NEIL DIAMOND THE FEEL OF NEIL (1st ALBUM) ULTRA-RARE ORIG'67 BANG TRUE STEREO LP

$

30

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  NEARLY 300  LISTED ITEMS

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·       NEIL DIAMOND - THE FEEL OF NEIL (NEIL DIAMOND'S VERY FIRST ALBUM) - ULTRA-RARE  ORIGINAL 1967 BANG RECORDS  STEREO LP BLPS-221

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·       MONSTROUSLY RARE STEREO PRESSING, MANY TIMES RARER THAN MONO

·       ORIGINAL RED AND WHITE “BANG” LABEL WITH A REVOLVER LOGO

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·       VERY RARE "PROPER" STEREO COVER, NOT A MUCH MORE MONO COVER WITH STEREO STICKER AFFIXED ON FRONT SIDE

·       CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·       THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·       MACHINE-STAMPED MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) OF THE RECORD 

·       MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) ENDS WITH '-1/-1'.  ON SOME LABELS,  SUFFIX '–1' DENOTES THE VERY FIRST, ORIGINAL PRESSING)

·       THE RECORD HAS 'AUDIOMATRIX' AND  'BELL SOUND'  STAMPS IN THE TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) AREA, WHICH ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED PROOF OF AUTHENTICITY OF THE FIRST PRESSING.

 (►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you'll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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Neil Diamond's debut LP was issued in October 1966 just as "Cherry Cherry" -- Diamond's first Top Ten hit -- was peaking at number six on the singles chart. It's a fascinating document, and not just in hindsight: it has virtues of its own, separate from being an early chapter in a long career to follow. As a showcase for Diamond as both singer and songwriter, he fares well in both capacities, though his songwriting is more interesting here than his singing, but that's no surprise, as according to his own account, he'd just achieved a new level of seriousness and depth as a composer and was reveling in the best that he could do at that moment. As a singer, he needed more time to develop, though he obviously had a good deal of depth and expressiveness at his command, even in 1966. He does have some wonderfully transcendent moments here, and not just on the hits -- "Solitary Man," "Cherry Cherry," and "Oh No No (I've Got The Feeling)" are familiar to most fans -- but "Love to Love," "Someday Baby," etc. also show some of the power and range that Diamond would be able to muster more effectively in his singing as he moved toward his prime years, and show the new, very personal songwriting he was pursuing. He's at his best on the original songs, the most personal of which (apart from "Solitary Man") are confined to the second side of the album: producers Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (who are all over this record with handclaps, backing vocals etc.) wanted to introduce his talent to the would-be purchasers gradually, book-ending the contents between the two hits ("Oh No No" didn't chart until a month after the LP's release) and offering Diamond doing a handful of covers of familiar hits. Given that he was still making the transition from songwriter to performer, he does very well by all of the latter, which include Paul Simon‘s "Red Rubber Ball" (done in the same arrangement used by the Cyrkle, but with Diamond's raw, personal singing a very different experience from that group's harmonies) and John Phillips‘ "Monday Monday" (with Ellie Greenwich very prominent on the vocals), as well as the Barry-Greenwich "Hanky Panky." As a debut effort, it has some flaws that one would expect; not all of Diamond's originals were jewels, and he would find some finer nuances to his singing in short order. But when his songwriting and singing were on target, which was well over half the album, this was one of the better pop/rock releases of 1966, as well as a kind of transitional work in a singer/songwriter mold. It sounds (and even often, on the covers, feels) like Brill Building pop, but the words and the singing are already evolving out of those origins and into something new.

(REVIEW REPRINTED COURTESY OF BRUCE EDER, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

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·                               CONDITION:

·                               THE RECORD

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)          WE GRADE THE VINYL AS EXCELLENT. This is one of those albums that are somewhat difficult to grade. It is somewhere between VG++ and NEAR MINT, just a notch below NEAR MINT. A few light abrasions ARE visible, but they are extremely shallow, superficial  and only moderately visually distracting (nothing significant).For the most part, the vinyl looks impeccable without any MAJOR visual flaws or imperfections. Much of the original luster is intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new (MINOR 'HAIRLINE' SCUFF ON SIDE 2 IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE AUDIBLE)

(b)            The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)             Stereo  pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more preferable to its mono  counterpart. The mix is more graphic, the sound resolution more precise, and the channel separation (which does not exist on mono version) adds a whole new dimension to the music. Also, the stereo mixes are (by definition) somewhat different than on the mono version. We estimate that mono copies of this album outnumber stereo copies  by a ratio of at least 20:1.

(d)          Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·                               THE COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-        Cover has a small cutout saw-mark (an indent about 2 cm / 3/4"long ) on one of its seams.

-         Cover has some light ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 3

-         Back cover has circular tarnish (grayish, dust-covered sections, which closely follow the contour of the record),  probably caused by friction or by rubbing against other covers during the storage. The tarnish is similar in appearance to a common ring wear, but, UNLIKE ring wear, these grayish areas may be possible to clean up with a minor effort and with a right cleansing solution.

-         Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging   (nothing significant).

-         Cover has some light yellowish stains, probably from exposure to humidity.

-         Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine

-         Visible shelf wear noted on the bottom seam

-         Cover has some fraying/wear along the top and bottom seams.

-         Cover has three corners slightly worn / dinged

-         Cover has a small stamp (possibly tiny writing?) on the back panel

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

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