Ken Saul - Seashells (Original 1971 private press LP) Psych-Folk - SSLP 02
£
600
$
795
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Description
Ken Saul - Seashells
Original, private press LP from 1971 which had a limited run of 100 copies according to the artist.
I have graded the record at VG-/G+ primarily as there are prominent, recurrent (every two seconds) sounds for approximately the first six minutes of the first track (Seashells) on side A. I feel this detracts somewhat from the content and atmosphere of the song which is comprised (like the majority of the album) of acoustic guitar, bass and vocals. The sound itself is somewhere between a 'pop' and a 'click' with a static, 'whooshing' underneath. The sound isn't absolutely persistent and does come and go but it is at its most prominent during the first three minutes of the song. I found an old eBay listing of the record where the seller had suggested that there is an artificial, 'ocean' sound on the track but I have compared the copy I have to the one on streaming services (which I believe to be sourced from an original vinyl copy) and it doesn't appear to be present. After the first five minutes of the sound is far less prominent as the intensity/volume of the music increases and the sound itself has diminished with the 'whooshing' being the sole artefact for the remainder of the side and only truly distracting during the intros/outros of the songs. This sound is present to some extent for the entire duration of side A. Side B plays with surface noise and occasional pops/ticks throughout but to a far lesser extent than Side A and the whooshing is not present. The issues with playback could be down to what appears to be a pressing fault on side A which consists of a slighty curved, non-feelable line which extends from one edge of the record to the other and is about two inches from the record edge at the furthest point. I am sorry but I have found this mark impossible to photograph. Otherwise the record presents well. The record itself and the music contained therein are both quite quiet so you do need to turn it up a bit making what surface noise there is more apparent. The printed labels are very clean with some foxing to the blank labels underneath which are visible around the edge of the printed labels.
I have graded the sleeve the sleeve VG. It is fairly unprotected, being a non-laminated blank and has therefore picked up lots of marks including staining, smudging, creasing and rubbing but is still in one piece although there are slight splits at the edges of the sleeve opening and a small tear at the centre of the opening from taking the record in and out of the sleeve. Ringwear and a slight foxing are also present. The edges and the spine are heavily rubbed although no spine text was ever present. The image on the sleeve has been hand-stencilled with a black pen used for the seashell and a green pen for the artist's name and album title. The is a small 'Ken Saul' written in biro in the bottom left corner which could be the artist's signature but then I have no way to either prove or disprove this. I suppose one could contact Ken himself (if he's still around) for confirmation either way. The original innersleeve is present but the record will also be shipped with a replacement. The original insert is in great shape with just some moderate foxing and one visible thumbprint by the '1901'.
Please refer to the photographs provided as they represent part of the item description and its condition.
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