LED ZEPPELIN "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI" FIRST U.S. PRESSING 1975 PR/CRC PRESSING PIROS

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LED ZEPPELIN "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI" FIRST PRESSING 1975 PR/CRC
LED ZEPPELIN "PHYSICAL GRAFFITI"  LABEL: SWAN SONG SS 2-200  /  SWAN SONG SS2 200 RELEASED: FEBRUARY 24, 1975 EDITION: FIRST U.S. PRESSING 1975 'PRESSWELL' DIE-CUT ~ TOP LOADER ~ PRICE CODE SPINE ~ NO BARCODE PRODUCER: JIMMY PAGE RECORDING/MIXING ENGINEERS: EDDIE KRAMER, ANDREW JOHNS, RON NEVISON, KEITH HARWOOD MASTERING & LACQUERS: ATLANTIC STUDIOS LACQUERS: RECORD 1: GEORGE PIROS ('@tgp' IN MATRIX) LACQUERS: RECORD 2: FRANK TABINO AT ATLANTIC ('F.T.' IN MATRIX) PRESSING PLANT: PRESSWELL ('PR')  CRC RECORD CLUB PRESSING ALBUM JACKET DESIGN: PETE CORRISTON  MATRIX (SIDE A): ST-SS-753309-C XT AT PR MATRIX (SIDE B): ST-SS-753310 - CRC-2  @tgp T1 MATRIX (SIDE C): ST-SS-753311-B  PR AT F.T. MATRIX (SIDE D): ST-SS-753312 -D AT SP PR
CONDITION:  VINYL: VG to VG+    INSERTS: EX-    JACKET: VG++
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this 1975 First U.S. Pressing of Led Zeppelin's classic "Physical Graffiti." 
This is my original copy, purchased back in the mid 70's, shortly after it's release, that I've taken great care of for many years. A rare, original, First Pressing of this classic album.
See details on Condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Physical Graffiti was the long awaited sixth studio album by Led Zeppelin. The double album was released on February 24th 1975, and was the group's first album to be released on their new label, 'Swan Song' Records. By 1975 no one was bigger or heavier than Zeppelin. 
Like most LZ albums, this one was recorded at various studios, with various Engineers, and at various times.
The first track the band worked on for the new album was a loose instrumental jam that would later become 'Kashmir'. 
In November 1973, the band jammed at Headley Grange, a large country house in Hampshire, UK, where they had previously recorded their 4th album. Jimmy had arranged to use Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio to record the session.
Jimmy and Bonham managed to lay down a loose, instrumental vesion of 'Kashmir' to tape.
"Kashmir" is an incredibly powerful blend of east and west inspired by Page and Plant’s mystical wanderings and underpinned by Bonham’s fantastic drums. Plant later wrote the lyrics while on holiday in Morocco. 
Bonham famously had a large supply of Mandrax (UK Quaaludes) with him for the session. Robert Plant has said that Bonzo's Mandrax intake created the powerful, bluesy, hypnotic, soporific drum pattern heard on the song.
The rest of that November session was cut short since bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones was becoming fed up with the stress of recording and touring. He told Zeppelin’s manager, Peter Grant, that he’d had enough, and decided to quit the band and retire from rock’n’roll. Peter Grant suggested that the band take a break and let things cool down.
After the break, Jones was convinced to continue working and touring, but the break took a toll on the other members of the band.
By this time, Drummer John Bonham dove deeper into drug and alcohol abuse.
Jimmy Page, during the break, had moved on from cocaine to heroin, and was diving deeper into his fascination with the Occult and his "studies of mysticism and eastern and western traditions of magic and tantra” 
Robert Plant took some time to travel to Morrocco and other exotic places, leading to changes in his vocals and songwriting.
~~~~~ The group eventually pulled themselves together and reconvened at Headley Grange in January 1974, where they spent their time writing, playing, improvising, experimenting, arranging, and fine-tuning new material.
Headley Grange had been turned into a popular place to record by the early 1970s. Many bands, before and after Led Zeppelin, recorded there and it was now equipped with the famous Rolling Stone Mobile Studio, known for it's fantastic sound.
With a new attitude, they settled down to work and wrote, recorded, and finished 8 new songs for the album, all engineered by Ron Nevison, by early summer 1974.
Bonham, despite his partying, was a strong contributor at these sessions, helping arrange and fine-tune the songs. He earned songwriting credit on several tracks.
Lead singer Robert Plant later referred to those eight new tracks as "the belters", including "off-the-wall stuff that turned out really nice".
The 8 finished songs were indeed all excellent, but their total time took up nearly 3 sides of vinyl. Led Zeppelin soon realized that their current output couldn’t be contained by a single LP, so rather than remove any songs, Jimmy Page and the band decided to expand 'Physical Graffiti' into a double album, polishing and adding some previously unreleased tracks from the sessions for their earlier albums.
The final 2-LP album 'Physical Graffiti' contained their 8 'new' tunes and 7 of their strongest unreleased recordings. It compiled recordings from 1970 through 1974, and covered a range of musical styles.
~~~~~ The second side of the first record of this 2-LP set contains the amazing, masterful run of “Houses of the Holy”, “Trampled Under Foot”, and “Kashmir.” 
The heavy, riffy, southern R&B of 'Houses of the Holy' moves into the extraordinary funky 'Trampled Under Foot', fueled by John Bonham’s no-city-left-unrazed approach to drumming, then the side concludes with 'Kashmir'.
Most fans agree that this 2nd side of the album marks Zeppelin’s zenith. The fact that this disc was mastered and cut by the legendary George Piros makes it an even better sounding musical treat. The vinyl on side 2 of this record looks fantastic.
The second record of 'Physical Graffiti' gets a little weird and mysterious, but that's what makes it great and creates its legendary status. What really shines is the eclecticism of it all. 
Led Zeppelin was able to do everything from folk (''Bron Y Aur'') and blues ("In My Time Of Dying") to country rock ("Down By The Seaside") and barrelhouse rock 'n' roll ("Boogie With Stu"). 
Some of Physical Graffiti’s best moments are the less dramatic ones. 'In the Light' would be a standout on any Zeppelin album.
"Trampled Under Foot" was a leftover song from a jam session led by John Paul Jones fooling around with the Fender Rhodes. It's both heavy AND funky as hell. It was one of the singles released from the album in April '75 with "Black Country Woman" as the B-side.
"Black Country Woman" was recorded in the garden at Stargroves in 1972 for 'Houses of the Holy'. It wasn't used because you can hear a plane flying overhead, but they dusted it off for this album.
"Sick Again" was written by Page and Plant about the 1973 tour and their medical 'experience' with hooking up with groupies. It's a great group effort driven by Bonham's drumming and Page's amazing guitar riffs.
"In My Time of Dying" is based on a traditional song. This track was recorded live, and at the end, you can hear John Bonham coughing off-mic, causing the rest of the band to crack up.
"Houses of the Holy" was originally recorded in May 1972 at Olympic Studios with Eddie Kramer engineering. It was supposed to be the title track of that album, but was left off at the last minute. It appears on this album instead.
"The Rover", "Bron-Yr-Aur", and "Down by the Seaside" were outtakes from Bron-Yr-Aur cottage in Wales, where most of Led Zeppelin III was recorded in 1970.
"Night Flight" was originally recorded at Headley Grange in 1971 for the fourth album. It has Page's guitar played through a Leslie speaker.
"Boogie with Stu" was from a 1971 jam session with Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart, from the same session that produced "Rock and Roll" for LZ IV. It's based on the Ritchie Valens song "Ooh My Head."
~~~~~~~ The last side of this 2-LP set finally returns to heavy riffing and loose jamming, highlighted by “The Wanton Song” and the Ian Stewart-assisted “Boogie with Stu”. 
~~~~~~~ Final mixing of the album was performed in July 1974 by Keith Harwood at Olympic Studios, London. 
Once finished, the album was planned for release before Christmas, but the complex die-cut album cover proved to be challenging to manufacture, leading to a delay in the album's release.
'Physical Graffiti' finally hit the shelves in late February 1975 and was a huge commercial and critical success. It was instantly at the top of the charts, partially driven by pre-release sales and demand.
