THE BAND (Brown Album) RARER ORIG UK 1969 ONE EMI BOX LABEL, STUNNING NEAR MINT.

	£		468
	$		620

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: THE BAND

Album Title: The Band

Producer(s): John Simon

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Across the Great Divide; Rag Mama Rag; The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down; When You Awake; Up on Cripple Creek; Whispering Pines.

Side 2: Jemima Surrender; Rockin’ Chair; Look Out Cleveland; Jawbone; The Unfaithful Servant; King Harvest (Has Surely Come).

Label/Format: Capitol, first press format on the black and silver label, these have matt surfaces with a gentle hint of texturing. A one EMI box copy, this quickly replaced by the more familiar second issue on the yellow-green format.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a mere couple of very light, quite fine spindle traces and no wear around the hole area. These will be hard to find better anywhere. A record from a collection purchased by one owner from new and clearly hardly played.

Catalogue Number: E-ST 132

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: 137 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Quite rare as a genuine first pressing on this one box black and silver label, this was a short-lived format and quickly changed to the yellow-green version. Finding this classic in such superb condition makes it rarer still. The cover is massively prone to all forms of wear and hardly ever shows up like this. A copy purchased new by one owner and cover protected and clearly hardly handled or played. The disc plays with immaculate sound, even the inner sleeve is impressive. It was not a big seller in the UK and failed to even chart, hence a first issue, especially like this is a rare find.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: E ST1 132 - H1 / E ST2 132 - H1

Mothers / Stampers: 1 A / 1 0

Musicians: Rick Danko – bass guitar, fiddle, trombone, vocals; Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, rhythm guitar, vocals; Garth Hudson – electronic organ, clavinet, acoustic piano, accordion, melodica, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones, slide trumpet, bass pedals; Richard Manuel – acoustic piano, drums, baritone saxophone, harmonica, vocals; Robbie Robertson – electric and acoustic guitars. With: John Simon – tuba, electric piano, baritone horn, tenor saxophone.

Brief Info: The second album by The Band – often referred to as ‘The Brown Album’ – that most regard as their very best. An evergreen folk-rock classic issued to great reviews and selling well in their native United States, but less so here. Its famous cover is massively prone to wear and is rarely seen without considerable amount. This one has fared supremely well, and is one to simply hold and admire because few show up like it nowadays. Just light rubbing on the perilous bottom storage edges, and little else. My play-grade of the genuine first issue record proved a great experience with nothing to fault. With two shiny hardly marked surfaces and beautifully pressed on what would have been a very limited first run prior to a fairly quick label format change. This regarded one of the very best albums in the folk-rock genre and an evergreen classic that includes the sublime Robbie Robertson masterpiece song ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’. Not one to lose lightly.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): with only gentle patchy rubbing on the bottom storage edges. An unlaminated gatefold format with texturing on the outside surfaces, the inside is smooth. Printed and made in England by Ernest J. Day on soft, quite delicate card. Includes the EMI black and white promotional inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Deep brown ink, soft textured card is a sure-fire recipe for rubbing, creasing and ring wear, and few of these will escape it. Put simply: this front reminds of new, it’s simply stunning with the more pronounced rough texturing detail looking magnificent. The odd tiny tip rub being ultra critical but hardly anything else. That beautiful deep brown colour is fully intact without rubbing and the lack of creasing is something that will rarely be seen. Even the very edge folds have avoided rubbing and no sticker issues. A 1969 cover front, up there with the most wear-prone of the era, looking sublime, and that is no exaggeration – have another look.

Cover Back: Massively against the odds, the back matches the front and I truly doubt many will exist better. This has totally avoided any rim impression without even a trace of any ring wear or rubbing to the main surface, also I am struggling to see even a hairline crease worthy of mention. The merest trace or rubbing on the bottom fold being ultra critical. The sheer freshness of both front and back are a thing of immense rare beauty.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Practically as-made, a tiny adhesive mark in manufacture near the top left corner the only minute blemish, and that nothing to do with wear.

Top Edges: Both straight and flush with barely any rubbing and no fading.

Bottom Edges: Light patchy rubbing only to these unforgiving surfaces that have scant chance of avoiding a little friction rubbing after nearly 50 years.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and all very sharp with barely any thickening. Record enters on the back edge, all are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with any compression light. Folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. Just a slight tilt to right. These soft card spines are usually seen threadbare and flat, often badly rubbed and the text eroded and gone. Well take another look at this one, it has barely even a trace of rubbing and all text is perfect and unworn. This perilous area will rarely be seen better either.

Corners: Any tip rubs are light, and given the nature of the card, few will show less. Excellent, and mostly even better shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: Knowing this cover well, this is a truly stunning example of one of the most unforgiving and fragile 1960’s covers. One that will prove immensely difficult to even match, let alone find better. Few who bought this on issue would have protected this inside a cover – so when seen like this, it’s a memorable thing. Fans and collectors will know what this is normally found like, and this one will please most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a beautifully preserved EMI promotional inner sleeve. The paper appears a little darkened, but this is totally natural, it has hardly any real wear at all. These were unlined, but has no edge splits or repairs and barely even creased. It includes the ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR MINT: a fantastic visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy appearing hardly played on all the evidence with any surface traces minuscule and faint – I doubt if this copy has seen light-of-day for decades. Visually a beautiful record that should please many, if not 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 snippets 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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic early folk-rock album plays up to, and even above it’s high visual grading with nothing heard to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. An excellent clean pressing with no tracking issues*, to date, I have never seen or heard a better example. Few available originals will match or outperform this I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been impressively stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, it was a genuine joy to experience. It will prove massively difficult to find better and merits my highest possible recommendation.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

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 as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – 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 it’s 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 the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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. 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/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. 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. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 17­ years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

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

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. 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. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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 necessarily 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’.