LED ZEPPELIN - PRESENCE, ABSOLUTE MINT A1, B1 VARIANT

£ 50

$ 66

£ 50 Sold For

May 29, 2012 Sold Date

May 19, 2012 Start Date

£ 4 Start price

4 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

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Description

YOU ARE BIDDING FOR LED ZEPPELIN’S 7TH STUDIO ALBUM AND THIS IS AN ULTRA RARE, FIRST PRESSING WITH VERY HARD TO FIND MATRIX NUMBERS . MAKE NO MISTAKE, THIS ALBUM IS ULTRA RARE, IN AMAZING CONDITION THROUGHOUT AND PLAYS LIKE A DREAM. I DOUBT YOU WILL FIND SUCH A PERFECT SPECIMEN FOR ITS AGE (36 YEARS OLD).

UNIQUE FEATURES

ULTRA RARE FIRST PRESSING MATRICES A1, B1, EARLY STAMPERS B, B AND HAND ETCHED MARKS ON OUTRUN, LB W-1, W-2.

RARITY IS ONE THING, AND QUITE OFTEN THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE PRICE OF SUCH A MASTERPIECE, HOWEVER, QUALITY OF SOUND IS ALSO OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE. SO I THEREFORE ASK, WHAT IS THE POINT OF BUYING A RARE ARTEFACT IF THE SOUND QUALITY IS SUBSTANDARD. ON TOP OF THIS, MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS MASTERPIECE WERE PLAYED TO DEATH AND THE FLIMSY, UNLAMINATED SLEEVES AND THIN INNER SLEEVE HAD THE HELL BASHED OUT OF THEM AND ARE DIRTY AND DISHEVELED. NOT THIS ONE.

YOU ARE THEREFORE BIDDING, NOT ONLY FOR THE RARITY OF THIS PACKAGE BUT ALSO THE SOUND QUALITY THAT IS STILL CLEAR, CRISP, DYNAMIC LOUD AND PROUD.

I THEREFORE CONCLUDE THAT THIS INVESTMENT GRADE PIECE OF HISTORY SHOULD COMMAND THE PRICE IT DESERVES FROM THE VERY LUCKY WINNING BIDDER.

VINYL

AS MENTIONED EARLIER, MATRICES OF A1,B1 AND CATALOGUE NUMBER SSK 59402 AND STAMPERS B,B. THE PLAYING SURFACE GRADES VISUALLY AS NR MINT WITH ONLY A SLIGHT BLEMISH AT 6 0’CLOCK ON SIDE 2 (COVERING ABOUT 50% OF TRACK 1) THAT IMPARTS ABSOLUTELY NO SOUND IMPAIRMENT WHATSOEVER. VIEWED IN STRONG LIGHT AND DAYLIGHT. ALSO, BY SIGHT AND ROTATION ON AN AUDIO TURNTABLE, THE VINYL SHOWS NO VISIBLE SIGNS OF WARPING.

YOU WILL SEE FROM THE LABELS THAT THE LP HAS BEEN SELDOM PLAYED AND SINCE THE VINYL IS SO ROBUST AND THE RECORDING SO DYNAMIC, I AM HAPPY TO GRADE THIS AS NR MINT (AND THAT IS ME BEING CONSERVATIVE AS I HAVE BOUGHT LESSER ALBUMS THAN THIS GRADED AT NR MINT). THE SOUND IS CRISP, CLEAR, AND VIBRANT AND HAS LOST NONE OF ITS ORIGINAL QUALITY. ANY BACKGROUND NOISE IS MORE ATTRIBUTABLE TO STATIC RATHER THAN GROOVE WEAR OF SURFACE MARKS.

LABELS

THE LABELS ARE NR MINT WITH FEW VERY SLIGHT SPINDLE TRACES BUT OTHERWISE CLEAN, VIBRANT AND AS NEW .

