Nirvana Bleach Sealed Original Pressing Rare White Vinyl LP Sub Pop SP34 1989
$
3,000
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Description
Nirvana Bleach Sealed* Original Pressing Rare White Vinyl LP (Sub Pop, SP34).
A rare white vinyl sealed copy of Nirvana's first album Bleach, released on Sub Pop Records in June of 1989. Recorded on a tiny budget, this LP was initially pressed in a quantity of 1,000 on white vinyl, and very shortly afterwards a subsequent 2,000-copies black-vinyl run. Neither of these first two pressings carried a bar code, as our example here doesn't, so this specimen is one of those two pressings. However, when the album is still sealed* like this, it's impossible to tell which color of vinyl is inside. There is no "tell" on the outside record jacket. Many of the second pressing featured a poster inside as well, and this copy does not have the weight or feel that a poster is in there. All subsequent, post-1989 pressings of SP34 (its catalog number to this day) have a bar code on the jacket.
*After a few requests, I included a pic showing side opening, where I cut a 2" slit so you can see white sleeve.
Here is a message I got from a fellow eBay member who had additional information:
"One difference I’ve noticed when completely sealed is that the blacks were shrink-wrapped differently than the whites. The whites have a fold dead center on the rear (the shrink overlaps—it’s very visible). On the black copies I’ve seen, there is no fold, it’s smooth across the back with my own copy being the same—smooth. Your copy has the fold, and my white copies all have the fold, and the white copy that sold last month here on eBay had the fold."
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The sessions cost $606.17 - and it was paid for by second guitarist Jason Everman (who was never paid back by the band). Tentatively called "Too Many Humans," the cover photograph was done by Tracy Marander (Kurt Cobain's girlfriend at the time and the inspiration for "About a Girl"). In NM 8 condition with mostly firm corners and light ring wear. COA from Heritage Auctions.
Bleach is the debut studio album by American rock band Nirvana, released on June 15, 1989, by Sub Pop. After the release of their debut single "Love Buzz" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana rehearsed for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album. The main recording sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989. It is the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop label and their only album to feature drummer Chad Channing.
Bleach did not chart upon initial release, but was well received by critics. When reissued internationally by Geffen Records in 1992 following the success of Nirvana's second album, Nevermind, Bleach peaked at number 89 on the Billboard 200, peaked at number 33 on the UK Albums Chart and number 34 on the Australian albums chart. In 2009, Sub Pop released a 20th anniversary edition of Bleach featuring a live recording of a 1990 Nirvana performance in Portland, Oregon as bonus material.
Bleach had sold 40,000 copies in North America before the release of Nevermind. It has since been certified platinum by the RIAA and has sold more than 1.9 million copies in the United States alone. It is Sub Pop's best-selling album to date and is unlikely to be surpassed by competitors. Frontman Kurt Cobain's death in April 1994 also led to a resurgence in the album's popularity, reaching number one on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. In April 2019, Bleach was ranked No. 13 on Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Grunge Albums list.
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