NICK DRAKE - Pink Moon 1972 UK 1st Press ISLAND A-1U B-1U EX Comus Forest

	£		410
	$		543

NICK DRAKE -

PINK MOON

ISLAND

1st UK Press 1972

ILPS 9184

Machined matrices:  A-1U  B-1U

Mother stampers: GA  and R

Tracklist

Companies, etc.

• Produced For – Witchseason Productions Ltd.
• Published By – Warlock Music Ltd.
• Printed By – Tinsley Robor Group Ltd.
• Made By – Tinsley Robor Group Ltd.
• Engineered At – Sound Techniques, London

Credits

• Cover – Michael Trevithick
• Engineer – John Wood
• Photography By – Keith Morris (8)
• Producer – Joe Boyd
• Typography – C.C.S. Associates*
• Vocals, Piano, Acoustic Guitar – Nick Drake
• Written-By – Nick Drake

Notes

Barcode and Other Identifiers

• Matrix / Runout (A Side (stamped)): ILPS 9184 A-1U
• Matrix / Runout (B Side (stamped)): ILPS 9184 B-1U

One of the very rarest psych folk albums from the UK and any time this album comes up for sale there is a sense of excitement. This one is nice, very nice, please read on . Nick only sold 4000 copies for all three albums he did before his untimely demise. It is becoming nearly impossible these days to still find copies of the original first issue of this timeless album. This is one for the collectors as it is probably one of the very best copies auctioned on Ebay over the last many years. 

 For auction is a rare and all round excellent condition 1st U.K. press of Nick Drake’s third album PINK MOON from 1972 on the Island label.

Matrices A-1U, B-1U.

Original gatefold sleeve is in really excellent plus condition with a fully intact and readable spine and scarcely any wear marks. No writing. Rare to see copies in such great condition. 

Record itself in normal daylight is clean with a bright sheen. Even under a strong light this is fantastic without any hairlines visible at all.

Labels clean and NM.

Play test showed superb clear sound and this album has clearly barely been played at all.

Here is a chance to own a super copy of a very rare and desirable album. 

  Musically haunting,  some strangely-strange melodies and great improvisations. This has long been a connoisseurs prog-folk album and highly sought after. I have always found this much harder to find than the first album and only ever seen two copies before and none even in the same class or league as this stunning example. These acid-folk albums are hard to find like this with nowhere for unwanted sounds to hide amongst the delicate acoustic and vocal music, this gave a fantastic performance throughout. Seeing is believing – this amazing and quite beautiful cover is truly as wonderful as it looks.  

This is one that will stick in my mind for sometime long after its gone. rarer even, in my opinion than his first album which I have come across a few times in my collecting time. This album has been truly elusive and I have only once ever seen a copy before. Do not let this most prized Island classic slip the net.

Vinyl: EX.  Barely played as you will not be able to find anymore. This looks nearly pristine, even under a very strong light there are no flaws. There are no marks or hairlines. Under a very strong light only wispy retraction traces can be seen. These are invisible under a normal daylight. This vinyl sounds out of this world, a majestic classic. The audio has beautiful separation and there is no background noise. This vinyl looks and sounds great with a beautiful "just over the counter" sheen. I played this in full on my Linn Sondek/Rotel system and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was even tempted to keep this as it will be impossible to find this ever again, it is indeed mega rare these days. Only two or three went up for sale this last year. Needless to say NO jumps or clicks. 

 Sleeve: EX. Fantastic looked after matt sleeve without any issues. Beautiful deep unfaded colours. A superb iconic sleeve with the fantastic artwork. A superb 100% legible spine. NO tears and NO splits The album has been kept in a protective sleeve from day one!! A small scuff on the top right edge on the front and back gate with a seam split of around 2cm from the opening on the back gate (top)!! The opening is as crisp as it can possibly be and the top and bottom edges have very little wear at all. Just a couple of faint miniscule creases near the spine, barely noticeable.  Probably one of the best you will ever find for this insanely rare album. A phenomenally scarce album and rumoured to only have been pressed in a quantity of 900 to 1000. How many would have survived over the last 51 years??

This copy also still has the original faint blue ISLAND printed inner sleeve.

I am restricted to 12 pictures for this listing. Please mail me through Ebay if any other pictures are needed and I will try my best to accomodate. I update on my messages once a day only.

After two albums of tastefully orchestrated folk-pop, albeit some of the least demonstrative and most affecting around, Drake chose a radical change for what turned out to be his final album. Not even half-an-hour long, with 11 short songs and no more -- he famously remarked at the time that he simply had no more to record -- Pink Moon more than anything else is the record that made Drake the cult figure he remains. Specifically, Pink Moon is the bleakest of them all; that the likes of Belle and Sebastian are fans of Drake may be clear enough, but it's doubtful they could ever achieve the calm, focused anguish of this album, as harrowing as it is attractive. No side musicians or outside performers help this time around -- it's simply Drake and Drake alone on vocals, acoustic guitar, and a bit of piano, recorded by regular producer Joe Boyd but otherwise untouched by anyone else. The lead-off title track was eventually used in a Volkswagen commercial nearly 30 years later, giving him another renewed burst of appreciation -- one of life's many ironies, in that such an affecting song, Drake's softly keened singing and gentle strumming, could turn up in such a strange context. The remainder of the album follows the same general path, with Drake's elegant melancholia avoiding sounding pretentious in the least thanks to his continued embrace of simple, tender vocalizing. Meanwhile, the sheer majesty of his guitar playing -- consider the opening notes of "Road" or "Parasite" -- makes for a breathless wonder to behold.(From: allmusic.com)

International postage will incur an extra fee for tracking if over £30.00. Please wait for me to send you an adjusted invoice before paying. The tracked fee will be at actual Royal Mail grade. I do not profit from postage and actually undercharge.

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. I am limited to 12 pictures for the listing. If you would like any other angles please ask and I will try to send more pictures.