BATTERED ORNAMENTS MANTLEPIECE UK HARVEST PROG PSYCH LP

	£		96
	$		127

This is an incredibly rare prog psych LP from a British five piece band called The Battered Ornaments entitled 'Mantle-piece'. This is their only album as far as I know and is now extremely difficult to find on the UK Harvest label. It was released in 1969 (catalogue no. SHVL 758) and was released after Pete Brown had left the band (did he jump or was he pushed?). This left Chris Spedding in charge and the resulting album is great. It is a superb record with some great guitar and woodwind passages. All the songs are melodic with a very prog/psych feel and the musicianship is wonderful. This is an original UK stereo pressing.  

OUTER SLEEVE - The gatefold sleeve is in overall fine condition. It is laminated on the front and back and there is some definite creasing close to the spine on both back and front while there is some ring wear and discolouration on the rear of the cover. The inside portion of the gatefold sleeve is in fine condition with minimal wear and almost no discolouration. On the top right hand rear of the cover it states - 'File under POPULAR : Pop Groups - SHVL 758 (1E 062 . 04188) stereo'. At the bottom rear right hand corner it states - '6911 TPS Printed and made by Ernest J. Day & Co. Ltd., London  SHVL 758'. There is some definite ring wear on the front and rear and some minor discolouration. The top and bottom edges are definitely worn and this wear is noticeable. The spine is in fine condition apart from some minor creasing and the wording along the spine is 100% readable. I've graded the sleeve as VG++.

INNER SLEEVE - This is a traditional Harvest company type which has a polythene liner and features black and white covers of a number of Harvest LP's by other artists on both sides. It is definitely discoloured and is slightly worn but is in overall fine condition. I've graded it VG++.

RECORD - The record itself looks fine but it's definitely been played and shows faint surface marks on both sides. However, it plays beautifully on both sides with minor surface noise on and just the the occasional pop and click. There are definitely no jumps on any of the tracks. The labels are in lovely condition and there are some spindle marks. There is no damage to the labels on either side. The labels do not have the small 'EMI' boxed logo on the left hand side above the Harvest name.` At the bottom of each label it states 'Arf Art Music - Musical Direction & Arrangements by Chris Spedding - Produced by Andrew King for Blackhill Enterprises - Made in Gt. Britain'. The matrix numbers on the run-off grooves are as follows - side one - SHVL 758 A - 2 (stampers 1      G) - side two - SHVL 758 B - 2  (stampers 1    R). I have graded the record as Ex- and I believe that this is very fair. I try to grade everything as accurately and conservatively as possible. The winner of this auction will not be disappointed. All my items are 100% guaranteed and can be returned for a full refund if the buyer is not satisfied with the product. It will be extremely difficult to find this great record again.

TRACK LISTING - SIDE ONE - SUNSHADES, LATE INTO THE NIGHT, THEN I MUST GO, THE CROSSWORDS AND THE SAFETY PINS  - SIDE TWO - STAGGERED, TWISTED TRACK, SMOKE RINGS, TAKE ME NOW, MY LOVE'S GONE FAR AWAY.

BAND MEMBERS - NISAR AHMAD KHAN, GIBSON MAESTRO, REEDS, FLUE, VOCALS - CHRIS SPEDDING, GUITARS, STEEL GUITAR, PORTUGUESE CHITTARA, PIANO, ORGAN, VOCALS - ROGER POTTER, BASS GUITAR, VOCALS - PETE BAILEY, CONGA DRUMS, AFRICAN PERCUSSION, VOCALS - ROB TAIT, DRUMS, GUIRA, TAMBOURINE, VOCALS.