Tudor Lodge Vertigo spiral plus white label copy MINT

	£		1,220
	$		1,617

Tudor Lodge on UK Vertigo spiral. Plus white label test pressing

 Both mint+ 1 play

This auction is for a mint copy of the legendary self-titled ultra-rare Tudor Lodge, on Vertigo spiral label AND a white label test pressing/demo version of the same LP in a unique sleeve. These stunning LPs come from the collection of my late uncle who was the producer of this Tudor Lodge LP back in 1971. My uncle, Terry Brown, was a jazz trumpeter who played with many of the greats, including Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott and Johnny Dankworth. Later in life he moved into record production and produced LPs for such artists as Alexis Korner, Tubby Hayes, George Melly, Martin Carthy, and Tudor Lodge. He produced jazz, blues, big band and folk at Fontana, Philips, Pye, and Vertigo. The records in his collection were played by him once, in order to record them to reel-to-reel tape.

Tudor Lodge Vertigo 6360043 is one of the rarest, if not THE rarest of the Vertigo swirl labels. This original mint first pressing and the white label version have been stored upright, out of sunlight since new. There is a small piece of vinyl still attached to the centre hole of the stock copy, indicating that it has hardly ever seen a turntable. There are no scratches or marks on either of the pristine vinyl LPs. If it wasn’t for the barely detectable spindle mark I would list them as unplayed. I doubt if there is a better condition copy of this LP anywhere. It is notoriously hard to find in decent condition. I have never heard of a white label copy being offered before and am awaiting a response from Record Collector magazine concerning the rarity of this. I am presuming it is the test prerssing - it comes in a non-textured sleeve, which is quite possibly unique.

Tudor Lodge’s self titled Vertigo LP was recorded in Lansdowne Studios, Holland Park, London in 1971 and was produced by Terry Brown. Danny Thompson and Terry Cox from Pentangle featured on double bass and drums. Sonny Condell from Tir Na Nog played bongos on Recollection. Several of the tracks featured string arrangements by Graham Lyons. The sleeve artwork was created by Phil Duffy of P.D. Graphics Ltd.

This is an excerpt from Record Collector in 1989:

This obscure folk trio fronted by American-born vocalist/flautist Ann Stewart [sic] was formed in 1970 [sic]. Touting a sound not dissimilar to that of Pentangle and Mellow Candle, they took their name from a pub in Reading and became a popular attraction in the folk club scene. Particularly memorable was their appearance at the 1971 Cambridge Folk Festival.

Original copies of the album are almost impossibly rare, but try finding a copy that hasn’t had the cover artwork damaged! “The Lady’s Changing Home” was lifted off the album as a single, coupled with the non-LP cut, “Good Times We Had”. This is also highly collectable. Tudor Lodge split towards the end of 1971 [sic], little realising that their album would be in such demand nearly twenty years later. This demand has been partly met by a reissue on ZAP in 1988 in a single sleeve, though, more recently, counterfeits have appeared in the original packaging.

I have decided to list both these records in one lot due to their interesting history and provenance.

I have included as many pictures here as eBay allows, but please email me if you have any questions or want more pictures.

Lyndon and John, ex Tudor Lodge have kindly allowed me to show the link to their home page, for which I am grateful. . For more information about Tudor Lodge, check out:

http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/tudorlodge/

In this web site, if you click on Gallery you will see a couple of pictures of my uncle at the mixing desk.

Track listing:

1. It All Comes Back To Me (Stannard)
2. Would You Believe? (Stannard)
3. Recollection (Green)
4. Two Steps Back (Steuart)
5. Help Me Find Myself (Stannard)
6. Nobody’s Listening (Stannard)
7. Willow Tree (Green/Stannard/Steuart)
8. Forest (green)
9. I See A Man (Stannard)
10. The Lady’s Changing Home (Green/Stannard)
11. Madeline(Green)
12. Kew Gardens (Ralph McTell)

Condition of vinyl is Mint++ for both records. Please see the photographs for evidence of the residual piece of vinyl in the centre hole in the stock copy.

Condition of sleeve of stock copy is EX-. Original textured fold-out poster-style sleeve. There is a bit of a scrape and fraying to the top left surface of the texture. It is a surface scrape in the top layer of the textured laminate, and does not go through the heavy paper/card of the sleeve. This is not a tear and is repairable. I will not attempt to repair this myself. Two bottom corners have some rubbing and slight fraying. I have included photographs which I hope accurately indicate the sleeve condition. The record comes with a Vertigo swirl inner which is in excellent condition.

Condition of sleeve of white label copy is EX+ This sleeve is a glossy (non-textured) original fold-out poster-style sleeve. I am unaware of any other non-textured sleeves, and believe this one to be unique. The record comes with a plain white inner.

Matrix numbers stock copy

Side a   6360043    17/1  420    112  

Side b   6360043    27/1  420    112   04

Matrix numbers white label copy

Side a   6360043    17/1  420    111 

Side b   6360043    27/1  420    111   04

The stock copy is a first press. The matrix numbers of the white label copy indicate an extremely early pre-first press copy, possibly the first off the press.

The provenance of these LPs is that they have been owned by the record’s producer since its manufacture in 1971 and been played once only. I am presuming this is a test pressing.

Please contact me through Ask Seller a Question me for further pictures if required.

Due to the huge interest in these LPs, they are also offered for sale elsewhere, so there is a chance that I will have to end the auction early.

Please note that I will cancel bids from bidders with excessive negative feedback. I have no problem with zero feedback bidders – we were all there once. Please don’t email me for details of any other records in this collection. I will be listing them all through eBay eventually.

Payment methods

• Paypal (I do not charge for Paypal fees)
• UK sterling, Euros or Swedish kronor, at your own risk in registered letter
• UK cheque subject to clearance
• IBAN direct bank transfer (within EU)

I am unable to accept Money Orders of any type.

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