The Kinks Face To Face 1st Press 1966 On The Plum Pye Label. Good condition

	£		29
	$		38

I am selling off some of my collection and over the next few months will be listing some very nice and very rare albums and singles from the 50's through to the 90's!! I will be listing The Beatles, Cream, Purple, Zeppplin, The Stones, Small Faces, Floyd, Creedence Clearwater, Beach Boys and many, many more so please add me to your watch list as I may have something you need to help complete you collection!!!!

Artist or Band: The Kinks

Album Title: Face To Face 

Producer(s): Shel Talmy 

Cat Number: NPL. 18149 

Label/Format: Pye Plum Label

Country of Manufacture: UK

Track list: 

Side 1: Face To Face; Rosie Won't you Please Come Home; Dandy; Too Much On My Mind; Session Man; Rainy Day In June; House In The Country.

Side 2:  Holiday In Waikiki; Most exclusive Restaurant For Sale; Fancy; Little Miss Queen Of darkness; You're Looking fine; Sunny Afternoon; I'll Remember.

Matrix Nos: DT1-2458-B20 &  DT2-2458-A19

Stamper Codes: 0 1 & 1 0

Other Etchings: 

Musicians: Ray Davies: Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar & Mellotron; Dave Davies: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals and Lead Vocals on "Party Line" & "You're Looking Fine"; Pete Quaife: Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals; John Dalton: Bass Guitar; Mick Avory: Drums & Percussion; Mary Hopkins: Backing Vocals.

Brief Artist & Album Info: "Face To Face" is the fourth studio Album by the English Rock band The Kinks released in October 1966. The album had marked the band's shift from the hard-driving style of "Beat Music", catapulting them to international acclaim. Being their first album consisting entirely of Ray Davies's compositions, it has also been regarded by critics as rock's first concept album.

Ray Davies suffered a nervous breakdown just prior to the major recording sessions for the album. In contrast to the band's earlier "raunchy" sound, he had started to introduce a new, softer style of writing the previous year with compositions such as "A Well Respected Man"and "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion". In July 1966, the single "Sunny Afternoon", also written in that style, reached  Number 1 in the UK, and the song's great popularity proved to Ray and the Kinks' managers that the group could find success with this style of songwriting. The new album would follow this pattern, as would the group's recorded output for the next five years. The 1966–71 period inaugurated by this album would later be called Ray's and the Kinks' "golden age".

Rock historians have credited the album as arguably one of the first rock/pop "Concept Albums", with the loose common theme of social observation. In the album's original inception, Ray attempted to bridge the songs together with sound effects, but was forced to revert to the more standard album format by Pye Records before the album's release. Some effects remain such as in "Party Line" , "Holiday in Waikiki", "Rainy Day in June" and on songs not included on the final album ("End of the Season", "Big Black Smoke").

CONDITION

LABELS: The Plum Pye Labels are are both in relatively decent condition. There are some Spider and Spindle marks visible and the center hole is Very Lightly worn. There is no Writing or Tears anywhere. I will grade them as GOOD++/Very Good!!!!

VINYL: Plays throughout absolutely brilliant with no Pops, Clicks or Jumps. The record still contains that glossy sheen though there are several surface marks, light scratches (Non Feelable) and thumbnails to be seen, these in NO way interfere with the superb sound quality. This Album plays up to and  beyond its high visual grading with hardly anything of note to fault. It offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. A typical polished production from Brian Wilson. Minimal surface sound and no tracking issues. This play-grade proved a real pleasure when playing this fast disappearing album, this being the first example I have had for some time, and possibly the best all-round one for me yet. It will prove quite difficult to find a significantly better copy and merits a very strong recommendation. I would grade both sides as Very Good+/Very Good++!!!! If it looked as good as it played back I would most certainly give it at least an Excellent!!!!

COVER: This is a laminated front cover format printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd with the Patent Pending. It has a typical Flower Power artwork very indicative of the 1960's. The Laminate has Several Lifts and Creases, especially noticable to the Bottom Right and at the Opening Edges. The reverse has a Part of the bottom right Flipback (Approx 3 inches) missing. The Pinched Edged Spine is in Very Good order and all of the writing is readable.  

This cover is incredibly difficult to find in Excellent condition simply because of it's design and age. However I would be happy enough to grade this as Good+!!!!

COVER SUMMARY: Not seen often. This one is in decent condition. This classic cover (As Described) should please Many collectors.

INNER SLEEVE: The Plain White Inner Sleeve Patent NO. 1.122.555. Is Graded as Very Good++!!!!

Album Played For Grading: I play/grade ALL records I offer before submitting, I also play them in their 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. I use a Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge and Linn Lingo, with my Linn system and Forest Totem Speakers. This system is guaranteed  to pick up any distortion or interference within the sound.

Grading: In my opinion I REFUSE to believe that there is ANY record that can be truly graded as Mint, the BEST that could be offered is Mint- (minus)!!!! Especially so from the 50's, 60's, 70's or up to the present date!!!! Even copies bought new today would have some form of imperfection on the Record or Cover!!!! Under that assumption I will NEVER use the word Mint in any of my descriptions and Mint- is the HIGHEST grade I would ever use. So I will only offer Excellent, Good or Poor with a -(minus), +(plus) or ++(plus,plus)!!!!

Postage: All of my records will be professionally packaged. I use Dependapack Vinyl Record Mailers that have locking tab closures with strong locking tab record wraps. I also use corrugated record stiffeners and extra strong tape marked with Handle With Care. This is to ensure your Valuable Record/s are protected whilst in transit. I will add a nominal fee of .40p to my postage and packaging for this service. Any Record valued at £100 or more I would prefer to send by Special Deliver/International Signed For.