NICK DRAKE Five Leaves Left 1969 EARLIEST 1st Press

	£		420
	$		557

On offer here is a very rare LP (especially in this condition!!!!) by Nick Drake called 'Five Leaves Left' and is a 1969 UK 'earliest' 1st Stereo pressing on the 1st Press 'Block' Island label!!!! THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE!!!!  IN FACT THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE RAREST LPS I HAVE EVER LISTED!!!!  OF COURSE THIS LP IS VERY VERY RARE IN ITS OWN RIGHT - BUT THIS PARTICULAR ONE IS VERY VERY SPECIAL INDEED!!!!  THIS MEGA RARE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING IS MASSIVELY RARE AND INCREDIBLY SPECIAL FOR A VERY IMPORTANT REASON!!!!  I WILL EXPLAIN.  MOST 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP ARE USUALLY ALWAYS FOUND ON A FLAT SHINY LABEL ON THINNER VINYL (LIKE MOST LATE 1969/70 ISLAND PRESSINGS).  HOWEVER THIS ONE IS ONE OF THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSINGS EVER ON 'DOUBLE THICKNESS' VINYL AND HAS TEXTURED LABELS - EXACTLY LIKE EARLIER ISLAND LPS (LIKE 1ST PRESSINGS OF 'THIS WAS' BY JETHRO TULL FOR EXAMPLE)!!!!  IT IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER FIND THIS LP ON A 'TEXTURED' LABEL AND DOUBLE THICKNESS VINYL (I HAVE ONLY EVER SEEN 1 OTHER) AND THIS OF COURSE INDICATES THE VERY EARLIEST POSSIBLE 1ST PRESSING OF THIS LP AND MAKES IT AMAZINGLY RARE!!!!  NOT ONLY THAT BUT THE MATRIXES ARE DIFFERENT TO ALL OTHER LATER 1ST PRESSINGS!!!!  THE LATER PRESSING MATRIXES ARE MUCH SMALLER IN A LONG LINE.  WHEREAS THIS EARLIEST 1ST PRESSINGS HAS AN 'EARLIEST' STYLE OF LARGER STAMPED MATRIXES (LIKE ALL EARLIER ISLAND LPS)!!!!  THEY COULD EVEN BE DIFFERENT TO ALL OTHER LATER PRESSINGS - THOUGH UNFORTUNATELY I DONT HAVE A LATER 1ST PRESS TO COMPARE THEM TO.  SO COULD THESE DIFFERENT MATRIXES INDICATE A DIFFERENT MIX?  I HONESTLY DONT KNOW - BUT ONE THING IS CERTAIN I HAVE LISTENED TO THIS LP AT LENGTH AND IT CERTAINLY HAS AN AMAZINGLY IN DEPTH CRYSTAL CLEAR SOUND AND SEEMS TO ME TO HAVE A MUCH HIGHER QUALITY OF SOUND THAN THE LATER 1ST PRESSINGS I HAVE LISTENED TO IN THE PAST.  AND CERTAINLY THE MEGA THICK DOUBLE THICKNESS VINYL MUST GIVE A MUCH BETTER QUALITY PRESSING THAN THE THINNER VINYL 1ST PRESSINGS THAT FOLLOWED LATER.  EITHER WAY THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AS 'TEXTURED' LABEL, DOUBLE THICKNESS VINYL 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING - AND HAS TO MAKE THIS LP MUCH MUCH  RARER THAN THE LATER STANDARD THINNER VINYL 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP!!!!  THIS IS THE 1969 UK 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING ON THE 'TEXTURED' 'BLOCK' ISLAND LABEL, 1ST PRESS INNER SLEEVE, AND THE 1ST PRESS E.J.DAY GATEFOLD COVER (WITH THE COMPLETE 1ST PRESS ISLAND LOGO ON THE BACK COVER)!!!!  THIS IS A SERIOUSLY RARE LP IN EVERY RESPECT - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS MASSIVELY RARE OPPORTUNITY!!!! This is the ORIGINAL Stereo UK 'Earliest' 1st pressing from 1969 and is in BRILLIANT condition!!!! The record is pressed on MEGA THICK quality vinyl. The Cat. No is ILPS 9105 on the ORIGINAL 'earliest' 1st Press 'Block' TEXTURED Island label (see picture) and is a Stereo UK 1st pressing!!!!  All the tracks are Pure quality Nick Drake at his best!!!! Any fan of Nick Drake, or 60s music in general, will want to have this in their collection - especially in this condition!!!!