SLEEVES

THE OUTER SLEEVE IS USUALLY SOMEWHAT DISHEVELLED AND DIRTY OWING TO THE BRILLIANT WHITE MATT FINISH. NOT THIS. STILL ABSOLUTELY SQUARE WITH NO CRUSHHING, SPLITTING, SCUFFING OR DISCOLOURATION BUT A MINOR CREASE TO THE REAR. THE COLOURS ARE STILL BRIGHT AND VIBRANT BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THIS CONCEPT SLEEVE BY HARDIE OF HIPGNOSIS. ITS AS IF IT HAS JUST COME OFF THE SHELF OF HMV AS NEW, NR MINT. THE FRONT HAS TWO SMALL BLACK DOTS THAT ARE PART OF THE PRINT AND IRREMOVABLE BUT NOT INTRUSIVE.

THE ORIGINAL INNER IS AS NEW AND A FINER SPECIMIN WILL NOT BE FOUND. USUALLY THE FIRST THING TO BECOME DIRTY, TORN AND KNIFED TO THE EDGES HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE OWNERS FORSIGHT AND KEEPING THE VINYL IN A SPERATE, PLAIN SLEEVE. APART FROM A VERY SLIGHT FOLD DOWN OF ONE OF THE CORNERS, THAT IS NOT REALLY WORTH MENTIONING, ITS ABSOLUTELY MINT.

PACKAGING

IT IS MY DUTY AS A CONSCIENTIOUS SELLER, TO PROVIDE THE BEST POSSIBLE PACKAGING AVAILABLE IN ORDER TO PROETCT YOUR VALUABLE INVESTMENT ITEM. AS SUCH, THE ITEM WILL BE ENCASED IN A CRUCIFORM, CARD MAILER WITH CARD STIFFENER INSERTS TO FURTHER PROTECT FROM DAMAGE. A FURTHER STIFFENER WILL BE INSERTED INTO THE OUTER SLEEVE (IN PLACE OF THE VINYL) TO PREVENT CRUSHING OF THE SPINE. THE VINYL WILL BE HOUSED IN A SEPERATE WHITE INNER TO PRESERVE THE ORIGINAL INNER (if applicable) AND PROTECT FROM KNIFING. THE PACKAGE WILL BE CLEARLY MARKED AND DISPLAY FRAGILE STICKERS AND A RETURN ADDRESS IN CASE OF LOSS.

THE PREFERABLE MEANS OF POSTAGE, WHETHER HOME OR ABROAD, WILL BE INSURED AND SIGNED FOR.

REPRESENTATION

AS I AM OFFERING GUARANTEED QUALITY WITH A MONEY BACK GUARANTEE, SHOULD THE ITEM NOT BE AS DESCRIBED, I ENDEAVOUR TO REPRESENT THE ITEM AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE SO AS TO PRESERVE MY REPUTATION AND MY 100% FEEDBACK RATING. aS SUCH, I ENDEAVOUR TO DESCRIBE THE ITEM 100% ACCURATELY BOTH VERBALLY AND VISUALLY. THIS BEEN THE REASON I HAVE INVESTED IN A STATE OF THE ART DIGITAL SLR CAMERA (18 MEGAPIXEL) AND STUDIO LIGHTING. THAT SAID, IF YOU REQUIRE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION OR IMAGES WHILST THE AUCTION IS STILL IN PROGRESS, EMAIL ME AND I WILL RESPOND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND AS HONESTLY AS POSSIBLE.

POSTAGE COSTS

1ST CLASS RECORDED - £4.50 WITH INSURANCE UP TO £50.

HOWEVER, SOULD THE PRICE EXCEDE £50 THE FOLLOWING WILL APPLY:-

UK NEXT DAY SIGNED FOR WITH UP TO £500 INSURANCE AND TRACKING - £7.55

EUROPE INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR WITH £500 INSURANCE - £14.37

rEST OF WORLD INTERNATIONAL SIGNED FOR WITH £500 INSURANCE AND TRACKING - £19.50

PLEASE NOTE, THESE ARE ACTUAL POSTAGE COSTS AND DO NOT INCLUDE PACKAGING. I AM NOT AIMING TO MAKE EXTRA ON POSTAGE BUT WILL CHOOSE THE MOST EFFICIENT AND SAFESET METHOD OF TRANSIT. I’M SURE YOU WILL UNDERSTAND AND SANCTION THIS DECISION.

