THE DOORS STRANGE DAYS US ORIG'67 ELEKTRA EKL-4007 MONO TRUE 1ST MONARCH PRESS

$

355

Elektra Records

“Strange Days”

THE DOORS

The majority of the copies listed at our current auction we purchased from Susan, the daughter of a Los Angeles collector, who was a Jim Morrison fan and collected The Doors records. Considering some circumstances, Susan made a decision to sell this collection. We selected, in our opinion, the most interesting items from the collection that are currently listed at our auction. We’d like you to pay attention at some of these records. Primarily, it’s the 1st two albums, released in 1967, the Self-Titled album and Strange Days. Both examples are unique, in our opinion, as both covers have the rubber ink stamp of Sunset Sound Recorders, the legendary studio located in Los Angeles where both of these albums were recorded. All we could find out from Susan with regards to where these albums came from is that a part of the records came from her father’s friend, who worked at the Monarch Pressing Plant in Los Angeles in the 70s. Unfortunately, this is the only information we have. Both copies were pressed at the Monarch Pressing Plant and it’s an interesting fact that the plant was located at the time on Jefferson Blvd, which was only six miles away from the Sunset Sound Recorders studio. Inspecting the records very attentively we found an invoice from Sunset Sound Recorders inside the cover of the Strange Days album. (Please see the photos) The invoice was intended for “Elektra Corp.” for the services provided to “Doors” while recording their album Strange Days. The date on the invoice indicates July 6, 1967 and the table below includes a list of services and their cost. I don’t think the invoice is original, but it’s a very old copy (Please take a look at the photos). Now, I’d like to provide the description of the album itself. There are no doubts that this is one of the earliest copies pressed at the Monarch Pressing Plant. Instead of a custom picture inner sleeve with a photo of the band and lyrics, this copy includes the original Elektra Records logo inner sleeve with the very early address “7, Poland Street,” which came only with the very 1st copies of this album and was quickly changed to the picture inner sleeve. This copy has one more identifier, proving this is the earliest 1st pressing, which is a misprint on the spine of the cover, indicating the Stereo “EKS-74014” catalog number as oppose to the Mono “EKL-4014 (mono)” catalog number indicated on the front and back cover. As I’ve mentioned before, the back cover contains a black ink rubber stamp at the bottom right corner, reading “Sunset Sound Recorders 6650 Sunset Blvd Hollywood California 90028.” The stamp has some very light discoloration and age wear, just like the corners and edges of the cover, which can be graded as Strong Very Good Plus. The cover is glossy and full of life in spite of having some very light signs of ring wear and scuffing. The invoice is printed on a pretty thin paper, which has turned yellow from a long preservation and contains some discoloration age spots along with some wrinkles. Heavy weight almost inflexible vinyl, pressed at the Monarch Pressing Plant in Los Angeles, without any doubts claims the fantastic Mono sound and is the best one in comparison to the copies pressed at the other pressing plants. Unique Monarch 1st print gold-mustard Elektra Records label with a large stylized “E” logo, only Monarch 2.875’ pressing ring and condensed font with the Mono “EKL-4014” catalog number and Side identifier right below it. The labels are very clean and wear free. With all of my conservatism I can’t grade this vinyl below Excellent as it has an outstanding shiny gloss and fresh factory lacquer, containing only a few super light hairlines and scuffs from the inner sleeve visible under a strong light source. The trail-off vinyl contains all of the identifiers of the Monarch Pressing, including the “delta” (?) number, “MR in a circle” stamp, Monarch “mon” abbreviation and very early 1st matrix numbers EKL 4014A / EKL 4014B. The very 1st print inner sleeve is in excellent shape, only having some very light splits on the edges. I wouldn’t want to exaggerate, but it’s indeed a historical copy of a very early Monarch pressing with a Sunset Sound Recorders rubber ink stamp and invoice copy.

COVER -  VERY GOOD+ (VG+)    

POLICY:

Realizing how important it is to secure the safety of the item you've paid your money for, I'll put my best effort into packing the records as best as possible, triple boxing them into the specialized professional boxes, with the two outer boxes having a special construction with extended cardboard on the edges to prevent the record covers' corners from getting damaged during the transit, and will also put the vinyl outside of the cover (of course, unless it's a sealed record) to prevent the splitting. I always try responding to the messages, but please, before sending me a message, make sure that the answer to your question isn't included in the description. I'll use my right to block a buyer, who doesn't correspond to my idea of politeness, culture and respect toward each other. If you want to participate in my auction, please be honest and positive, and I'll be mutual with you. I'll remove the bids of a buyer with zero rating, unless he contacts me prior to placing a bid. Unfortunately, I don't ship to Germany or Russia. I apologize to the buyers from these countries in advance.