SIMON & GARFUNKEL 1st ALBUM INSANELY RARE ORIG '64 "GUARANTEED FIDELITY" MONO LP

$

271

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  NEARLY 100  LISTED ITEMS

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·      SIMON AND GARFUNKEL - WEDNESDAY MORNING, 3 A.M. (THE DUO'S FIRST ALBUM) - INSANELY RARE TRUE FIRST, ORIGINAL 1964 COLUMBIA RECORDS MONO LP CL-2249

·      ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

*** ONE OF THE RAREST COLUMBIA RECORDS IN EXISTENCE AND BY FAR THE RAREST SIMON & GARFUNKEL RELEASE EVER ***

·      SIMON AND GARFUNKEL'S VERY FIRST ALBUM

·      ORIGINAL RED & BLACK COLUMBIA "GUARANTEED FIDELITY" MONO  LABEL, EARLY 60’s STYLE

·      A BRIEF HISTORY OF THIS UNFATHOMABLY RARE RELEASE (IN THE INTEREST OF FULL DISCLOSURE, PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THIS RELEASE DIFFERS SOMEWHAT FROM THE WIDELY ACCEPTED HISTORICAL ACCOUNT YOU CAN FIND IN WIKIPEDIA).

·      WE ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN - THERE IS NOT EVEN A SHRED OF DOUBT IN THIS SELLER'S MIND - THAT THE FIRST MONO PRESSINGS OF THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL'S FIRST ALBUM ON COLUMBIA'S 'GUARANTEED FIDELITY' LABEL REMAINS BY FAR THE RAREST COLUMBIA STOCK PRESSING PRODUCED IN THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF  THE LABEL'S HISTORY AND QUITE POSSIBLY EVER (INTERESTINGLY, THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL DISCOGRAPHY WAS BOOKENDED - PUN INTENDED! - BY ANOTHER MONSTER SIMON & GARFUNKEL RARITY: THE MONO PRESSING OF 'THE GRADUATE' SOUNDTRACK FOUR YEARS LATER, WHICH WASN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO EXIST, HAVING BEEN RELEASED AFTER THE APRIL 1, 1968 CUTOFF FOR THE TRANSITION OF ALL COLUMBIA'S RELEASES TO STEREO. WE HAVE ONLY SEEN ONE COPY EACH OF BOTH TITLES IN 53 YEARS OF COLLECTING RECORDS AND, FRANKLY, DO NOT EXPECT TO SEE ANOTHER IN THIS LIFETIME.

·      ACCORDING TO THE COLUMBIA'S CORPORATE TRADE CARDS, THIS ALBUM WAS RELEASED IN OCTOBER 1964 AND SOLD ABOUT 3000 COPIES, WHICH COULD NOT EVEN HYPOTHETICALLY BE TRUE, AT LEAST NOT IN THE CONVENTIONAL SENSE OF THE WORD "RELEASED". NAMELY, IT APPEARS THAT THE COLUMBIA'S CORPORATE MANAGEMENT (THEN CHAIRED BY THE UBER-CONSERVATIVE GODDARD LIEBERSON) WAS LESS THAN ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE QUALITY AND COMMERCIAL APPEAL OF THE MATERIAL PAUL SIMON SUBMITTED TO  THE LABEL AND THEN DRAGGED THEIR FEET AS LONG AS POSSIBLE,  ULTIMATELY - MOST LIKELY AS A RESULT OF THE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION - PRODUCING A SHAMBOLIC NUMBER OF COPIES OF THE ALBUM (PROBABLY LESS THAN 100 ALTOGETHER) IN OCTOBER 1964, BUT NONE ACTUALLY INTENDED FOR THE WIDE RETAIL RELEASE: VIRTUALLY ALL SURVIVING 1964 COPIES WERE PROMOTIONAL COPIES OF ONE SORT OR ANOTHER: EITHER: WHITE LABEL PROMOS,. OR STOCK COPIES STICKERED OR STAMPED AS PROMOS. THEN, AFTER HAVING MET LESS THAN A LUKEWARM RESPONSE FROM THE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS AND VIP'S (DAVE VAN RONK FAMOUSLY DESCRIBED PAUL SIMON'S MUSIC AS  "A JOKE", BUT, ULTIMATELY, THE JOKE WAS ON VAN RONK), COLUMBIA GOT COLD FEET ON THE NATIONWIDE COMMERCIAL RELEASE AND QUIETLY STRANGLED THE RELEASE IN IT'S CRADLE. AT THAT POINT PAUL SIMON, FEELING ANGERED AND BETRAYED, THREW A TAMPER TANTRUM, STORMED OUT OF THE UNITED STATES AND MOVED (OSTENSIBLY PERMANENTLY, BUT THIS WAS JUST A PUERILE RUSE) TO THE GREAT BRITAIN, WHERE HE RECORDED ANOTHER ALL-ACOUSTIC ALBUM ("THE PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK") WHICH FARED REASONABLY WELL IN THE UNITED KINGDOM BUT STILL FAILED TO GARNER MUCH ATTENTION IN THE UNITED STATES, WHERE IT WOULD NOT BE RELEASED IN IT'S INTEGRAL FORM UNTIL THE EARLY 1980s. AND ALTHOUGH THE "SONGBOOK" REIGNITED SOMEWHAT SIMON'S (AND GARFUNKEL'S) CAREER, IT WAS STILL NOT ENOUGH OF A MOTIVATION FOR COLUMBIA TO FINALLY GIVE "WEDNESDAY MORNING" A PROPER, NATIONWIDE COMMERCIAL RELEASE, AND THE TITLE REMAINED IN THE CAN FOR ALMOST ANOTHER YEAR.

