THE SOFT MACHINE (1st) RARER ORIG US 1968 PROBE LP, EXCELLENT COPY, SUPER SOUND

	£		133
	$		176

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 – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

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. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

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 SOFT MACHINE

Album Title: The Soft Machine

Producer(s): Chas Chandler & Tom Wilson

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Hope For Happiness; Joy of a Toy; Hope For Happiness (reprise); Why Am I So Short?; So Boot If At All; A Certain Kind; Save Yourself.

Side 2: Priscilla; Lullabye Letter; We Did It Again; Plus Belle Qu’une Poubelle; Why Are We Sleeping?; Box 25/4 Lid.

Label/Format: ABC /Probe with matt, smooth surfaces. One deep ridge similar to those utilised by early Decca records.

Label Conditions: Both superb: ultra clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle traces tiny and faint, hardly any at all in fact.

Cat Number: CPLP 4500

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: 152 grams. A heavy record that is superbly pressed.

Country of Manufacture: U.S. [this album was not issued in the UK].

Rarity: Original copies of this album are scarce. Not originally issued in the UK at all, so if originals are wanted with the gimmick ‘wheel’ cover, you will have to seek this American copy.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Musicians: Michael Ratledge – organ; Robert Wyatt – drummer, vocalist; Kevin Ayers – lead guitar.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Founded in 1966, this British progressive psych-rock band toured with Jimi Hendrix and were encouraged to record by him and his producer, ex-Animal, Chas Chandler and they laid down the foundations for this remarkable album, which was recorded in the United States and not issued in the UK originally. It was jointly produced by Chandler and Tom Wilson. The original copies of this brilliant debut will only be found on Probe as per this. These have a gatefold cover and the moving wheel parts vaguely similar to Led Zeppelin’s third album. This first line-up, that included a young Kevin Ayers, played art, progressive and psychedelic rock, the jazz period really kick-in on their famous third album and sound little like this debut. This is anything but conventional - I will quote from the stunning inner gatefold what Arnold Shaw wrote about this remarkable and groundbreaking album because it will give a far better insight to what’s included here than I ever could.

“Close your eyes and visualize this group! Children of world War II, long hair, shades, multi-colored, paisley-patterned shirts, offbeat hats, beads, bells and bikini shorts. Three British ‘drop-outs’ stranded on the French Riviera and sleeping on the beaches. But they have a panel truck bulging with electronic hardware. And soon their sound fills the first half of Jean Jacques Lebel and Alan Zion’s Festival Libre at St Tropez, loosening up audiences for a play by Pablo Picasso, Desire Caught by the Tail — Now, open your ears and listen to their music!

It’s a Now sound, swings like jazz, rocks like rhythm-and-blues, hairy with fuzz-box distortion, off the keyboard with electronic atonalities - the sound of music updated by the music of sound. In this, its debut album, the contrast between the group’s hippie-crude appearance and its cultivated background, is reflected in the absorbing tensions of the music. The drive is to synthesize the diverse sounds of jazz and rock in an electronic continuity. ‘Continuity’ is the precise word, for even in personals, the group’s sets are like suites, with an organ-drum interlude serving as a bridge to the next tune. the lines of succeeding numbers frequently echo, or are developments, as with Hope For Happiness in this album, of a preceding number.

‘We play hour-long sets’, Mike Ratledge explains, ‘developing a concert style. The compositions are spaced with improvisations from drum and organ and punctuated with songs. The light show diverts the eye from the mind to the bodily functions. Soon, the audience is up on its feet. As the dancers react to the organic rhythms, the regular steps modulate into free form and movement.’

The music of The Soft Machine includes the shock values of unstructured composition, although many of their works are songs. Electronic devices add the impact of sensory bombardment. But these effects are mere gimmicks unless they are used with sensitivity and logic. The Soft Machine is an exciting testimonial: men need machines but machines need men and ideas to produce meaningful experience. The group creates music that is meaningful, also appealing, because it has good taste, craftsmanship, and, most of all, involvement. The track of Joy of a Toy tells it like it is!’’

This, put simply, is a remarkable record, with quite groundbreaking artwork in very fine condition – it being a promotional copy as well with a large ‘NOT FOR SALE’ sticker, also a record that appears hardly played with sound to match. Not seen often and still possibly one of the most under-appreciated pioneering ‘prog-rock’ albums made, this is a classic.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: or very close to. Bear in mind these brittle card American covers are massively wear and damage-prone and often seen in tatters. A thick card unlaminated gatefold format with FIVE die-cut shaped windows – these inside a huge open circle on a revolving wheel with recessed side rim (like LZ III), but this came well before that more famous album. The front has a large promotional copy sticker, the inside has the trademark paste-on panels. All surfaces have a gentle sheen with mild texturing. Printed and made and the U.S.A. and includes the plain white inner sleeve.

Cover Front: As far as I am aware, the first cover to include a major moving parts cover, this is quite complex and has survived all the traumas of importation and storage. The huge open circle is crisp and clean with no damage to the massive rim. The five smaller shaped inner windows are largely the same. The wheel revolves fairly easily, but care is needed if done so as this has no central pivot and can move dangerously close to the cover’s edge. This is how it was made and correct. A little thinning is seen, maybe the beginning of a split near the wheel rim that aids rotation, but still neat overall on this most perilous of areas. A little minor patchy rubbing to the card around the large circle, but way less than most will be seen with. Hardly any creasing and still mainly clean and still fresh. The odd minor mark or fricton trade to unforgiving card. Unsurprisingly, the large promotional sticker has aged a little with some transparent spotting. But never removed or tampered with and totally genuine. Overall, an impressive front that sets a very high standard.

Cover Back: A little corner tip rubbing with mild dinking to the tips of a couple. Minimal rubbing to the superb artwork with any rim rubbing or hint of ringwear gentle and faint, that impressive with a thick heavy record inside all these years. Few of these will have less ink-loss or wear.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Again impressive: a little set-off or toning on the paler right side from the darker opposite ink, this will prove immensely difficult to avoid or find without.

Top Edges: Both straight and flush, any chipping or rubs small, quite few and light – NO splits or repairs.

Bottom Edges: Largely as above, maybe a little more rubbing, but still quite light.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear. Record entered on the back edge that is crisp and neat, guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: Solid, robust, thick and straight with barely any compression. Folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. The text largely unworn and present which is quite unusual.

Corners: Light to moderate tip rubs with the odd small dink or two. Fine to very fine shape largely retained.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this delicate, groundbreaking fragile cover, one that could prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): a plain white inner the previous owner put a soft lining inside. So this is pretty much fully intact, clean with hardly any creasing.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any real surface trace marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Any dulling or blemishes appears within the pressing but has no affect on the superb sound. Visually a super 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 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 early prog-psych-rock classic plays even above it’s high visual grading with barely anything 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 indeed and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. The odd sporadic click or blemish nigh-on impossible to avoid totally, but this has little or any real note. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. It will 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 2.2 grams.

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 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. 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 - 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/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 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). 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 14 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 – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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’.