FAIRPORT CONVENTION What We Did on Our Holidays 69 Orig

	£		129
	$		171

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: FAIRPORT CONVENTION

Album Title: What We Did On Our Holidays

Producer: Joe Boyd

Engineer: John Wood

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: Island - Full pink original with orange and black ‘eyeball’ logo. The surfaces are very rough textured and have a very deep inner ridge. (Please see label pictures for all information).

Label Conditions: Two absolutely beautiful examples with the most gorgeous, fresh real deep pink colour that have an almost pastel-like finish. What an absolute pleasure to view these types on one of the greatest Island albums ever. Both ultra clean with gorgeous surfaces that show no fingermarks or grubbiness. Spindle marks appear modest and faint, these rough labels do not show up individual marks like the smooth versions. There is no wear or chipping to the hole rim and no ink loss or damage at all. Noteworthy and very unsually on side one (and the eagle-eyed may have spotted on my picture), the black registration crosses have somehow been allowed to stay on these labels. This is an unusual error as these printer’s manufacture registers should have been removed as most all are. You will not see these appear very often on this or any other label.

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: A massive 171 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 135 to 145 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, many 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 50 records from these eras.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Quite rare as a genuine original, this was not available too long before being repressed. It did not sell in any great numbers. This made it to just about all Island label formats but nothing compares to a first pressing. That massive slab with stunning textured labels and the ultimate sound quality. The only thing that went against the originals is the cover was only laminated on the front. Very unusually, the cover was actually better on the early pink rim copies that were laminated on both sides. Beware of substitutions on both examples. I state categorically, this first pressing has to have a cover laminated on the front only and has NO cover printer’s credits.

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).

Matrix Nos: ILPS+9092+A / ILPS+9092+B (these are deep punched and very precise and clear, they should even be visible on my label picture).

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 after replacing Judy Dyble. 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. As stated, this 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. This is a very clean example, massively pressed with just a very small few light surface marks. Just one small mark on the end of ‘Eastern Rain’ that opens side two, has a tiny few muted clicks that register little. That apart, this beautiful record plays beautifully with practically nothing else to fault. 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 41-year-old album in this very fine condition, let alone one of the greatest records ever made. I feel sure the winning bidder will be delighted when this shows up. Pretty-much avoiding the hazards or abuse from those early decks and those heady times from the late 60s. Remember, this album was NOT issued in mono, few Island rock originals were, but it did not stop many mono record-player owners playing them on what they had. Hence so many are found in very poor conditions with deep penetrating scratches and worn grooves from the massive tracking weights they were often subjected too. When mono was not available, stereo had to do. The cover back not being protected is highly wear prone, dark thin card , it’s immensely difficult to find with even light wear and given that fact, this is a very fine example. So not a Mint copy but still a fantastic solid excellent, and ‘solid’ being the operative word on this super-heavyweight record. This gem will please most collectors but is just a little below connoisseur standard but will never prove easy to find much better – and that’s the truth.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High, the back being highly vulnerable.

Cover Grade and Format: EX. This is a single format with the correct front only laminate. It was printed and made in England with NO printer’s credits, also correct.

Cover Front & Lamination: The laminate retains a lovely glossy shine and is very clear too. Incredibly dark and revealing and only under angled light do any mild traces of friction rubs or dulling show. The really good news is, all is fully adhered with no lifting or blistering, on such a revealing sleeve, any major blisters would ruin the wonderful artwork. The can be said for creasing and again, delighted to say there are very few at all and those present are just very fine edge hairline types. Any record pressmarks are light and faint too and this is not the thickest card ever used on a record cover. The right entrance edge sees the laminate end a little short of full width and this exposed strip has minimal traces of any wear or chipping and this is guaranteed untrimmed. There is no peeling apart from a tiny chip on the bottom right corner. Overall a superb front and made more so by the fact it has a massively pressed first issue inside. You can imagine what most of these will look like these days.

Cover Back: Same goes for the highly wear-prone back, I remind again, this was NOT laminated on the original printings, only later were they double laminated. As unusual as this seems, it’s absolutely true – it’s the direct opposite to the Cream ‘Disraeli Gears’ album which was first double laminated and then single, just to make things crystal clear. This back has little actual wear and retains a lovely deep rich colour with any rubbing only light and showing little. There are however a couple of light and smallish creases, one on the top left corner and the other straight down near the centre of the left edge, again only modest visibility. Also some fine edge creases that most covers will have at the very least, most on the top edge towards the left corner. There are also three or four fine surface marks that do not even show with normal viewing, again tilt to light to expose these, no ink is removed them and they cannot even be felt with the finger, they are that fine. All blemishes minor, I wish to make that very clear, there is little else to fault and all considered, this back is really quite nice too, the lack of deep penetrating ringwear is significant and unusual, and always good news of course.

Top Edge: Practically unworn, the odd tiny surface chip only to the laminate.

Bottom Edge: Pretty much the same again.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite harp with little wear and no feathering. With end-on viewing, very slight thickening is just apparent on the thin card. The record is stored on this vulnerable edge.

Spine and Text: A fine, if thin spine, clearly delicate. The text only states ‘FAIRPORT CONVENTION’ and the ILPS 9092 cat number and all is perfect and unworn. Solid, straight with any compression minimal, possible tiny tip-on on bottom corner where the laminate has chipped slightly.

Corners: All generally neat with tiny tip tip-ins (not be hasten to add), but done very neatly. Fine shape is retained.

Cover Summary: A difficult cover in very fine condition. Far more wear prone than the later double laminated version – beware of substitutions because the single laminates are actually rarer. This should please many collectors, but the perfectionists, that said…

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Side one: EX(+). Side two EX(-) which makes an average of EX. It plays even better with little fault bar the few muted clicks on the ‘Eastern Rain’ near its end as mentioned already. There are several light marks/hairlines on side two, with just the one tiny one that sounds, all others are ignored. Side one has few noteworthy marks at all. The sheer weight of this record is amazing and is heavier than even the earliest Beatles albums. With deeper grooves, these surface marks are all ignored and the sound quality is very high and highly enjoyable. This is super clean, with a lovely shine, intense black and massivley pressed on very thick vinyl. This will make lightweight turntables groan up to speed as the belts struggle to revolve its weight. A copy certainly played a few times but in no way excessive by any means. Visually still an attractive record that should please many collectors, but not the perfectionists.

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: This brilliant record exceeds its fine visual grading with practically nothing to fault bar the tiny few muted clicks as mentioned twice already. Minimal surface sounds, even on the several quiet passages and all plays devoid of distortion, all frequencies are sharp and clear with no clipping or sound degrading. A very fine original Island pink rim pressing. No other noteworthy pops or clicks were noticed. 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 well, 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. Both channels are clean and unstressed and Sandy’s vocals are crystal clear with great detail and emphasise. Practically nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this landmark, classic record – it’s a delicate recording at times and never easy to find this clean. Of course I prefer examples with no surface marks, we all do, but records over 40-years-old rarely have none, but the most-all are ignored, why worry? This copy will prove difficult to find significantly better – indeed finding any first-pressed example will never be easy in any condition. I can thorougly recommend this piece of folk-rock history, but if doubts remain…

End Piece: Definitive ‘progressive’ folk-rock with a lovely psych edge, the likes that was rarely ever equalled, this album, the first of three masterpieces on Island that included the great Sandy Denny in the line-up is a joy from start to finish. Make no mistake, this album is rare in fine condition, most seen are trashed and later examples are more the norm. An all-round copy devoid of major flaws, this is a very fine example with both record and cover in strong conditions. This may be one of the better available copies you will be offered for quite some time – do NOT lose it.

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 ‘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, 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 even 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 5,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course for 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 (SECOND Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = FREE. This is the new Ebay rule. HOWEVER I STRONGLY URGE UK WINNERS TO PAY THE £3 FOR THE FIRST-CLASS SERVICE AS THE PACKETS WILL ARRIVE MUCH FASTER AND SAFER.

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £3.

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

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8. (insurance optional extra £3).

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 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £12. (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 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’.