GRAVY TRAIN Rare Orig UK Vertigo Spiral EX++

	£		82
	$		109

PLEASE NOTE: I WILL BE CHANGING MY USER ID FROM SATURDAY 2nd AUGUST TO ‘ONEADAYRECORDS’ DUE TO THE NUMBER OF SPAM MESSAGES I GET FROM MY CURRENT ID USER NAME, ALSO AT THE RECOMMENDATION OF EBAY

Hi, I am Mike, a music collector for over 30 years now. 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 interested collector. I usually Play-Grade the records I offer (on a Rega deck with Ortofon cartridge) - 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 party. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with my 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. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Good luck.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance. Regarding the runner up bidder, its always worth asking if I have a second copy of any item also. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed.

PLEASE READ ALL DESCRIPTIONS AND CHECK PICTURES CAREFULLY FOR ALL THE INFORMATION GIVEN.

Artist or Band: GRAVY TRAIN

Album Title: Gravy Train

Cat Number: 6360 023 Stereo.

Label and Condition: Vertigo, full original spiral with large spiral on side two (Please see scans for full details). Beautiful clean examples that show only very light spindle traces.

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity Factor: Quite a rare one.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Album Information: A very scarce and sort after album on the most collectable progressive Spiral label. Gravy Train play, as you would expect, progressive rock...and how. Imagine early Jethro Tull sounding angry and a bit weird - this is Gravy Train, features flutes and saxes at times being played simutaneously by J. Hughes. This is without doubt one of the finest on this cult label - a brilliant album with stunning sound and mix. The track ‘Earl of Pocket Nook’ clocking in at over 16 minutes, is truly awesome with channel to channel pyrotechnics. This is quite a long single album, the playing area goes as close to the label edge as I have ever seen. Apart from being a rare album now, this is one of the cleanest copies I have ever seen, for this or any Vertigo album. Apart from a small sticker residue/removal mark near the top right this cover would be close to the highest grading, it still is a cracking cover and the actual record is superb too.

Cover Condition and Details: Excellent++, gatefold, textured finish on all surfaces, VO price code box on back, Hipgnosis cover design. A stunningly clean cover that looks superb - never seen this one better. Vertigo covers were rarely, if ever laminated - with the texturing this is unlikely to be beaten. Very fragile and prone to the heaviest wear this one shows little, bar the sticker mark this is reference standard.

Cover Lamination: None

Cover Front: Truly magnificent with the deepest, richest colours I have yet seen on a Vertigo. Yes it has a small sticker removal pull at the top and some tiny residue left over, but put into context on how magnificent this one is this is only a minor flaw. Being right at the top near the right hand corner this does not attract the eyeline and its only very small anyway. The amazing thing on this front is the fact the textured finish has no rubbing, the colours are so rich and deep it looks new. Hardly a mark to be seen and as clean as possible with no creases - this is connoisseur territory.

Cover Back: Similar to the front with just a small rub on the very bottom between the railroad lines. No ringwear and again very clean indeed.

Cover Gatefold Inner: As new, quite stunning.

Cover Edges: Very little on top, bottom has a couple of small rub areas only. Entry edges are near perfect and very sharp and straight. The spine is astonishing: always the most prone to wear and tear, its almost like new with all the text pristine. The four corners are sharp and neat and show little wear, a minute crease to the top on the top left only. All round this is a real beauty, viewing this alone gives pleasure and it does full justice to the magnificent record enclosed.

Vinyl Condition: Excellent++ clean and shiny and pressed in quite heavy vinyl, the record comes in its original spiral inner which is one of the finest I’ve yet had (EX++) and unsplit or torn. There is just a couple of small marks on the first track on side one, bar this I would have no hesitation in grading as Mint(-). The marks are small and light - they cannot be felt and there is only a few very, very light ticks briefly, all but a few are lost in the sound and they disappear very quickly anyway. This record is immaculate and could almost pass as new bar these marks. Plays I am sure are very few indeed. My play-grade was a real treat for this one - I have not heard this album in years and quite truthfully I had forgotten what a magnificent album it is. On finding this album it was quite dusty, I had this professionally cleaned and then everything became clearer. A lovely copy and one that plays very well indeed. Fine clear detailed sound and production, this at times makes the head spin - this is truly on the right label. Surface sounds were minimal, in fact most tracks play very quiet, because there are some more subtle moments too. But largely fast rock, this a tinge of blues, great flute and saxes and some moments of manic nirvana. This is great progressive rock, a wonderful debut and any rock collector should treasure this album and copy - its getting a hard one to find.

Track Listing: The new one; Dedication to Sid; Coast road; Enterprise (Gravy Train); Think of Life; Earl of Pocket Nook.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: One of the very special Spirals - connoisseur prog. Just a minor small sticker mark (an all too common flaw on these covers) and a small, not too serious mark on the vinyl - but these should not worry any collector - this will turn up infrequently and I would bet rarely ever this good. Progressive debut albums rarely boast such strong original material - I strongly recommend this fine album and copy - Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £30 will be sent via Recorded Delivery and Special Delivery for over £55.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 (45 Euros) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully covered to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £3, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £75.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 (43 US Dollars) insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance is available for non-UK items but bear in mind I have to state the true value of the item on the parcel and customs would be aware and you may well get charged import duties.

PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.65 to cover PayPal or cash conversions.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with a minimum of TWO stiffners for extra protection. More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection and three or four stiffners. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other intesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear if any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.