THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (1st) RARE UK 66 N/M MONO LP

	£		135
	$		179

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options.

Artist or Band: THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND

Album Title: The Incredible String Band.

Producer(s): Joe Boyd.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Maybe Someday; October Song; When the Music Starts to Play; Schaeffer's Jig; Womankind; The Tree; Whistle Tune; Dandelion Blues.

Side 2: How Happy I Am; Empty Pocket Blues; Smoke Shovelling Song; Can’t Keep Me Here; Good as Gone; Footsteps of the Heron; Niggertown; Everything’s Fine Right Now.

Label/Format: Elektra – second format for this one. Initially offered on the previous green format label for a very brief time. Quicky superceded by the more familiar orange and black design with textured surfaces. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both little short of immaculate: ultra clean, very fresh and highly attractive with any spindle traces few, light and faint. No wear around the hole rims at all and without any doubt this incredibly well preserved record has hardly been played. Everything the mono record collector would desire infact.

Cat Number: EUK 254.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 162 grams. A very substantial weight for this album and label.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite rare: initial pressings on the green label format are very rare with considerable catalogue values. This textured orange and black second pressing is still very early and far from common, and any mono record found in this condition is even harder. This heavyweight Elektra classic sets the bar very high indeed.

Original Year of Release: 1966

Matrix Nos: EUK . 254 . A : / EUK . 254 . B :

Musicians: Mike Heron - vocals, guitar; Clive Palmer - banjo, guitar, vocals, kazoo; Robin Williamson - violin, vocals, whistle, guitar, mandolin.

Brief Info: The classic debut by this inventive and unusual-style Scottish folk band. It proved to be the only one to include Clive Palmer – they split briefly after this set, then to quickly reform as a duo. This album is more conventional than their latter works and most songs are originals. Later they used more exotic instruments and their vocal style became more extravagant and distinctive. Highly praised when issued and superbly produced by Joe Boyd who was also responsible for signing them to Elektra. A fabulous copy with a highly attractive cover and offering superb mono sound from a hardly played record. Another gem for the serious collector and a great introduction to their alternative and captivating brand of folk music.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a single fully laminated format. This has the EUK mono catalogue number. Manufactured in England by Polydor Records, no actual printer’s credits.

Lamination: Front & Back: This beautiful cover totally blows away it’s great age and looks simply fantastic. Laminated both sides and it has an incredible shine, freshness and clarity, the famous trio artwork is seen and enjoyed to maximum advantage. Practically fully adhered also, a massive plus on such a dark front especially, just an ultra fine sliver lift on the extreme left spine edge only that few, if any will ever avoid. Under angled light, very light traces of dulling is just evident on the front and with just two fairly light creases, more worthy of note – one each side – these are the only reasons for my slightly below Mint(-) grading. Any others are light and fine edge types and even with scrutiny under light, there are very few surface marks or even hairlines. Two exceptional sides for a 1966-67 vintage cover

Top Edge: No wear as such and very straight too with no rubbing. To the right of centre has no laminate due to what I am sure is natural shrinkage (or manufactured that way), my reason for being confident of this is because the dead straight laminate end line can be seen under light on the front in this area – the rest of the edge is laminate covered.

Bottom Edge: Little short of as made, thin but mainly straight.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with no wear or feathering and guaranteed untrimmed. The laminate ends quite short of full width and even the exposed strip is pristine, clean, unchipped or grubbied. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: A lovely, unaged spine also: solid, straight with any compressions mild. All text is perfect and unworn, also beautifully centred under the solid and uncracked laminate which remains ultra smooth and unscuffed to the fingertip – it even has terrific shine and clarity.

Corners: All four in superb condition with barely any tip rubbing and they all retain excellent or even better shape.

Cover Summary: My very first ISB debut album to be offered on Ebay and I doubt if I will ever find another better – that’s both cover and record. This near top-drawer example should please most-all collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: The original unlined, open windowed plain white inner is included in fine condition. It has aged a little more than the rest of the set with a couple of tone spots and a little mildish creasing. A small central split on the bottom edge, that apart all secure and the window circles are immaculate.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed, a real thick heavy record and quite exceptional for an Elektra record. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks ultra fine, faint and few – no penetrating marks whatsoever and this too on a 1967-pressed mono record. No damaging pile-driver blunt sylus have ruined or been infliced on this beauty. Visually a super record that should please most-all collectors again.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This wonderfully preserved record plays up to it’s high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds barely even registered and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing. Just imagine the damage and groovewear that could have been inflicted on this one. Far fewer music lovers used stereo equipment in the mid-60s hence so many mono classics are rendered unlistenable by wear and invisible groove stripping by the massive tracking weights of the equipment of the era. That’s why I always state the importance of a full play-grade on all records, monos especially so – if not – it’s a pure lottery. Few copies will match, let alone outperform this still very early pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This copy will prove immensely difficult to find better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with THREE or EVEN FOUR ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. The thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT neccessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.