FRANK ZAPPA Lumpy Gravy VERY RARE ORIG UK 1968 NEAR MINT MONO LP, BARELY PLAYED.

	£		253
	$		335

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Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on 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: FRANK ZAPPA

Album Title: Lumpy Gravy

Producer(s): Frank Zappa

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Lumpy Gravy Part I

Side 2: Lumpy Gravy Part II

Label & Format: Verve – Original intense black format with matt, textured surfaces. Side one has the embossed rarer ‘K T J’ tax codes, all letters unworn. All text and details as seen in the pictures.

Label Conditions: Both in amazing condition, ultra clean, fresh and attractive with just one or two very light, fine and faint spindle traces. This supreme mono record appears hardly played and was purchased new by one owner.

Catalogue Number: VLP 9223

Mode / Speed: Mono / 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: 142 grams.

Rarity: A rare record in mono, and one of Frank’s rarest in that mode. Available relatively briefly and only repressed in stereo, these surface very infrequently and rarely in such little played condition. A commercial non-starter with few even pressed or sold. Thus most mono copies that show up will include the first 1 G mother and stamper codes. The cover also difficult to find in finer conditions. Originals included a very wide spine that usually gets creased, compressed and flattened, a copy including an erect unbroken spine is also quite rare. Mostly purchased by a certain type of music fan on issue and wrecked by poor storage and use on the most basic of mono record players. A mono copy with a record that comes pretty close to reminding of as-made, is a major rarity. This also being one of the most important in a Zappa collection, it being his first solo album and arguably the rarest in his entire standard catalogue in this mode. Retail copies in the United States were not issued in mono, but a few were issued as test pressings or DJ copies.

Original Year of Release: 1968 [in the UK]

Etchings and Matrix Nos: V 8741 A-1 / V 8741 B-1

Stamper Codes: 1 G / 1 G [‘G’ being the very first in the pressing sequence]

Brief Artist & Album Info: “The way I see it, Barry, this should be a very dynamite show” – the opening line of Zappa’s first solo album Lumpy Gravy – one of his prized and complex albums from his amazing catalogue that now spans seven decades – it remained his own personal favourite and he was not a man to dwell back on his previous albums in a big way.

I am always delighted to be able to offer the rarest early titles from this great composer and musician, one of the greatest musical minds of all-time. Lumpy Gravy has a special place in the Zappa catalogue. ‘Civilization Phaze III’, that was written in his final years, was meant to be it’s completion. This was actually recorded in February 1967 and is one of Frank’s earliest recordings. It also constitutes his most extreme refusal of conventional formats. Although commissioned by Capital Records to ‘write something for an orchestra’ – to the tune of $40,000 – Zappa also included eerily bizarre arrangements of melodies, 30,000 bursts of guitar distortion, sped-up interludes, and bizarre discussions by people who had been placed inside a piano. This was a sure-fire recipe for commercial failure, and pretty much was, it failed to even chart in the UK. Although many of it’s procedures – collage, fragmentation, parody, humour and documentary – have since become requisites in the ‘post-modern’ academy, Zappa’s writing was too brash and severe for contemporary classical recognition. The back cover shows him in tuxedo and top hat, he is seen leering into the camera – asking ‘Is this Phase 2 of We’re Only in it for the Money?’ ’Lumpy Gravy’ was designed as a companion volume to his next release, working as it’s subtle counterpart. Towards the close we hear the words ‘Cos round things are…, are boring.’ Then he exhales, as if blowing out smoke. The listener is spiked with discontent, pondering a list of ‘round things’ (smoke rings, circular logic, records…). Despite his repeated condemnation of drugs, Zappa’s attack on the mundane was universally interpreted as dope-fuelled fantasy. In fact, no dope-head could summon the skill and energy to construct Zappa’s surrealist extremes. When the slogan ‘Round Things are Boring’ reappeared on the covers of One Size Fits All in 1975. Zappa’s dedicated, no detail-missed, fans felt contented. This album appeared in the American album charts for just one week at 159. It’s failure to chart at all in the UK make original pressings rare in either mode – but especially more so in mono where few will even survive in playable condition, let alone like this beauty. The run of pressings on this was very small indeed, I have never seen a stamper go beyond ‘A’ on a stereo, and I would be surprised if many monos made it past ‘G’, which in theory means within around 1000 copies or less. This album will always be a cornerstone of any Frank Zappa collection and here with all the glorious sound and details totally intact. As stated above, this record appears hardly played and sounds incredible. The mix does sound different with more detail, warmth and especially dynamics. The cover also very nice indeed with any ageing only light. An example that at least matches my own personal copy, and to date, the very best mono copy I have ever had spare to offer. A very rare opportunity indeed.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: and arguably better – it has amongst the least creasing and laminate lifting and issues I have seen to date, including the stereo version. A gatefold format, laminated front and back with the massively wide spine (this unique to the first UK issues). The inside has two large external flipbacks on the top edges (the laminate and these disappeared on the Select reprintings). These first covers were printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse. The original plain white inner sleeve with ‘PATENT APPLIED FOR’ text is also included.

