SIMON DUPREE & BIG SOUND - WITHOUT RESERVATIONS 1967 1st UK PRESS GENTLE GIANT

	£		34
	$		45

SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND

WITHOUT RESERVATIONS

PARLOPHONE

PMC 7029

  1st UK PRESS 

Machined Matrices XEX 639-1 XEX 640-1

Machined matrices "G" on each side, indicating the very first pressed batch of f the presses.

Splendid psych/experimental album in great VG++ condition!! This will doubtlessly be of interest to Gentle Giant collectors.

They started as The Howling Wolves and then became The Road Runners, playing R&B around the Portsmouth area, home of the Shulman brothers, becoming Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in early 1966.[1] Making up the rest of the group were Peter O'Flaherty (bass guitar) (born 8 May 1944, in Gosport, Hampshire), Eric Hine (keyboards) (born Eric Raymond Lewis Hines, 4 September 1944, in Portsmouth, Hampshire), and Tony Ransley (drums) (born Anthony John Ransley, 17 May 1944, in Portsmouth, Hampshire).[1] Those early group names aside, their repertory was focused a lot more on the songs of Wilson Pickett, Don Covay, and Otis Redding, than on the Howlin' Wolf or Bo Diddley.[1] 'Simon Dupree and the Big Sound' came about in the course of their search for a flashy name.[1]

The group were signed to EMI's Parlophone label, under producer Dave Paramor.[1] Their first few singles, notably "I See The Light" (1966), failed to chart, then in October 1967, the group's management and their record label decided to try moving Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in the direction of psychedelia.

They only broke through at the end of 1967 with the psychedelic "Kites", a Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart.[2] Regarding themselves as blue-eyed soul brothers, they hated it as it was so unrepresentative of their usual style.[1] The follow-up, "For Whom The Bell Tolls", was only a minor hit, and a subsequent single "Broken Hearted Pirates", featuring an uncredited Dudley Moore on piano, made no headway at all.[citation needed]

A then unknown keyboard player by the name of Reginald Dwight was hired to fill in for an ill Eric Hine and he joined them on a 1967 tour in Scotland. They were asked to allow him to stay on, and he was almost recruited as a permanent member. They politely rejected the chance to record any of his compositions (although they did ultimately record "I'm Going Home" as the B-side of their final (contractually obligated) single,) and laughed when he told them he was adopting the stage name of Elton John.[3] On 5 April 1968, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound appeared alongside Amen Corner, Gene Pitney, Don Partridge and Status Quo at The Odeon Theatre, Lewisham, London, on the first night as part of a twice nightly UK tour. In early 1969 they were booked to appear at the Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry, but did not turn up. Their support act Raymond Froggatt played the entire evening.[4]

The group released one studio album; Without Reservation, on Parlophone Records (1967), and a compilation Amen (1980). A more recent set, Part Of My Past (2004), includes all their singles, album tracks and previously unreleased material prepared for their second album, release of which was cancelled at the time.

In late 1968, they released a single "We Are The Moles (Part 1)/(Part 2)" under the moniker The Moles. Released on the Parlophone label, the single did not give any hint towards the identity of the artists, claiming that both songs were written, performed and produced by The Moles. Rumours began to spread that it was an obscure output by The Beatles, who also were under contract at Parlophone, with Ringo Starr on lead vocals. When interest began to rise concerning the release, Syd Barrett stated that Simon Dupree & The Big Sound were the faces behind The Moles. Confronted with this, the band admitted.[5]

Frustrated as being seen as one-hit wonders being pushed by their record label as a pop group rather than the soul band they had always intended to be, they disbanded in 1969 and the Shulman brothers went on to form the successful progressive rock group Gentle Giant. (from Wiki.com).

THIS HEAVY GLOSSY VINYL PLAYS GREAT ALL THE WAY THROUGH BOTH SIDES. 

THE MONO SOUND REPRODUCTION IS SUPERB AND EVERY NOTE IS HEARD CLEARLY AND CRISPLY WITHOUT DISTORTION.  NEEDLESS TO SAY, NO STICKS OR JUMPS!

Vinyl: VG++. Only a few light hairlines that have no implication for the audio reproduction, this sounds great!!  The audio has beautiful separation and there is hardly ever any background noise. I played this twice in full and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was even tempted to keep this as it will be a very hard item to find  again, it is indeed megarare now, even more so than the first gentle Giant albums. Needless to say NO jumps, clicks or ticks. This will be a fantastic upgrade for most long time collectors!!

Sleeve: VG++.  Front laminated. A great example of this rarely seen album. A couple of underlaminate creases near the opening. As seen on the pics some browning near the back opening. NO writing. NO splits. The spine is 100 % fully legible. NO writing.

Inner sleeve: EX.  Rarely seen these days the original "Emitex" polylined inner sleeve (like the ones with the early Beatles albums)  is still present.

This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next psych album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 45.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.