Sealed debut vinyl album by Taj Mahal

$

26

Up for auction is the SEALED 1968 self-titled debut vinyl album by Taj Mahal on the Columbia label.  Original USA release - not a re-issue or reproduction.  Personnel.  Ry Cooder, Jessie Ed Davis, and Charles Blackwell.
Rating: Disk: see SEALED RECORD note below - Cover: MN/EX
Condition: Cover has slightly bumped upper right corner and split in shrink at opening side – otherwise in mint condition – not a cut-out. 

1. Taj Mahal - Taj Mahal – Columbia - (CS 9579) – Stereo “360 Sound” – 1968.

Track listing:
Side 1:
1. Leaving Trunk
2. Statesboro Blues
3. Checkin' Up On My Baby
4. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime
Side 2:
1. E Z Rider
2. Dust My Broom
3. Diving Duck Blues
4. The Celebrated Walkin' Blues

My ratings for records strive to be simple, boringly accurate, and are as follows.  Please note, if I have not recently played the record, my assessment is based solely on a visual inspection under a strong light, and obviously, my ratings could be out of whack.
For Disks:
Mint (M) - only used for sealed, as purchased, and obviously, never played (but see note below on sealed records, if applicable). 
Excellent (EX): No scratches, skips, pops, clicks, scuffs, a clean surface - very little evidence of having been played
Good (G): a few pops or clicks but no skips, minor scuffing, clean surface
Fair (F): minor scratches, scuffs, some manufacturing defects, no skips
Poor (P): numerous scratches, scuffs - a few isolated skips (I will offer records with a small number of skips only if the item is somewhat rare - and the skip may be “worked around” with better playback equipment than I have)
For record jackets:
Mint (M) - sealed, shrink wrapped, as purchased and no cut-out hole, notches, slits, straight clipped corners, circular clipped corners, metal ferrule inserts, clean edged hole, ragged edged hole, under shrink wrap damage, labels, stickers, bumped or smushed corners, bends, creases, nothing, nada, zip.
Excellent (EX): May have shrink wrap and may be sealed, no writing, wear rings, bends, a clean surface, may have cut-out or hole punched through cover
Good (G): clean, no writing, minor staining, small amount of disk/shelf wear - some defects that may be found under shrink wrap
Fair (F): minor staining, wear, or writing, minor splits on seams
Poor (P): major staining, wear, and/or writing, seam(s) split (offered at auction only if the item is somewhat rare)

Domestic USA shipping only - absolutely no exceptions –don’t ask - will gladly ship to a US address for foreign buyers.  International buyers: Please do not pay until you receive an invoice from me – not the invoice from eBay. 

Item is sold as is.  Buyer to pay actual shipping charges to be determined after the end of auction.  Please note: there is a $1.00 handling change (includes inserts and shipping box).  For your protection items (or groups of records) totaling $25 or more will require delivery confirmation and insurance (approximately $2.50).  Packages will be shipped Media Mail - will use Priority Mail if quicker shipping is preferred.  Paypal or Personal Check (please ask about other forms of payment) accepted for payment.  Winner will be contacted after close of auction.  Will combine items to lower shipping and handling fees.  Will ship up to 4 records per box.  Payment expected within 5 days of auction’s close. 

Finally, please do not ask for special handling that will substantially increase the weight of the package after you have sent payment.  Also, if you have a problem with the listing then let me know before bidding – especially if I have made an error or have not been able to find definitive information regarding a listing.  Returns will only be made on a misrepresentation on my part – not, for instance, on a difference of opinion on what is or is not a scuff or a scratch.  Thanks for looking. 

Cautionary note on Sealed Records
Not all sealed records are in Mint, Excellent or even Very Good condition.  An LP’s jacket that is sealed with shrink wrap may have obvious signs of cover wear and may be marred by a punched hole (of varying sizes), narrow slits, or a clipped corner (also of varying sizes), which automatically detract from the cover’s rating.  Sometime a small brass plug was used in the cover to denote a cut-out.  These types of marks indicate the record was taken out of circulation and sold at discount.  Evidently record distributors re-shrunk-wrapped the record as can be seen on LPs where the new plastic covers the cut-out hole and/or other obvious damage.  Re-wrapping may result in bent corners and other minor damage to cover.  Also, to be sure, there is always the possibility that a used record has been re-shrink-wrapped by someone to upgrade the appearance of a record.  As for the disk itself, another thing to be considered is the quality of the disk’s original manufacture - I have had recent experience of playing records for the first time that contained scuffs, scratches, and skips.  I am not sure if this was the result of the record being second hand, damaged during handling, poor manufacturing standards, or simply, due to my playback equipment – which is definitely not state of the art!  With this in mind, please note that if a record is sealed I cannot verify the condition of the disk.