FAIRPORT CONVENTION "Babbacombe Lee" 1971 UK 1st PRESS

	£		18
	$		24

  FAIRPORT CONVENTION "Babbacombe Lee" 1971 UK 1st PRESS EJ DAY WALLET GF w/BOOKLET, EX COPY w/SENSATIONAL AUDIO
FAIRPORT CONVENTION
Babbacombe Lee

ORIGINAL UK ISLAND (ILPS 9176 ) FIRST PRESSING (November 1971) OF FAIRPORT CONVENTION'S SENSATIONAL CONCEPT LP, "Babbacombe Lee" (THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG) IN GREAT CONDITION - PLAYS BEAUTIFULLY (ON MY SYSTEM - AT A LOUD VOLUME!) WITH A DEEP, RICH, WARM AND DETAILED SOUND AND A FANTASTIC LOUD CUT - ONE OF THE FINEST PRODUCED AND ENGINEERED FAIRPORT ALBUMS AND ALSO JUST ABOUT MY FAVOURITE - GREAT COPY

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL (very thick and chunky) WITH THE FIRST ISLAND PINK RIM LABELS
MATRIX NUMBERS: ILPS 9176 A-1U (etched 'PORKY') / ILPS 9176 B-1U etched 'PECKO')
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/AA and 1/RR
THE ALBUM IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL MATTE CENTRE LOADING GATEFOLD SLEEVE "Printed and made by the EJ Day Group, London and Bedford" WITH AN INTERNAL POCKET WHICH CONTAINS THE ORIGINAL 8 PAGE BOOKLET AND COMES COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL LYRIC INNER SLEEVE

The group's only concept album is built around the life story of John "Babbacombe" Lee, a Victorian-era condemned murderer.
Lee's story, from his boyhood poverty to his time in the Royal Navy, his being invalided out and forced to work in the service of Miss Keyes, to her murder and his sentence of death, and the failure of the gallows three times, is told in song, and all but one of those songs are originals.
The all-male Fairport seldom sang better, nor did the post-Thompson band ever play with more panache, and some of the songs are beautiful -- but a few are lugubrious, and as with most other concept albums, the fit between the songs and the larger subject ultimately isn't entirely comfortable for the listener. All of the material was confusing because the group, for some reason, never put titles on the individual songs, instead stringing them together in longer sections.
The critics loved it, but the listeners stayed away in droves for the first time since the band's debut album but the album has since gained a reputation as one of the groups finest efforts

LABELS: The labels are clean, bright, fresh and unmarked with no prominent spindle traces - I don't think this copy has been played that much at all
VINYL Visual: Both surfaces retain their original deep glossy sheen with some superficial markings and hairlines but these have very little audio consequence (see detailed audio assessment below) - visually VG+
VINYL Audio: Very impressive audio reproduction on this first pressing with a crystal clear, deep, rich and warm sound. It's also beautifully produced and engineered with a superb loud cut and a fantastic bass response. On playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my records prior to listing and it's always a real pleasure to return to this one) there are no prolonged scratches, no sticks/jumps and just the occasional click/pop (only a couple of which rise above background level and nothing I found at all intrusive on play-grading this wonderful record). The pressing is also exceptionally clean - which is quite hard to find as most copies I come across have excessive surface noise especially prevalent on the spoken narrative sections but here these parts play as quietly as you could wish for. Overall, the record plays to a very high standard with great clarity, no groove-wear and no distortion and is critically graded an EXCELLENT - not perfect because of the occasional clicks but still one of the finest I have heard recently - very nice copy of a fantastic piece of work
SLEEVE: The original centre loading "wallet" gatefold is in EXCELLENT condition with very little storage wear to either the edges or spine - where all text is clear and bold. There is a small patch of paper loss on the back (please see close-up photo) but nothing too major otherwise, a very nice example
INNER SLEEVE: The original grey lyric inner sleeve is clean and unmarked but most importantly there are no splits to any of the edges (which is rare for this inner). The LP is now housed - and will be posted in - a new inner to prevent any 'knifing' damage to the original during transit - EXCELLENT
BOOKLET: The original large format 8 page booklet containing the story of John Lee's life is in MINT condition

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
EXCELLENT UK FIRST PRESSING OF FAMILY'S SUPERB SECOND LP COMPLETE WITH THE POSTER - VERY NICE COPY - SOUNDS GREAT
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

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ALL RECORDS ARE PROFESSIONALLY CLEANED BEFORE DISPATCH AND PACKAGED WITH THE VINYL OUTSIDE OF THE SLEEVE TO PREVENT ANY 'KNIFING' DURING TRANSIT
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