·      THEN SOMETHING UNUSUAL HAPPENED IN SEPTEMBER 1965: TOM WILSON, THE LEGENDARY JAZZ (AND, LATER, ROCK) PRODUCER, RESPOSIBLE FOR "ELECTRIFYING" BOB DYLAN AND PRODUCING "LIKE A ROLLING STONE", AS WELL AS COUNTLESS SIDES BY SUN RA, DONALD BYRD, CECIL TAYLOR, VELVET UNDERGROUND, FRANK ZAPPA'S MOTHERS OF INVENTION, THE BLUES PROJECT AND RICHIE HAVENS - GOT WIND OF THE UNEXPECTED SUDDEN RADIO POPULARITY OF ONE OF THE TRACKS FROM THE "WEDNESDAY MORNING" ALBUM (THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE) AND DECIDED TO, IN ORDER TO BOOST IT'S COMMERICAL APPEAL, "ELECTRIFY" IT WITHOUT THE DUO'S KNOWLEDGE AND PERMISSION, BY OVERDUBBING AMPLIFIED INSTRUMENTS OVER THE EXISTING ACOUSTIC MIX.  THE RUSE WORKED: BOTH THE "ELECTRIC" VERSION OF THE SONG AND THE HASTILY-RECORDED ALBUM OF THE SAME NAME SHOT UP STRAIGHT TO THE TOP OF THE BILLBOARD CHARTS, WHERE THE SINGLE WAS BATTLING THE BEATLES' "WE CAN WORK IT OUT" FOR THE #1 SPOT DURING THE FIRST SIX WEEKS OF 1966. PAUL SIMON KVETCHED AND BELLYACHED AN NAUSEAM THAT TOM WILSON BASTARDIZED AND BOWDLERIZED HIS SONG, BUT THE BELLYACHING SUDDENLY AND MYSTERIOUSLY CEASED AFTER HE RECEIVED HIS FIRST ROYALTY CHECK. THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL LEGEND WAS BORN AND IT EXPLODED AS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.

·      THEN, AND ONLY THEN, DID COLUMBIA FINALLY HAD A CHANGE OF HEART AND DECIDED TO GIVE 'WEDNESDAY MORNING' A WIDER COMMERCIAL RELEASE. THEREFORE, PRACTICALLY EVERY SINGLE 1960s COPY OF THE ALBUM FOUND TODAY WAS PRESSED IN THE LATE 1966 (OR EVEN AS LATE AS 1967) ON THE RED & WHITE "360 SOUND MONO" COLUMBIA LABELS WITHOUT THE "NONBREAKABLE" BANNER ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE. IN OTHER WORDS, THE COMMERCIAL RELEASE OF THIS TITLE LAGGED NO LESS THAT TWO GENERATIONS OF COLUMBIA LABELS BEHIND THE (MOSTLY PROMO-ONLY) 1964 RELEASE. THIS IS WHY THE 1964 PRESSINGS ARE SO MONUMENTALLY RARE: THEY WERE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN AND WERE NOT FOLLOWED BY THE PROPER COMMERCIAL RELEASE FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS. MY QUALIFIED GUESS IS THAT COLUMBIA ACTUALLY CONSIDERED THE RELEASE CANCELLED AND PROBABLY NEVER WOULD HAVE RELEASED IT COMMERCIALLY AT ALL HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE UNEXPECTED COMMERCIAL TRIUMPH OF THE TOM WILSON'S ELECTRIC VERSION OF "THE SOUND OF SILENCE"

·      IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE "360 STEREO" LABELS WITH BLACK PRINT (HISTORICALLY AND CHRONOLOGICALLY CORRESPONDING TO THE COLUMBIA'S "GUARANTEED FIDELITY" MONO LABELS LIKE THE ONE WE HAVE HERE) DO EXIST AND ARE, COUNTERINTUITIVELY, SOMEWHAT MORE COMMON THAN THE "GUARANTEED FIDELITY" MONOS, WHICH ARE TRULY A SIGHT UNSEEN; BUT THIS IS A RATHER MOOT POINT BECAUSE BOTH STEREO AND MONO FIRST PRESSINGS ARE BEYOND MERELY RARE: THEY ARE OBSCENELY RARE

·      THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS: THE LONG AND SHORT (MOSTLY LONG) OF THE HISTORY OF SIMON & GARFUNKEL'S FIRST ALBUM. ENJOY!

·      EXTREMELY RARE MONO PRESSING, MANY TIMES RARER THAN STEREO

·      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)

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·      THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

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

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

·      MONO version of this album has NEVER been available on legitimate Compact Disc or in any other digital format.

(►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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Wednesday Morning, 3 AM doesn't resemble any other Simon & Garfunkel album, because the Simon & Garfunkel sound here was different from that of the chart-topping duo that emerged a year later. Their first record together since their days as the teen duo of Tom & Jerry, the album was cut in March 1964 and, in keeping with their own sincere interests at the time, it was a folk-revival album. Paul Simon was just spreading his wings as a serious songwriter and shares space with other composers as well as a pair of traditional songs, including a beautifully harmonized rendition of "Peggy-O." The album opens with a spirited (if somewhat arch) rendition of Gibson and Camp's gospel/folk piece "You Can Tell the World." Also present is Ian Campbell's "The Sun Is Burning," which Simon heard on his first visit to England as an itinerant folksinger. But the dominant outside personality on the album is that of Bob Dylan — his "Times They Are A-Changing" is covered, but his influence is manifest on the oldest of the Simon originals here, "He Was My Brother." Simon's first serious, topical song, it was what first interested Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson in Simon & Garfunkel. By the time the album was recorded, however, Simon had evolved beyond Dylan as an inspiration and developed a unique songwriting voice of his own in the title track, a beautifully sung, half-lovely song. Wednesday Morning, 3 AM is surprisingly ambitious but also somewhat disjointed, mostly because the non-original material, apart from "Peggy-O" and "The Sun Is Burning," comes off so arch. The seeds of their future success were here, however, and took root when the version of "The Sounds of Silence" on this album started getting played on the radio.

(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.

(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)         Mono pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more  preferable to its stereo counterpart. We think that the mix is more natural, humane, "organic" and that the mixes are somewhat different than on the stereo version. We estimate that stereo copies of this album outnumber mono pressings by a ratio of at least 10:1.

(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 some writing on its back side (the name of the previous owner conspicuously written in thick black marker, about 3/8 x 6 inches in size)

-       Cover has a visible "wrinkle"(crease)  in one of the corners and a smaller one in another, both on bottom corners. (VISIBLE ON FRONT SIDE ONLY)

-       Back cover has a few yellowish dust speckles scattered here and there (these tiny spots are not overly obtrusive or distracting)  (covering about 15% of the back panel)

-       Cover has JUST A HINT of 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 1  (front side) and 2 (back side).

-       Cover shows some light yellowing on back side, apparently from aging.

-       Cover shows some yellowing on back side, apparently from aging.

-       Visible shelf wear noted on the bottom seam

-       Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine and the top seam (BARELY VISIBLE)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

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CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

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