ZAPPA/MOI Weasel's Ripped My Flesh RARE Orig 70 EX+ LP

	£		39
	$		52

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Album Title: Weasels Ripped My Flesh

Producer(s): Frank Zappa.

Cat Number: RSLP 2028.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Didja Get Any Onya; Directly From My Heart to You; Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask; Toads of the Short Forest; Get a Little.

Side 2: Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue; Dwarf Nebula Processional March & Dwarf Nebula; My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama; Oh No; The Orange County Lumber Truck; Weasels Ripped My Flesh.

Label/Format: Reprise – RSLP Tan Steamboat original with the very dark orange-tan finish.

Label Conditions: Two superb original examples. Very dark rich colour finish, far darker than later pressings. Just a couple of faint spindle marks on side two. This album was NOT issued on the tri-colour Riverboat label, Burnt Weeny Sandwich was the last Mothers album on that format.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 162 grams. Yes true, this is a super-heavyweight up there with the likes of the early Beatles on Parlophone. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Rarity: Early pressings of this with the original RSLP number are scarce, the later pressings had the number changed to K44019 - beware of these being sold as ‘originals’. Both cover, labels and matrixes should have RSLP references. This vastly heavier pressed early example would not have been available too long, most Tan format Reprise albums had the new ‘K’ numbers.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: RSLP 2028 A2 / RSLP 2028 B2

Brief Artist & Album Info: ‘Weasels’ was originally designed as a sampler for a 12-record set, ‘The History and Collected Improvisations of the Mothers of Invention’. It includes live and studio recordings (all superbly recorded). Sugarcane Harris’s performance of Little Richard’s ‘Directly From My Heart to You’ is perfect - it was part of the same sonic universe as the avant garde orchestral music of Varèse and the free-form jazz of Eric Dolphy. The latter was given his own ‘Memorial Barbecue’, a stunning encounter between bizarre harmonies and electronic distortion. Weasels also featured another notorious sleeve - for me one of the greatest ever - a hilariously gruesome painting by Neon Park (Martin Muller from San Francisco). When guitarist Lowell George - who can be heard imitating a Gestapo officer on ‘Didja Get Any Onya’ - broke away to form Little Feat, he insisted on using Neon Park for all their covers. The title of ‘Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mark’ nodded to Debussy’s ballet about the skipping faun, but the heavy-rock sounds were totally ‘Mothers’. ‘My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama’ (a Zappa classic) is an icon of teenage rebellion and was issued as a single that failed to sell (of course). The title track was simply two minutes and seven seconds of feedback and distortion – amazing electrical mayhem. It would be many years later - with the advent of lo-fi and ‘noise’ bands like Sonic Youth - that such strategies would become familiar to rock listeners. As it was, Zappa was happy to be known as the King of Weird: it gave him carte blanche to employ any musical texture or style that took his fancy. This album is essential and remains one of his most popular for his even growing audience and fans. My regular Ebay readers and buyers will know of my fondness of Zappa’s music and I am always delighted to offer any of his items. This is a fantastic copy of this classic - never so easily found as a RSLP version in top conditions. That marvellous cover is so often seen (on either pressing) in very poor shape. The repressings were slightly tougher with a more shiny finish but were never laminated. This is flat matt ink and is very prone to rubbing and ringwear. The record itself looks hardly played and has only minor surface marks and it plays absolutely perfectly throughout. Stating the obvious, it has the original mix and sound that was slightly altered on the CD reissues. The vinyl remains definitive and nothing will ever beat the sound of this classic.

Cover Condition and Details: EX+, a single format, it has RSLP on the front and back (again beware of substituted covers), Printed and made by Garrod and Lofthouse Ltd. Stunning artwork, and even though hardly a big seller, one of the most famous covers in rock history.

Cover Front: Superb with rich, deep colour and only the lightest traces of any rubbing near the top and bottom. With such a heavy record inside for the best part of forty years this is as light as will ever be seen. Devoid of creasing, this will be hard to find better. The only tiny mark of note is a small chip on the top edge that just about encroaches into view (but look very hard). Clean, fresh and looking ‘beautifully’ macabre, just as Neon Park wanted it to be.

