CREAM Disraeli Gears RARE UK 1967 FULLY LAMINATED COVER

	£		412
	$		546

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: CREAM

Album Title: Disraeli Gears

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Strange Brew; Sunshine of Your Love; World of Pain; Dance the Night Away; Blue Condition.

Side 2: Tales of Brave Ulysses; SWLABR [She Was Like a Bearded Rainbow]; We’re Going Wrong; Outside Woman Blues; Take it Easy; Mother’s Lament.

Label/Format: Reaction – Early deep mauve and silver format.

Label Conditions: A highly impressive and ultra attractive looking pair, both immaculately clean and showing only a tiny few, super-fine spindle traces. There is no wear around the hole rims whatsoever and this beautiful mono record has clearly been hardly played. This was a highly popular album and its a delight to find an early pressed mono example that has avoided all the perils of the old record players of its era.

Cat Number: 593003.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 145 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: The actual title itself is moderate, but finding the earliest pressed mono copies with the original double laminated covers is a far different story. The finding them again in such incredible condition is rare. Both record and cover on this set are simply in breathtaking condition and will thrill the most stringent of connoisseur collectors.

Original Year of Release: 1967

Matrix Nos: 594003 A 1 1 1 / 594003 B 1 1 1.

Musicians: Eric Clapton (ex Yardbirds, John Mayall), guitar, vocals; Jack Bruce (ex Manfred Mann, Graham Bond, John Mayall), Bass guitar, harmonica, vocals; Ginger Baker (ex Graham Bond Organisation), Drums, vocal.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: More moderate being fully laminated.

Album Information: The world’s most famous blues/rock power trio’s greatest album - a massive issue which still sounds wonderfully fresh, even today. Clapton, Bruce and Baker’s most consistently perfect studio album. The Reaction copies are something to treasure, with its superb psychedelic cover artwork (by Martin Sharpe) and wonderful dynamic mix. The earliest of pressings - just check out those matrix and stampers again, this is a copy to behold. The mono mix is superb and very different from the stereo version – both are essential. The record is heavily pressed and the sound is awesome throughout with precise, focused sound that has real depth, detail and that mono bass slam. Disraeli Gears peaked at 5 and 4 respectively in the UK and US, very commendable in a year that saw the issue of so many truely wonderful records - still for me the greatest ever year in music. The stunning dayglo cover matched the feel for the times perfectly for a psychedelic London. The blues feel of the band was slowly slipping away and the brilliantly surreal lyrics by Pete Brown suited Jack Bruce’s finest vocals. The words ‘classic’ and ‘essential’ are definitely not overused on this album. Early copies of this record, when found in either mono or stereo are often trashed, simply played to destruction, with unlistenable distortion and groove wear and scratches, what a joy to find and offer a copy that plays looks and plays beautifully and a cover in stunning condition – the colour so bright, intense and vivid, you almost need ‘shades’.

Cover Condition and Details: Mint(-), and one in near reference standard condition. Its a single format and laminated on BOTH sides which are rarer and much harder to find than the single laminated versions that followed shortly afterwardes. Printed and made by Ernest J. Day & Co Ltd, London and including the ‘Patents Pending’ text. An incredible example of this very famous cover that shows it’s stunning artwork to near perfection.

Lamination – Front & Back: Supreme artwork and one of the landmark covers of its era. So famous and desirable, only strong, little worn examples will do for discerning collectors. The laminate both sides is super-fresh, very shiny and ultra clear – the intensity of the cover’s artwork is seen to absolute maximum advantage. Even under light there are minimal traces of any friction rubs or dulling, just the merest trace on the back or the thick record’s rim shape, but you have to look hard. There is no peeling and all is fully adhered with no lifting of blisters, vital on such a stunning cover. Just a couple of tiny faint creases that barely even show and there are hardly any surface marks, any the odd one or two present are near invisible. Even with close scurtiny under light, the lack of surface hairlines is amazing, this is as smooth as ice and the laminate so perfect and clinical, it almost appears sprayed-on. It ends a fraction short of full width on the left and right sides but the laminate still covers the spine and is then tucked inside the internal flipback construction. These exposed edges are also neat and unworn with no ugly grime-line build up. The only blemish of small note is very mild and slight burring on the back top edge where the panel is a fraction proud of the front, this again is near impossible to avoid but is minimal on this example. This is a cover is genuine beauty and it blows-away its years and will prove close to imposible to find much better. Clearly (being the operative word) one for the serious collector.

Top Edge: Just the slight thicking to ultra thin ‘overhang’ on the back panel as mentioned above, that apart unworn.

Bottom Edge: Unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with barely a trace of wear and no feathering. Record entered on right edge.

Spine and Text: Solid (but quite fine with text centred a fraction low in manufacture), straight with minimal compression. All text is unworn under the very solid laminate that has minimal traces of wear.

Corners: Small tip rubs to a couple, realistically how many will not have such tiny blemishes over all these years? All retain very fine shape and definition.

Cover Summary: A truly wonderful and ultra attractive all round example of this beautiful early made cover, one that will prove immesely difficult to match let alone find much better with the double sided laminate. This beautiful vintage item should please most-all collectors.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX++ / Mint(-) (and this being ultra critcal), a fantastic copy that truly looks hardly played or handled, a couple of ultra fine surface traces on side one and even under angled light, any blemishes or hairlines are minuscule and very few indeed and I regard a popular record this great age like this to be exceptional. Intensely black and very clean indeed with a fantastic shine and lustre. This record usually gets well played and why not, its a classic, so a refreshing change to find a barely played mono example that plays even beyond its stunning looks.

Record 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 snippetts or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This glorious mono copy plays with immaculate sound - play-grading was a pleasure. Mono or stereo best? - always one for debate. I could not be asked to choose for this album - both are truly essential, the mono mix has a very different sound which is very noticeable indeed and has a solid punchy sound which seems to be preferred by the serious 60s collector. This was the age of the mono record and this mix has incredible detail, power and dynamics: listen to the real slam on ‘Tales of Brave Ulysses’ at the start of side two. Bruce’s bass really pounds out of the speakers as does Baker’s drums. Clapton’s guitar is clear and distortion-free as are all the vocals with no high frequency clipping whatsoever. Disraeli Gears is sublime blues rock with a real psych edge. A copy I enjoyed immensely, that lack of any groove-wear distortion is always a massive bonus for any album this great age of course and essential for the classics. No worn-out mono stylus stubs have been let loose on the one, that will be immediately apparent as soon as your pick-up makes contact with these totally unworn grooves. A copy that has survived totally unscathed musically from those vintage vinyl wearing decks of the 60s, this will play for many years with full dynamic range and clear sound given the full care and attention this record deserves. This is a massively strong overall copy and with that gorgeous cover too, the highest possible recommendation is mandatory – do not lose this or the amazing debut from the same collection I am currently offering as well.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will 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 its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets out ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is no bad thing. Also: any item with a value over £40 will have to be insured as well, but for any item that sells for over £150, I will pay the extra insurance (then the lower shipping price applies).

I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within three days maximum (unless on holiday). All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with TWO VERY THICK stiffners for even extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will be Double Boxed. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course of multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per packet. I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included in the advert.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4. (Only for items under £40)

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (Compulsory for items over £40).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA including RUSSIA and nearby countries. (Airmail Only):

1 LP, value less than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8.

1 LP, value greater than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, [£500 Maximum]) = £11.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP, value less than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £12.

1 LP, value greater than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500 Maximum) = £15.

For items that sell over £150, I will pay the insurance, so the lower shipping price will apply.

Payment Conditions:

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

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.