VAN MORRISON ASTRAL WEEKS RARE '68 WARNER GREEN SHIELD LABEL LP & W7 COVER MINT

$

67

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  MORE THAN 100  LISTED ITEMS

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·      VAN MORRISON - ASTRAL WEEKS - 1967 WARNER BROTHERS STEREO LP WS-1768

·      GENUINE  U.S. PRESSING

·      VERY EARLY PRESSING CIRCA 1970 ON GREEN WARNER BROTHERS LABEL WITH A “SHIELD” (WB) LOGO AT THE TOP OF THE LABEL, EARLY 70’s STYLE

·      BELIEVED TO BE A COLUMBIA, SANTA MARIA, PRESSING

·      THIS IS NOT AN IMPORT, RECORD CLUB RELEASE OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·      ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·      THE FIRST VERSION OF THE COVER WITH THE ORIGINAL W-7 ("SEVEN ARTS") WARNER LOGO AND THE SEVEN ARTS ADDRESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BACK PANEL.

·      CLEAR,  WEAR-FREE LABELS

·      MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) ENDS WITH -1C/-1E;   ON SOME LABELS,  SUFFIX '–1' DENOTES THE VERY FIRST, ORIGINAL PRESSING)

·      FAIRLY THICK VINYL PRESSING On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least thick, and  10 being the thickest), we assess the thickness of the vinyl as 7.

·      A NOTE ON THE ALBUM'S TITLE:  WHILE NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW FOR SURE HOW THE ALBUM GOT ITS NAME OR WHAT IT WAS NAMED AFTER, WE HAVE A THEORY THAT IT WAS NAMED AFTER THE SO-CALLED 'ASTRAL BUILDING' (NOW A NEW YORK CITY LANDMARK) LOCATED IN GREENPOINT SECTION OF NORTH BROOKLYN, AND WE SPECULATE THAT VAN THE MAN HAD SPENT A FEW WEEKS LIVING IN THE BUILDING IN THE WAKE OF HIS LEGAL AND FINANCIAL WOES FOLLOWING HIS BREAK-UP WITH THE BANG RECORDS IN LATE 1967 (OUR LITTLE THEORY MAY BE ENTIRELY WRONG; YOU'D HAVE TO ASK THE MAN FOR VERIFICATION, UNFORTUNATELY, IN A BAD CASE OF "WHEN IRISH EYES ARE FROWNING" HE'S BEEN A LITTLE UNCOMMUNICATIVE AND GRUMPY AS OF LATELY).

 (►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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Astral Weeks is generally considered one of the best albums in pop music history. For all that renown, Astral Weeks is anything but an archetypal rock & roll album: in fact, it isn't a rock & roll album at all. Employing a mixture of folk, blues, jazz, and classical music, Van Morrison spins out a series of extended ruminations on his Belfast upbringing, including the remarkable character "Madame George" and the climactic epiphany experienced on "Cyprus Avenue." Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Morrison sings in his elastic, bluesy voice, accompanied by a jazz rhythm section (Jay Berliner, guitar, Richard Davis, bass, Connie Kay, drums), plus reeds (John Payne) and vibes (Warren Smith, Jr.), with a string quartet overdubbed. An emotional outpouring cast in delicate musical structures, Astral Weeks has a unique musical power. Unlike any record before or since, it nevertheless encompasses the passion and tenderness that have always mixed in the best postwar popular music, easily justifying the critics' raves.

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY WILLIAM RUHLMAN, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

For its extraordinary contribution to the modern music, superb production, craftsmanship, fine musicianship,  revolutionary significance and influence it exerted on numerous generations of musicians, writers and general public, this album was voted one of top-200 albums of all time in one of the largest poll of critics, music reviewers, professionals and producers ever organized: the poll, which was conducted by Paul Gambaccini, legendary BBC Radio A&R man, surveyed more than 50 top music professionals (including Roy Carr, Jonathan Cott, Robert Christgau, Cameron Crowe, Chet Flippo, Ben Fong-Torres, Charlie Gillett, Greil Marcus, Murray the K., Lenny Kaye, Bruce Morrow (a/k/a "Cousin Brucie"), Tim Rice (of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita" fame), Lisa Robinson, Robert Shelton (who wrote liner notes for Bob Dylan's first album), Ed Ward, Joel Whitburn, Pete Wingfield, etc.). For more details, see: "Critics Choice: Top-200 albums" compiled by Paul Gambaccini, Omnibus Press, Library of Congress Catalog No.7855565 (or  click here  for the complete album listing)

TO SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER LISTED ITEMS BY THIS GROUP OR ARTIST ►  CLICK HERE

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·                          CONDITION:

·                          THE RECORD

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)         WE GRADE SIDE 1 OF THE VINYL AS NEAR MINT. The original luster on this side is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)         WE GRADE SIDE 2 OF THE VINYL AS EXCELLENT. The condition of this side is pretty much as good as the side 1, except for the 1" scuff on "Ballerina", which may produce a few clicks and pops.

(c)         The record comes in the original stock inner sleeve.

(d)         The record is pressed on a RELATIVELY  thick, inflexible vinyl. This is NOT a thin, flimsy ('dynaflex' type),  vinyl, but not the thickest, most rigid vinyl, either.

(e)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·                          THE COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT EXCELLENT OR VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-       Cover has a visible wrinkle (air bubble) in the cardboard base near the opening (visible on both sides)

-       Cover has JUST A HINT of ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 1.    (BARELY VISIBLE)

-       Cover shows JUST A HINT of yellowing on back side, apparently from aging.

-       Cover has a visible wrinkle (crease) in the cardboard base on the back panel ( apparently , a minor cover construction flaw)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

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CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

Our love & appreciation for your trust, loyalty and business, always and forever;  Thank You & Good Night!

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