TYRANNOSAURUS REX / T REX "MY PEOPLE " ORIGINAL MONO

	£		58
	$		77

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Artist or Band: TYRANNOSAURUS REX

Album Title: My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair… But Now They’re Content to Wear Stars on Their brows.

Track Listing: Hot Rod Mama; Scenescof; Child Star; Strange Orchestras; Chateau in Virginia Waters; Dwarish Trumpet Blues; Mustang Ford; Afghan Woman; Knight; Graceful Fat Sheba; Weilder of Words; Frowning Atahauallpa.

Label/Format: Regal Zonophone (Classic deep red and silver format). very rare mono

Label Condition: Attractive and clean labels, no signs of play at all,cyrstal clear 

Cat Number: LRZ 1003.

Mono or Stereo: Mono (This was also issued in stereo).RANN

Country of Manufacture: Gt Britain.

Rarity: Rare, and easily, for me, the rarest of the Tyrannosaurus Rex albums, a mono copy that includes the lyric insert and looks and plays like this are rarer still and that should never be taken for granted. Even clean looking mono copies can play with horrible distortion and high frequency clipping that shatter the sound of Bolan’s incredible vocals. It’s almost perperative this delicate mono album is play-graded and lightly played to get full pleasure from this precious early Bolan recording - this passes all the criteria for offering a stunning record - and that’s rarer still! (Please read my mono vs stereo paragraph further down to put a record like into full perspective)

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: XCAFX 43-1G and XCAFX 44-1G. The tiny stampers are 1G / 1G. This is a very first pressing.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Formed in 1967 by singer/guitarist Marc Bolan, Tyrannosaurus Rex was originally envisioned as an electric sextet until a hire purchase company repossessed their equipment. Bolan was joined by percussionist Steve ‘Peregrine’ Took in an acoustic-based venture that combined his love of classic rock n roll with an affection for faerie mythology. Fans of this legend will know of his unusual quivering vocal style which often rendered his lyrics incomprehensible, but the effect was captivating and enchanting and the duo were adopted by John Peel - he actually recites the ‘Children’s Story on this debut album which was brilliantly produced by Tony Visconti, at the time an underground ‘progressive’ music specialist. Peel tirelessly promoted the group and they had three minor hit singles. On this rare debut album Bolan sings and plays guitar, Steve Peregrine Took sings and plays bongos, Chinese gong, assorted percussion and a pixiephone (he was later replaced by Micky Finn). This is a predominately acoustic album, later they adopted a more electric sound which paved the way perfectly for the electric pop and glam sound that became T-Rex.

Cover Grade and Format: A slightly difficult one to grade overall so I will say the Front is Mint - a absolute stunner with arguably one of the finest covers from the 60s (or ever). This is laminated. The Back is more EX(+), no damage but white and unlaminated it has some lightish discolouration and mild grubbiness - nothing at all heavy, dont get me wrong. I suppose an overall grading on average is MINT-, but that front is so very special and looks absolutely incredible (please take another look). This is the original mono cover, the back states ‘Also available on Stereo No SLRZ 1003’, so no late substitutions here. It was printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd and the original Patents Pending text too. The back has three large flipbacks which are all neat, untorn or frayed or damaged. Just some mild end of laminate discolour but not heavy. Also back text of ‘This mono record has been produced etc etc’ and reference to the new Emitex advert. This copy includes the highly prized and rare ‘Dinosaur’ lyric insert which is mint. Printed on thick card, its uncreased or torn and clean and attractive. This cover will better most around, its fast approaching 40 and this is a delicate one (and rare).

Lamination: Beautiful, solid 60s laminate that has retained a deep shine and almost no dulling. Creasing I am delighted to say is minimal and very light, this sublime front could have been destroyed by deep creasing but there are very few indeed and when present are very light and almost invisible. No peeling or dry areas, indentations and even surface traces are almost zero too. A very light ‘wave ripple’ can just be seen when scrutinised under light but under normal viewing conditions this front looks truly stunning and I can hardly imagine finding a much better original mono example.

Cover Front: Breathtaking artwork that I simply can hardly stop looking at even as I tap out this advert. The richness and depth of the colour under the superb laminate has to be seen for real to fully appreciate - I hope my picture does it near full justice but I would doubt it. This is very clean and almost devoid of any wear. This front is worthy of the highest praise and fully justifies its near top grading.

Cover Back: Not as wonderful as the front but let’s be fair how could it be? Being this great age and white with no protection this has some almost mandatory discolour, but only relatively mild really. A few light toning hints and light handling wear but no damage and still looking generally nice and appealing. How many original mono back covers will remain looking much better will be few and will they ever show up - you decide.

Top Edge: Unworn.

Bottom Edge: Unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear. Record entered on right outside edge.

Spine and Text: Solid and square with no wear, text is perfect and unworn under the uncracked laminate.

Corners: All four show little wear, just the very tips have tiny rubs. All still nicely shaped.

Cover Summary: A lovely all round example of this fragile early 70’s cover - the front is sublime, one that could prove hard to find much better, even the blemished back will beat most around these days. This strong item should please most collectors.

The Insert: Ellusive and rare, this is the icing on what is already a rich cake. A beautiful item, does the T-Rex show up on my pictures? this is  perfect. No original copy can ever be complete without this vital part.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT A superb visual copy . Super clean, shiny, jet black and very heavily pressed. Barely a mark to be seen , this looks really lovely. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence, so essential for a mono record. Visually a super copy that should please most collectors again. THIS RECORD HAS HAD 1 PLAY ONLY SINCE 1968 WHEN IT WAS STORED FOR GOOD AND FORGOTTEN ABOUT. BUT WAS REPLAYED FOR ME TO TEST IT.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record plays up to its high visual grading and even beyond with little to fault. Strong, undistorted sound, a fact that will please the serious collectors, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is astonishing with a massive dynamic range and very full sound - Bolan could almost be in the room with you - (we wish). Any surface sounds are minimal indeed, and few copies will play better than this, mono albums this great age so rarely plays this clean and when they do they are to be treasured. Both channels are clean and sharp, I feel very sure this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and looked after, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Little, if anything spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this very scarce gem. This copy could prove near impossible to find significantly better.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in mark and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung more to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Album Played For Grading:

THIS IS I WILL SAY WITH 100% CONFIDENCE THE TOTAL UPGRADE YOU WILL EVER NEED,NEVER TO BEEN SEEN AGAIN IN THIS STUNNING CONDITION.