THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (1st) RARE ORIG UK 1971 EX HARVEST LP + RARE INSERT

	£		75
	$		99

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

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on 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. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer 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.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

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. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

Album Title: The Electric Light Orchestra

Producer(s): Roy Wood and Jeff Lynn

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: 10538 Overture; Look at Me Now; Nellie Takes Her Bow; The Battle of Marston Moor.

Side 2: First Movement; Mr. Radio; Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre); Queen of the Hours; Whisper in The Night.

Label/Format: Harvest – original first press format with Gramophone Co Ltd text on rims, these have matt fairly smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both clean, still fresh and attractive with spindle marks on the lighter side of moderate, also fine and relatively faint. This scarce first issue plays very well.

Catalogue Number: SHVL 797

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Few vintage records are ever perfectly ‘flat’, so some slight or very gentle arm movement is normal. If any record I offer has more than that, I will mention it, and it can be assumed all I offer should track without issues, even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 139 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce as a first pressing, and this copy includes the original rare and elusive yellow lyric insert sheet. One of the rarest inserts to be briefly included on Harvest Records, most copies fail to include it. This one is guaranteed original, NOT a reproduction. ELO were not major sellers when they first formed, their music far more experimental and progressive than later albums. This album purchased and owned by one person. This is only the second original insert I have ever seen for this album.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: SHVL 797 A-1U / SHVL 797 B-1U (both are error-corrected, the first matrixes were by Philips, the corrected ones by EMI).

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 GD / 1 R

Musicians: Roy Wood – Guitars, Bass guitar, Cello, Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, percussion, period woodwind instruments; Krumhorn, vocals; Jeff Lynne – Guitars, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals; Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, vocals; Bill Hunt – French horn, hunting horn; Steve Woolam – Violin.

Brief Info: Future mega-stars and sellers of millions of records but this debut ‘ELO’ album was very different. This was not pop-music or even commercial, but far more ‘progressive’ which being on the Harvest label should come as no real surprise. Formed almost the same time as The Move folded, this album has an almost unique sound. Guitars are largely replaced by cellos and the heavy use of reed instruments, all played by the multi-talented Roy Wood. This only briefly charting for four weeks at a lowly 32 in the UK. It fared even worse in the US barely scraping into the Billboard charts. Now regarded as one of the early Harvest classics and sort-after. The early original pressings are highly cherished, the sounds on this record were heavily influenced by Wood’s brief presence, and gave few indications of what to expect later as the sound became more commercial. With the band later wanting a more easy-listening sound and bigger audience, Wood left the band early. This copy is very early indeed as confirmed by one side having a 1R mother-stamper code (the second in the sequence), and it plays impressively. The insert sheet was only briefly available in some copies, it seldom surfaces or seen. This one in superb condition as is the textured, softer card cover. The one owner from new protected his albums in those heavy-duty plastic sleeves, and the difference is almost immediately apparent. Musically impressive in the early Harvest label tradition.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): and arguably better, this has possibly the least rubbing I have seen on this very wear-prone sleeve. An unlaminated gatefold format, made with soft card with all surfaces textured. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. Includes the Harvest promotional inner sleeve and the guaranteed original yellow lyric insert sheet.

Cover Front: Visually magnificent and virtually as clean and fresh as when issued. The lack of rubbing, grubbiness, creasing and sticker issues all major pluses on a cover that often wears quite badly, especially is not protected. Any of the tiny few creases on the spine register little being fine and inconspicuous. The texturing is immaculate without any whitening of the raised spots, a joy to hold and enjoy.

Cover Back: Overall, very similar with just a few super-fine hairline surface creases on the edges, but again, they hardly show. The lack of rubbing and ugly ring wear on this soft card back is highly unusual good news.

Cover Inner Gatefold: One tiny corner tip rub apart, this inside area has hardly any wear either and looks impressive as-seen.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and flush with barely any hint of rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Any rubbing on these storage edges is very little, light and very patchy indeed.

Right Edge(s), and Type: All still sharp with any thickening traces tiny, very little and light. Record enters on the back edge, the closed front is factory machine cut.

Spine and Text: Still quite solid, straight with mild compression and light tilt to left. Folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. The spine quite wide and few soft card spines will remain totally upright these days. The text and surface have little wear as-seen, the odd light hairline crease and soft card means this is not a cover to be held in one hand.

Corners: Any tip rubs very small and light, excellent shape mostly retained with no knocks. Few of these will have less wear I feel sure.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this very fragile 1970’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many, and possibly even most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): a fully intact polylined Harvest promotional inner with no damage and hardly any creasing. Only modest light ageing with the usual seam area adhesive darkening and only gentle on the main areas. All edges unsplit with no repairs, the bottom corners are vented in manufacture as always. These are seldom seen much better.

The Lyric Insert: PRACTICALLY MINT: with any blemishes less than minuscule. This is guaranteed original: hold it light to see a gentle brown-tinged mottled watermarking in the yellow paper. Any reproductions cannot replicate this. This rare, make no mistake about that, briefly available and few copies have, or had it. It was printed on one side only, but both sides are yellow. This is immaculate, probably barely even handled or exposed to light. Clean, fresh with barely a trace of creasing, all edges crisp and untorn. Only the second original I have ever had, this a rare opportunity for collectors and Harvest fans.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is clean with fine shine and very solidly pressed. Any usage surface marks very light, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light. This record had been left undisturbed for decades, so no surprise to see gentle traces of inner sleeve dulling under light – it barely even registers in average room light and there are no penetrating stylus scratches. This faint dulling is a common trait for vintage vinyl stored in polylined inners, unless severe, it is harmless with no affect on sound whatsoever as is the case here. Visually still a fine looking record that should please many 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic ELO debut album plays even above it’s high visual grading with little 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. Any surface sounds are minimal – with some quiet passages, the odd gentle contact sound is nigh-on unavoidable – overall, a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Superbly produced with the complex instrumentation full-on and inpressively with natural analogue sound. Few available copies will outperform this very early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp. It has as been very well stored within a non-smoking environment and carefully handled and usage likely only modest. Nothing of any real mote spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It could prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* 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 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite 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 story. I will try to 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 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. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my 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, major 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 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 Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

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 bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.