JETHRO TULL This Was RARE 1st PRESS 1968 Island Pink LP

	£		115
	$		152

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Artist or Band: JETHRO TULL

Album Title: This Was.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: My Sunday Feeling; Some Day the Sun Won’t Shine For you; Beggar’s Farm; Move on Alone; Serenade to a Cuckoo.

Side 2: Dharma For One; It’s Breaking Me Up; Cat’s Squirrel; A Song for Jeffrey; Round.

Label/Format: Island - First press pink labels with the orange eyeball logo and heavily textured surfaces with deep inner ring ridge. (Please see my label scan for any information needed)

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive. Side two, as can be clearly seen on my scan, has a manufacture fault with the 3 o’clock position of the label cropped. This is fairly unusual, but not that uncommon, I have seen several labels like this in the past and not just on Island labels. A couple of fine spindle marks on side one do show a little, again these are probably just evident on my scan of this side. Any others present are very fine and faint indeed and there are appears not very many. These first textured labels are thick and robust, and spindle marks rarely show up too much on them. Being textured too allows for minor raggedness to show around the hole rims a little more than regular smooth labels and any here present in no way reflects any misusage or excessive use on this wonderful record. The obvious manufacture issue apart, this pair of vintage original labels on this album will prove hard to find much better easily.

Cat Number: ILPS 9085.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: A massively impressive, almost mind-blowing 180 grams. A weight rarely ever experienced on a regular pressed record of any era apart from the modern audiophile repressings. Oil has always been a valuable commodity and rarely was it used in excess especially post 1970. Even records pressed in the early 1960s seldom, if ever matched this astonishing weight.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: The title itself is relatively easy to find, but the very first issue on this label, followed by the pink block format are both much rarer. This album was also pressed in mono on this label, that being a one-off and that is very elusive too. ‘This Was’ was issued on all the early versions of this famous label, the orange eyeball original is the most prized. I have had this album a number of times on most of the Island variants, but never had held one so heavily pressed as this. I think actually stating the weight of a record on an advert is important for collectors, just using term ‘heavy’ tells you nothing. Only stating the actual weight of the record tells the discerning collector what he or she needs to know. And in this case, if you got it, flaunt it, any record that exceeds 160 grams is exceptional, this colossal 180 gram record will actually make the turntable struggle to get up to speed in the usual time. In most cases, the heavier records are the earliest, that is not definitive, but usually so. Not only is this a rare record, it’s almost something of a freak pressing too. The first-made cover formats are rare too: it’s the only one to include the massively wide spine and inside, external flipbacks. Even the pink, black black issue had a standard spine and the exposed flipbacks were gone. Even harder to find this stunning spine still erect and uncrushed to flattened. I consider this to be one of the greatest albums on this prized label and they are getting no easier to find in worthy conditions.

Original Year of Release: 1968.

Matrix Nos: ILPS + 9085 + A / ILPS + 9085 + B

Musicians: Ian Anderson - flute, mouth organ, claghorn, piano and vocals; Mick Abrahams - guitar, nine string guitar and vocal; Clive Bunker - drums, hooter and charm bracelet; Glenn Cornick - bass guitar.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Jethro Tull’s debut masterpiece and many agree it was never bettered, it even charted at 10 in the UK, very commendable for a new act. For sure this is a rock classic, a debut of incredible maturity that fitted in nicely between blues and prog. Mick Abrahams was the darling of the clubs, and for a brief moment offered a challenge to Clapton, especially with his showpiece ‘Cat’s Squirrel’. Shortly afterwards he left the band to form Blodwyn Pig. Anderson became the undisputed leader and live, he and the band were tremendous. On record they rarely got much better than this and ‘Dharma for One’ that opens side two has probably the best ever (short) drum solo ever - this just has to be heard on stereo vinyl that images brilliantly - breathtaking sound, as is the whole album and this massive vinyl slab does it practically full justice.

Cover Grade and Format: EX+ hardly does this wonderful cover full justice. A gatefold format with it’s massive wide spine, unique to the first issues and printings. The inside is matt finished and has two external flipbacks at the top of each side. Printed and made in England. One of Island Records greatest ever covers and one of the few that had laminate and this one still looks superb.

