T. REX T. Rex (Reprise RS 6440) S/T Same Marc Bolan RARE US 1st Pressing MINT-

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T. REX T. Rex (Reprise RS 6440) S/T Same Marc Bolan RARE US 1st Pressing MINT-
RARE US pressing of T. Rex` eponymously-titled fifth album "T. Rex" on Reprise Records (December 1970). Riding on the world-wide success of "Ride A White Swan", "T. Rex" was Marc Bolan`s first foray into electrified rock, the first album to feature both Mickey Finn, as well as Flo and Eddie and a harbinger of glamorous things to come.
"Tyrannosaurus Rex's transformation from oracles of U.K. hippie culture to boogie-friendly rock stars began with the album A Beard Of Stars, released in early 1970 when the band picked up electric instruments, and by the time the year was out, Marc Bolan had pared their name down to the more user-friendly T. Rex and dropped their first album with the new moniker. Oddly enough, while the songs on T. Rex bear a much stronger melodic and lyrical resemblance to what would make the band famous on Electric Warrior in 1971, the tone of the album is a bit more pastoral than A Beard Of Stars; on most of the tunes, the electric guitars are more successfully integrated into the arrangements so they lack the jarring immediacy of "Elemental Children" or "Pavilions of the Sun," and Mickey Finn still wasn't using a full drum kit, so the tunes don't quite have the kick of a full-on rock band. But Bolan himself sounds like he's ready for his close-up, as his vocals -- mannered yet quietly passionate and full of belief -- suggest the glam hero he would soon become, and numbers like "Beltrane Walk," "Is It Love," and "Diamond Meadows" (with its wink-and-nudge refrain "Hey, let's do it like we're friends") are just a few paces away from the swaggering sound that would make him the U.K.'s biggest star. If Marc Bolan was reaching for the big time with T. Rex, he also sounds like he was letting out the rock star that had always lurked within him, and there isn't a moment here that doesn't sound like he's singing from his heart and soul. T. Rex is the quiet before the storm of Electric Warrior, and it retains a loopy energy and easy charm that makes it one of Bolan's watershed works." - Mark Deming, allmusic.com.
GRADING:
EX+ COVER in very fine overall condition. Please see photos for details.
- Original two-part US sleeve with poster-like outer cover and separate inner pouch.
- Minor crease to bottom edge and to one corner of cardboard "poster" outer sleeve, as shown.
- Very light scuffing/discolouring to spine and right side of Bolan`s shirt.
- Inner pouch with a small tear (just below the "T. Rex" moniker) and a bit of scuffing to bottom right-hand corner.
- Includes the original Warner/Reprise Records inner sleeve in EX condition, with partial seam split. 

MINT- RECORD in largely untouched condition.
- Practically perfect vinyl on both sides, with impeccable audio reproduction throughout.
- A tiny patch of 2-3 needle-drop/scratchlets (in "Diamond Meadows") are absolutely inaudible.
- Other than that, the record is absolutely pristine, with no other signs of previous play whatsoever!
- Original first-pressing brown Reprise Records labels with no spindle wear whatsoever.
- The matrix stamps in the run-off grooves read as "RS 6440  31189-1  Al" and "RS 6440  31190-1  Al".
- This record is fully certified to be a very first US pressing of "T. Rex", issued in December 1970.