ALBUM NOTES

Presence is the seventh studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Swan Song Records on 31 March 1976. It was written and recorded during a tumultuous time in the band's history, as singer Robert Plant was recuperating from serious injuries he had sustained in a recent car accident. The album received mixed reviews from critics and is one of the lowest sellers in the band's catalogue. Nonetheless, guitarist Jimmy Page describes Presence as the band's "most important" album, proving they would continue despite their turmoil.

Background

This album was conceived after Robert Plant sustained serious injuries from a car accident on the Greek island of Rhodes on 5 August 1975, which forced the band to cancel a proposed world tour that was due to commence on 23 August 1975. At this point, Led Zeppelin were arguably at the height of their popularity. When he was taken to a Greek hospital after the accident, Plant recalled:

I was lying there in some pain trying to get cockroaches off the bed and the guy next to me, this drunken soldier, started singing "The Ocean" from Houses of the Holy.

During a convalescent period on the Channel Island of Jersey and in Malibu, California, Plant wrote some lyrics, and when Page joined him at Malibu, these compositions were fleshed out. The two prepared enough material for rehearsals to begin at Hollywood's SIR Studio, where drummer John Bonham and bass player John Paul Jones joined them.

After a month of rehearsals, the album was recorded in just eighteen days at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, with Plant in a wheelchair. This was the fastest recording turnaround time achieved by the band since their debut album. The rushed recording sessions were in part a result of Led Zeppelin having booked the studio immediately prior to The Rolling Stones, who were shortly to record songs for their album Black and Blue. Upon their arrival, the Stones were amazed that Zeppelin's album had indeed been completed (both recorded and mixed) in a mere eighteen days. Page had simply stayed awake for two days straight to perform all of the guitar overdubs. As he later explained:

I just had to lay it down, more or less: first track... second track – you know, really fast working on that. And all the guitar overdubs on Presence were done in one night. But I didn't think I would be able to do it in one night, I thought I'd have to do it across maybe three different nights to get the individual sections. Everything sort of crystallised and you'll notice everything was just pouring out. I was very happy with the guitar playing on that whole album, you know as far as the maturity of playing goes.

In an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine in 1998, Page stated that he worked an average of 18 to 20 hours per day during the mixing period at Musicland Studios:

After the band finished recording all its parts, me and the engineer, Keith Harwood, just started mixing until we would fall asleep. Then whoever would wake up first would call the other and we'd go back in and continue to work until we passed out again.

The recording sessions for Presence were also particularly challenging for Plant. The studio was in a basement of an old hotel, and the singer felt claustrophobic. He also experienced physical difficulties as a result of his car accident, and missed his family. He later explained:

I spent the whole process in a wheelchair, so physically I was really frustrated. I think my vocal performance on it is pretty poor. It sounds tired and strained. The saving grace of the album was "Candy Store Rock" and "Achilles Last Stand". The rhythm section on that it was so inspired ... I was furious with Page and [band manager] Peter Grant. I was just furious that I couldn't get back to the woman and the children that I loved. And I was thinking, is all this rock'n'roll worth anything at all?

The album was completed on 26 November 1975. This was the day before Thanksgiving, and in a telephone call to Swan Song Records, Page suggested the album be named Thanksgiving. This idea was quickly dropped, in favour of a title that was thought would represent the powerful force and presence that the band members felt surrounded the group.

Composition

Six of the seven songs on the album are Page and Plant compositions; the remaining song being credited to all four band members. This can be explained by the fact that the majority of the songs were formulated at Malibu, where Page (but not Bonham and Jones) had initially joined a recuperating Plant. With Plant at less than full fitness, Page took responsibility for the album's completion, and his playing dominates the album's tracks.

Both Page and Plant had planned this album's recording session as a return to hard rock, much like their debut album, except at a new level of complexity. It marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound towards more straightforward, guitar-based jams. Whereas their previous albums up to and including the previous year's Physical Graffiti contain electric hard rock anthems balanced with acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements, Presence was seen to include more simplified riffs, and is Led Zeppelin's only studio album that features neither acoustic tracks nor keyboards (almost buried in the mix, a lone acoustic guitar can be heard on "Candy Store Rock"). The record stands in sharp contrast to their next album In Through the Out Door, which features keyboards on all tracks and pushes Page's guitar into the background on several songs. Most notably on "Carouselambra", where Jones plays the lead synthesiser for most of the song, and Page is not truly heard until four minutes into the song.

