FAIRPORT CONVENTION What We Did… RARE PINK ISLAND ORIG.

	£		128
	$		170

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: FAIRPORT CONVENTION

Album Title: What We Did On Our Holidays

Producer: Joe Boyd

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fotheringay; Mr Lacey; Book Song; The Lord is in This Place…How Dreadful is This Place; No Man’s Land; I’ll Keep it With Mine.

Side 2: Eastern Rain; Nottamun Town; Tale in Hard Time; She Moves Through the Fair; Meet on the Ledge; End of a Holiday.

Label/Format/Rarity: Island – original pink format with textured rough surfaces and the first orange and black ‘eyeball’ and witch logo. (Please see my label scans).

Label Conditions: Both look very impressive, very clean and still fresh with a lovely real pink colour. Spindle marks are fine and very faint and hardly even show, certainly less than moderate and barely any encroach beyond the deep circle ridge. Nothing spoils these fantastically clean, unfaded or scuffed labels, even the rims are unburred or chipped. This record without doubt has been played a few times, but I suggest carefully which is reinforced by very impressive sound. And the cover emphasises the care too, this is a fragile one. As most will know, the first pressings of this record with these most prized labels are rare.

Cat Number: ILPS 9092.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm (this record was not issued in mono in the UK).

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: 163 grams. A hugely impressive weight for this ultimate first pressed record.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Rare as a first issue. Island was changing it’s label design regularly between 1968 and 1970 with several variants around the four standard formats. This one was not available for too long before it was replaced.

Original Year of Release: January 1969.

Matrix Nos: ILPS+9092+A / ILPS+9092+B (these are deep punched and very dominant).

Brief Artist & Album Info: This remarkable band’s second album and first on Island and within any genre of music, one of the greatest albums ever. It was Sandy Denny’s debut album with the band as well. An album that boasts an embarrassment of influences and riches, binding together to make their own. This was their ‘beatnik’ phase, treading the psychedelic underground and featuring some stunning gems including Sandy’s beautiful ‘Fotheringay’. Examples of electric traditional songs too in the equally brilliant ‘Nottamun Town’ and ‘She moves Through the Fair’ - neither song, as a by-the-way, was British. Dylan’s masterpiece ‘I’ll Keep it with Mine’ is covered too with a delightful version. Significantly, Richard Thompson’s development as a unique sounding guitarist and songwriter began to bloom. This evergreen classic album failed to sell well, and failed to even break into the charts. This is a very difficult record to find as an original and those that do show are often in very poor conditions. This is more progressive folk-rock with psych overtones and it’s a true privilege to be able to offer a genuine first issue in splendid visual and playing conditions. Barely even enough to remind this is a 43-year-old record and cover. Worthy, available examples of this one are fast drying-up and this is a copy that should please many, if not most collectors – an evergreen masterpiece.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High: a rare case when reprintings on later issues are superior. The very first made did not have a laminated back, hence they are hugely prone to all forms of wear. Not only that, the card was thin bordering on flimsy. The massive pressing thickness and weight of the first issues so often cut into the surfaces resulting in heavy ringwear and laminate dulling for which this example has resisted well. There is no substituting this cover, if a fully laminated one is offered with the first pressed record, it will be a swap, these are far easier to find especially in better conditions, but they will be wrong for this record.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): and that no mean grading for this incredibly intolerant and fragile cover. This is the genuine first edition cover that only the first pressed came in. A single format with front laminate. The back is matt finished. Also it correctly has the ‘Printed in England’ text with no printer’s credits.

Cover Laminate and Front: Being so flimsy and housing a very heavy record, this very dark cover often suffers major laminate issues. Here the only minor issue is very light traces of friction rubs or minor dulling seen only under angled light. Overall, this retains a super shine, freshness and clarity and the lack of creasing is a massive bonus. Not only that, all is fully adhered which a considerable factor in making this front extremely attractive. Barely any marks, even viewed under light with no scuffs or pressmarks, just a super-fine surface crease near the top edge and a mild hint of rim impression. Even the exposed edge on the right where the laminate ends a little short of full width is unchipped, faded or grubbied. This front I can consider exceptional and it will take some rather special to better it significantly.

Cover Back: The back is equally superb, very dark and unprotected, what chance does it stand? Well clearly, the original owner stored it well as there is minimal traces of any marks or rubbing. Again, barely any creasing and the lack of ringwear is little short of remarkable. With no substitution even possible for a first issue cover, this is totally the genuine article and few available examples will offer a substantial challenge to this one.

Top Edge: Alnmost wear-free, a tiny chip only.

Bottom Edge: As above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with no wear or feathering – no chipping to the very dark edges either which is pretty remarkable as the laminate ends short as mentioned above. The record is stored on this vulnerable edge which is guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: A very fine spine too, a little thin in construction but very solid and straight with any compression mild and light. The text only states ‘FAIRPORT CONVENTION’ and the ILPS 9092 catalogue number and all is present and practically unworn, any blemishes to the characters is minimal.

Corners: The corner tips have rubbed but only small and let’s be honest, how many will ever avoid a little? Possibly as light as it ever gets and all retain very fine to near excellent shape.

Cover Summary: A difficult cover in very impressive condition, and although inferior to the second printing by E. J. Day, which was fully laminated, only the original will do for this heavyweight first pressing (of course). This fragile but attractive example should please most-all collectors.

The Inner: This record came to me inside a heavy-duty white inner that is polylined. Also a substantial weight inner in superb condition with ultra neat window and lining. All edges secure and barely any creasing or ageing, minor glue darkening on the seams only. This is UK patented with ‘Foreign Patents Pending’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: this is very clean, with a fine shine, intense black and very heavily pressed on very thick vinyl. A copy played a few times, but I suggest generally, carefully. A few light and fine surface marks that are all pretty much superficial. A very fine example of this rare first issue and I feel sure many, if not most collectors will love it.

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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: As soon as you feel the weight of this record, you will realise it’s a pretty special pressing and those first textured real pink labels are always the ultimate for Island collectors. This brilliant album plays very well indeed very little unwanted. Clean, super-detailed sound that the earliest pressings offer, hardly any surface sound and no significant clicks and no pops noted. Not an easy album in it’s own right, few will ever play silent from beginning to end, fact, especially the early-pressed ones that were potentially subjected to over-use and abuse on old heavy-tracking record players. Even the final short instrumental ‘End of a Holiday’ plays incredibly well and that is never easy to say the least. A very delicate instrumental finale that so often suffers stylus lifts, drops or scrapes and it simply does not tolerate any such abuse, here it plays extremely well. The same can be said of the gentle track ‘The Lord is in This Place…How Dreadful is This Place’, a great test here, does your stereo system allow you to hear the very soft background voices of talking people that lie very distant in the mix? – any worthy system should reveal these ultra fine details. The stereo sound and audio quality is very high and the details embedded in these unworn grooves still amaze. Both channels are clean and unstressed and Sandy’s vocals are crystal clear with great detail and emphasise. Nothing spoilt my pleasure hearing this folk-rock classic from an ultimate first pressing. The music so good, any minor sound blemishes wash over, but barely any here anyway. This tracks effortlessly with no pressing sounds and all sound focused and precise. A masterpiece worthy of my highest recommendation – simply sublime.

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’.