BRIDGES, NEW CITY LONDON Folk rock psych, LP rare

	£		33
	$		44

I have been an obsessive collector of vinyl LP's and singles for many years, and from the very first I have always been very careful about the condition of the records I have bought. Once in my posession the records have been well stored and always very carefully handled. If the records have been played at all, it has always been on a good quality hi - fi system, the deck being a Linn LP12 with a top of the range arm and cartridge.

As a result, most of the many thousands of items in my collection are in very good plus, excellent or better condition.

Now, in order to create more space at home, I have decided to cut the collection back to a core of my personal favourite artistes, and to dispose of the remainder, and my many duplicates. These I intend to list for auction over the coming months.

For auction here is a completely original, and extremely rare, copy of the legendary folk-rock vinyl LP by New City - London entitled 'Bridges' (sometimes the group is also listed as 'Bridges' by some dealers). This is an incredibly scarce and I believe, private, pressing, credited on the cover to the Mariapolis Ltd. label and recorded by 'Midland Sound Recordings' in Coventry. It was released in 1971 with a catalogue number of MID 1367. The recording is Mono.

In 35 years of collecting this is the only copy of this album I have ever seen, and in the past it has been listed as high as £750 on dealer's lists.

Whilst, this rare record has a Christian slant, in that the group freely express in the sleeve notes the inspiration they each obtain from their belief in the love of God, the songs themselves are not overtly Christian; it has mainly female vocals and backing

Tracks are:

Side 1: Wake up, A friend, Rise up again, Game of love, Bridges, Sometimes, Her silence.

Side 2: The Chateau, I heard a voice, These people, I see a city, Goodbye yesterday, Loving and living, Let me be.

All of these tracks are penned by members of the group which has no less than 5 featured female vocalists.

This copy is in its original laminated cover which is in excellent condition with only some very small areas of bumping at the extreme corners. The laminate is neither creased nor lifting. There is the barest impression of the raised edge of the record centre visible as a broken ring of wear in the centre of the cover but you have to tilt the record edge on to the light to spot this. The unlaminated back has a small signature but is otherwise clean; it has no ringwear.The inner sleeve is in great condition with the tiniest of tears in one corner but otherwise superb on the outside. This sleeve is lined with polythene which has come loose from the paper. This could be reglued to return it to its original state but I leave this to a successful bidder to do. The vinyl is the best feature here, THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO VISIBLE MARKS, even under strong edgewise lighting. The labels are like new with only the very tiniest of marks around the spindle hole, and then they look to be done at a single playing. I honestly doubt whether this particular copy has seen more than a couple of plays in it's lifetime, truly near impossible to find another with vinyl in this good condition.

Overall I would rate this Ex+/M-, so if you are the winning bidder you will never need to update this copy in your collection; it is sure to please even the most fastidious of record collectors - which I count myself as being - for example I would never have a scratched record in my collection and risk damaging the expensive stylus in my Linn turntable.

As you will see from my feedback, I believe in absolute honesty, and try very hard to describe my items with complete clarity and endeavour, within the limits of my ability as a photographer, to get clear photos so that potential bidders can see exactly what they will be getting. Check this feedback out and bid with confidence.

This LP is offered at no reserve and a keen opening bid price. Happy bidding and best of luck!!!

In accordance with eBay rules for foreign currency transactions incurring an exchange charge to covert to UK pounds I will add 4.5% to cover these costs, if you have a problem with this please don't embarrass me by bidding.

 Note I only ever charge postage and packing at cost.