PROCOL HARUM Shine on Brightly 1968 1st US brown A&M Diff. Cover PROG.PSYCH LP

$

20

One of many PSYCH and Classic 1960's Rock LPs from a fanatically well-kept collection of a long-time former DJ
Mostly 1st PRESSINGS, including a large amount of PROMOs and a few choice IMPORT LPs.
Many of these still in SHRINK WRAP ...several STILL SEALED
Quite a few WLP, Sterling, RL and Masterdisk pressings in the mix!

*Sadly I am NOT FAST at listing and am lucky to get around 50 up at a time, but they will keep on coming (as I pause between each auction series to focus on top level packing and immediate shipping) throughout this fall, several hundred to list, so keep checking back.
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USA Shipping: FREE ...no matter how many LPs
International Shipping Worldwide at EXACT POSTAGE Only cost

This auction is for:
PROCOL HARUM
SHINE ON BRIGHTLY
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A&M Records SP4151
Original 1968 issue • Stereo LP
1st PRESSING • 1 T / 1 T Matrix

VINYL is NM-
Full shine on thick solid vinyl; very close to new with faintest sleeve scuff in few small spots only, viewed under hard bright light. Plays incredibly well with faint crackle lightly audible at times, one of the quietest I've heard. Labels are pristine both sides.
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COVER is VG+
heavy-weight, sturdy gatefold cover has moderate general shelf wear and bumped u.l. corner. No creases, writing or soil. No splits.

STRICT CONSERVATIVE GOLDMINE GRADING
NM / EX(VG++) / VG+ / VG

Procol Harum's magnum opus pinnacle LP
Fantastic DIFFERENT from UK, GATEFOLD Cover Art
Original issue Brown A&M labels

FIRST PRESSING
MATRIX NUMBERS:
?Side One: SP4201-8 1 T
?Side Two: SP4202 (RE 1) -7 1 T  
NOTE: ALL original US issues contain "RE" in one or both sides' matrix #s.
This does NOT represent a REISSUE but rather a Replating, due to pre-press
discovery of a need to correct something before pressing.
(SEE DISCOGS - any/all 1968 US issue matrix #s).

Shine on Brightly, Procol Harum's second album, is one of their finest efforts. Released in 1968, at the height of the Psychedelic 60's. They generally avoid anything overtly trippy, instead attempting to expand the frontiers of progressive-rock music, incorporating various classical elements with some rhythm & blues elements, to create their signature sound. This was also a time of experimentation in recording techniques. Distortion was no longer a dirty word, for engineers to avoid. It became a part of the sound of much rock music and Robin Trower's signature "restrained power" distorted guitar sound.

Procol Harum were nicknamed "The Madmen of Rock", and they lived up to the name! They were like the Honoré De Balzacs of the genre, (the lead singer, Gary Brooker, even LOOKED like Balzac!) putting out a unique mixture of bluesy, organ and piano-driven, classically informed rock with lyrics and wizard guitar licks that had few, if any, equals. Since Procol's inception, Genesis is about the only group that even came close to sounding like them. NOBODY threw off the same rich aesthetic vibe they did. This album, "Shine on Brightly", is probably where the group established their "madmen" reputation, putting you in mind of William Blake and Hieronymus Bosch as if these painters were musicians, with songs like "Skip Softly (My Moonbeams)" and the title song. The masterpiece on this album, (VERY William Blake-ish!) is the nearly 18 minute long "In Held Twas In I", a now-legendary epic composition with passages like: "In The Autumn of My Madness" and "Twas Teatime At The Circus", capturing the full-on "Ship Of Fools" feel that they'll probably take with them into rock & roll heaven.

Other tunes include "Wish Me Well", a precursor to their "Juicy John Pink" on "Salty Dog" with its ultra-bluesy guitar riff and Screamin' Jay Hawkins singing style; "Magdalene, My Regal Zononphone", a typical gothicly atmospheric Procol number, much like their 1st LP, with gentle classically influenced music framing very introspective lyrics; "Ramblin' On", another song that sounds like it should have been on their first album along with "Christmas Camel" and "She Wandered Through The Garden Fence".

For some odd reason Procol Harum didn't sound like anyone else and precious few bands at the time had their intelligent lyrical mode, with its study of faux madness and voluptuary indulgence. It was if Orson Welles had decided to become a rock auteur...   For all intents and purposes, this album, indeed, was the true bridge between their first album and "Salty Dog", with elements of both being quite obvious in it. One could do a LOT worse than discovering this group of non-conformist individuals who laid a lot of groundwork for the branch of music known as "progressive "art" rock.

Original A &M company inner sleeve included?.?

Fans of "WHITER SHADE OF PALE" should not miss this very compelling follow-up LP

Disc kept in separate ANTI-STATIC inner sleeve to protect both the original inner and the vinyl
Album kept in a protective, poly outer-sleeve
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Please see my other listings for more
Vintage Collectible PSYCH, Rare 60's and CLASSIC ROCK LPs
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All records packed with vinyl (inside inner sleeve) behind cover with bubble-wrap around all sides - sandwiched between stiff corrugated flats and shipped in strong LP mailer boxes for best protection in the mail.

My LP packing is considered to be among the very best on eBay. I would have it no other way.

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SHIPPING RATES
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..
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*OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS:
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for packages below $100.00
I will ALWAYS offer you choices
 -the standard LOWEST rate that the US Postal system allows,
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•
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