TRAFFIC John Barleycorn RARER TEXTURED ISLAND PINK i LP

	£		52
	$		69

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: TRAFFIC

Album Title: John Barleycorn Must Die.

Producer(s): Guy Stevens, Steve Winwood & Chris Blackwell.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Glad; Freedom Rider; Empty Pages.

Side 2: Stranger to Himself; John Barleycorn; Every Mother’s Son.

Label/Format: Island – much rarer Pink format with heavily textured surfaces and deep inner ring ridge. This does not include the ‘Traffic’ logo, these were added on subsequent issues and this album is rarer and harder to find without them (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both in stunning conditions: ultra fresh, clean and attractive with only very light and tiny few faint spindle marks. One of the cleanest examples of this Island classic I have ever seen and very elusive with the rough textured surfaces that have a real patel-pink colour. Two of the prettiest labels you will ever seen on this famous album.

Cat Number: ILPS 9116.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 140 grams. A very solid, above average weight for this album.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: One of the very few I have ever seen with the rough textured labels, also this has the dual Island and United Artist’s matrixes. Most of these were issued with smooth labels and I believe this to be a very unusual and elusive format.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9116 A/2 (UAS 5504 A) 6.3.70 (13C1) / ILPS 9116 B/2 6.3.70 (UAS 5504 B) (C1)

Stamper Codes: ‘STERLING LH’ (on both sides) with tiny (‘RC’) & (‘AM’)

Brief Artist & Album Info: This fourth Traffic album has a more traditional feel, especially the classic title track - but the material is quite mixed. Six songs feature and all are superb, Traffic were now a three piece with Steve Winwood on organ, piano and percussion; Chris Wood on Sax, flute, electric sax and percussion and Jim Capaldi on drums and percussion. This is the rarer dual matrix original with the rustic (hessian-style) and wear-prone cover – this all changed on subsequent pressings. I am actually wondering if this is the first heavily textured pink i version of this one I have ever seen, these labels look stunning and most I am sure were smooth-finished. This is without doubt one of Traffic’s most popular and best ever albums and this lovely example plays with beautiful sound.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High: a somewhat uncompromising cover that is massively prone to all forms of wear and sticker marks.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: this being somewhat critical and NOT taking into account of a small, very neat name on the top of the back. An unlaminated gatefold format with the rustic look and feel with matt finish. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group. Later examples lost this famous imprint and looked much different, they certainly became more wear-tolerant than these originals.

Cover Front: A very rustic cover sometimes described as hessian-finish. This front has little to fault bar the usual darkening on the spine edge that few seem to avoid. Being so regularly seen on this original cover, I feel certain it was caused by light exposure. Any other marks or blemishes are few and faint, a trace near the centre of the right edge seen under light but the lack or rubbing, grubbiness and creasing is always a bonus on this uncompromising cover.

Cover Back: Pretty much as above with barely any marks but a very small, neat name written near the top left corner. No ringwear or creasing with that fine toned or darkened strip near the right edge.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Practically perfect bar the odd tiny and faint corner semi-crease, this looks superb.

Top Edges: A little light surface rubbing and mild scuffing, but the lack of real colour on this cover means it has little visual impact and few seem to avoid this too.

Bottom Edges: Light+ surface rubbing again with the faintest traces of wooliness. Being the resting edges, this is almost the least to be expected.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and the front very sharp with barely any wear. The opening back edge neat and mostly crisp with any burr traces or thickening mild and only seen viewed end-on. Both guranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: Very solid, straight, uncompressed and folded square, both right edges meet up very closely together and parallel. The text is present with any wear traces tiny and faint, the whole spine is at least moderately tone darkened, likely due to light exposure as most seem to get this.

Corners: The spine pair show little rubbing, the right set have rubbed more in context with their respective edge. Being this neutral type of colour, this shows little and has minimal visual impact. All retain very fine shape overall.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this very fragile early 70’s cover, one that will prove difficult to find much better. This famous old sleeve should please many collectors but not for the highly discerning or connoisseur collector. This has always proved to be a difficult cover in the original format, it takes no prisoners and finding one this clean and attractive is no mean feat.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: this has the heavy-duty plain white, polylined inner. It is British patented with ‘Foreign Patents Pending’ text. It has darkened with age with one corner crease. Both window circles are ultra sharp and neat and the lining solid and clear with minimal crumpling. All edges secure with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): with any surface marks or blemishes being very fine and faint and of no audio consequence at all. The only small scratch is on the run-in grooves on side two that has three rev sounds, but DOES NOT affect the music at all. With careful stylus placement, these can actually be avoided and bar these, those are the only clicks noted on the album. A very fine visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed with thick, solid vinyl. A copy very lightly played on all the evidence, this is a popular album and first issues are usually played to destruction, not this one. Visually a lovely record that should please most 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic title even exceeds its very high visual grading with practically nothing to fault on the music areas. As stated, a three rev sound on the run-in grooves on side two, but the single drum-beat intro that follows as the music starts has NO others afterwards. This super record 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. A fantastic Island pressing too with barely any traces of surface sounds and no other pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a fairly difficult album– this does have a fair number of quieter passages so a lightly played first issue is always good news. I am sure this textured labelled example is way rarer than the standard smooth issue, how many of these were even pressed? Few copies will match or outperform this gorgeous pink labelled example I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I feel very sure this record has been played very lightly and has been largely well stored and carefully handled – one clear slip from the distant past, but luckily, it missed the music area. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This record will prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

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 - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, 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 its 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. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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 Moth 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 thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) 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 THREE or EVEN FOUR 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. 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. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap 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 less than one in two thousand based on over 6,000+ items sold in over 8 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. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); 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 [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance 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: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 neccessarily 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’.