The changed stylistic emphasis on this album was a direct result of the troubled circumstances experienced by the band around the time of its recording. As Page said at the time:

I think it was just a reflection of the total anxiety and emotion of that period. There's a hell of a lot of spontaneity about that album. We went in with virtually nothing and everything just came pouring out.

Plant expressed similar views, stating:

It was really like a cry of survival. There won't be another album like it, put it like that. It was a cry from the depths, the only thing that we could do.

In contrast to earlier albums that contained several tracks that the band chose to play live at Led Zeppelin concerts, only two tracks from Presence were played in full on stage while the band was active. "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault but Mine" were added to the setlist for the 1977 tour of the United States and stayed through the band's final concerts in 1980. Some of the guitar solo from "Tea for One" was also incorporated into "Since I've Been Loving You" in these shows, but the actual song was never performed live until the Page and Plant tour of Japan in 1996, where it received three airings backed by an orchestra. "For Your Life" was played in full by Led Zeppelin for the first time at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert on 10 December 2007.

The lack of live interpretations of the Presence material is perhaps understandable given that it would be a full year before they would return to the road.

Album sleeve design

The cover and inside sleeve of this album, created by Hipgnosis, features various images of people interacting with a black obelisk-shaped object. Inside the album sleeve, the item is referred to simply as "The Object." It was intended to represent the "force and presence" of Led Zeppelin. In the liner notes of the first Led Zeppelin boxed set, Page explained:

There was no working title for the album. The record-jacket designer said 'When I think of the group, I always think of power and force. There's a definite presence there.' That was it. He wanted to call it 'Obelisk.' To me, it was more important what was behind the obelisk. The cover is very tongue-in-cheek, to be quite honest. Sort of a joke on [the film] 2001. I think it's quite amusing.

The background used in the cover photograph is of an artificial marina that was installed inside London's Earl's Court Arena for the annual Earl's Court Boat Show that was held in the winter of 1974–75. This was the same venue where the band played a series of concerts a few months after the boat show, in May 1975.

In 1977 Hipgnosis and George Hardie were nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

Release and critical reception

The album was released on 31 March 1976, having been delayed by the completion of the album sleeve. In Britain it attained one of the highest ever advance orders, shipping gold on the day of release. It peaked at #1 on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart, leaping from #24 inside two weeks. However, this album has not been one of the band's biggest sellers, and it received lukewarm reviews upon its release. In late 1976 the album was also overshadowed by the release of the band's movie and soundtrack The Song Remains the Same.

According to Dave Lewis, "The direct, hard-hitting nature of the seven recordings failed to connect with a fan base more accustomed to the diversity and experimental edge of their previous work. Page later acknowledged that, because the album conveys a sense of urgency resulting from the troubled circumstances in which it was recorded, "it's not an easy album for a lot of people to access ... It's not an easy album for a lot of people to listen to."

However, despite its initially subdued reception, Lewis considers that Presence:

has become a much underrated element of their catalogue. The basic drums-bass-guitars formula may lack the diversity of previous Zeppelin sets, but in terms of sheer energy, 'Presence' packs a considerable punch, and has emerged as one of their most potent performances... This album is also a triumph for Jimmy Page. His production and dominant guitar style has an urgency and passion that reflects the troubled period that the group were going through at the time. 'Presence' is Led Zeppelin with their backs against the wall.

Music journalist Stephen Davis (author of Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods) has stated that Presence is his favourite Led Zeppelin album and believes it to be the best they ever recorded

Track listing

Side one

1. "Achilles Last Stand" Jimmy Page, Robert Plant 10:25

2. "For Your Life" Page, Plant 6:24

3. "Royal Orleans" John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Page, Plant 2:58

Side two

1. "Nobody's Fault but Mine" Page, Plant 6:16

2. "Candy Store Rock" Page, Plant 4:11

3. "Hots On for Nowhere" Page, Plant 4:43

4. "Tea for One" Page, Plant 9:27

Personnel

Led Zeppelin