The album was released right after the band returned to the road, after more than a year away, at the start of their 1975 American Tour.
I lived in Chicago at the time and saw them at the Chicago Stadium in January. Their set list included many songs from the new LP which wasn't released yet. It was amazing to hear 'new' songs like "Sick Again", "Trampled Under Foot", "The Wanton Song", and "Kashmir" for the very first time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE SOUND QUALITY OF 'PHYSICAL GRAFITTI'
This early first pressing sounds amazing, even with a tiny bit of snap, crackle and pop.
This 1975 Swan Song First Pressing reveals just how deeply layered, dynamic and intense the music of Led Zeppelin is. The instruments are well separated, Bonzo's drums powerful, Plant's vocals are crisp & clear, and there's a good sense of space and depth. The overall sound is heavy, yet also warm, intimate, vibrant and very dynamic.
You can’t beat the sound of these original Swan Song pressings. Jimmy Page carefully produced every Zeppelin record specifically for vinyl, making sure everything was perfect, and that they had warm, fat bass and pounding drums that emphasized the band’s heaviness. 
Jimmy Page’s mastery is all over this album. Of course, he performs amazing solos and creates classic riffs, but his production skills are equally amazing. He was fantastic at creating musical soundscapes and atmospheres. His attention to detail, sound quality, and production makes this a fantastic album and considered by many to be Led Zeppelin’s best work. 
These first pressing vinyl copies are the definitive way to hear the album. Digital CDs and Jimmy's later manipulations don't sound anywhere as crisp and clear as these early all anaolg vinyl pressings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PHYSICAL GRAFITTI'S CLASSIC ALBUM JACKET DESIGN
This album was released with a fabulously intricate die-cut jacket that was amazing and the pinnacle of album cover design, back during the mid-70's glory days of vinyl.
This original early pressing comes in a top-loading die-cut outer sleeve showing an apartment building with the 'windows' of the building cut out.
The classic NYC building on the cover is an apartment building in the 100 block of St Mark's Place, right behind Thompson Square Park, in the East Village. In my teens, I used to hang out in the park after digging at all the great record shops along St. Marks to 'chill' and check out my latest purchases. I've walked past that building many times and was thrilled to see it on the cover.
Inside the 'building' jacket, the records are each in a 2-sided color cardboard inner sleeve, with pictures that can be arranged so that they can be seen thru the die-cut windows.
The album designer, Peter Corriston, included pictures of various cultural icons, everything from actors, actresses, astronauts, to Lee Harvey Oswald, that could be interchangeably viewed thru the windows. The 2 inner sleeves are wrapped in an off white, 12" x 24" insert printed with details all the album tracks and recording information. 
When the white middle cover is wrapped around the inner covers, and slid into the die-cut cover, red letters spell out the title of the the album, "Physical Graffiti" in the apartment's windows. A cool, clever idea and a great, timeless album cover.
One way to tell an original inner sleeve is by the comments: "Guitar lost by Nevison, salvaged by the grace of Harwood" printed after the song 'The Rover.' 'Rover' has some fantastic guitar work by Page that was 'buried' on the original tapes, but recovered by Keith Harwood during remixing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE PRESSING DETAILS OF THIS RECORD
The hype and pre-release anticipation for this record was unheard of back in the day. Part of that was due to the record being delayed in it's release due to the complexity of the jacket design.
The record was finished and ready for release by the fall of 1974, but technical delays with the complex die cut cover and packaging inserts delayed its release until February 1975. 
After previously releasing several great albums, demand was strong for this next Led Zeppelin album. Pre-orders and wholesale demands were huge, so when it was finally time to press the album, it seems that every available pressing plant in the Country was recruited to help fill the huge demand.
As a result, there are more mastering, pressing plant and matrix variations for this album than any other Led Zeppelin release.
This album was certified Platinum just on advanced orders alone. It sold a Million copies before it was even released, the first album ever to achieve that status.
Atlantic/Swan Song had their hands full trying to press enough copies to fill that demand.
