TRAFFIC Mr Fantasy RARER Orig 67 Island Pink 1st Press.

	£		194
	$		257

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.25. Europe £12. Rest of World £16. ALL signed for. – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P as low as possible after the very significant Royal Mail price increases.

Artist or Band: TRAFFIC

Album Title: Mr. Fantasy.

Producer(s): Jimmy Miller.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Heaven Is in Your Mind; Berkshire Poppies; House for Everyone; No Face, No Name, No Number; Dear Mr. Fantasy.

Side 2: Dealer; Utterly Simple; Coloured Rain; Hope I Never Find Me There; Giving to You.

Label/Format: Island – original format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both in truly STUNNING conditions and little short of pristine. Ultra clean, fresh and hugely attractive with only one or two tiny, ultra faint spindle traces seen almost at point-blank range. Up there with the very best I have seen on this first issue label from any band. Beautiful shades of real pink, there is zero wear around the blocked hole area and these labels are little short of as made with no grubbiness or handling traces. Seen this clean, a sight of genuine beauty and this record without any doubt, has been hardly played and from a collection of quality.

Cat Number: ILPS 9061.

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: 147 grams. A typical heavy first Island pressing.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite rare: stereo originals are actually harder to find than mono and this being one of the rarer Island albums that was issued in both modes. The mix differs considerably as does the American issue. Personally I prefer psych albums in stereo as the separation and channel effects emphasises that style of music better – but that is a purely my taste.

Original Year of Release: 1967

Matrix Nos: ILPS + 9061 + A / ILPS + 9061 + B

Musicians: Jim Capaldi – drums, percussion, vocals; Dave Mason – guitar, mellotron, sitar, tambura, shakkai, bass guitar, vocals; Steve Winwood – organ, guitar, bass guitar, piano, harpsichord, percussion, vocals; Chris Wood – flute, saxophone, organ, percussion, vocals.

Brief Info: The debut from this classic British band, then with Dave Mason who left prior to issue. His influence gave this album set a real psychedelic edge mixed in rock, pop and jazzy influences – it works to perfection and this has been a long standing classic within this genre. Rarer in stereo and seldom seen in such clean and hardly played conditions. The cover also very fragile indeed and more often seen in very tatty and even badly damaged states. Flimsy and fragile with a single thickness front and entrace for a heavy record via the centrefold. Few survive intact, and for those who know The Kinks ‘Arthur’ and ‘Village Green’, this cover is practically the same format. This was owned by just the one person from new who owned a quality system and pretty much ignored this one. So a marvellous and rare opportunity to own a classic in unsually fine condition – this was Traffic at their very best.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): and this being very critical on one of rock’s most fragile and flimsy covers. A gatefold format with front and back laminate. This ends on the inside right edges via two external flipbacks. The main inside area is matt and unprotected. Entrance of the record is via the centrefold and the front is only single thickness. A sure-fire recipe for creasing, laminate issues and damage. The fragile spine carrying the brunt of weight and these are rarely seen intact. Printed and made in England.

Lamination – Front & Back: Both sides are quite exceptional and in my 11 or so years selling on Ebay, this is probably my best ever Mr Fantasy cover. The laminate retains a lovely shine, freshness and clarity with any minimal traces of any dulling on the front and only light on the back on the rim area that is nigh-on impossible to avoid. With normal viewing, this hardly shows anyway. The lack of creasing is fantastic news – a flimsy single thickness front, few will ever avoid it. Quite honestly, this front looks fantastic, and apart from the odd minute chip on the delicate bottom edge, is near perfect. Laminate adhesion is always a major factor on a cover like this. Well the front has nothing even worthy of mention to fault. The back spine edge has lifted, this most likely due to the under-strength spine that will in most-all cases flatten. With moderate non-adhesion on this vulnerable edge but no cracking and still solid. And with the very intense colour of the artwork, this has very modest visibility and barely anything detracts from the superb front or back. All this too on a genuine first issue cover dating back to 1967 – 45-years-old and few clues to this on two outstanding outside faces.

