LEONARD COHEN Songs From a Room SCARCE ORIG UK 1969 A1/B1 EX+ LP, LAMINATED/NICE

	£		37
	$		49

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: LEONARD COHEN

Album Title: Songs From a Room

Producer(s): Bob Johnston

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Bird on the Wire; Story of Isaac; A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes; The Partisan; Seems So Long Ago, Nancy.

Side 2: The Old Revolution; The Butcher; You Know Who I Am; Lady Midnight; Tonight Will Be Fine.

Label/Format: CBS with matt gently textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a very small few, light, fine and faint spindle traces. Minimal plays, cleanly pressed with sound to match.

Catalogue Number: S 63587

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: 137 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderately scarce.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: Sbpg 63587 A1 / S 63587 B1

Musicians: Leonard Cohen – vocals, guitar, Jew’s harp; Ron Cornelius – acoustic & electric guitars; Bubba Fowler – banjo, bass, violin, acoustic guitar; Charlie Daniels – bass, violin, acoustic guitar.

Brief Info: The second album by this famed, now very sadly departed Canadian singer-songwriter. Well-known for his stark looks and downbeat songs – he affectionally was known as the godfather of gloom. But hauntingly beautiful songs, this became a ‘bedsit’ favourite at the time and his songs have been covered countless times by many artists with whole tribute albums being issued. Jennifer Warnes released an entire album of his songs entitled ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ which is a reference high fidelity album of immense beauty that is more than worth checking out. Some of the best cover versions were recorded by Judy Collins and these are also highly recommended. A somewhat reluctant singer, he did not issue his first album until the age of 33. This one of his darkest albums ever, but just a few plays will open your mind to this man’s world, his sound is still unique with monotone voice and solemn, poetic words. Deep material of relationship, sometimes harrowing, this had the ingredients of being a poor-selling album, but it did okay. Gloom and darkness rarely ever sounds this good. Brilliantly produced by Bob Johnston, he was employed to get the most atmosphere from these quite minimalistic songs – it works perfectly. This a very fine original with the laminated cover and A1/B1 matrixes, the record appears little used and sounds impressive.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: arguably better. A single format with the front laminated. This covers all folds and ends on the back via the spine edge. The back is matt and smooth and includes a gold shaped ‘Stereo’ sticker as the cover has the mono catalogue number. Printed and made in England by the Upton Printing Group. This includes the 1969 era CBS promotional inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Tiny tip wear apart, this front has little to fault. The laminate retains excellent shine, freshness and clarity with minimal dulling, no lifting and hardly creased (bar the odd tip). The white shows only gentle discolouration to politely remind of age. Minimalistic for artwork which sets the tone superbly for this set, this front will not prove easy to find much better.

Cover Back: The back is also impressive with scant discolouration or ageing. The surface barely rubbed or creased with no ring wear. The Stereo sticker has a couple of pick marks, but wisely, the original owner decided to leave it be.

Top Edge: Reasonably straight with the laminate smooth and unworn.

Bottom Edge: Similar again.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Still mainly sharp with any thickening light. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, again mostly straight with any compression light, the ends gently tapered in manufacture. All text is perfect and unworn, also quite nicely centred on the fairly narrow depth.

Corners: Any tip rubs or creases are quite small and light.

Cover Summary: A very fine example of this famous sparse cover, the laminate of course always adds extra class, and this was later omitted. This should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): an unlined thin paper CBS inner that promotes albums from the late 1960s. Any creasing or discolouration light with no edge splits or repairs. This includes the PATENT No 1,125,555 text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface traces very light, fine, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, little even registers. Visually a super record 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This bedsitter classic plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Sparse instrumentally and obviously quite a quiet album, a clean pressed, little used record is essential, and this delivers with minimal contact sound and few blemishes. Few available copies will outperform this early first A1/B1 pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled. Little of note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – the odd polite reminder of what is being played near impossible to avoid on such a recording. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR Camera.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

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] = £4.75

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

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

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.