TIM BUCKLEY Starsailor RARE 1970 US STRAIGHT EX++ LP, IMPRESSIVE COPY.

	£		51
	$		68

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: TIM BUCKLEY

Album Title: Starsailor

Producer(s): Tim Buckley

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Come Here Woman; I Woke Up; Monterey; Moulin Rouge; Song to the Siren.

Side 2: Jungle Fire; Starsailor; The Healing Festival; Down by the Borderline.

Label/Format: Straight with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both immaculate, very clean, fresh and attractive with no spindle marks.

Catalogue Number: WS 1881

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: 111 grams.

Country of Manufacture: United States

Rarity: Scarce.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: WS 1881 A 39774-1B / WS - 1881 - B 39774-1C

Musicians: Tim Buckley – guitar, 12-string guitar, vocals; John Balkin – double bass, electric bass; Lee Underwood – guitar, piano, pipe organ; Buzz Gardner – trumpet, flugelhorn, solo; Maury Baker – percussion; Bunk Gardner – alto flute, tenor saxophone.

Brief Info: Tim Buckley’s masterpiece, but a total commercial failure. Gone are the mellow folk songs of this earlier albums, this almost completely alienated his fans. Now recording for Frank Zappa’s Straight label, Buckley now had poetic licence to freely express himself without constraints of being commercial. Just like Captain Beefheart who recorded his classic ‘Trout Mask Replica’ the previous year, ‘Starsailor’ explodes into jazz and avant garde territory, and few at the time were prepared or willing to follow his journey. It sold very poorly and was quickly deleted, UK copies especially are very hard to find, clean US copies are not much easier. Not only that, this album is known for its variable pressing quality – this American copy, for most, plays great – a little surface sound gently apparent near the start of the title track, but this is the most way-out on the album, and is somewhat lost in the weirdness. Buckley uses his voice as an instrument with sublime effect with scaling extremes. Backing includes the Gardner brothers, former early members of Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Two more mellow songs are included: the more mainstream jazzy ‘Moulin Rouge’, also probably his best-known song ‘Song to the Siren’, one of the most haunting and beautiful songs ever written in my opinion. It has been covered by other artists over time, and it’s attention has resulted in more interest for this album. This had been out-of-print for years until limited repressings of recent times. However official, legal CD versions remain very rare indeed with only a tiny few ever made, and briefly, that due to legal disputes over copyright. ‘Starsailor’ is now regarded by many as one of the greatest albums of all-time, but clearly it’s not for everyone. Few labels would have given an artist licence to make albums like this, and of course Zappa’s contribution for this must never be overlooked or forgotten. A brilliant ‘out-there’ album of invention, originality and art, this never fails to get the senses reeling. This copy appears barely even played, and most plays superbly – never take this for granted. The cover and inner both have a matching corner cut, this often indicates a deletion, or a tax-paid import, and far from unusual. So a scarce opportunity to own an early copy, it remains as one of the most uncompromising and challenging albums ever made by a singer/songwriter – personally, I call it ‘genius’.

Cover Grade and Format: Grading a cover with a corner cut is difficult, and somewhat subjective. So I will say, if this had no cut, I would grade it Excellent(++), because it has little to fault bar this deliberate cut for marketing or tax purposes. A single unlaminated format with quite matt surfaces with a faint hint of texturing. The back has the typical American paste-on rear panel. Printed and made in the United States, includes black and white Straight Records inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Put simply, near perfect bar the bottom right diagonal corner cut. Finding this fully intact is difficult, finding this with less rear wear equally so. Over time, this cover is very recognisable, but few even noticed it at the time.

Cover Back: Largely the same, any grubbiness to the white panel little and light.

Top Edge: Straight, solid with no splits, and barely rubbed at all.

Bottom Edge: Largely the same (but with the cut at right).

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with barely any wear (bar the bottom cut).

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with barely any compression. All text present and unworn, any blemishes tiny, few and faint, again unsplit.

Corners: The spine pair have little to fault, the top right has a very small tip rub, all three retain impressive crisp shape with no knocks. As-seen, the bottom right has the diagonal cut, which is often seen on those few that surface, this cut a little ragged.

Cover Summary: The deliberate legal corner-cut apart, this is a superb all-round example of this elusive early 1970’s cover, one that could prove very difficult to find much better. It should please many collectors, but the cut means not for the purists.

The Inner Sleeve: Grades as per the main cover, due to the same corner cut. An unlined Straight Records inner with little else to fault bar a small, very neat bottom edge split repair made by myself. This done to stop it widening in the future, these inners are delicate. All other edges are neat and solid, there is hardly any creasing and remains fresh looking. American covers and inners are well-known for edge splits and are more often seen in tatters. So both parts here buck-that-trend well.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and fairly solidly pressed. A copy appearing hardly even played on all the evidence with any surface trace marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. US records also mark easier, the vinyl I am certain is ‘softer’ than European ones, but this has avoided any issues of note. 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 groundbreaking album plays mostly up to, and beyond it’s high visual grading with little to fault. A little sound within the pressing was heard near the beginning of the title song as mentioned. But this is the most ‘out-there’ track on the album (arguably), and any is somewhat lost in the weirdness and quickly goes anyway. Overall, this offers 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 other surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is mainly a clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Few copies will outperform this early US pressing significantly I feel sure. Over time, I have heard a few other copies – original UK, US and even some modern repressings – and most have disappointed. This, overall, is one of the best I have heard to date, pressing quality is very variable and remains a lottery unless play-graded. I am certain this record has been played very lightly, if indeed at all being honest, and has been well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Little spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. As stated, it is not for everyone, but those with a taste for more challenging music like Beefheart and Zappa are in for a treat – owning the sublime ‘Song for the Siren’ on its ‘home’ album is worth the price alone. Even with relatively minor issues, this copy 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 programs. 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’.