Cover Inner Gatefold: As fragile as the outside areas: the first thing of considerable concern would be the entrace area as these will so often split with a heavy record inside. But this one is fully intact with minimal evidence of any wear of weakening with just maybe the tiniest nick on the spine end bottom (being critical). The spine and entrance is as solid as they get with minimal creasing or crinkle to the ends which is very unusual. A little mild discolour of faint tone spot there and there, but this unprotected inside looks lovely. The main issue is the top right flipback has fairly mildly discoloured a little and transferred itself on to the opposite left top edge with a very small surface pull (but look quite hard). I hardly consider this wear as such, it’s purely natural ageing and were covers like this even really designed to even last this long? Well yes, they certainly could be if looked after well enough, and little suggests to me here this wasn’t. Again, barely any creasing, even to the thin front. The flipbacks are solid and neat with just natural darkening of the laminate that protects them. Just enough hints overall to remind of age, but many collector’s like that, such items are fast becoming ‘antiques’, and light ageing emphases the authenticity of the fact.

Top Edges: Both incredibly neat and crisp. The back fully laminated and dead straight and smooth to the fingertip. A little natural ‘curl’ to the thin front almost certainly due to natural tightening of the laminate.

Bottom Edges: The back edge as per above. A little mild thickening and burr traces with odd tiny chip to the fragile front. Being the traditional storage edges, both are exceptional with no feathering or softening to any major degree.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The back closed edge is crisp, sharp and straight with barely any hint of wear. The front is clean, sharp with again hardly any wear, any thickening or burring minuscule. This has probably survived this crisp due to the flattening of the spine which has pulled this edge a little to the left. This has made is more protected from exposure. The record enters from the inside as stated above.

Spine and Text: A typically under-strength thin spine for this cover format. Most-all will flatten at the very least. This one has to some degree but not entirely. What is hugely significant is the lack of real wear and overall, this remains very neat and even retains full laminate coverage with no flaking or peeling – that is VERY unusual indeed. This means the crucial artwork and text remains FULLY INTACT as seen on my close-up picture. Even compression (crushing) is very mild and with solid folds with no chipping, this is way above average. Solid and undamaged, even the ends are not frayed or softened, just flattened from right to left which has pulled over the front right edge a little (which has helped in it’s protection). I do not think a much better spine will be found on this original cover. I have rarely, if ever seen either of the two aforementioned Kinks albums with similar sleeves with a spine quite this strong.

Corners: All almost unbelievably neat and crisp with minimal rubbing or even creasing. All retain very fine to exellent shape (and arguably better still).

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this very fragile 60’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a plain white unlined inner in very impressive condition. Clean and little aged with hardly a crease to be seen. All edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++) / MINT(-): a superb visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed. A fine hairline is seen under light on side one but little else. A copy hardly even played on all the evidence with any other surface marks very few, light and very faint. With utmost scrutiny tiny surface blemishes within the pressing but that is purely in manufacture and has nothing whatsoever to do with wear or usage. The one fine hairline apart, this record goes very close to reminding of new and it will take something extraordinary to better this gem for looks. Visually a super record that should please most collectors.

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 Island classic plays mostly up to it’s high visual grading with little 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 are minimal indeed and no pops or significant clicks were noted. A little gentle surface sound was heard between songs and on the odd quite passage but this is totally within the pressing. The plain and simply fact-of-the-matter is, not all records were pressed to Decca standard and Island were somewhat variable. This copy was purchased by the one, and only owner, played hardly at all and then on a quality record player and system. Just faint hints to remind of what you are actually listening too – a 45-year-old vinyl record. And I would be confident this record played just the same from day one. The sound is sharp, precise and dynamic – fully focused with no clipping or breakup. In other words, the grooves have not worn, any minor surface trace sounds are simply in the pressing. Few first pressed copies will outperform this one significantly I feel sure. No damaging heavyweight or blunt stylus have wrecked this evergreen classic which appears carefully handled – probably hardly even removed from the little worn cover. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. A little gentle surface sound – this too on a VERY sensitive system – between songs is more than acceptable to this quite critical listener. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly 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 Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

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 new VPI-17 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 boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, 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. When larger boxes are used, 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. 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. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 8,000+ items sold in over 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 stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

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] = £4.25

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (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 [£50 maximum]) = £12 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16 (£17 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an 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: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. 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 necessarily 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’.