O'JAYS BACK ON TOP ULTRA-RARE ORIG '68 BELL WHITE LABEL PROMO-ONLY MONO LP MINT

$

237

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  MORE THAN 300  LISTED ITEMS

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·       THE O'JAYS - BACK ON TOP - ULTRA-RARE ORIGINAL 1979 BELL RECORDS STEREO LP 6014 (PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A 1970 REISSUE OF THE ALBUM ( ALSO ON BELL RECORDS)  RENAMED, SIMPLY, TO, "O'JAYS" (BELL 6082), WITH IDENTICAL TRACK LISTING AND TRACK SEQUENCE, BUT WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COVER AND CATALOG NUMBER); THIS IS ONE AND ONLY REAL, ORIGINAL 1968 PROMO-ONLY MONO PRESSING

·       ORIGINAL US PRESSING

·       *** INSANELY RARE PROMOTIONAL-ONLY MONO COPY; MONO VERSION OF THIS ALBUM WAS NEVER COMMERCIALLY RELEASED IN ANY WAY OR FORM ***

·       *** WHITE (ACTUALLY: PALE BLUE) LABEL PROMO ***

·       *** IN ADDITION,  THE PROMOTIONAL STICKER ON THE COVER CLEARLY IDENTIFIES THE ITEM AS PROMOTIONAL ***

·       ORIGINAL BELL LABEL, WHITE (PALE BLUE) PROMO VERSION

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·       THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·       THE RECORD HAS 'AUDIOMATRIX' STAMP IN THE TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) AREA, WHICH IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED A PROOF OF AUTHENTICITY OF THE FIRST PRESSING.

·       As far as we know, this album has NEVER been available on legitimate Compact Disc or in any other way, manner or format.

 (►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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The Back on Top album cover deceptively depicts five O'Jays when actually only four members -- Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell and Bobby Massey -- sing on these tracks; Bill Isle, the fifth member, quit in the late '60s, and the cover was shot in the mid-'60s, when the group recorded for Imperial Records. George Kerr produced most of these tracks, with some productions from the Poindexter brothers; the recordings were originally released on Bell Records. "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow," a gorgeous ballad, became their highest chart entry to date. The follow-up, "Look Over Your Shoulder," nearly duplicated its predecessor's success; both were indicators of good things to come. The B-sides of the aforementioned, "I Dig Your Act" and "I'm So Glad I Found You," were both quality uptempo grooves, and all four sides were led by Eddie Levert. Walter Williams handled the lead on their third 45 for Bell Records, "The Choice," an energetic message about finding yourself. It did poorly, and its flip, "Going, Going, Gone," had more in common with the first two releases but was not nearly as compelling. The fourth single, "I Miss You," didn't receive much play, even in the Cantonian's adopted hometown of Cleveland. The slow, meandering ballad just didn't have enough of the right stuff. The flip, "Now That I Found You," featured Levert and Williams alternating leads on the same song for the first time. Two more singles were released by Bell: "Don't You Know a True Love When You See It," which was a drastic change in their style, and "Four for the Price of One," released in 1973 to capitalize on their success at Philadelphia International Records. Bell slapped "Look Over Your Shoulder" onto the flip of the remake of Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "Two for the Price of One." Walter Williams' best lead, "Just Another Guy," tenderly sung in his mercurial baritone, never appeared on a 45. This is an O'Jays fanatics' must-have; the only disappointment is that neither Kerr nor the Poindexter brothers saw fit to feature the late William Powell's chilling falsetto.

 (EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY ANDREW HAMILTON, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

THE WHITE LABEL PROMO, RADIO STATION-, AUDITION OR DEMONSTRATION COPIES AND RELEASES (such as the one we have here) were often distributed to the radio stations before the record was released to the public, sometimes as much as four months ahead. These records are generally considered to be the "first among equals": the VERY FIRST generation and the VERY FIRST pressings of the particular title; a PROTOTYPE and the earliest known official pressing of the record.

In this case, though, this is a rather moot point,  since this rare promo-only version of the album was never commercially released to begin with.

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·       CONDITION:

·       THE RECORD

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)          WE GRADE THE VINYL  AS  NEAR MINT. Some VERY LIGHT AND SUPERFICIAL abrasions – mostly sleeve scuffs -  are (barely) visible, but are probably inaudible,  and do not affect visual integrity or beauty of the vinyl. The original luster is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)          The record is  apparently pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)           WHITE LABEL PROMO-ONLY MONO pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more  preferable to its stereo counterpart. We think that the mix is more natural, humane, "organic" and that the mixes are somewhat different than on the stereo version. We estimate that stereo copies of this album outnumber mono pressings by a ratio of at least 100:1.

(d)          Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 THE COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT EXCELLENT OR VERY GOOD+++.

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-        Cover has JUST A HINT of ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 1 (front side) and 2 (back side)

-        Back cover has circular tarnish (grayish, dust-covered sections, which closely follow the contour of the record),  probably caused by friction or by rubbing against other covers during the storage. The tarnish is similar in appearance to a common ring wear, but, UNLIKE ring wear, these grayish areas may be possible to clean up with a minor effort and with a right cleansing solution.

-        Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging   (nothing significant).

-        Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine  (BARELY VISIBLE)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

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