This is my original copy of this album that I've had in my collection for nearly 50 years.
The 2 vinyl records are both original 'Presswell' ('PR') pressings, as stamped in the Matrix, and identified by the 'PR' catalog Suffix on the labels.
Record One has the Presswell first pressing marks and mastering engineer George Piros' initials in the Matrix, ('@tgp'), but also has the Columbia Record Club 'CRC' mark on the label and in the matrix markings.
Record Two also has the early Presswell markings and mastering engineer Frank Tabino's initials (F.T.) in the deadwax. There is no mention of CRC on record 2 or anywhere else on the jacket or inserts.
It's strange to me that One disc has the CRC markings and the other does not. I'm pretty certain that I purchased this at the record store at the mall back in the mid-70's, and I was never a CRC member.
Despite one of the labels having a clear 'CRC' record club mark, there is no mention of CRC on the Jacket or inner sleeves. Did the Presswell plant just crank out these records using whatever copies or pressings they had on hand?? Certainly possible and plausible.
There seems to be hundreds of different matrix and pressing variations of this particular record, but since both records are the early Presswell pressings, I suspect the pressing plant just used whatever discs they had to fill the huge demand.
Record One has George Piros' mastering marks, the other has Frank Tabino's mastering mark. Both Piros and Tabino worked mastering vinyl for Atlantic, so it wasn't unusual to have one or the other's initials, or both, on the plates that were sent out to pressing plants.
Just odd to me that the 2 records in this 2-LP set don't have 'matching' matrix marks, despite the same pressing plant. I guess that's just how they were made and packaged back then.
I never really looked or paid any attention to the matrix markings until I went to list this album. Back in the 70's, most of us vinyl collectors never really looked at matrix numbers like people do today. Some 45-rpm collectors looked at matrix marks, to identify 'fakes', but most of us LP collectors didn't. It really wasn't a 'thing' until recently.
Anyhow, despite the minor matrix differences, these discs are both early, First pressing 'Presswell' pressings and sound fantastic. I just wanted to point out the differences, out of honesty and transparency.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Physical Graffiti' has long been recognized as one of the band's best albums. It's highly ranked in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Robert Plant has said that it's his favorite Led Zeppelin album and that it represented the band at its creative peak. Jimmy Page has also said the album was a "high-water mark" for the group.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Physical Graffiti' represents Led Zeppelin at the peak of their powers. It’s a great 2-LP album, compiled from the band’s classic era, brimming with remarkable performances, and is considered by many to be the last great, classic album they’d ever release.
This original First Pressing copy deserves to be in everybody's classic rock vinyl collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, inserts, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
I purchased this copy back in the mid 70's, nearly 50 years ago, and have taken great care of it since. VINYL: The vinyl looks very nice, but does have evidence of play and a few light hairlines. It's clean and bright with No serious scuffs, palpable scratches, or dings. It looks decent and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
The Deadwax was described above. Record One was mastered by George Piros, record Two was mastered by Frank Tabino. Record One has the CRC logo on the label and in the Matrix. Both records have the early matrix numbers and the 'PR' for the  Presswell pressing plant.
See the full Matrix numbers for all 4 sides above.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. There are a few hairlines, but side 2, the best side of this album, looks fantastic.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 50 years. It could use a good deep cleaning to make it even bettter looking and better sounding than it already is. 
LABELS: This is pressed with the 'classic' colorful Swan Song labels. Record One has the CRC stamp on the left, Record Two does not.
The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks very nice for a nearly 50 year old OG copy.  This thick, complex, jacket is notorious for showing damage to the die-cuts, ringwear, dirt, and scuffs, but this copy is still quite nice.
The die-cut windows are all sharp, with no tears. The inner sleeves are clean, square and bright. 
There's some minor shelf wear along the bottom seam, and one bottom corner is 'bumped', but the artwork is bold and bright. I tried to show details in my photos.
The Price Code labeled spine is straight. A nice survivor.
Overall, I'll call the whole record a strong VG+, a nice original First Pressing copy that would be an excellent addition to your collection.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for years, and is still quite nice for an original pressing. This copy is all original, and a real gem. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN