ANNE BRIGGS et al. The Bird in the Bush RARE TOPIC 1966

	£		41
	$		54

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: ANN BRIGGS, A. L. LLOYD & FRANKIE ARMSTRONG

Album Title: The Bird in the Bush.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Two Magicians; The Old Man from Over the Sea; The Wanton Seed; Gathering Rushes in the Month of May; The Bonny Black Hare; The Whirly Whorl; Pretty Polly.

Side 2: The Old Bachelor; the Stonecutter Boy; the Mower; the Bird in the Bush; the Pegging Awl; Martinmas Time; The Widow of Westmoreland’s Daughter.

Label/Format: Topic – original deep blue format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both immaculate: very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle marks tiny, very few and faint.

Cat Number: 12T135.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 150 grams. A very good weight for any record.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite rare.

Original Year of Release: 1966

Matrix Nos: 334 A : / 334 B :

Mothers / Stampers: U / U

Musicians: Vocals: Anne Briggs, A. L. Lloyd, Frankie Armstrong; Alf Edwards - concertina; Dave Swarbrick - fiddle.

Brief Info: A saucy collection of ribald folk songs from the British Isles featuring the sublime voice of Anne Briggs, one of the most cherished and collectable female artists within the British folk genre, her output was small and all albumes are rare and elusive. Here she contributes four songs, all sung unaccompanied as most of her songs were. An incredibly pure voice and hugely influencial on other, more well-known singers in this field. Also Frankie Armstrong (Frankie being female), who sings two songs, she also has a superb voice too. This is an equally rare album and seldom found or offered. The songs have erotic overtones but are not bawdy with more typical folk innuendo and double entendre than outrightly explicit. Lloyd and Armstrong sing the other songs with backing by Edwards and Fairport Convention’s Dave Swarbrick. An original copy in superb condition – just one small, possible pressing mark, emits a tiny few clicks on the first track. I am pretty sure this Topic record was Decca pressed, hence overall it’s a super clean pressing as it needs to be as much of material is sparsely backed or with none at all. Sound quality is high with any unwanted sounds (the small mark apart) few and light. Silence almost unrealistic on any record this age and with such minimal instrumentation. Without doubt, hardly played and a rare chance to own an original record that includes one of the diamonds within the folk circuit who always proved to be a reluctant and often underrated star.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with front laminate, the album’s title is lightly embossed. The back matt and smooth finished. Printed and made in England by Robert Stace.

Lamination & Front: A lovely looking front that has really defied it’s considerable age. The title is even embossed which can be felt with the fingertip. The laminate retains a lovely shine and clarity and is pretty much devoid of friction rubs or dulling, so it’s fresh look and feel is guaranteed. A small very few light surface marks only really show under light and barely any creasing. This is made with thin card, hence the lack of lifting is another real bonus. This superb front will take a lot of beating.

Cover Back: The unprotected back has a small old price sticker residue mark near the right edge, but no pulling to the surface. A few small marks and any traces of grubbiness and few very light. Hardly any real wear at all with any creasing or rim pressing very minor and faint.

Top Edge: Very slight thickening or burr traces to the lightly proud back panel.

Bottom Edge: Barely any wear at all and very straight too.

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

Spine and Text: Solid, quite straight with a little light compression. However, all text is perfect and unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners: All very neat with little wear at all and all retain excellent or better shape.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this fragile 60’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: the Decca-style polylined inner has aged with moderate discolouration but has little rear wear as such. A price of £75 has been written on one corner (a possible Catalogue value?). Any creasing mild and all edges unsplit with no repairs and the lining solidly attached. This is a solid inner with no windows.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+) / MINT(-): side one has a small mark, a possible pressing mark, this has around half a dozen clicks. Few others at all and side two is almost as made. A super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, light and faint. Visually a super record that should please most collectors again.

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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This lovely Decca-pressed record plays up to it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Other than the small mark on the first song, there are minimal other unwanted sounds. The odd sporadic click or crackle trace on such sparsely accompanied songs is near impossible to avoid totally. And this vintage 60s pressed record is in truly outstanding condition. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and no pops and few other clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing overall. The voices are pristine and fully focused, precise and sharp. The four A cappella songs sung by Anne Briggs are so clear and convincing, the folk legend herself could almost be in the room with you. Few copies will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing (bar those brief clicks near the beginning) spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. Not one you will see often and a gem for the serious folk collector.

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 VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

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 prompt payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

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 new VPI-17 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 boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, 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. When larger boxes are used, 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. 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. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 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 stiffeners 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 FIVE 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 now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied. If you cannot pay, DO NOT BID.

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 [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an 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 time-wasters. 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 necessarily 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’.