DONOVAN A Gift From a Flower… RARER Orig UK Stereo N/M

	£		212
	$		281

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering the Best Quality Folk Music to the World

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Artist or Band: DONOVAN

Album Title: A Gift From a Flower to a Garden.

Producer(s): Mickie Most.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Wear You Like Heaven; Mad John’s Escape; Skip-a-long Sam; Sun; There Was a Time.

Side 2: Oh Gosh; Little Boy in Corduroy; Under the Greenwood Tree; The Land of Doesn’t Have to Be; Someone Singing.

Side 3: Song of the Naturalists Wife; The Enchanted Gypsy; Voyage into the Golden Screen; Isle of Islay; The Mandolin Man and his Secret; Lay of the Last Tinker.

Side 4: The Tinker and the Crab; Widow with Shawl (a portrait); The lullaby of Spring; The Magpie; Starfish-on-the-Toast; Epistle to Derroll.

Label/Format: Pye – Original black and blue format (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: All four in fantastic condition: ultra clean, fresh and looking hardly even handled. Age-defying in every respect with just a tiny few ultra faint spindle traces and four supremely clean playing surfaces. This came from a connoisseur’s collection that were beautifully stored and treasured. Without any doubt, played no more than than two or three times most and this too on high quality equipment.

Cat Number: NSPL 20000.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: Both substantial at 155 / 153 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: Scarcer in stereo and near impossible in top conditions. This is a beauty. The box so often torn, flattened, badly scuffed, rubbed and grubby. Well this one has been stored with utmost care and actually will remind of a near new example, when found like this, a thing of real beauty and rarity, do not underestimate. The icing on the cake is the inclusion of ALL 12 of the inserts in Mint condition and the same goes for the original wallet they came in. A complete copy of this album is never easy to find like this. Early Donovan albums are very special, very delicate and elusive in top playing conditions. This one should delight even the most discerning collector.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: NSPL 20000 A-1*G STEREO / NSPL 20000 B-1*G STEREO / NSPL 20000 C-1*G STEREO / NSPL 20000 D-1*G STEREO [side four is error corrected]

Stamper Codes: L 1 / J 1 / L 1 / S 1

Musicians: Donovan Leitch - vocals, guitar, harmonica; Harold McNair - flute; Tony Carr - drums, bells, conga, Turkish and finger cymbals; Candy John Carr - bongos; Ken Baldock - string bass; Mike Carr - vibraphone; Eric Leese - electric guitar; Jack Bruce - electric bass; Cliff Barton - electric bass; Mike O’Neill - organ, piano, harpsichord.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Donovan, an artist who does not always get the full accolades his music truly deserves. His comparison to Dylan is somewhat unfair; this highly individual and gifted singer is his own man. He wrote some of the most wonderful songs of the late 60s and his style suited the classic hippy psych era perfectly. None more so than this stunning double box set, this for me is his greatest ever album with every song a gem. Gentle, haunting melodies with atmosphere and genuine beauty and sung with real passion – the male folk genre rarely gets better than this. Beautifully packaged with sublime acid-folk songs, this is fast becoming rare - complete copies in top conditions are becoming more elusive. This was lavishly packaged in a two piece box with printing on all the main surfaces. No compromising on quality, even the cards themselves are printed on top quality, watermarked paper. Finding the full set of 12 in mint condition in a mint ‘wallet’ will prove a huge challenge and these are the first I have seen for some time. Most examples are seen missing the odd one or two or even all and rarely are they found in such pristine conditions. All 12 here look barely even handled with no finger impressions or marks at all. The wallet that keeps them protected and together is even harder to find pristine, this one has even avoided creasing or bending and simply looks gorgeous. The Pye records are very heavily pressed and sound quality is practically as made. Even the heavy duty polylined inners are fresh and clean as I hope my pictures show. For those seeking arguably the best Donovan ever in glorious stereo, it will take something remarkable to better this.

