LOVE double LP OUT HERE orig HARVEST Ex/Ex/Ex/Ex 1stP

	£		30
	$		40

Rare early first pressings without the EMI LOGO's on the record labels!

A rare and quite high book value piece of melodic acid/country rock from the great Arthur Lee and LOVE, a UK made early first pressing set of the fifth (double) LP from them on EMI's UK HARVEST label as SHDW 3/4 ~ (STEREO 1970)

(Arthur Lee of course is credited as Arthurly at this time!)

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These LP's are in stiff, medium weight 136 gram vinyl and have the matrix numbers:
"S H D W 3 A-1" on side 1,
"S H D W 3 B-2" on side 2,
"S H D W 4 A-1" on side 3 and
"S H D W 4 B-2" on side 4

All four sides have a "1" at the 9 o'clock Mother code position and an "H", a "P", a "T" and an "L" at the 3 o'clock Stamper code positions for sides 1-4 respectively.
The above indicates that for both LP's, all four sides are pressings using the very first Mothers taken from the first Master lacquers and are very early ones to boot as side 1 is from the 6th Stamper, side 2 from the 5th, side 3 from the 8th and side 4 from the 7th Stamper.
So the vinyl is as early a first pressing as you are likely to find!
Why does this matter? (See Note A below for more....)

This is one that I bought in a second hand record shop back in Chelsea around 1971/2 as I had no LOVE albums but liked them, so I have not had it from new, but it's nevertheless in good nick and plays extremely well, with no visible or audible scratches or clicks & pops; I found I only really liked side 3, which reminds me a lot of the Axis Bold as Brass album, so there is no point hanging onto this one........

It was the second iteration of LOVE and this was the first album for BLUE THUMB after the bust up with ELEKTRA Records and, as I say, in places is very influenced by AL's associations with Jimi Hendrix.

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I am not a record dealer, just always been a lover of great music and lucky enough to have seen many of the 1960's and 1970's great & famous playing in the London clubs like the Marquee, Crawdaddy and UFO (I still have my membership cards!) and this album, like the others I will be listing from now on, is from my own collection and was bought because of the music and benefits from having always been in an animal free and non-smoking environment, whilst I owned it.
It's started at a realistic price with NO RESERVE; great vinyl condition and a great cover and clean and original inner sleeves.

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Please scroll right down to see the big images I have put for this album

I stopped selling my records on eBay back in August 2008 because of eBay's stupid free postage rule but now it's been reversed, I am starting again, so please check my bidder's feedback on the records I sold before then - you will see I describe my records 100% truthfully so you can bid in confidence - any questions, just ask!

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The records themselves are pressed in medium grade, fairly stiff vinyl and are very clean on both sides; they have just a few spindle marks on the labels, No writing, fingerprints, stickers or other negative aspects and still have tight spindle holes!
The labels are the rarest NON-EMI LOGO variety, grooved types with a sharply printed green HARVEST logo and outer ring of makers details on a clean yellow ground and with the record track & music listing printed in black.

There are a NO *sleeve marks on the record surfaces, which have no discernible surface noise, NO clicks or jumps and NO crackles or pops and obviously, NO scratches!
There is a minuscule vertical movement of under 0.2 mm (0.5 mm) peak to peak at record SHDW3's (SHDW4's) periphery and a horizontal displacement, which I estimate to be well under 0.5 mm (0.5 mm) peak to peak so they run flat and true and play beautifully and in this respect are "as new"; (please understand that there is absolutely no audible effect from such very low levels of mechanical movement, but I am stating these parameters from now on to further improve the accuracy of my estimates of the true condition of records I sell on eBay).
(*See Note B below for more....)

I have just played this to check it out once more and I cannot detect any audible degradation, it still sounds fresh and sparkling, despite it’s age, and is very representative of the clean recording techniques

The famous "Star-gazer", non flip-back gatefold cover is the original, being a "Clarifoil" laminated front, E.J. Day Group UK printed one, in excellent condition with just four very minor spine creases, slight corner wear, no shelf wear, no writing and just a tiny amount of pressure ring rubbing visible on the cellophane at front and rear, (see the pictures). There is no lifting of the film either and it is as bright as it always has been and the inside is clean with just very minor age browning. The front does bear the original "Blue Thumb on Harvest" special introductory offer sticker at top-right, which is best left in my view.
(Scroll down to see the large images to check the reflections in the angled images I have given of this cover to see for yourselves how good this cover really is)

The sleeves are the original and correct simple cream coloured paper type and have no folds, no writing or marks and without any of the age browning that is typical of these early simple papers.

Using the Record Collector grading system, the vinyl is thus EXCELLENT on all four sides, the cover and sleeve are also EXCELLENT.