Cover Back: This back so often shows major grubbiness and set-off, here anything is minimal and faint, marks are few and no creasing or ringwear. Just slight rub traces near the top and bottom. A very fine back to complement the lovely front.

Top Edge: Very light rub traces and a chip near the centre.

Bottom Edge: Light, patchy rubbing, more near towards the corners but still modest for this one.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with no wear or feathering and guaranteed, untrimmed. Record entered on right outside edge.

Spine and Text: Close to perfect: a fantastic spine with hardly any wear or ageing at all. Solid, straight, no compression and all text unworn.

Corners: All corners have rubbed but retain very good shape and fine definition.

Cover Summary: At 40-years-old, this is a tough ask to look like this, rarely seen with this little wear and many are rife with deep ringwear, rubbing and faded ink – simply looking tired and tatty. This is a terrific example and it will take an exceptional one to beat this significantly. It should please most collectors.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX+ with just a few ultra fine hairlines and minor surface mark. These have NO sound whatsoever, few original underground albums of this type will ever be found with none and these are light as any faint blemishes get. A superb copy of a record that more often gets seen very marked and heavily played. For those who did buy this title, it was popular and few survive this clean. This is attractive with two lovely looking playing surfaces, intense black and shiny and an incredible heavyweight pressing – the K- reissues average 30 to 50 grams lighter than this. This one sets the bar high and will take a lot of beating too. The original plain white unlined inner is included in super-shape too.

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 snippetts 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: This heavyweight slab plays beautifully and even above its high visual grading with astonishing sound, a supreme clean pressing with nothing unwanted. A loud and dynamic recording and brilliantly produced by Frank, this complex music still astounds every time I hear it on top grade early vinyl. This record looks little played and gives a wonderful account of itself. Few, if any, records like this will play CD quiet, but this is as close as it gets and with such a difficult program too. The really difficult song is ‘Directly From My Heart to You’, with Sugarcane Harris’s electric violin. But this plays beautifully with sharp and totally focused sound with no traces of clipping or distortion, this instrument is amongst the hardest to track well and often suffers the most. This vintage copy is special - very special for Zappa enthusiasts, it should please most collectors. One final note, this vinyl copy – stating the obvious – is the original mix, the CD remastered, reissues vary again. I have put these two recordings head-to-head, and even though the CD versions sound fine, the vinyl sounds way better, and that’s the honest truth.

End Piece: Far too weird and musically advanced for many again, this album did not chart in the UK, originals are scarce. The cover alone I would have thought would have promoted more sales but sadly not the case. This record is intricate and challenging, it has to be enjoyed loud, it’s the final album featuring most of the early Mothers. The players on this set were: Zappa; Ian Underwood; Bunk and Buzz Gardner; Roy Estrada; Motorhead Sherwood; Jimmy Carl Black; Art Tripp, Don Preston; Ray Collins; Don (Sugarcane) Harris and Lowell George. As stated this includes live cuts but all the songs here are new and the sound quality is awesome, get this on to your deck, sit back and be entertained - this is the genius that was Frank Zappa. Musically this album is as fresh and timeless as the day it was issued, it’s the man his band at their experimental best. Groundbreaking, original and astonishing – a Five Star album in most reference books and deservedly so. This is a copy I can strongly recommend, do not lose this one.

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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). 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.

POSTING & PACKING: 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, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within three days maximum (unless on holiday). All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with 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 TWO VERY THICK stiffners for even extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty 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. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. 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. 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 and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 5,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per packet. I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included in the advert.

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 (SECOND Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = FREE. This is the new Ebay rule. HOWEVER I STRONGLY URGE UK WINNERS TO PAY THE £3 FOR THE FIRST-CLASS SERVICE AS THE PACKETS WILL ARRIVE MUCH FASTER AND SAFER.

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £3.

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8. (insurance optional extra £3).

NOTE: I NO LONGER SEND TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION. ANY BIDS WILL BE IGNORED.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); 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]) = £12. (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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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’.