The MEGA RARE 'Textured' record labels are in STUNNING condition (see pictures) with NO wear, NO writing, and only a few light spindle marks!!!! The vinyl is in BRILLIANT condition!!!! Most of these 60s LPs had been to a lot of wild parties and are usually found totally worn out, and almost unplayable. This one is NOT and has NO scratches, 1 small hairline type mark, and only a few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light!!!! THIS RECORD LOOKS STUNNING AND STILL RETAINS EVERY BIT OF ITS ORIGINAL 'JUST PRESSED' LOOK!!!! It is great to find that the playing of the record is as STUNNING as the visual!!!! It plays with NO pops, only a few dull clicks (from the small hairline type mark), NO sticking, NO jumps, a couple of brief sounds on one track, NO hiss and only the VERY slightest occassional touch of crackle in a VERY few places (but mostly completely SILENT)!!!! THIS RECORD PLAYS BRILLIANTLY WITH CRYSTAL CLEAR SOUND!!!! The only other thing to mention (and I doubt if most would even mention it) is that under absolute EXTREME light there is a slight 'shine' to record - though this looks to be part of the pressing and is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to see!!!!  Needless to say it doesnt affect the STUNNING look or AMAZING sound of this record!!!!  The record must grade Very Good++++ if not better!!!! Believe me this record is NOT overgraded in ANY way!!!! I use STRICT RC grading standards - it is not in my interest not to!!!! Brillant!!!! The record still has its ORIGINAL 1st Press inner sleeve!!!! The 'Earliest' 1st Press Gatefold E.J.Day Cover is GREAT condition!!!! This is the EARLIEST 1st Press Cover with the FULL Island Logo on the reverse!!!! It has slight roughening/darkening to the edges (NOT through the colour), slight roughening/darkening to the spinal edge (NOT through the colour - some side words still visible), only some VERY minimal rubbing (only VERY slight on the cover front - NONE on the cover back), only a few light creases (cover is still VERY flat looking), only slight corner wear (NOT through the colour), ZERO ringwear (MEGA rare on this cover), and NO writing!!!!  There is also 2 or 3 TINY marks (NOT tears) on the cover front (NOT through the colour) but these really dont show much and are VERY minor. The opening edges are beautifully straight with NO feathering!!!! Even the unlaminated inside is in BRILLIANT condition with only VERY minimal rubbing towards the top, NO ringwear, NO writing, NO yellowing and NO grubbyness!!!! The rear of the cover is SUPERB with NO rubbing, NO grubbyness, NO staining, NO writing and barely ANY yellowing AT ALL!!!!  IT IS INCREDIBLY HARD TO FIND A COVER BACK FOR THIS LP IN THIS CONDITION!!!!  Not only that but there is NO sticker tears on this cover and is VERY hard to find!!!! This cover is still VERY presentable and although the cover isnt ANYWHERE NEAR as important as the MEGA RARE 'TEXTURED' 1ST PRESS RECORD - it is still VERY nice indeed!!!!  Despite the few minor defects this cover has, the cover back is INCREDIBLY nice (MEGA rare on this cover) and for this reason the cover must grade Very Good+!!!! THIS LP IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND AS A 1969 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING WITH A 'TEXTURED' 1ST PRESS LABEL AND DOUBLE THICKNESS VINYL!!!!  IT IS ALSO IN GREAT CONDITION AND PLAYS BRILLIANTLY!!!!  DONT MISS OUT ON THIS SERIOUSLY RARE OPPORTUNITY!!!!

HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I DO MY BEST TO SHOW THE RECORD FROM ALL ANGLES AND MAKE THE PICTURES AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE - THERE IS NOTHING TO HIDE!!!! It really is a GREAT looking LP and it is truly rare to find any copies of this MEGA RARE LP in this sort of condition!!!! THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO BUY AN ORIGINAL UK 1969 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING OF "FIVE LEAVES LEFT", BY NICK DRAKE, IN GREAT CONDITION!!!! Dont forget to have a look at all my other auctions including many other TOP LPs and contact me with any queries you may have. P&P £3 in the UK, £4 Europe, £6 Rest Of The World.  Paypal, IMOs, Cash, Cheques, and Post Orders accepted. Overseas MUST use either Cash, IMOs or Paypal. Thanks for looking . Cheers!!!!!

On 24-Nov-02 at 12:19:15 GMT, seller added the following information: