DONOVAN Fairytale RARER ORIG UK 1965 EX+ MONO PYE LP, LOVELY COPY, N/M COVER.

	£		129
	$		171

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

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in 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: DONOVAN

Album Title: Fairytale

Producer(s): Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens, Terry Kennedy

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Colours; To Try for the Sun; Sunny Goodge Street; Oh Deed I Do; Circus of Sour; The Summer Day Reflection Song.

Side 2: Candy Man; Jersey Thursday; Belated Forgiveness Plea; The Ballad of a Crystal Man; The Little Tin Soldier; The Ballad of Geraldine.

Label/Format: Pye with matt textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only moderate spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. The heavy pressed record is very clean indeed and plays impressively.

Catalogue Number: NPL 18128

Mode / Speed: Mono / 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: 175 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce, and cleaner originals are never easy to find.

Original Year of Release: 1965

Matrix Nos: NPL 18128 A2 ?H / NPL 18128 B2 ?H

Mothers / Stampers: M 2 / G 2

Musicians: Donovan Leitch – banjo, guitar, harmonica, vocals; Skip Alan (Alan Skipper) – drums; Brian Locking – bass guitar; Harold McNair – flute; Shawn Phillips – guitar, twelve-string guitar.

Brief Info: The second album by the Scottish folk singer-songwriter Donovan. The album mainly features him with guitar and vocals but some other backing seen above. A lovely set that develops the sound of the debut still further. This a lovely heavyweight first issue and plays well. Never easy for a vintage mono album like this.

Cover Grade and Format: MINT(–): a single format with front laminate, this covers all the folds and ends on three rear flipbacks. The main back panel is matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse with ‘Patents pending’ text. Includes a Pye tracing paper lined inner (this came from the Kinks first album as written on the top of one corner).

Lamination & Front: A stunning cover from this vintage, the best I have ever seen for this album. The laminate retains superb shine, freshness and clarity with no lifting and barely creased or dulled. Totally age-defying and magnificent.

Cover Back: The matt rear panel has barely aged at all, still clean and fresh, hardly creased with barely any grubbiness. The lack of rubbing, writing and especially ring wear with such a massive thick record inside for over half-a-century is seldom seen. All three flipbacks are solid, clean and fresh with no lifting or damage. Avoiding yellowing under the shiny laminate, and the lack of grime to the ends makes them exceptional.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both quite straight, smooth and unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Still quite sharp with any thickening light, these early Pye covers used thicker card than average. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, very close to straight with minimal compression, the ends gently pinched in manufacture. The text is unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

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

Cover Summary: An amazing all-round example of this vintage mid-1960’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find better. This beautiful item should please most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: but with writing on the top right corner from the retailer. This clearly came from The Kinks debut album which has the same style inner. Clearly the original owner mixed them up. This apart, a neat and still clean inner that includes the vintage tracing paper style lining. Some creasing but the paper only gently aged and the edges are largely intact.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better. The labels do showing some alignment marks which probably indicate a few plays, but the record’s surfaces give scant clues as such. A superb visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very heavily pressed. Any surface traces few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Few vintage mono record will have fewer blemishes than this, a copy played very carefully and visually a super record that should please many, if not most 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 Donovan album plays up to 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. Few available copies will outperform this early first mono pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp when played on a standard stereo system. Clearly played with due care very well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove very 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.

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] = £4.75

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK 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.