TEA and SYMPHONY - An asylum for the Musically Insane - HARVEST LP - SHVL 761

	£		51
	$		68

WELCOME TO

MYCOLLECTINGPASSION

Very warm welcome to my online record sale

I am finally selling my collection of many years

New free poly sleeve & spare inner included.

You?ll get a full refund if not as described or faulty.

ARE YOU READY TO CHECK OUT THIS RECORD?

This vinyl has been visually / playback graded.

ALBUM 

TEA & SYMPHONY

AN ASYLUM FOR THE

MUSICALLY INSANE

LABEL: Harvest

YEAR RELEASED: 1969

CATALOGUE NUMBER: SHVL 761

MADE IN: UK

DEAD WAX INFO (matrix?)

THIS COPY HAS STAMPED MATRICES

SIDE A

SIDE B

GRADES 

SLEEVE -EX

INNER -VERY GOOD

LABELS -VERY GOOD/ VERY GOOD

VINYL - GOOD/GOOD

PLAYBACK GRADES GOOD/ GOOD

DESCRIPTION

DEEP DIVE

SLEEVE INFO

CONDITION 

& PLAYBACK GRADE

TYPE: GATEFOLD. LAMINATED FRONT AND BACK

MAKER: NO CREDIT

STICKER OR STICKER MARKS: No

HANDWRITING: No

RIPS: Small 4mm tear back opening edge

SPLITS: No

RINGWEAR: no

OPENING: Light softening, mild creasing

CORNERS: Lightly rubbed

MY THOUGHTS: A decent looking sleeve.

GRADE

EXCELLENT

EXTRAS

INSERT:NOT APPLICABLE

GRADE:NOT APPLICABLE

INNER SLEEVE

TYPE: waxed lined paper sleeve

FEATURES:NOT APPLICABLE

SPLITS:None

HANDWRITING:None

ORIGINAL:I believe so

GRADE

VERY GOOD

I will provide a plain white inner sleeve for shipping purposes.

LABELS

TYPE: Paper labels

SPECIAL: Perimeter text -Gramophone company

SPINDLE MARKS: Light marks and some mildew marks present

CENTRE HOLE: Very little wear

HANDWRITING: None

STICKERS: None

GRADES 

A= VERY GOOD PLUS

B= VERY GOOD PLUS

VINYL 

VISUAL GRADE 

FLATNESS:Nice and flat

SHEEN: mmm not much sheen

SIDE A

INITIAL THOUGHTS: Well played. Many fine marks cover a vast area. There are some scratches long and short, fine to moderate.

FINE SUPERFICIAL MARKS: yes

MODERATE FINE SRATCHES: yes

HEAVY SCRATCHES: Yeah, a couple about an inch or so long

GRADES 

A = good

SIDE B

INITIAL THOUGHTS: 

Much like side one. 

FINE SUPERFICIAL MARKS:Yes, a lot

MODERATE FINE SRATCHES:Yes , quiet a few

HEAVY SCRATCHES: Yup, there's a couple. I've tried to show the worst ones in the photos.

GRADES 

B = GOOD

AUDIO GRADES

I am going to be making notes here as I listen through both sides. I aim to be as accurate as possible. Focusing mostly on sounds that aren?t supposed to be there. 

SIDE A

Ok, cup of tea ready, let's have a listen. 

Nice acoustic guitar sound, really big. Harmonies sounding good. We are not without a constant crackle. A mix of dust and the numerous fine marks to be sure. Some nice little moments near the end with some Bach inspired guitar. The wind is blowing now, soft vocals with big reverb. I can hear the hand drums fine, crackle is still ongoing. I kind of drift in and out of noticing it. Track three romps in with some pub style piano and vocals pausing before enticing us with some tribalesque riffing. The bass sounds big and warm on this track. Oh, they've recorded the instruments very full here; everything booms out of my headphones.Someone is having a good time on the hand drum. All flutes and percussion now, the crackle is pronounced here as it is quite a quiet part. Our friend is back on their drum, giving it big bassy beats. This next bar room shuffle is big and full sounding. Barry Sheffield the engineer did a great job for these guys. The bass guitar on this track is really fat. Well a great track to end an enjoyable side. Not once did I hear a pop, and there were no repeating clicks. Not once did the stylus jump. So that is very good news. The crackle is constant and varies in noticeability relative to the volume of the track. A good deep clean won't fix it, but it may improve it a little. GRADES GOOD

SIDE B

ok, off we go. The creepy piano intro is competing with a loud crackle here. The piano sound bright and isn't breaking up.Oh, wow, big acoustic guitar has just kicked in. Not noticing crackle now. A couple of very feint clicks heard. Vocals are well up front, no distortion to high notes. He has quite a unique vibrato to his voice. Space rock acoustic jam fun. This is sounding good. A throw in a thunderclap for good measure. Nice sounding harmonics getting an airing. I can easily see why folk pay serious money for mint copies of this, must sound immense. This is not a rich mans copy, but its not fit for the skip just yet. Im enjoying it in spite of le crackles.Tasty bit of flute going on to accompany his travelling shoes. Bit of a crackle contest going on at the start of this next track, quite loud I'm afraid and persists throughout. Actually if I was at their gig, this is the track I would go to the bar for. Couple of quick pops. Crackle won that track. Harpsichord next, is there any instruments they didn't use on this album. Crackle is still going on. I keep thinking he is singing about a Gorilla, but I know I'm wrong. Not sounding great but does improve a bit. Sorry Geoff it was my fault, echoes us out of what was a rather interesting bunch of songs. Grades GOOD

Both side grade as GOOD

Final thoughts

 An interesting album for prog fans and Harvest collectors. It is sad that the vinyl is so marked, well loved and probably a favourite at one too many late night sessions. The sleeve is much better and with little wear compared to the vinyl and this listing may be of interest to those wanting to upgrade their sleeve alone. So this is not  a keeper or final upgrade. It is an ok playing copy and I enjoyed listening to it. You will have read the audio grading description so you know the score. 

POSTING

U.K POSTAGE 

Postage by Royal Mail

Items up to the value of:

Up to 2kg

£50 ? 2nd Class Recorded = £4.50

£50-00 ? Tracked 48 = £5.50

£100-500 ? Special delivery 1pm = £8.95

£500-1000 - Special delivery 1pm (extra comp) = £9.95