CREAM Wheels Of Fire 1968 1st Press TEXTURED LABELS

	£		93
	$		123

On offer here is a very rare LP (especially in this condition!!!!) by Cream called "Wheels Of Fire" and is an INCREDIBLY rare 1968 UK 1st pressing!!! THIS IS A MASSIVELY RARITY AS A VERY EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING!!!!  MOST COPIES OF THIS LP THAT TURN UP ARE OFTEN 1969 (OR LATER) PRESSINGS - BUT THIS IS A 100% GENIUNE 1968 1ST PRESSING AND IS VERY VERY HARD TO FIND INDEED!!!!  SORRY IF MY BELOW DESCRIPTION OF A 1ST PRESSING SEEMS A LITTLE COMPLICATED - BUT IT REALLY IS IMPORTANT TO EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE RAREST AND EARLIEST 1ST PRESSINGS - AS FINDING A 100% GENIUNE 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP WITH THE EARLIEST COVERS AND RECORDS IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TODAY!!!!  THERE ARE SOME VERY OBVIOUS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE VERY EARLIEST 1968 GENIUNE 1ST PRESSINGS AND LATER 1969 (AND LATER) PRESSINGS - AND I WILL EXPLAIN THEM FULLY TO SHOW THE DIFFERENCES!!!!

I WILL EXPLAIN IN DETAIL WHAT DENOTES THE VERY EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING OF THIS INCREDIBLY RARE LP!!!!  FIRSTLY ON 1ST PRESSINGS - THE GATEFOLD 'E.J.DAY' COVER IS A 'FULL FOIL' SILVER COLOUR WITH NO GREY IN IT AT ALL.  THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESS COVERS ARE ALSO 'MIRROR'  LIKE IN LOOK AND THEY REFLECT LIGHT.   MOST COLLECTORS KNOW ABOUT THE MUCH LATER RE-ISSUE 1970s NON SILVER FOIL GREY COVERS - BUT EVEN THE SLIGHTLY LATER SILVER FOIL COVERS FROM 1969/70 HAD MORE GREY IN THEM - AND ARE MORE 'MATT' LOOKING.  EVEN THE SLIGHTEST 'HINT' OF GREY SHOWS A LATER PRESS - AS THE VERY 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP (LIKE THIS ONE) HAVE PROPER 'SILVER' COVERS - WITH EXACTLY THE SAME COLOUR (& REFLECTION) AS SILVER FOIL.  LATER COVERS WERE ALSO ONLY SILVER FOIL COATED (AND NOT 'FULL FOIL') SO ANY RECORD IMPRESSION ON THOSE WILL LEAVE A DARKER IMPRESSION AS IT WEARS THROUGH THE TOP LAYER OF SILVER.  HOWEVER THIS COVER (SEE PICTURES) IS THE MEGA RARE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSED SILVER 'FULL FOIL' GATEFOLD COVER MADE BY 'E.J.DAY'!!!!

NOW I HAVE EXPLAINED THE COVER - THE RECORDS ON THIS VERY 1ST 1968 PRESSING ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AND AGAIN DIFFER FROM LATER PRESSINGS.  ON THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSINGS (LIKE THIS ONE) OF THIS LP - BOTH RECORDS HAVE MATT TEXTURED LABELS!!!!  EVEN STANDARD 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP PRESSED ONLY A LITTLE LATER SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE A 'TEXTURED' LABEL ON AT LEAST ONE OF THE RECORDS - BUT THE VERY EARLIEST  1ST PRESSING OF THIS LP HAD TEXTURED LABELS ON BOTH RECORDS!!!!  OF COURSE NOT ONLY THAT BUT THESE EARLY 'TEXTURED' LABEL FIRST PRESSINGS ARE MUCH THICKER THAN LATER 'FLAT LABEL' POLYDOR PRESSINGS.   IT IS EXTREMELY RARE TO FIND BOTH RECORDS ON A TEXTURED 1ST PRESS POLYDOR LABEL!!!! 

SO IN SHORT THIS IS THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING OF THIS MEGA RARE LP WITH A 1ST PRESS 'E.J.DAY' GATEFOLD COVER, 1ST PRESS INNER SLEEVES AND 1ST PRESS 'TEXTURED' POLYDOR LABELS!!!!  NOT ONLY THAT BUT THIS IS A THE MUCH RARER STEREO 1ST PRESSING!!!!  I OF COURSE SAY 'RARER' STEREO - BECAUSE FINDING A 'LATER STEREO' ON A FLAT LABEL IS EASY - BUT FINDING A VERY 1ST PRESSED STEREO ON 'TEXTURED' LABELS IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE!!!!  DONT MISS OUT ON THIS INCREDIBLY RARE OPPORTUNITY TO OWN ONE OF THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS SOUGHT AFTER DOUBLE LP!!!!  This is the Polydor Stereo 1st Pressing, and is very VERY hard to find indeed!!!! The Cat. No is 583 031/2 on the ORIGINAL 'textured' Polydor labels (see picture) and is a Stereo 1st pressing!!!! All the tracks are pure quality Cream at their best!!!! Any fan of Cream or 60s music in general, will want to have this in their collection!!!!

