STRAWBS Dragonfly SCARCE Orig UK A&M Gold 1970 EX+ LP

	£		97
	$		129

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: STRAWBS

Album Title: Dragonfly.

Producer & Engineer: Tony Visconti.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Weary Song; Dragonfly; I Turned My Face Into the Wind; Josephine, For Better or For Worse; Another Day.

Side 2: ’Til the Sun Comes Shining Through; Young Man; The Vision of the Lady of the Lake; Close Your Eyes.

Label/Format: A&M – Original gold label (please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both in very fine condition with minimal handling or ageing traces. Spindle marks are ultra fine and faint and very few of. This lovely vintage copy looks hardly even played.

Cat Number: AMLS 970.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 147 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 135 to 145 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, many records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Scarce on the original label especially with a really lovely clean looking cover.

Original Year of Release: 1970.

Matrix Nos: AMLS 970 A-1 / AMLS 970 B-1

Stamper Codes: R 1 / Y 1

The Band: David Cousins - vocals, acoustic guitar; piano, dulcimer, Chinese piano, percussion; Tony Hooper - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, tambourine, percussion; Ron Chesterman - double bass.

Other Musicians: Clare Deniz - cello; Tony Visconti - recorder; Bjarne Rostvold - drums; Rick Wakeman - piano; Paul Brett - lead guitar.

Brief Info: Second and probably the most elusive album in their fine catalogue. This is pure quality folk-rock and one of the finest exponents of the genre. Beautifully packaged, this cover is well worthy of another look, this is really hard to find with a still white cover with minimal wear. As delicate as the insect beautifully drawn on the cover, not only a mainly white sleeve, it’s textured too – front and back and the early ones are made with thicker card. Can you imagine what most of these will look like now? I am not saying this is perfect, it isn’t as the back and spine have a little light rubbing but the front is real nice and attractive. The lyric insert is included but has aged with some moderate age toning spots as my picture will show. Still it’s included and many examples don’t have it. The heavy pressed record has stood the test of time well too and has few marks and plays really well - the best gold original I have heard in fact. So often A&M albums on this label disappoint with surface sounds and pressing problems which this one has avoided. A very fine, solid vintage copy.

Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very high indeed. All should speak for itself.

Cover Grade and Format: EX with the main faces looking superb. Simple in design but its beauty is beyond dispute. A single format on thicker card with moderate and pronounced texturing on both sides and of course unlaminated. The detail on this beautiful dragonfly is quite stunning and it’s very clean with any blemishing modest. This gorgeous cover was printed and made in England by MacNeill Press Ltd, London. If difficult, beautiful vintage covers are to your liking, look no further. This copy includes the lyric insert which for some reason has not aged quite as well but present nonetheless.

Cover Front: Really like this cover and this front does it high justice. Clean with few marks and little traces of grubbiness or toning - a few just about noticeable at point-blank range. A couple of mild creases only and the insect itself looks practically lifelike. The texturing pronounced and a miniature square pattern. .

Cover Back: Even more wear prone being dark and textured. Again this looks real nice with any mild rubbing mostly confined to the top and bottom areas with minimal creasing and no ringwear.

Top Edge: Minimal rubbing, very slightly darkened.

Bottom Edge: Mildly rubbed, slightly more near right corner but being white, little is too obvious.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with little wear and no feathering. Record entered on this right outside edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, quite straight with minimal compression. There is rubbing to top and bottom and centre so a little text has rubbed on the title.

Corners: All rubbed a little but again white so minimal visual impact, they retain very decent shape.

Cover Summary: Not perfect but way above average, the important factor is both main faces look really neat and very fine to the eye. Most are grubby, badly rubbed and ringworn and this has largely been avoided. I feel confident this will please many collectors but not the perfectionists.

The Insert: VG, no damage etc but clearly this has been left in the cold at sometime and now has toned. Still better to have than not and this is still a reasonble example. The original Mayfair promotional inner is included too, one side has split and scuffed, other than that, a fine example.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX / EX++ with a fine mark on side one that has no sound, side two is in superb condition with nothing noteworthy at all seen. A super visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed, much heavier than the later copies on the silver labels. Complex jagged groove patterns that will tell vinyl ‘readers’ this has great sound embedded within. A copy that plays beautifully with no pressing sounds and pristine clear sound with no distortion or groove wear. Visually a lovely original record and I am certain it’s been hardly played, it should please most collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippetts or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This fine, but delicate record plays very well indeed with practically nothing to fault. The sound is strong and distortion-free with all frequencies sharp and clear. Sound quality is high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal and this is a very clean pressing for a quite difficult album with no significant pops or clicks noted. A pleasure to hear such a lovely copy, few gold label examples will better this significantly I feel sure. This copy will prove challenging to find significantly better and high recommendation is mandatory.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£39).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT neccessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.