FRANK ZAPPA / MOTHERS OF INVENTION Absolutely Free RARE ORIG UK 1967 EX+ MONO LP

	£		94
	$		125

ONEADAYRECORDS – Serving-up a Christmas & New Year Feast of Entertainment

I would like to wish all my customers, regulars and newcomers, a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Over the Holiday Period, I am offering some interesting Christmas ‘Crackers’ – lovely albums – some rare – ENJOY!

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.

Artist or Band: THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION

Album Title: Absolutely Free

Producer(s): Tom Wilson

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Absolutely Free – Plastic People; a) The Duke of Prunes; b) Amnesia Vivace; c) The Duke Regains His Chops; a) Call Any Vegetable; b) Invocation and Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin; c) Soft-Sell Conclusion.

Side 2: The MOI American Pageant – America Drinks; Status Back Baby; Uncle Bernie’s Farm; Son of Suzy Creamcheese; Brown Shoes Don’t Make It; America Drinks and Goes Home.

Label/Format: Verve, a first press mono original with matt, very gently textured surfaces. Side one has the embossed ‘K T’ tax codes, both letters unworn.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with any of the few spindle marks, very light and faint. The best news possible, this record appears very little used and plays superbly with little unwanted.

Catalogue Number: VLP 9174

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: 158 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce, especially in better conditions, this was no major seller, especially when first issued. Bought by a few curious collectors and few were hi-fi buffs for this type of entertainment. Most copies that surface in grubby well worn covers, and the records, especially in mono trashed and unlistenable. This a very fine example that comes very close to matching my own personal copy.

Original Year of Release: 1967

Matrix Nos: V 5013 A-1 / V 5013 B-1

Others Codes: 1 M / 1 A

Brief Artist & Album Info: Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention’s second classic. Freak Out! sold just 30,000 copies according to Frank – MGM deemed it a flop. He was reduced to a budget of $11,000 for it’s successor. He lost Elliot Ingber, the quintessential underground/psychedelic guitarist who resurfaced as the Winged Eel Fingerling in Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band, but he gained other musicians to add to Roy Estrada and Jim Black as the rhythm section. Drummer Billy Mundi, woodwindist Bunk Gardner and keyboard player Don Preston. Preston hadn’t played on Freak Out! because he ‘couldn’t play rock ‘n’ roll’. Now, after gigging with a few rock bands, he was ready to join Zappa, and take avant garde music to the masses. This was again produced by Tom Wilson, all selections were composed, arranged and conducted by Frank Zappa.

Absolutely Free is slightly less challenging than Freak Out!. First-time listeners found it hard to believe that this wild melange of bizarre rock, political jokes and lewd satire vocalising could become a favourite, but repeated listens reveal wonders. ‘The Duke of Prunes’ and ‘Call Any Vegetable’ have terrific melodies, the latter was Zappa’s first long guitar work-out on record. The main centre-piece for this lies on side two. ‘Brown Shoes Don’t Make It’, it’s a song with bassoons, violins and electronics constructed into a seething mosaic of contemporary subjects and ills – it was again outrageous for the time and I am still surprised, even today, this was allowed to be issued uncut, taking into account the heavy censoring on the following album We’re Only it For the Money, and the label’s nervousness for anything Zappa did. An extraordinary decision considering the sexual nature and activity in ‘Brown Shoes’ (What would ya do Daddy?), and heavily political lyrics and taboos, obviously drugs were less tolerated in those days than teenage sex within the UK anyway. This vintage album, now over half-a-century old, has lost none of its impact and is in amazing condition and plays superbly. UK originals were initially released in a single format cover and include the Mike Raven text on the back. This will prove hard to find better as well.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a single format with front laminate, this cover all the folds and ends on three rear flipbacks. The main back panel is matt and smooth. This the correct VLP mono cover to match the record. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd and including the ‘Patents Pending’ text.

Lamination & Front: A fantastic front which cover-protection has ensured for decades, one of the very best I have seen for an original. The laminate retains superb shine, freshness and clarity with minimal dull or creasing and no lifting. The artwork still with deep colour, the black areas intensely so.

Cover Back: The back equally impressive with any hint of discolouration or toning very little, gentle and faint. The main back panel with no rubbing, creases, sticker issues or writing. All three flipbacks solid with sharp ends lacking the usual thickening or lifting many have. The lack of ugly grime lines on the laminate ends always good news as well. So both sides have aged little and will prove incredibly hard to find better.

Top Edge: Thin, but quite straight with an ultra smooth, totally unworn surface.

Bottom Edge: Pristine, this storage edge could pass for new.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Some mild thickening on this storage edge, but in context, only light, especially with such a heavy thick record inside for over half-a-century.

Spine and Text: Solid, quite straight with minimal compression, the ends lightly pinched in manufacture. The text is immaculate and totally unworn, bold and sharp under the solid and uncracked laminate. The surface as clean and fresh as when made. These vintage white spines are seldom seen better than this.

Corners: Any tip minuscule, again they almost remind of new with near mint shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A highly impressive all-round example of vintage psych 1960’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to match or find better. This age-defying item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: a plain white unlined solid inner with all edges naturally intact. The paper mildly discoloured to very politely remind of age, but hardly creased. This includes the ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better. Simply compare to many mono psychedelic records found these days, most played to destruction on the most basic of record players. Scratched, grubby and unlistenable. This lovely heavy pressed copy appears hardly played and really deserved the extra (+). A highly impressive visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, mostly very light, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light. Just a super-fine mark on ‘Plastic People’ emits a very few very muted dull ticks for the briefest of time, and these almost lost in the sound – little else at all on what is a visually and audibly impressive record that should please many, and maybe even 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 brilliant Mothers album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault bar the aforementioned few faint ticks on ‘Plastic People’, which barely enough to effect the please of the overall clean sound of the song. 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 UK mono pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp when played on a standard stereo system. I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. As stated, few of these types will sound better than this, especially in the mono mode. 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 2.2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

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 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 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 it’s 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 the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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. 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

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 new Nessie 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 boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, 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. When larger boxes are used, 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. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 minuscule in over 17­ 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. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

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 withdrawals. 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 can 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 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 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, 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’.