FAIRPORT CONVENTION What We Did On Our Holidays - UK LP

	£		73
	$		97

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Artist or Band: FAIRPORT CONVENTION

Album Title: What We Did On Our Holidays

Producer: Joe Boyd

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fotheringay; Mr Lacey; Book Song; The Lord is in This Place…How Dreadful is This Place; No Man’s Land; I’ll Keep it With Mine.

Side 2: Eastern Rain; Nottamun Town; Tale in Hard Time; She Moves Through the Fair; Meet on the Ledge; End of a Holiday.

Label/Format/Rarity: Island – Pink rim format, the very first made on the new format. This may be the fourth issue variation of this classic album but this one is quite special and rare too. This is massively pressed on thick vinyl and the labels are heavily textured, just like the first pink label pressings and also include a deep central ridge. All the subsequent pink rim pressings were much thinner with smooth finished labels and these textured pink rim variants are rare, only available for a very brief time only. These rare first pink rim pressings included the large, deeply punched upright matrixes just like the first pink eyeball labels, again they were changed to the usual style on the smooth ones. The first pink rim textured copies are special and are of the same quality as the very first pressings, indeed these are sometimes even heavier pressed, indeed this has a massive pressing weight of 167 grams, that is substantial and few copies of this album will ever be found heavier. For good measure, these slightly later pressings included a fully laminated cover, the first issues only had front laminate, I truly consider this pressing to be the rare and least seen for this classic album. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both look fantastic: ultra clean, fresh with only light spindle marks. Now I do have to mention, and it will not be for the first time on this piece, this record does have a smallish scratch on side one that does emit some light clicks, not too many and certainly only low-level, but present nonetheless. I have no doubts this record has received only very few plays and has superb looking playing surfaces, but this is certainly a blemish. Without this fine mark thats start mid-way through ‘Book Song’ and ends just into the next song with light intermittent clicks, this would be one of the best looking and sounding copies I have heard, certainly for some time anyway. I cannot not offer such a lovely record because of this blemish, but clearly not for the more discerning collector or sound purist – that’s fair enough – but many who can tolerate a few light clicks will be happy. It’s just lovely to own this rare pressing anyway and the vast majority still sounds fantastic, side two is little short of perfect.

Cat Number: ILPS 9092.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm (this record was not issued in mono in the UK).

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: 167 grams. A massive weight for a pink rim copy, only these elusive textured label pressings were pressed to this substantial weight, this will match and is likely to even exceed the pink eyeball copies.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: I have outlined the rarity of this above on the ‘Label’ paragraph.

Original Year of Release: January 1969. This was re-pressed three times within the same year on the three different pink label formats (block and i logos). This textured pink rim pressing would have been pressed in 1970 and not available too long either before the smooth, thinner pressings took over.

Matrix Nos: ILPS+9092+A2 / ILPS+9092+B3 (these are deep punched and scarce matrixes on this album, large and very precise and clear, they are probably visible on my label scan).

Brief Artist & Album Info: This remarkable band’s second album and first on Island and within any genre of music, one of the greatest albums ever. It was Sandy Denny’s debut album with the band as well. An album that boasts an embarrassment of influences and riches, binding together to make their own. This was their ‘beatnik’ phase, treading the psychedelic underground and featuring some stunning gems including Sandy’s beautiful ‘Fotheringay’. Examples of electric traditional songs too in the equally brilliant ‘Nottamun Town’ and ‘She moves Through the Fair’ - neither song, as a by-the-way, was British. Dylan’s masterpiece ‘I’ll Keep it with Mine’ is covered too with a delightful version. Significantly, Richard Thompson’s development as a unique sounding guitarist and songwriter began to bloom. This evergreen classic album failed to sell well, and failed to even break into the charts. This is a very difficult record to find as an original and those that do show are often in very poor conditions hence I am delighted to offer this still very early pressed pink rim copy with its fully laminated cover. Even though there is a mark on side one that does emit several, mostly low-level, gentle clicks, this is still a lovely copy. A slight shame of course as I only really like offering near perfect sounding records, but this is so nice and scarce too, I simply have to offer it. Folk fan or not this record should appeal to all rock and classic vinyl collectors. This is more progressive folk-rock with psych overtones and it’s a true privilege to be able to offer any 40+-year-old album still in very fine condition, let alone one of the greatest records ever made.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: More moderate when fully laminated. But still quite thin and flimsy.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT. This is a single format and FULLY LAMINATED. It was printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group. The initial 1960s pink covers were made by Island and had laminate only on the front and they simply do not compare to this for stunning good looks.

Cover Front, Back & Lamination: The laminate retains a lovely shine and freshness and clarity. Any dulling is very slight indeed and only just apparent (under light) round the rim shape on the front with barely a trace on the back. There is some lifting on the spine edges which is immensely difficult to avoid, this has modest visual impact, especially on the front. Elsewhere, all is fully adhered. The top left corner appears to have had a small graze to the tip area with a minor, small crease. The reall good news is the lack of creasing: such dark covers tend to show anything freely and actually emphasises them. But this barely any at all bar ultra fine and tiny edge hairlines that few, if any will ever avoid at the very least. The artwork remains very impressive indeed and looks so much nicer with laminate both sides. Possibly undergraded at excellent, this looks really nice.

Top Edge: Practically wear-free.

Bottom Edge: As above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with no wear or feathering – no chipping to the very dark edges either which is pretty remarkable as the laminate ends a little short of both sides – no grime line formation either. The record is stored on this vulnerable edge which is guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: A fine, if thin spine, clearly delicate. The text only states ‘FAIRPORT CONVENTION’ and the ILPS 9092 catalogue number and all is pristine perfect, this is exactly the same as the original Island-made cover. Solid, straight with only a little mild compression.

Corners: The top left appears to have a mild graze and a little creasing to the tip area, but even this retains fine shape. The other three are in super shape with any tip rubs tiny.

Cover Summary: A difficult cover in very fine condition. Less wear prone than the inferior partially laminated version but still hard to find really attractive as there are seldom not laminate issues of some kind. This should please many collectors.

The Inner: This record came to be inside a heavy-duty white inner that is polylined. Also a substantial weight inner in superb condition with ultra neat window and lining. All edges secure and barely any creasing or ageing, minor glue darkening on the seams only.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: VERY GOOD++ / EXCELLENT+, never easy grading a very clean record that has one obvious blemish, this time a smallish fine scratch on side one. This is very clean, with a lovely shine, intense black and very heavily pressed on very thick vinyl. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence, but clearly one misdemeanor has left it’s mark from the past. Not a major one really as the clicks are only gentle and light, but enough to remind it’s a record that’s playing as most-all of the rest is very quiet indeed. Visually, a lovely record with one mark that sounds, any other marks are few and very fine with no sound, this will please many collectors, but not the sound purist or the most discerning. Any doubts, do not bid.

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 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: As soon as you feel the weight of this record, you will realise it’s a pretty special pressing, and I really love those textured pink rim labels. My absolute favourite Island format and so few albums appear on it. This brilliant album plays very well indeed and the few clicks, mentioned several times (as I always do to make sure there are NO excuses for missing the fact), are the only blemishes of any real note to a still impressive sounding record. A high quality first issue Island pink rim repressing, any pressing surface sounds register little and no other pops or clicks were noted of any real significance. Not an easy album in it’s own right, few will ever play silent from beginning to end, fact, especially the early-pressed ones that were subjected to over-use and abuse on old heavy-tracking record players. Even the final short instrumental ‘End of a Holiday’ plays incredibly well and that is never easy to say the least. A very delicate instrumental finale that so often suffers stylus lifts, drops or scrapes and it simply does not tolerate any such abuse, here it plays extremely well. The same can be said of the gentle track ‘The Lord is in This Place…How Dreadful is This Place’, a great test here, does your stereo system allow you to hear the very soft background voices of talking people that lie very distant in the mix? – any worthy system should reveal these ultra fine details. The stereo sound and audio quality is very high and the details embedded in these unworn grooves still amaze (a scratch is not ‘wear’, more a mishap). Both channels are clean and unstressed and Sandy’s vocals are crystal clear with great detail and emphasise. Little spoilt my pleasure, even taking into account the gentle clicks, I must make this clear, they are only low-level ‘ticks’ more than harder ‘clicks’ and are more easily ignored. The music so good, any unwanted sound blemishes wash over, or they did me anyway. This is a rarer pressing, it tracks effortlessly and overall, offers pleasing sounds. I am happy to recommend it, but you must decide if the light clicks are acceptable. Any doubts, for the last time, do not bid.

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’.