Lamination: Front & Back: The laminate both sides is still very shiny and clear with a high degree of freshness retained. Under angled light, mild friction rubs or faint dulling can be seen, but is oblivious when viewed normally. The artwork is stunning and retains incredible richness of colour and attractiveness. Any surface marks to the laminate are few and very faint indeed with any record impression very light and slight. Remember the incredible weight of the record that has been stored in here all these years, it’s simply incredible it’s retained such wonderful looks and shape. Probably the best news for the cover purist is the lack of lifting or blistering, both sides seen the laminate fully adhered and what a difference that makes for maximum good looks. Regarding creasing, the back has none worthy of mention and the front just just a couple on the spine edge, one very light, the other just light and both quite small. Considering the weight and pressure applied to the enormous spine from the slab inside, how this has survived with so few blemishes is almost beyond me. This is an original cover is immense beauty and truly I feel I have undergraded it.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The inside is also in superb condition with both flipbacks solid and undamaged. The laminate ends on these and also on the bottom edges but no pulling or sticking marks where they meet when closed. Even these laminate strips are still very shine and clear. There is barely any traces of wear or noteable marks on the two matt surfaces, just a very mild secondary semi-crease to the left of the huge spine, this is near impossible to avoid with normal and light usage. The spine so wide and thick, the two faces cannot rest flush, unless crushed of course – this has not happened here.

Top & Bottom Edges: All four are immaculate and unworn, all laminated and straight, dead smooth to the fingertip with no scuffs or peeling.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with barely any wear and no feathering, both guaranteed untrimmed. Minor burr traces to the front being very critical when viewed end-on. Doing this actually reveals how thin the card is too, reitterating just how well this one has survived 40+ years. The record enters on the back edge, the front is sealed.

Spine and Text: Almost the centrepiece of the original cover, only the first editions included the massively wide spine. A gorgeous sight when seen erect and uncrushed, this is far from usual and this one has not been rammed back into shape. Ones that have been will only fall flat again quickly – the folds almost break and they can never be as solid thereafter. This is bolt upright, the only tiny issue is one fairly fine crease to the centre, but I say, only one? Most are seen with multiple creases or deep cracks with the laminate shed and totally flattened. Somehow, the original owner has kept this upright and the unworn folds are solid and support it superbly. Both the folds retain their laminate with is unscuffed bar the mild aforementioned crease. All text is pristine as can be confirmed on my two close-up pictures and finding this better will prove very difficult. If it could, I sure this spine would take a bow.

Corners: The corners are superbly crisp and very neat and showing barely any noteworthy wear, yes even the top and bottom of that wonderful spine.

Cover Summary: A wonderful example of this famous old cover, not quite as old as the band look on the cover but this is now 42 years old. This should please most collectors and will prove immensely difficult to find much better.

The Inner: The plain white polylined inner is in very fine condition. Minor age discolour with neat window and clearning lining, just mild ruffle on the hole area centre. Minimal creasing, all edges intact and looking just right for it’s considerable vintage. This has the original ‘Patent Application No. 40904/61. text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Near Excellent: This a top-quality super-heavyweight pressing with any surface blemishes faint and light. Minor hairlines, superficial light surface scuffs seen underlight and fine traces of use. It’s still retains a fine shine and is intense black, guessing number of plays is folly, but I would suspect modest which is reitterated by super sound. This has no penetrating scratches at all, a fine circular ‘mark’ is seen near the beginning of both sides, which I am certain is a manufacture blemish as the position is the same. It has NO sound at all and these ‘groove’ marks are pretty common. Massively pressed to glean the maximum fidelity from those deeper grooves. It’s one 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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic debut album plays above it’s visual grading to the maximum with practically nothing to fault. Stunning clean stereo sound that has a powerful mix that images superbly. This plays with clean and dynamic sound and devoid of the dreaded distortions so many of the early copies have now inherited – the invisible enemy of the vinyl record. The innermost songs with that delicate, difficult flute sections always are a concern for any copy played too many times on heavy equipment - no worries here, the sound is sharp with effortless tracking and clarity. It should now remain so for many years when played on a modern lightweight turntable. This is not an easy album and so often it disappoints even on clean visual copies. This plays practically devoid of irritating surface noise and no pops and clicks were noted, anything unwanted is minuscule and keeps up the reputation of the earliest pink pressings. Any mild surface marks are ignored and this record remains fully focused throughout. The short but spectacular drum solo on ‘Dharma for One’ sounds amazing with real power, depth and stereo imagery, the man and his kit sound in the room. Also the final short song, the delicate ‘Round’ plays very well, I have heard this sound horrible on some copies with major pressing noise and distortions. This is almost as good as it gets from a 42-year-old record. This rare, ultimate first issue, massively pressed example should please most collectors and again merits very high recommendation.

End Piece: Again its frightening to think how old this record is, to find one this clean and playing so well is marvellous. Who would have thought over forty years ago Ian Anderson and his band would still be playing under this name? This record and cover were robustly made and its a good thing they were. Just holding this vintage first stereo pressing is a joy - it was subsequently pressed many more times this being the earliest ever and it has more than stood the test of time. Play this record loud and prepare to be thrilled - a true classic worthy of a good home – Yes I rather enjoyed this one.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will 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 its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with THREE or EVEN FOUR ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. The thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 6,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); 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 [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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 neccessarily 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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.