CAT STEVENS Teaser & The Firecat LOVELY EX 1971 UK ISLAND LP, GREAT SOUND/COVER.

	£		16
	$		21

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: CAT STEVENS

Album Title: Teaser & the Firecat

Producer(s): Paul Samwell-Smith

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Wind; Rubylove; If I Laugh; Changes IV; How Can I Tell You.

Side 2: Tuesday’s Dead; Morning Has Broken; Bitterblue; Moonshadow; Peace Train.

Label/Format: Island, original pink rim format with matt quite smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with hardly a spindle trace to be seen. This beautiful record appears hardly played and sounds superb.

Catalogue Number: ILPS 9154

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 145 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderate, but far less easy in this lovely condition.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9154 A-3U / ILPS 9154 B-3U

Mothers / Stampers: 2 LM / 2 HH

Run-Out Groove Etchings: STERLING LH (both sides)

Musicians: Cat Stevens – acoustic guitar, keyboards, vocals; Alun Davies – acoustic guitar, backing vocals; Larry Steele – bass guitar, congas; Gerry Conway – drums, percussion; Harvey Burns – drums, percussion; Jean Roussel – Hammond organ on Peace Train, Bitterblue, Tuesday’s Dead; Linda Lewis – backing vocals on How Can I Tell You; Andy Roberts – Kriwaczek string organ; Rick Wakeman – piano on Morning Has Broken; Andreas Toumazis – bouzouki on Rubylove; Angelos Hatzipavli – bouzouki on Rubylove; Del Newman – string arrangements.

Brief Info: The fifth album by the singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, a very successful album which was also a children’s book written by the artist. Selling well in the UK and America, it also topped the Australian album charts. Following his previous classic album Tea For The Tillerman was never going to be easy, but this gem proved as popular and possibly even more so and was issued at the height of his popularity. This a superb copy and a beautiful recording with sound to match. The cover protected for many years and with little wear or ageing at all. A delight to play-grade with all the warmth and detail vintage vinyl has to offer.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): an unlaminated gatefold format with texturing on the outside. The inside is small, all are matt. Printed and made in England by Howards, includes the blue Island basing street address inner sleeve.

Cover Front: A very wear prone cover, these textured surfaces are seldom seen this clean and still fresh. Any traces of wear or discolouration bordering on minuscule, just a couple of faint very small tone spots just to the left of the black box (look very hard). No creasing or sticker issues, and as a note: the top left area of the spine may look rubbed, but NOT the case, this is simply the artwork and totally correct on all examples.

Cover Back: Small, patchy rub traces near the top edge left of centre, but little else to fault. This a faint adhesive smear trace in manufacture and hardly unusual on such covers. Rich deep colour retained and the lack of ring wear always great news, especially this a thicker record inside all these years. Cover protection has ensured this remains very attractive on most areas.

Cover Inner Gatefold: A very small chip near the right top edge, little else to fault apart.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat and flush with barely any wear at all.

Bottom Edges: Very similar again.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge that is also unworn and very straight. The back entrance edges are still mostly sharp with any thickening little and light.

Spine and Text: An immaculate spine that has the avoided any light fading. As stated, the top may appear rubbed, but not so, it’s just the artwork that is the same on all examples. Solid, straight with barely any compression and folded near square, so the edges meet up closely together, but not quite parallel. The text and graphic are unworn.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and light, excellent shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this beautiful, but wear-prone 1970’s cover, one that could prove difficult to find much better. This attractive item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: and unusually retaining fine colour and freshness. A little darkening of the seam edge adhesive and mild paper crinkle, any actual creasing few, fine and light. The polylining still intact as are all edges. This has the ‘island records ltd basing street london w11’ text and dual patent numbers.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks very fine, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its 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 via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic Cat Stevens album plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. This at times a quiet album and with superb production and warmth. Few available copies will outperform this very early pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing of note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same – just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.