WISHBONE ASH "Pilgrimage" 1971 UK MCA 1st PRESSING

	£		115
	$		152

 
WISHBONE ASH "Pilgrimage" 1971 UK MCA 1st PRESSING 1st DECCA LABEL TEXT, SOFT R. STACE GF, EX+ TOP COPY

WISHBONE ASH
Pilgrimage

ORIGINAL UK MCA (MDKS 8004) FIRST PRESSING (October 1971) OF WISHBONE ASH'S OUTSTANDING SECOND LP, "Pilgrimage" IN SUPERB CONDITION (looks and sounds like it has hardly ever been on a turntable) AND WHEN PLAYED AT A LOUD VOLUME (which is the way I always listen to my LPs prior to listing) THE AUDIO DELIVERY IS ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL - AS YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM DECCA WHO CUT SOME OF THE FINEST SOUNDING RECORDS OF THE PERIOD - THIS IS A GREAT COPY

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL WITH THE FIRST ISSUE (SMALL) ORANGE/PURPLE (variant) MCA LABELS (and more commonly found with the RED/YELLOW MCA LABELS)
WITH THE "Made In England, The Decca Record Co Ltd" TEXT UNDERNEATH THE MCA 'ARROW' ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE LABEL (please see photos)
FIRST ISSUE MATRIX: 7-LNMG-244-2L / 7-LNMG-245-1L (w/ 'JT' TAX CODE ETCHED ON BOTH RUN OFFS) (the lowest matrix I have seen for this pressing)
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/H and 1/B (marking this copy out as in the batch of the first 1500 pressed going on the 'BUCKINGHAM' stamper letters used by Decca)
THE LP IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL MATT GATEFOLD SLEEVE "Printed in England by Robert Stace" WITH THE CHARACTERISTIC FIRST ISSUE WIDE SPINE
AND COMES COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL BLUE STEREO DECCA COMPANY INNER SLEEVE WHICH IS DATE CODED '8-71'

Wishbone Ash's second release, Pilgrimage, unveiled their creative genius after a debut that presented them as a jamming, blues-based rock outfit.
The opening track, "Vas Dis," with its jazz bass-line, slicing rhythm guitar, and gibberish vocals was their answer to "Hocus Pocus" (or vice versa as both were released in 1971) and "Jail Bait" has gone on to become a Wishbone Ash staple as well as possessing one of the more memorable guitar riffs of '70s rock & roll.
A conscientious effort seemed to be in place for this band to write and perform material better suited to their gentler vocal tendencies and where Wishbone Ash essentially went full tilt throughout, Pilgrimage is a moodier affair that includes beautiful, slower melodies like the brief instrumentals "Alone" and "Lullaby" along with the chilling "Valediction," which should have been an Ash classic but is rarely featured on live and hits collections.
Even though this band toned it down a bit for this album, their impressive guitar playing was heightened due to the variance in their songwriting - Next to Argus this is the Wishbone Ash album to judge all other Ash albums by

Track Listing:
Side 1: Vas Dis / Pilgrim / Jail Bait / Alone
Side 2: Lullaby / Valediction / Where Were You Tomorrow (Live)

LABELS: The labels are clean and bright with no unwanted marks/writing and just a few of the lightest spindle traces - this copy has clearly seen very little play
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its original deep, glossy sheen and under a bright light there are some light sleeve removal hairlines only, but these have little audio consequence. There is also some light transfer from storage of the plastic lining of the inner sleeve, but this again, has no audio consequence - the album plays beautifully throughout (see detailed audio assessment below)
VINYL Audio: Outstanding audio on these first presses with a crystal clear, deep, rich and warm sound and a superb loud cut - very, very impressive indeed and another fantastic Decca engineered release. On playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my records prior to listings and it's always a real pleasure to return to this one) there are no scratches, no skips or jumps, no surface noise and just a few light 'ticks' on the quiet beginning to "Pilgrim" (very minor and non-intrusive and and I did listen to this copy at a very loud volume). Otherwise, the playback is practically flawless and the whole LP plays to an extremely high standard with really sensational audio clarity and separation, no groove-wear and no distortion (it's barely been played), sounds superb and is critically graded EXCELLENT++ for audio - fabulous copy of an outstanding LP and very, very highly recommended
SLEEVE: The original gatefold sleeve being soft, delicate and untreated is normally found heavily rubbed but this one is in superb condition - clean, bright and fresh with no marks and practically no storage wear to the edges or spine - where all text is clear and bold - fantastic example of this easily worn sleeve - EXCELLENT++

NOTE: Please let me put to rest the common misconception that the Black MCA labels are the first ones for early Wishbone Ask LPs (as cited by Record Collector Price Guide) - they are NOT. The Black MCA label was the last design Decca used for MCA for 1973/4 presses (the first pressings of Wishbone 4 released in 1973 has the black label). All pre 1973 Ash LPs have the two coloured labels in Blue/Black, Red/Pink, Red/Yellow, Orange/Purple or Red/Brown. After these came the Black label in 1973 and in 1974 MCA severed links with UK Decca and switched its licensing deal to EMI. These later labels have the rainbow insignia and are EMI, not Decca presses.

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY PICTURES AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
BEAUTIFUL COPY OF WISHBONE ASH'S SUPERB SECOND LP IN OUTSTANDING CONDITION - VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
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THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

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 331 (GS 5.4 (331))