The MEGA RARE 'Textured' Record labels are in STUNNING condition (see pictures) with NO writing, NO wear and only a few light spindle marks!!!!  The vinyl is in BRILLIANT condition. Most of these LPs had been to a lot of wild parties and are usually found totally worn out, and almost unplayable. This one is NOT and I will grade this record visually Side by Side and mention the playing grade at the end of the visual descriptions.  Side 1 has NO scratches, NO hairlines, and only a VERY few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light!!!!  Side 1 must grade visually Excellent+ if not better!!!!  Side 2 has NO scratches, NO hairlines, 1 MEGA light scuffline (non sounding), and only a VERY few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light!!!!  Side 2 must grade visually FULL Excellent if not better!!!!  Side 3 is 100% visually perfect apart from 1 small deeper looking mark, and 1 light scuffline!!!! Side 3 must grade visually Very Good(maybe+) if not better!!!!  Side 4 has NO scratches, 1 light hairline, 2 or 3 light scufflines and only a VERY few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light!!!! Side 4 must grade Very Good++++ if not better!!!! ALL SIDES OF THE RECORD STILL HAVE EVERY BIT OF THEIR ORIGINAL 'JUST PRESSED' LOOK!!!!  It is also great to find that the playing of BOTH records is as STUNNING as the visuals!!!! Sides 1 & 2 play with NO pops, NO jumps, NO sticks, NO hiss and NO crackle!!!! SUPERB!!!!  Sides 3 & 4 play with NO jumps, NO sticks, NO hiss and NO nasty constant crackle!!!!  There is NO pops on Side 4 and barely ANY crackle AT ALL!!!!  Side 3 plays with a few clicks/pops in one part of the record from the mark mentioned above - and there is a little crackle in places on this side.  ALL sides have NO groovewear, and NO distortion!!!!  Sides 1 & 2 must play grade FULL Excellent if not better!!!!  Side 4 must play grade Very Good++++ if not Excellent(Minus) and Side 3 has those few clicks/pops from the 1 mark, and the slightest touch of crackle in places - so obviously the playing grade is slightly less for this side.  DONT FORGET HOW RARE THIS LP IS WITH 'TEXTURED' LABELS!!!!  IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND WITH BOTH RECORDS HAVING TEXTURED LABELS!!!! Believe me these records are NOT overgraded in ANY way!!!! I use STRICT RC grading standards - it is not in my interest not to!!!! Brillant!!!! The records also come in their ORIGINAL 1st Press inner sleeves!!!! The MEGA RARE 1st Press E.J.Day 1st Press Stereo Gatefold Cover is in BRILLIANT condition!!!! It has NO top edge wear AT ALL (MEGA RARE on this cover), only a few chips in places to the bottom edge (though not completely through the colour), a MUCH lighter than normal record impression to the back and front faces, NO spinal wear, only slight corner wear, only a few light creases and NO writing!!!! The opening edges are beautifully straight with NO feathering!!!! Even the unlaminated inside is in STUNNING condition with NO grubbyness, NO wear, NO yellowing, and NO writing!!!!  The only defect to the cover is some 'texturising' in places to the cover.  This has clearly been caused from years of storage - though I am not sure how?  The cover is flat and clearly hasnt been affected by damp or water.  In any case the 'texturising' is difficult to see and mostly can only be felt.  I am sure most wouldnt even mention it!!!!  The cover must grade Very Good++ if not better!!!!  IT IS EXTREMELY RARE TO FIND THIS LP WITH BOTH RECORDS HAVING TEXTURED LABELS!!!! THIS MAY NOT BE A 100% PERFECT COPY OF THIS LP (THOUGH IT IS STILL VERY NICE) - BUT IT IS CERTAINLY THE VERY EARLIEST (AND RAREST) 1ST PRESSING OF THIS LP - AND IS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!!!!  SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS EXTREMELY RARE OPPORTUNITY!!!! 

HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I DO MY BEST TO SHOW THE RECORD FROM ALL ANGLES AND MAKE THE PICTURES AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE - THERE IS NOTHING TO HIDE!!!! It really is a GREAT looking LP and it is truly rare to find any copies of this RARE LP in this sort of condition!!!! THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO BUY AN ORIGINAL STEREO 1968 1ST PRESSING OF "WHEELS OF FIRE" BY CREAM, IN BRILLIANT CONDITION!!!! Have a look at all my other auctions, and contact me with any queries you may have. P&P £3 in the UK, Overseas TBA. Paypal, Cash, Cheques, and Post Orders accepted. Overseas MUST use either Cash or Paypal. Thanks for looking. Cheers!!!!

On 24-Nov-02 at 12:19:15 GMT, seller added the following information: