STRAWBS "Strawbs" 1969 UK A&M DEBUT 1st PRESSING

	£		47
	$		62

STRAWBS "Strawbs" 1969 UK A&M DEBUT 1st PRESSING
1st CENTRE LOADING MacNeill SLEEVE, WONDERFUL LP
STRAWBS
Strawbs


HERE WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT, UK (AMLS 936) VERY FIRST PRESSING (May 1969) OF STRAWBS' OUTSTANDING EPONYMOUS DEBUT LP FOR A&M RECORDS (STRAWBS WERE ACTUALLY THE FIRST UK ACT SIGNED FOR THE LABEL)

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL WITH DEEP CUT GROOVES WHICH DELIVER A TREMENDOUS CLEAN, RICH AND WARM SOUND - BEAUTIFUL LP
THE RECORD HAS THE FIRST ISSUE MUSTARD COLOURED A&M LABELS
FIRST PRESS MATRIX: AMLS 936 A-1 *T / AMLS 936 B-1 *T (w/ 'KT' tax code etched on both run-offs)
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/O, 1/M
AND IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL ISSSUE, CENTRE LOADING GATEFOLD SLEEVE "Printed and made by MacNeill Press Ltd., London, S.E.1". THIS CENTRE LOADING DESIGN IS THE VERY FIRST (AND LESS COMMON) SLEEVE VARIANT - LATER ISSUES WERE OF THE STANDARD SIDE LOADING CONSTRUCTION

Musicians:
Dave Cousins (vcls, gtrs)
Tony Hooper (vcls, gtrs)
Ron Chesterman (dbl bs)

Strawbs had previously worked and recorded an album with Sandy Denny but this is their first proper album (recorded just after Sandy Denny decided to go back to her blossoming solo career, and subsequently joined Fairport Convention), but their wealth of prior live and studio experience most likely helped make it sound more confident and fully formed than many a debut effort.
US label A&M were just starting up a London office, and Sonet's head, Karl Knudsen, sent a copy of the Sandy tapes to a contact at A&M, and as a result the Strawbs became the first UK band signed to the label.
The group distinguished itself among the burgeoning school of British folk-rockers by delivering bittersweet folk-rock with a storytelling flavor.
Dave Cousins' songwriting was on the sober and occasionally over-earnest side, but nonetheless the record was strong and alluring enough to immediately establish the Strawbs as one of the better first-generation U.K. folk-rock outfits.
Some of these songs had been around for a while, as the presence of some of them on Preserves Uncanned and Sandy Denny & the Strawbs attests. However, the group took big strides from bare-bones folk-rock in the studio by dressing these in arrangements -- sometimes with light recorder, choral backup vocals, and orchestration -- that gave the Elizabethan melodies a pastoral, quasi-classical feel at times, without losing sight of an acoustic base. "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" and "Where Is This Dream of Your Youth" are among their best and most ambitious songs
The single from the album "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" was, predictably, banned by the BBC


Track Listing:
Side 1: The Man Who Called Himself Jesus / That Which Once Was Mine / All The Little Ladies / Pieces Of 79 And 15 / Tell Me What You See In Me / Oh How She Changed
Side 2: Or Am I Dreaming / Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth / Poor Jimmy Wilson / Where Am I - I'll Show You Where To Sleep / The Battle

LABELS: The labels are BRIGHT with NO unwanted writing and are CLEAN apart from a small stain near the centre hole on Side Two - please see photos - nothing major
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its DEEP, GLOSSY SHEEN with just some superficial sleeve removal hairlines which have no major audio consequence
VINYL Audio: BEAUTIFUL AUDIO - DEEP, RICH and WARM - SENSATIONAL DELIVERY THROUGHOUT. There are NO jumps, NO sticks, NO scratches, just a couple of clicks/pops (really, hardly any) and a little touch of surface noise for a couple of seconds only on the run-ins - nothing I found at all intrusive. This is a really WONDERFUL LP which plays with GREAT CLARITY, NO groove-wear and NO distortion. Must be very conservatively graded a VERY GOOD++ for audio. NOT over-graded in ANY way as I use strict RECORD COLLECTOR grading standards (please refer to my feedback and 'about me' page).
SLEEVE: The 1st issue (centre loading) sleeve is in EXCELLENT condition. The surfaces are CLEAN and UNMARKED and the THICK SPINE displays all text SHARP and CLEAR. The single fold over leaf of the gatefold has a little feathering to its edge but this is a SUPERB sleeve and as the centre loading variant - pretty hard to find (please see photos)

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY PICTURES AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
EXCELLENT VERY FIRST UK PRESSING OF STRAWBS' SUPERB FULLY FORMED DEBUT
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
AND PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE
THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

PLEASE REFER TO MY 'ABOUT ME' PAGE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON MY PLAY-GRADING, EQUIPMENT USED, P&P etc

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (Recorded Delivery)
EU: Airmail: £5.00 (Insured & Signed For: £8.50)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £8.00 (Insured & Signed For: £11.50)

UK bidders: PayPal or Cheque
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REDUCED POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS (EACH ADDITIONAL LP: UK: £1.00, EU & INTERNATIONAL £2.00)
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 277 (GS 5.2 (277))