KING CRIMSON LIzard RARER Orig UK Island 1970 EX LP

	£		76
	$		101

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4. Europe £10. Rest of World £14. ALL signed for. – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: KING CRIMSON

Album Title: Lizard.

Producer(s): Robert Fripp and Peter Sinfield.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Cirkus (including Entry of the Chameleons); Indoor Games; Happy Family; Lady of the Dancing Water.

Side 2: Lizard; a) Prince Rupert Awakes b) Bolero – The Peacocks Tale; c) The Battle of Glass Tears including 1: Dawn Song 2: Last Skirmish 3: Prince Rupert’s Lament 4: Big Top.

Label/Format: Island – original pink rim format. This album was not issued on the full pink format in the UK.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and highly attractive with only light+, very fine and faint spindle marks.

Cat Number: ILPS 9141.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 128 grams. A good average weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: This very early first pressing is rare and it does vary to even slightly later pressed copies. Not only is the record heavier and with very early mothers and stampers (seen below), the cover is the earliest and rarest ever made – one of the most difficult to find on this classic label in fact. Firstly, this one was made by the E. J. Day Group, the majority seen are Robor. But even that is not the most significant factor. This one has the very wide spine and the text on which is inverted e.g. the other way round for reading to the standard. Most-all covers have the top of the text facing the cover front and the vast majority of ‘Lizard’ covers do too. But this one has the bottom of the type facing the front which is different from standard. The spine on this rare Day cover is twice as wide as the usual covers. This is one of the most elusive cover variants on Island and considerably harder to find than standard ones.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9141 A-2U / ILPS 9141 B-2U

Stamper Codes: 1 M / 1 A (far more are seen are higher numbers and doubled or tripled letters) on much thinner lightweight vinyl.

Musicians: Robert Fripp - guitar, mellotron, electric keyboards and devices; Mel Collins - flute and saxes; Gordon Haskell - bass guitar, vocals; Andy McCulloch - drums; Peter Sinfield - words. Guests: Robin Miller - Oboe, cor anglais; Mark Charig - cornet; Nick Evans - trombone; Keith Tippet - Piano, electric piano; Jon Anderson (of Yes) vocals on ‘Prince Rupert Awakes’.

Brief Info: With Ian McDonald and Greg Lake now departed, this could have been a serious blow few bands could have coped with, but against the odds King Crimson’s third album is a prog classic and one of my favourites within their elustrious early catalogue. A highly adventurous and complex work with use of many varied instruments as will be clear from above. Beautifully produced, but so regularly, the often the pressing quality lets it down. The packaging includes a stunning cover with magnificent artwork – this is real progressive rock at it’s very best. The title song has beautiful use of wind instruments including the haunting cor anglais – a woodwind instrument similar to the oboe but deeper – few prog bands used such exotic instruments as often or effectively as King Crimson and Lizard remains possibly their most complex and inventive work and is pretty much unique. This is a very fine all-round, very early-pressed copy, again typically testing on vinyl with it’s usual roller-coaster ride of extreme volume and very quiet passages. This copy plays impressively well overall, and for a change with little unwanted and is one of the better pressed ‘Lizard’s I have heard for some considerable time. I buy a high percentage of my records on approval, and this particular album is probably the most rejected one I come across. Most-all I hear, have unaccepable surface noise, constant crackle, pops, clicks and even pressing noises and distortion. The slightly later pressed ones seem to give the most problems, this one, although not silent, does not have a great deal to fault. I have often stated ‘no copy on vinyl will ever play dead silent throughout’, but any surface sounds are mostly gentle and infrequent – just the odd reminder you are listening to vinyl. This classic prog album is often the victim of the oil crisis era, the repressings became very thin and often pressed on recycled vinyl with absolutely terrible sound. It has taken some time to find a worthy copy of this to offer. The cover also suffers laminate adhesion issues – many seen with large crinkle and blistering and few will ever be ‘perfect’. This has a few fine crinkles on the back left edge but have modestly low visibility compared to many. Overall a splendid copy, silence for this record is nigh-on impossible, but this in all departments is strong, if not perfect.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): one of the most gorgeous prog and Island covers ever made and this does it near very high justice. A gatefold format with laminate on front and back, the inside matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group and has the very wide, thick and robust spine with the inverted text. This is a work of art and only the incredible debut has a more stunning visual impact.

