LED ZEPPELIN -

III  (3)

ATLANTIC

2041002

1st UK Press 

 1970

Matrices first press matrices A-5  B-5. Heavy first press vinyl in EX++ condition, barely played.

Mother stampers: 1 1  1 3 and  1 1  7, by far the earliest I have ever come across and I have seen a great many in the last few decades.

This has the "Do what thou wilt" and "So mote it be" etched into the run-out grooves indicating the earliest press. Also retains its original blue printed ("Plastic bags etc ...") inner sleeve with correct date stamp. Importantly it has the "Peter Grant" credit above the white stripe on the label. Only a genuine first press has this feature, making all other presses, however early, just second, third etc. presses!

RARITY.

It is getting harder and harder to find good examples of early PLUM pressings of Zep 3, and very hard if not almost impossible to find ones in this condition. More than that, this is an extremely rare 1st UK  press label, with the correct 1st Press cover with fully working wheel, all in great condition.

A plum LZ III in this type of condition is scarce. The vinyl is so often played so much, heavily marked, scratched, with noisy, poor and distorted sound. Any Plum examples with a record in this type of condition, that plays with great and clear audio is very rare. What is certain, any plum pressing will blow away the orange and green pressings that followed from 1971 for sheer aural enjoyment. The cover is almost impossible to find without serious wear, even modestly worn examples are scarce . Finding a nice cover like this, with a stunning piece of vinyl makes this a true and very rare collectible. Fantastic!

A lovely set of labels with barely any spindle traces at all.  The 1960's red & maroon colours of the Atlantic label are the only original pressings, they were re-designed to orange and green colours in late 1971. A true first pressing, like this one, will have the Peter Grant credit above the white band below the Jimmy Page production credit.

All first issues of "Led Zeppelin 3" have two cryptic messages inscribed in the run-out grooves. (The shiny non-music part between the last track and the label!) Side1 has "Do What Thou Wilt" and Side 2 has "So Mote It Be", the Crowley text relates to Jimmy Page and his interest in magic and mysticism. Page is reportedly one of the biggest collectors of Crowley artefacts. The motto comes exclusively on the first pressing's, adding an air of the mystical to the album.   

Vinyl: EX+.  A splendid heavy vinyl that sounds marvellous all the way through. This has been carefully looked after!! Not one of those copies that was taken around to parties. It has some wispy retraction type paper traces on both sides when observed under a strong light but is an excellent vinyl that would please most collectors. Of course this is the earliest ultra heavy quality vinyl being an original first press with the very first  matrices ending A-5  B-5 and has the etchings in the run-outs "So mote it be" and "Do what thou wilt". Not very many out there left now so late in the day .... how many would there realistically be in this gorgeous condition?? Most copies found these days are trashed and unworthy. What a delight to find this stunner! Tested on my trusted Linn Sondek/Rotel/Technics set-up and it sounded fantastic!

Gatefold sleeve: EX.  An original gatefold sleeve with the spinning wheel. The spine is still fully 100% readable. "Visual creations by Zacron" printed on the right inside gatefold, indicating the original item. Most sleeves for this album were made in Germany and married up with the UK vinyls as there was a problem in the UK printing plant resulting in a huge shortage which is well documented. This is, however one of those ultra rare original UK sleeves which you just do not find anymore. Just some tiny creasing near the right top corner (see pic). The edges are superb without wear as is the opening, super crisp. It is always a joy to recover a copy in this kind of supreme condition. A classic worthy of investment but above all for your enjoyment! No tears , no writing, no smudges etc.

100% GENUINE 1970 UK 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING WITH 1ST PRESS TEXT AND PETER GRANT CREDITON THE RED/PLUM ATLANTIC LABELS!!!!

GENUINE EARLY PRESSINGS OF LED ZEPPELIN 3 ARE RARE, WITH A NUMBER OF FEATURES THAT DISTINGUISH THEM FROM ALL OTHER COPIES THAT WERE TO FOLLOW. THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE THAT APPLIES TO 1ST PRESSINGS IS THAT TOWARDS THE TOP OF EACH LABEL ABOVE THE WHITE STRIPE, PRINTED IN LARGE TEXT IS ; - 'PRODUCED BY JIMMY PAGE', AND BELOW THIS 'EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: PETER GRANT'. THIS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CREDIT CAN ONLY BE FOUND ON THE VERY FIRST EVER UK PRESSINGS.

  THIS LABEL FORMAT WAS CHANGED VERY QUICKLY, AND THE 'JIMMY PAGE' CREDIT WAS MOVED TO THE BOTTOM OF EACH LABEL (IN SMALLER TEXT) ON ALL LATER RE-PRESSINGS - WITH THE 'PETER GRANT' CREDIT BEING COMPLETELY REMOVED ALTOGETHER!!!! 

 ANOTHER  DIFFERENCE IN THE 'CAT. NUMBER' ON THE LABELS!!!!  1ST PRESSINGS HAVE THE CAT. NUMBER AS '2401002' JOINED TOGETHER - WHERE AS ALL LATER PRESSINGS INSERT AN EXTRA 'DASH' AND SHOW THE CAT. NUMBER AS '2401-002'

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Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  These fees in England have gone up significantly last May. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

***This is a unique prime investment opportunity!!! Finding this classic album in any condition at all is nearly impossible!!! This is  a great and seriously collectable super album!!  You will buy into a piece of  superb prog history.*** 

This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next prog album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.