Lamination – Front & Back: Front first – one of Zappa’s most iconic covers with him wearing the PIPCO tee-shirt. Here seen to high advantage under quite shiny, still and clear laminate which has no lifting – that massively unusual on this wide spine cover – this more often seen with large blistering on that area, and also anywhere. The difference to have hardly any on the entire cover make a huge difference in attractiveness. Only light dulling mostly seen under light on this front with any creases few, fine and light near the sides with hardly a trace away from. The spine edge unbroken and solid. With any surface marks or blemishes few and faint, this intensely coloured, still quite fresh and attractive front will never prove easy to find better, especially on the prized VLP mono version.

The back is quite similar: it has just a couple of half moon surface creases and hardly any near the edges at all with just one very small lift on the bottom right corner tip. Rim dulling is evident and rarely avoided as the record presses into this side far more than the front. Again, any surface blemishes few and very faint indeed. The leering Frank artwork looks splendid as he asks the owner “is this phase 2 of: We’re only in it for the Money”. Note also, this has the correct VLP 9223 catalogue number. Like the front, it will not be too easy to find much better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Also impressive as-seen. Slight gentle set-off where black ink rests upon white, but little else really to fault, and that near impossible to avoid. Both top flipbacks solid and neat and avoiding any sticking together, pulling or grim lines to their laminate ends.

Top Edges: Both straight, flat, flush and parallel avoiding wear or chipping, the surfaces smooth and fully laminated. Quite honestly, both look as-made.

Bottom Edges: Largely the same except the right rear corner tip has a small rub.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly sharp with any thickening little and light. Both edges are naturally open with no adhesive marks on the either. Was an insert sheet planned for this one and abandoned? Record traditionally enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: Another feature of a first print cover is the extra wide spine that matches the width of Jethro Tull’s classic debut ‘This Was’. A great feature, but so fragile, these often crush, compress (with central creases) and flatten over time which this one has virtually avoided. Solid, straight with any compression hint gentle and faint. Also folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. Any hint of tilt or creasing minimal. Importantly, still erect and unbroken – no ramming back into shape for this one, if that is attempted on a flattened spine, they will simply and quickly collapse again. The considerable amount of text is unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate. This important feature of this original VLP text cover is very impressive indeed as can be clearly seen.

NOTE: I will pack this with central reinforcement to the winning bidder to stop this getting crushed in transit.

Corners: A couple of small tip rubs and retaining very fine and mostly excellent shape with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A strong and generally impressive all-round example of this much rarer mono mode cover. Some dulling, but put in context, only very mild (front) and moderate (on the back), the lack of damage, significant creasing and spine crushing are huge pluses. This elusive original item should please many collectors, and possibly most collectors needing this rare sleeve.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a plain white unlined inner that includes the ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text. Still quite clean and modestly hardly aged or creased with all edges intact. A small nick split on the top opening only.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(–): and arguably better looking than my own personal copy – this is a truly stunning visual mono record. Ultra clean with amazing shine and very solidly pressed. A copy hardly marked at all, and I would be absolutely certain, hardly played either. The one owner put his records to tape and stored away the album, I doubt if this record had seen light-of-day for decades until my mandatory play-grade. Just remember what these types of records were usually played on – very basic, heavy tracking mono record players of the Dansette era, often with blunted or chipped sapphire stylus. With 10 gram minimum tracking weights, just one jolt or arm drop, and there’s another ruined copy. Finding the elusive album like this is a major find and rarity and should please 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 brilliantly bizarre album plays up to it’s very high visual grading with hardly anything 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. The mono mix does present the music and sounds differently with a warmer, full-on and dynamic sound. Any surface sound minimal indeed, even on the dialogue and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will outperform this mono first pressing I feel sure. They surface so infrequently in this mode, so I can be quite confident of that. Both channels are clean and sharp when played on a standard stereo system – I would imagine played with a top quality mono stylus, it would be truly incredible. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this very scarce first ‘solo’ album. A rare opportunity, it will prove immensely difficult to match, let alone find better and can still be highly recommended proving round things, are never boring.

* 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.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ 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.