KING CRIMSON Starless & Bible Black RARER Orig 74 EX++

	£		132
	$		175

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: KING CRIMSON

Album Title: Starless and Bible Black.

Producer(s): King Crimson.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Great Deceiver; Lament; We’ll Let You Know; The Night Watch; Trio; The Mincer.

Side 2: Starless and Bible Black; Fracture.

Label/Format: Island – original pink rim format with the semi-rough finish e.g. the area inside the inner ring ridge. These are rarer, subsequent pressings were totally smooth all over. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only very light and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area.

Cat Number: ILPS 9275.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 142 grams. A very good weight for this album.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Moderately scarce as a first issue with the lesser-seen matrixes seen above and with the deeper inner ring ridge and semi-rough area inside towards the hole. These earlier issues offer a far better chance of cleaner sound which this copy more than delivers. The condition is a major factor too. The unprotected white cover is very hard to find clean and devoid grubbiness. The fragile inner sleeve is often missing or torn and then there is the record. A typical King Crimson album with hugely contrasting levels of volume. Some almost silent passages then ferocious volume that shakes the rafters. A clean pressing is imperative for maximum audio pleasure – something that is far from certain – this copy delivers on all accounts and such copies are really quite hard to find. In my 10+ years of trading on Ebay, this is my very best, cleanest copy of this prog classic. It offers nigh-on pristine sound with barely any traces of anything unwanted, even on the quietest of passages – this record simply blew me away.

Original Year of Release: 1974

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9275 A 2M / ILPS 9275 B 3M (these are the much rarer first pressed matrixes)

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 P / 1 RL

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘S. D.’ / ‘Sean & Ray’

Musicians: Robert Fripp – guitar, mellotron, devices, electric piano; John Wetton – bass, vocals; Bill Bruford – drums, percussion; David Cross – violin, viola, mellotron, electric piano.

Brief Info: Sandwiched between the brilliant ‘Lark’s Tongues in Aspic’ and the sublime ‘Red’, this album often does not get the due credit it deserves in the mighty ‘first-phase’ King Crimson catalogue. The band had now shrunk to just four members, gone are the percussive skills of Jamie Muir heard on ‘Lark’s Tongues’. This is another powerhouse recording with some stunning material. Mostly instrumental and typical King Crimson in-as-much a rollercoaster ride in sound extremes. Some very delicate and quiet passages and songs, none better than the stunning ‘The Night Watch’, a haunting beautiful song. Side two has Fripp at his brilliant best with two immensely powerful tracks. Slow building and sparse but exploding into frenzy with speaker rattling sound later. I still rate King Crimson as one of the greatest progressive acts ever, their albums always immensely difficult and challenging on vinyl due to the near silence at times. This is an all round super pressing and plays near devoid of any unwanted sounds, no pops or clicks and any surface sound minuscule to none. King Crimson are always best enjoyed to the maximum via the analogue source – the inherent detail and dynamics within a super-clean pressing can never be beaten, especially when played on a quality system. Special mention always to Bill Bruford’s percussion, my second favourite drummer after the legendary Keith Moon, his immense talent deserves far more credit than it ever seems to get. This record gives a superb performance with audiophile sound values, the music so compelling and captivating. With a very clean, barely worn cover and undamaged inner sleeve too, this is a copy that will delight most-all collectors.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt, textured surfaces. Printed and made in England by Robor. Includes the elusive lyric inner sleeve.

Cover Front: This cover is seldom seen in clean conditions, usually grubby, ringworn and tired looking. This one has defied the years and perils of bad storage or over-handling. The front is still very clean with minimal traces of any discolouration or ageing and devoid of any noteworthy creasing. These pale finely textured surfaces seldom escape scuffs and even sticker marks, this has none and any marks are tiny, very few and faint. The artwork itself is pristine and this one sets a very high standard.

Cover Back: The back is near identical, if anything, even better, no ringwear or rubbing and again any handling traces or grubbiness, very little and faint. A faint trace of the records rim impression being critical, but look hard.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both faces are little short of pristine, practically as new.

Top Edges: Minimal traces of any wear, ultra light darkening being critical, both straight and this cover lies dead flat and flush.

Bottom Edges: As above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with no wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on the back edge, the front is very neatly sealed.

Spine and Text: A natural fine centre crease line from opening that few will ever avoid (unless never opened of course). Still very solid, straight, uncompressed and square, both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn and again this has minimal traces of any grubbiness.

Corners: Any tip rubbing is tiny and faint, a trace more on the top spine. Being an off-white cover, any wear shows little and all retain very fine to excellent shape.

Cover Summary: A very impressive all-round example of this highly intolerant 1970’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. A great survivor simply because the original owner looked after it. This very attractive item should please most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a thin paper unlined lyric inner, printed one side only. This again is clean and aged little with all edges unsplit with NO repairs. Any creasing mild and barely any marks at all. Finding this fragile inner better will also prove difficult.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface trace marks tiny, few and very faint. No penetrating scratches or marks at all. Visually a super record that should please most collectors again.

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 superb, little-played record even exceeds it’s high visual grading with barely anything to fault. Massively powerful, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Another stunning production by Fripp and his band, this will again test out any systems. Any surface sounds are minimal and ultra faint and hardly any worthy of mention, that said, it is nigh-on impossible not to have the odd sporadic tick or minor crackle trace. As much as I love Island records and most of the artists that recorded for them, pressing quality was not always perfect and some around this period were variable. I have heard some horrendous examples of ‘Lark’s Tongues’ and this album in particular. But this pressing is a delight and up there with the best I have heard. The complex groove patterns indicate the vast differences in volume, with many darker bands with compressed grooves indicating the quiet passages, of which there are a fair number. These are most vulnerable, any tiny fragment that hits the stylus means a minor sound, that’s why I pro-clean every record I sell on a state-of-the-art VPI machine to minimise this happening. Few copies will match or outperform this top quality pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – what a delight to hear those delicate, gentle passages play so cleanly without that irritating crackle many suffer, especially seen with gritty, dusty surfaces – the different here will more than evident. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. My highest recommendation is mandatory for this explosive prog classic.

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 VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

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 prompt payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

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 new VPI-17 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 boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, 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. When larger boxes are used, 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. 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. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 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 stiffeners 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 FIVE 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 now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied. If you cannot pay, DO NOT BID.

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 [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an 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 time-wasters. 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 necessarily 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’.