BLACK WIDOW - SACRIFICE (1970) UK CBS 1st pressing LP A1/B1 G/F

	£		50
	$		66

BLACK WIDOW  - " SACRIFICE ", CBS Records (S 63948) Stereo, 1970.

Extremely rare, UK first pressing LP of the classic prog LP by Black Widow.

Original unlaminated, gatefold sleeve design, matte finish label and matrix numbers ending in A1 and B1, clearly marking this out as a first pressing.


Matrix numbers

SIDE A = S-63948-A1
SIDE B = S-63948-B1


Professionally cleaned on my Moth record cleaning machine and put in a new poly-lined inner sleeve (the original inner has been retained for originality- see photo)


CONDITION:

VINYL  =  V.G.++ (No deep scratches, groove damage, excessive surface noise, distortion, etc. Pretty clean labels with only very light spindle trails. Under a strong direct light, this LP carries a few paper scuffs and some superficial hairline marks. On playback, I cannot find any correlation between these very slight cosmetic imperfections and audible damage. This is the point when I'd love to say how well this LP plays, but sadly it's not as simple as that. Like so many of the records pressed by CBS around the late 60's into early 70s, this record suffers from a fairly poor noisy pressing. It's not totally ruined, but there are moments of faint background surface noise, occasional crackles and soft background clicks throughout the record. A lot of the time the music is loud enough to obscure them, but some quieter sections are affected. I realise that not all CBS records from this time were afflicted this way, but I am adamant that this is a pressing issue rather than damage to the vinyl. Indeed, the other LPs in this collection on labels like Island or Harvest, some in worse condition, all sound notably better than this one - both in terms of unwanted noise and overall sound quality... even the weight of the vinyl is a little thinner than the rival labels. Add this to the fact that in my own father's collection of LPs from this era that were all bought new and looked after meticulously, about half the CBS titles suffer from noisy pressing and have done from new.
Don't completely right this record off though, it has not been overplayed and worn out and is still a decent enough example to be played and enjoyed as originally intended. Certainly no archive copy, but still a nice first press that will sell for a much more affordable price than the current premuim on perfect mint examples

Note: for the purposes of this listing I have tested this LP on my Linn LP12 Sondek turntable - generally this is quite a critical test, but I must point out that I cannot guarantee exactly how this LP will sound on your turntable - common sense for most... but then this is ebay!!!)



SLEEVE =  V.G.++ (No rips, no tears, no heavy creases, no defacing, or heavy ring wear, etc . Just marked down a fraction for some light normal wear to the edges and corners, some very slight foxing on the top section inside the gatefold and other light signs of previous normal use - see photos for further clarification)


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