Note A: Masters are taken from the original lacquers - which are machine cut on a "lathe" at slow speed from the original mixed down master tapes - so the earlier the Master, the closer the fidelity of what is on them will be to the actual original master tapes as each successive Master that is made degrades the original lacquer a bit more, (so the "lacquer" number is actually the Master number!). Then, from each Master, Mothers are made, which in turn are used to make the Stampers that actually press the vinyl; up to about 400 or so Stampers will be copied from a Mother and the lower the number once more, the less degraded will be the music in the grooves as the process wears out the Mothers.
So the lower the Master lacquer the better and the lower the Mother and then the Stamper number the better for the closest reproduction to the original tapes, provided that the vinyl is in good condition of course.

Note B: Surface marks are either a sort of matt area marking over the record surface, (usually from the plastic inner liners of some sleeves and probably due to pressure from adjacent records when stored - caused I believe by migration of the plastisizer from the polythene inner sleeve onto the vinyl surface), or they may be faint lines originating from the withdrawal and reinsertion of the record back into it’s sleeve. Such markings will always be present in a record that has been played and are discernible often only by holding the record at an angle under a strong light, but these cosmetic only and are NOT scratches, which are mechanical damage caused by actions such as dropping or knocking the arm so it skates over the record surface, or worse. Such scratches, as I define them, WILL be clearly visible and will definitely be audible at the very least and I shall state if they are there, as well as defining the level of any surface marking.
I will also always provide the best images I can of the actual record surfaces and labels so that bidders can actually SEE the condition of the record in all respects, (any dust specks you may notice on the images are always inside the damn camera lens assembly!)

If you are interested in early British R & B and Progressive Rock Bands and the USA West Coast bands of the time then please add me to your favourites as I do have some rarities that I have never seen on eBay. I generally do not go in for all the b******s about rare first pressings and the excessive detailing of group histories that I see other sellers boring eBay members with, but have put more details in than usual as this band are not well known, and will describe the records honestly, just indicating the basics.

The packed weight of this item is estimated at 670g and signed for postage via 2nd class Recorded Delivery is shown as £3.10 to UK addresses, insured to £41.00, (if the final value goes over this, then I shall send it Special Delivery in the UK, insured to £500.00 at £5.50).
International shipping will be via Airsure or International Signed For small packets rate; International bidders can check for themselves the postal costs at the www.royalmail.co.uk web site; for example, the Airsure Small Packet rate to Ireland, France, Germany and most of the EU is £9.74, increasing to £12.24, insured to £500.00 should the final bid go over £41.00. (To the USA & Canada, these prices rise to £13.75 & £16.25 respectively; to Japan, Australia & NZ the record has to go via the International Signed For Small Packets service at £13.10 & £15.60 respectively)
All records are now protected with Jiffy foam and packed into the heaviest grade of mailer I could find with two of the heaviest available stiffener boards and so I do now add a charge at cost of £0.70 for the heavy grade mailer & boards set and the foam.
Records are generally sent within their paper sleeves, inserted into a separate sealed plastic bag and over-wrapped with new Jiffy foam for protection, the cover is placed in it’s own plastic protection bag for in-transit water damage protection, then placed with the record(s) between the boards and taped up on all edges for overall shipping protection prior to insertion into the mailer.
This protects the sleeve from record edge cut through as I want my customers to get their records and sleeves undamaged, but if you wish me to use another method of packing, please ask.
No packing charges are added, other than actual the materials cost; you just pay what I pay to send it!

The small print, but please read it

NB: This item may be picked up in person, or will be despatched securely, on a traceable and insured service only, so it will need to be signed for on delivery; I will not send it to a PO box, or care of a business address without written acceptance of your liability for loss, theft or damage; the delivery address must also tally with the registered address within both eBay and PayPal.

Carriage charges, where indicated, are for UK (zone 1) post codes only. If you are in other zones or are an overseas bidder, you can get an estimate of carriage costs by checking with the www.royalmail.co.uk web site, choosing the International Shipping option, and then entering the estimated shipping weight shown above, tick "packet" and choose Airsure and an insurance value appropriate to the item's final value.

Payment may be by bank transfer, Pay Pal, cash if collecting in person, or cheque, but please note that I am now very reluctant to accept cheques over £100 net and am also advised by the bank that I must wait at least 12 working days for clearance on both cheques and bank transfers before items can be despatched or picked up; this means that items will not be released on average until two weeks have elapsed from a transfer or a cheque's deposit at the bank, so please be patient!
NB: If you wish to pay by postal order(s), you should be aware that these are treated exactly the same as cheques now and so you should contact me first before sending any.

Please confirm your full address and landline telephone number when completing the transaction via the eBay and PayPal notes system to avoid delays on despatch; I now check identifies before sending items because of fraud attempts

I now also reserve the right to cancel your bid if you have zero or very low/bad feedback; if you are in this situation, you must provide me with your full details by e-mail prior to bidding to avoid this action, and please remember that this auction is in £ Sterling (GBP) and not $ US or Euros or whatever! You can also forget it if you think I will fall for money laundering attempts. All attempts at fraud or deception will be reported and the perpetrator blocked at once!

I will immediately cancel the bids of anyone who has only just joined eBay, or is bidding from Cambodia or Nigeria, etc. (including any winning bids at the last second); sorry, but I am fed up with losing fees that eBay will not refund!