Box Grade and Format: Slightly difficult to grade this two piece, unhinged box separately so I will grade per piece. The tray: Mint(-) and easily the best I have ever seen. The lid: obviously more to prone wear as the four edges are exposed, this is a superb EX++. Given the perils it faced over its long years – most seen are flattened wrecks, rubbing into oblivion or torn and dirty, often seen with very crude attempts are repairing. Rarely seen devoid of price sticker marks too, these often left residue outline stains or even tears, none on this one at all. The outside of the tray has a picture of Donovan with His Holiness Maharishi Mahash Yogi and this paste-on picture atop of the textured trays surface is in superb condition with barely any wear at all. The inside as a surreal-psych picture of Donovan and here record two’s tracks are listed along with the album’s credits, musicians etc., this surface is practically unworn. All the edges on this tray are solid with no splits and pretty much look new. There are NO repairs, all are totally rigid, erect and uncrushed or distorted in any way or form. The lid top artwork, again a paste-on has barely any traces of grubbiness, rubbing or discolouration, this one has not faded either. Any surface blemishes are few, tiny and faint and this sets the standard for others to match or better. The inside has song lyrics and titles for record one, like the inside tray, this is almost as new again. The edges are again rock solid, erect and uncrushed with perfect shape and no distortions or repairs. Clearly these are massively wear-prone but show little. A few light surface rubs only mostly on the corner ends, but even these are ultra mild and faint. The actual fold bends are practically unworn and how often will this ever be the case? How many of these will still actually exist to this standard?, even with care, these vintage boxes are never easy to store and keep like this for any length of time, bear in mind, this is now entering its fifth decade. An item of immense beauty and it has to be my very best example yet.

The Wallet: Practically Mint as made, a simply stunning example in deep orange-brown with the artists name printed on the front. Printed on fairly thick matt finished card, the inside has two folded flaps that are shaped near the centre foldline. Both are pristine with no creasing and ultra clean. I feel certain this wallet has barely been handled or ‘used’ and finding a better one could prove near impossible.

The Inserts: STUNNING PRISTINE MINT FOR ALL – Yes true, I have scrutinised all 12 of these and they are simply ‘as made’. Beautifully printed and made on high class thick paper with a deep watermark The paper also has a deep weave pattern and a textured feel to the fingers. These are pure class and superbly illustrated by Mick Taylor and Sheena McCall. Twelve inserts, twelve different colours for twelve songs, they are titled ‘the first’ through to ‘the twelfth’ and are copyrighted ‘Donovan (Music) Ltd’. All are spotlessly clean, fresh and devoid of any marks (front or back), obviously unmounted and uncreased. All edges razor sharp, all exactly the same size hence NO trimming or enhancements, all corners are perfect right angles with barely a tip blemish worthy of note. Specimen standard for all, these will be impossible to find better and all are gorgeous mini works of art that are simply impossible to fake.

The Inner Sleeves: Both Mint(-) and still a superb clean shade of real white. Both polylined and heavy duty with immaculate, pristine windows and no edge splits or noteworthy creasing. Both mirror-image text and UK patented with ‘Foreign Patends Pending’ text (please see close-up).

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX++ to Mint(-). Side four has a fine hairline that has NO sound. Any other visual blemishes are tiny and faint with no effect on audio, a couple of tiny scuff traces probably present from new. Two superb records that are ultra clean, retaining a beautiful lustre and shine, intense black and heavily pressed. This set, without any doubt, has hardly even been played and barely even run-in in vinyl terms.

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 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: These lovely records play up too and most all beyond their high visual gradings with practically nothing to fault. Strong, dynamic, distortion-free stereo sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear and sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. The lack of distortion or inherent surface noise is a huge plus factor on any record like this. There are no loud electric passages to mask imperfections but none necessary for this one. No pops or clicks of note were heard and the sound of Donovan’s voice and backing instruments is sublime, this album is superbly produced by Mickie Most and has a genuine in-the-room quality. The songs are simply wonderful with a truly haunting quality, a man at the peak of his powers, it’s no wonder this album is in such high demand. This is a work-of-art with all the original mix, sound and packaging (those beautiful inserts are worthy of any price alone), this is merits my highest recommendation as a much better all-round example will prove immensely difficult to find.

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/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver terminated cable). 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.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW 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. 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. All records are posted in professional thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). 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 THREE or EVEN FOUR ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. The thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand based on over 6,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance optional extra £3)

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. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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’.