EAGLES 'HOTEL CALIFORNIA' 1976 FIRST PRESSING 6E-103 w/ POSTER & ETCHED VINYL

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EAGLES 'HOTEL CALIFORNIA' 1976 FIRST PRESSING 6E-103 w/ POSTER & ETCHED VINYL
EAGLES  "HOTEL CALIFORNIA" LABEL: ASYLUM 6E-103 RELEASED: DECEMBER 8th 1976 FIRST U.S. PRESSING w/ GATEFOLD, POSTER, INNER SLEEVE, ETCHED VINYL RECORDED: CRITERIA STUDIOS ~ MIAMI; RECORD PLANT L.A. (March-October 1976) PRODUCER: BILL SZYMCZYK PRESSING: Specialty Records Corporation ('SP' label and SRC Logo in Matrix) MASTERING/LACQUERS: STERLING SOUND POSTER PHOTO: NORMAN SEEFF
MATRIX (SIDE A): 7̷E̷ ̷1̷0̷8̷4̷-̷A̷1̷4̷ ̷  SP 6E-103-A-14 "IS IT 6'O'CLOCK YET?" STERLING [SRC Logo]  MATRIX (SIDE B): SIMILAR w/ "V.O.L. IS FIVE PIECE LIVE"
CONDITION: VINYL VG+   INNERS/POSTER: EX-   JACKET: EX-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First off, I should say that 'Hotel California' is an absolute Masterpiece of an album.  One of the greatest albums of all time, a timeless classic, and the Eagles at their best. Every song is absolutely amazing.
Hotel California was the Eagles 5th studio album.
It was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami and at the Record Plant in LA, between March and October 1976, eight grueling months. It was produced by their old friend Bill Szymczyk, who produced the Eagles previous two albums.
Hotel California was a transitional record for the band, musically and personnel wise. 
This album was the final appearance of original bassist Randy Meisner before being replaced by Timothy B. Schmit. Guitarist Bernie Leadon, a strong influence on the band’s country sound, was replaced by guitarist Joe Walsh.
With the addition of Joe Walsh, the band’s sound got a bit heavier and leaned more towards Rock.
The band for this album consisted of:
Glenn Frey – Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals Don Henley – Drums, Vocals Don Felder – Guitars, Vocals Randy Meisner – Bass, Guitarron, Vocals Joe Walsh – Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals
The band believed that 'Hotel California' was the peak of their career. The combination of lyrics, music, and harmony is just terrific.
This album comes with 9 tracks, all killer, no filler.
The songs all loosely share the theme of paradise lost. A metaphor for the perceived decline of America. They use California as a microcosm of the whole United States, with comments on the nature of success, the loss of innocence, and the attraction of excess and decadence.
Don Henley has said "It's an album about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America which was something that we knew about.”
You can checkout anytime you like, but you can never leave.
The Eagles were able to capture the sonic atmosphere and feeling of the decade.
Songs like “Hotel California,” “New Kid in Town,” “Life in the Fast Lane,” and “Victim of Love” all show the group’s deep rhythmic capabilities, stunning harmonizing, and delicate balance between sinister edginess and 'peaceful, easy feeling'.
Hotel California is one of the best rock and roll albums of the 70s and the absolute pinnacle of their career.
The stress of recording the album led to tensions between the band members and the Eagles were never the same afterwards.
Don Henley stated that “After that album, we started growing apart as collaborators and as friends”. 
If you love rock and roll, then 'Hotel California' is a must have album and a rock classic that belongs in every vinyl collection.
The title track, “Hotel California” is truly a masterpiece, and the best song on this album.
The real treat that makes this song a classic is the dual Spanish-styled electric guitar lines by Walsh and Felder and the long, intermingling, dual guitar lead that closes out the song. I think it has to be one of the best guitar solos ever laid down on vinyl.
The song won a Grammy Award in 1977 for Record of the Year.
'Life in the Fast Lane,' one of the singles from the album, talks about the excesses of the R'nR lifestyle. Don Henley has said that the idea came to him when he was on cocaine heading to Las Vegas in a drug dealers Corvette, driving 160 mph. 
'Life in the Fast Lane' was recorded 'live' in the studio as was Don Felder's 'Victim of Love'
On this first pressing, the words "V.O.L. IS FIVE PIECE LIVE" are etched into the deadwax, just to remind you it was a live take.
'The Last Resort' is the perfect closer to this exquisite album. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This album is the original gatefold first pressing version.
The great photo on the cover was taken by David Alexander. The Eagles wanted a picture of the original 'Beverly Hills Hotel' but wanted it to look 'Dark' and 'mysterious'.
The inner gatefold photo of a quirky gathering of the Eagles' friends, employees and other business associates was taken in the run-down lobby of the old Lido Hotel Flophouse, in L.A.
Henley has said "I wanted a collection of people from all walks of life. It's people on the edge, on the fringes of society."
To this day, nobody knows what the sinister figure lurking in the balcony window is doing - or who it is. The 'balcony' figure is only seen on these first pressings. It had satanic overtones and was airbrushed out of later pressings and CDs.
This original pressing also comes with the great three-panel poster of the band looking a little rough and coked-up. Classic. Actually, there are 2 copies of the poster included. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sound quality on this original first pressing is amazing. It reveals just how deeply layered, dynamic and intense the music is. The instruments are well separated, vocals are crisp & clear, harmonies are perfect, and there's a good sense of space and depth. The overall sound is warm, intimate, vibrant and dynamic. The bass is also more robust and overall more dynamic on this early all-analog first pressing.
This was one of the best sounding and best recorded albums of the mid 70s. 'Hotel California' is a masterpiece, flawlessly recorded and it blows my mind every time I listen to it. 
This original all-analog, 1976 pressing is really the best, and only, way to appreciate this fantastic album.
There was a 2009 100% analog re-issue mastered by Kevin Gray which sounds good, but it's quite pricey.
The 2015 reissue was mastered by Bernie Grundman. but was made from digital files.
This is the version you want for your vinyl collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
I purchased this copy back in the mid 70's, shortly after it was released, nearly 50 years ago, and have taken great care of it since.
VINYL: The vinyl looks excellent. Clean and bright. Maybe a tiny hairline, but No serious scuffs, palpable scratches, or dings. It looks fantastic and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
The Deadwax has the Sterling stamp and the long catalog numbers, with one of them scratched out. It has the original 'messages' etched in the matrix: "IS IT 6'O'CLOCK YET?"/"V.O.L. IS FIVE PIECE LIVE" and the other first pressing identifiers. See the full Matrix numbers above.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 45 years, since Gerald Ford was in office. It could use a good deep cleaning to make it even better looking and better sounding. 
The record has been in a poly-lined sleeve for decades.
LABELS: This is pressed with custom labels. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks very nice for a 45 year old OG copy.
Sharp corners, clear crisp images, straight spine. No seam splits or issues. Some very mild ringwear at the very top, but not bad. (see photo) The inner Gatefold is clean and fine.
The original 2-sided custom inner sleeve is clean, and the original tri-fold poster is included. Actually 2 copies. A nice survivor.
Overall, I'll call the vinyl at least VG+ and the whole record EX- overall.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for years, and is still quite nice for an original pressing. You can see from my pictures it's still quite nice and acceptable. This copy is all original, complete, and a real gem. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN