FRANK ZAPPA/MOTHERS The Grand Wazoo RARER ORIG UK 1972 EX LP, GREAT SOUND/COVER.

	£		48
	$		64

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: THE MOTHERS

Album Title: The Grand Wazoo

Producer(s): Frank Zappa

Track Listing:

Side 1: For Calvin (and his next two hitchhikers); Grand Wazoo.

Side 2: Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus; Eat That Question; Blessed Relief.

Label/Format: Reprise, first issue format with the deeper tan colour and without the small ‘W’ Warner logo on the right are label rim. Such copies that included the ‘W’ logo are later issues no matter what the matrixes are. These have matt, quite smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both fresh, clean and attractive with a few quite fine spindle marks mainly on side two. The record plays impressively with little unwanted.

Catalogue Number: K 44209

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 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 Record: 140 grams. Above average for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderately scarce, non-charting and just a steady seller.

Original Year of Release: December 1972

Matrix Nos: K 44209-A1 / K 44209-B1 (both machine punched and clear).

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘RAYS + KIPS’ on side two.

Musicians: Frank Zappa – guitar, percussion, vocals; Mike Altschul – woodwind; Bill Byers – trombone; Chunky (Lauren Wood)– vocals; Lee Clement – percussion; George Duke – keyboards, vocals; Earl Dumler – woodwind; Aynsley Dunbar – drums; Tony Duran – guitar, bottleneck guitar; Erroneous (Alex Dmochowski) – bass; Alan Estes – percussion; Janet Neville-Ferguson – vocals; Fred Jackson, Jr. – woodwind; Sal Marquez – bass, trumpet, vocals, brass; Joanne Caldwell McNabb – vocals, brass, woodwind; Malcolm McNabb – trombone, horn, trumpet in D; Tony Ortega – woodwind; Joel Peskin – saxophone, woodwind; Don Preston – Mini Moog; Johnny Rotella – woodwind; Ken Shroyer – trombone, brass, contractor and spiritual guidance; Ernie Tack – brass; Ernie Watts – tenor saxophone, C Melody Saxophone (the ‘Mystery Horn’), woodwinds; Robert Zimmitti – percussion; Gerry Sack – phantom tambourine.

Brief Artist & Album Info: One of Frank’s most treasured albums. This carries on the ideas from Waka/Jawaka and extends them much further with a big band of session musicians and a few of the remaining Mothers of Invention. This is a predominately instrumental set and includes some stunning solos and virtuosity. The Grand Wazoo must have surprised those who thought Zappa had gone down the road of bawdiness and wanted more of the same – this proved yet again the unpredictable nature of his albums, and that was just one reason why his music and career was so fascinating. It was recorded when he was recovering from the horrendous fall from the stage at the London’s Rainbow Theatre after being pushed. This is a superb set, one of my personal favourites from his expansive catalogue. This is big band jazz-rock, often dubbed as ‘Art Rock’, few albums I have heard from a ‘rock’ musician sound quite like it. Highly rhythmical, with Aynsley Dunbar on drums – and amongst his finest with his time with Frank – George Duke on keyboards and featuring a great Moog solo by Don Preston. An album including 22 musicians including Zappa, this is brilliantly produced by the man himself and this first issue copy plays impressively. Something of a landmark album that provides a stepping-stone to his later complex instrumental works. The cover is fantastic, featuring stunning artwork from Cal Schenkel, this would have helped sell a few albums for those curious buyers at the time – but like most –it failed to chart. For those who found a vocal Zappa too extreme around this time, this classic, generally more instrumental set is well worth checking out – few will be disappointed – this is kind’a like jazz, but not as we know it – Parompa pom pom.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt smooth surfaces. Printed in England by Howard’s Printers, later ones were made by Gothic Print and had a coated surface. Includes the plain white inner sleeve. Some first prints briefly included a front sticker, but certainly not all, as it is not too obvious who the band are from the artwork. This example does not have it, and never did as there are zero traces of removal or residue/marks, and being the correct first matt surface, it tends to be delicate and prone to wear.

Cover Front: With or without the sticker, this is a stunning piece of artwork and looks absolutely amazing with little to fault on this highly complex piece of cover art. The sticker, when present, obscures some artwork and is arguably ‘better’ without it – that is why I own both versions myself. The graphic is unfaded with deep colour with hardly any creasing and no price sticker issues which often tend to ruin the originals. Any traces of ageing or blemishes tiny, very few and faint and this is a front to hold and admire.

Cover Back: The back is largely the same with just the odd tiny tip rub. Any rim impression or rubbing incredibly gentle and faint. Both front and back will not prove easy to find better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Vibrant and generally clean with any hint of ageing or discolouration minimal, light and faint. Just a tiny chip pull present (look very hard). All the musicians are pictured with instrument details and the text describes the ‘Legend of Cleetus Awreetus’.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and virtually flush with minimal traces of any wear.

Bottom Edges: Similar overall but with slight, patchy rubbing on the back edge that few matt storage edges will avoid over nearly 50 years.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge, this unworn and still straight. The entrance back edges are mainly sharp, clean and crisp with any thickening light on the outer edge which is a little wider than the inside purely in manufacture.

Spine and Text: Very impressive and unfaded as-seen. A complex graphic spine with barely any trace of ageing or rubbing. Solid and straight, uncompressed and folded square, so the edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. Any tilt trace, tiny and minimal.

Corners: Any tip rubbing small and light. Excellent shape mostly retained without knocks.

Cover Summary: An attractive example of one of Zappa’s most spectacular and colourful album covers. The amazing artwork is as complex as the music enclosed. Aged or worn little, it will please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: in terms of wear, hardly any, but marked down for natural, only mild discolouration of the white paper. A plain white unlined inner with two neat crisp window circles. Minimal traces of creasing with all edges intact with no repairs. This has the blue text patent number 1,125,555.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: arguably better, a lovely looking record that appears little used. Clean with fine shine and very solidly pressed with no penetrating stylus scratches. Any surface marks few, mostly fine and light under bright light, the record plays impressively throughout with very little unwanted. It should please many collectors.

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 Zappa masterwork plays up to and virtually all even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering 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 this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Few available copies will outperform this original issue significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played only lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Barely anything spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this excellent record. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR Camera.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.