible when describing the condition of any LP but of course if you feel that I am mistaken and the description is inaccurate I will offer a complete, no quibble refund (through Paypal) upon return of the item

ALL RECORDS ARE PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED BEFORE DISPATCH AND PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT.
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, QUALITY WRAPRO MAILER AND STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY



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