Lamination: front & back: With artwork of this quality, it has to be seen near it’s very best – and does on this much rarer ‘Day’ printing with the very wide spine. Both front and back look impressive with real freshness and clarity of the laminate that has not rubbed or aged. It has a moderately shiny surface rather than high gloss, which is more the normal for this one. Any surface marks are few and faint as seen under light and the lack of creasing is always good news. Adhesion is a critical factor – I have seen some examples with huge creases in manufacture where the laminate has not been applied well. Only the back left edge here has a few fairly fine crinkles and two or three on the front, showing modestly against a complex graphic backdrop, few will have less. There is no mottling or bubbling, again this is commonly seen, and that really does spoil the artwork. So overall, both sides are highly attractive and will prove hard to find much better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both sides clean, fresh and attractive. The spine being so thick and solid has meant a minor ‘secondary’ crease has formed to it’s right, again this is a common trait of wide-spine covers and I have yet to find one of these without it. This aside, there is nothing else to fault and is as clean and fresh as when made, 40 years ago. You have heard the term ‘age defying’, well this is simply that.

Top Edges: Both look as new, thick, straight and totally unworn.

Bottom Edges: Exactly as above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with no wear and guaranteed untrimmed. The front is closed hence the record enters only in the back edge.

Spine and Text: The star part that sets this one apart from the others. A stunning spine with no real wear, but time and light have faded it a little. Very thick and wide, rock solid, straight and uncompressed. Folded a little off-square so the opposite right edges are not quite flush, but the top and bottom are very close. All text is perfect and unworn under the very solid, uncracked laminate that is fully intact and all is smooth to the finger tip touch. This text is printed upside down compared to what is considered the ‘normal’ way round. This is read with the front cover facing downwards, some other album covers are like this, but ‘Lizard’ mostly has the conventional facing down text. Again as stated, this is nearly double the thickness of a standard ‘Lizard’ cover, it’s like comparing the very rare ‘Sgt Pepper’ wide spine cover to the standard, common one. Far fewer of these were issued and are genuinely scarce, and try to find a much better one – the only issue is some fading (Please see my close-up of the text and hopefully the width of the surface will obvious). Put simply, this cover is made differently to the standard ones.

Corners: All immaculate: there is barely a hint of any wear to any of them. All retain practically mint shape.

Cover Summary: A very impressive all-round example of this magnificent 1970 cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. The general lack of laminate disturbance and that magnificent thick spine construction makes this one for the serious cover collector. I have seen several examples that have very long lines of non-adhesion from less than wonderful manufacture – this did not stop them making it to the shops and selling however. This beautiful item is a class above most others and it should please most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: AROUND EXCELLENT: marked down for a neat edge split. Many still think the earliest pink rim albums had the blue lined inners, well not so. The very early pressings on the then new pink rim format (and this is one of the earliest made on it), still initially included the plain white unlined inner. This is clean with only one mild crease.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is clean, shiny, intense black and solidly pressed. Under bright angled light, a few light surface marks are evident but no penetrating scratches. Modestly played and still a lovely looking copy, my grading does this scant justice really. Visually a super record that 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic Island record plays very well with little overall to fault and, this too on an immensely difficult and complex recording. Powerful totally distortion-free sound – that’s a huge bonus on an album that has immense dynamics, detail and difficult sound passages with heavy use of critical tracking wind instruments and mellotron, always the most susceptible to groove-wear damage and clipping (or worse, distortion). All frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality, at times is astonishing with a massive dynamic range and very detailed, complex, real hi-fi sound. Any unwanted sounds are mostly gentle and light – and importantly, infrequent and few. This is a much better pressed copy than several I have heard lately that I simply rejected. Silence, as stated above, is near impossible on this album, especially if played on a more revealing system. With extremes in volume ever other minute, this, like all in their catalogue is difficult. Passages of the ‘Lizard’ suite are immensely challenging with almost silence in places, only the best-pressed early copies will ever have a chance to perform well enough to please the more discerning collectors. There will always be the odd tick or sporadic click at best, if anyone owns a totally CD quiet copy of this album, well treasure it, because few ever will be. Overall, one of the better-pressed ‘Lizards’ I have heard for some considerable time and this is a typically difficult King Crimson album, it will take an exceptional copy just to better it significantly. The surface marks, mostly fine and hairline types, are ignored. I deem a proper scratch as a penetrating stylus mark that sounds, these are not like that at all. Without doubt quite modestly played and of course, that helps. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – if absolute dead silence is demanded, well the CD version is an alternative but the sheer scale and drama of this magnificent recording on vinyl takes a lot of beating. My LP12 is ultra sensitive and little escapes its clinical ability to reveal, I found this copy enjoyable, but not silent – I do not expect miracles from ‘Lizard’, but noise is usually ancipated, and this had little overall. The details and intricate production embedded within these vintage grooves are definitive and this copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better. Nothing compares to a first issue for those extra tiny pieces of detail, the audiophile collector reading this will know exactly what I mean, not quite so easy to put into words. This is a copy I can highly recommend (unless silence is mandatory), do not under-estimate how rare this one is even this clean.

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.

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: Please as me first.

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.

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: 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’.