Fresh Maggots. Stupidly rare original UK acid/folk/psych LP. Vinyl is in TOP con

$

588

First pressing with the laminated front cover, the much rarer purple back cover (unlaminated) and the original paper inner sleeve stamped Made in Great Britain. This album should need no introduction to anyone who has been following my auctions. However, in case you don’t know it, this is a crowning achievement of UK pastoral acid folk/psych. Mostly acoutstic, it has some rather cutting electric guitar with feedback at moments, plus glockenspiel, light violin/orchestration and lovely tin whistles that sound almost like flutes. The front cover would be almost flawless except some genius saw fit to place to leave a glassful of a sugary drink right in the middle, which has left residue (see photo). Not very pronounced, but it is there, and it is still a bit sticky after 55 years. I have not tried to remove it for fear of what any solvents might cause to the lamination. Otherwise, only moderate ringwear on the unlaminated back cover, as seen in photos. The artist and label info on the spine are all perfectly clear, with no flaking at all, and there are only tiny bumps on all four corners (see photos). No hint of any seam splits and the spine itself is still its original bright purple and not faded at all (see photos). The labels are perfect, bright and shiny with zero spindle holes under bright light (see photos). Since I only played this once to record it to cassette some 40+ years ago, I listened to the whole LP all the way through just now after putting it through my Moth-MKII Pro Record Cleaning Machine. Here are my notes upon a thorough listening and viewing under a very bright light with a magnifying glass. Yes, as it is the very first pressing the vinyl has some of those tiny blisters that everyone mentions online. The light crackle here and there, such as on very quiet tracks like Everyone’s Gone to War, seems to me just typical for a 55-year old record. There are a few light pops at the end of Rosemary Hill and the beginning of Quickie on Side 1. I did not track the entire album as it played under bright light to see which pop or crackle might be linked to which particular blister. There is a visible mark at the very end of Track 4 and beginning of Track 5 on Side 1, though it does not affect the sound at all… at least any more than those phantom blisters! Suffice to say, it plays beautifully for such a historic gem. Despite the flaws of the original pressing, the album has full gloss and appears almost unplayed. Video/sound file is taken from my personal favourite, Rosemary Hill, which is Track 2 on Side 1. It has wonderful acid/folk/prog moves and lovely backing orchestration and demonstrates the quiet sound of the vinyl between and during tracks.