Rare 1973 Harvest test pressing John Lees solo album - Barclay James Harvest
£
130
$
172
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Description
An ultra rare 2 x 1 sided test pressing of the 1973 cancelled issue of John Lees solo album A Major Fancy SHVL 811. John Lees was the guitarist with Barclay James Harvest.
The album was listed by EMI for release in 1973 on the Harvest label but withdrawn at the last minute when Barclay James Harvest were dropped from the label. It eventually came out in 1977 on the budget label Harvest Heritage with different song titles, different artwork and a different catalogue number.
The matrix number on this test pressing shows the SHVL 811 catalogue number for the cancelled listing. The handwriting on the inner sleeve also includes the word 'June' which was the month in 1973 that it was due for release. The eventual Harvest Heritage release had the catalogue number SHSM 2018.
The condition of the two playing surfaces is excellent with no marks that I can see. There are a handful of spindle marks on the first disc and just one on the second. I suspect they were only played a handful of times. The BLANK side of the Side 1 disc has obvious big scratches which I have shown in the pictures but it in no way affects the playing surface on the other side.
The outer sleeve is just plain black as the intended sleeve never got to the printing stage.
The name Mark Vigars is handwritten on one of the sleeves. He was a tape operator at Abbey Road Studios in 1973 where this album was recorded.
