FREE Fire & Water SUPER SOUND UK Island Pink Rim N/M LP

	£		58
	$		77

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options.

Artist or Band: FREE

Album Title: Fire and Water.

Producer(s): Free and John Kelly.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fire and Water; Oh I Wept; Remember; Heavy Load.

Side 2: Mr. Big; Don’t Say You Love Me; All Right Now.

Label, Format & Conditions: Island – Pink rim format with smooth finish (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with any spindle traces few, tiny and faint.

Cat Number: ILPS 9120.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 120 grams. About average for this one on the smooth pink rim label.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: The first pink pressing is now scarce and pressing quality is highly variable – a notoriously difficult album to find on that label that plays without crackle – a number of customers have told me just the same. Hence I never have any qualms in offering near mint pink rim copies that often offer better sound, and in this case a fact. These are never easy to find with attractive little-worn covers as they are immensely prone to all forms of wear. Such copies that are still early, are also challenging to find like this.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9120 A-6U / ILPS 9120 B-5U.

Stamper Codes: 2 P / 1 AR

Musicians: Paul Rodgers - Vocals; Paul Kossoff - Guitars; Andy Fraser - Bass; Simon Kirke - Drums.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Arguably Free’s best and most popular album, but now very difficult to find in anything like top conditions. Featuring their best-known line up of: Fraser, Rodgers, Kossoff and Kirke this band had a wonderfully unique sound. Beautifully produced by themselves and John Kelly, the driving basslines are especially noteworthy. On ‘Mr Big’ and the supreme long version of ‘All Right Now’ the bass strings growl and resonate with huge impact and detail, you can actually see the speaker cloth moving. Brilliant blues-tinged rock, Free really deserve more acclaim than they ultimately get. Kossoff is a legendary guitar hero and Rogers vocals are sublime and expressive, together with that wonderful bass-rich sound they made stunning music. This still early pink rim record on offer does it maximum justice, the cover is in quite stunning condition, and at the risk of repeating myself, it’s another very wear prone non-laminate that suffers rubbing and ringwear so easily. The actual record is very clean and plays beautifully and is better pressed than many I have heard previously. With many of the pink label copies suffering often considerable surface noise and even mild distortions, I know what I would rather listen too.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): and one of the very best you will ever see. A single unlaminated format with a matt finish. Printed and made in England by MacNeill Press.

Cover Front: Put simply: MAGNIFICENT. A truly stunning front made even more so because this always wears so badly. Most are seen faded, rubbed and often deeply inground with penetrating ringwear. Just take another look at this one. The richness of the famous band artwork will rarely (if ever) be seen better with no grubbiness, ageing or ring marks. A small few very faint surface creases and odd faint pressmark that barely even show with normal viewing, the famous band picture will seldom be found nicer.

Cover Back: If anything, even better with hardly any creases or marks – the lack of ringwear is always great, but unusual news on this one. The intensith of the colour both sides has to be seen for real to be fully appreciated. There is a ‘Downtown Records’ sticker on the bottom left corner area which is far from unusual for albums purchased around these parts of East Anglia. I feel sure it would remove with utmost care, but why worry, it’s simply part of this record’s history.

Top Edge: Practically as made being straight and virtually wear-free.

Bottom Edge: Very similar to above, both are very straight too.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with barely any traces of wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Viewing end-on reitterates just how thin this card is to. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Again, almost as made: solid, very clean, straight with just one tiny compression trace. All text is pristine and totally unblemished or worn.

Corners: All crisp and very sharp with any tip rubs minuscule.

Cover Summary: A wonderful example of another one of Island’s most challenging covers. The magnificent Free artwork will rarely, if ever be seen better on the front or the back and showing less rim marks. Holding this famous, but fragile cover gives immediate satisfaction and a high percentage of these will fail to do so these days. This quality cover should please most-all collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: MINT(-): aged very faintly with light edge darkening but little else to fault. This is the original plain white, solid unlined inner and a great example with barely any creasing, secure, unrepaired edges and few marks at all.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: MINT(-), this being almost ridiculously critical – this is a Mint album in all but my over-critical grading. A supreme visual copy that is super clean, shiny, jet black and quite solidly pressed. Both playing surfaces could almost pass for new with barely a mark or blemish worthy of note. Without doubt, this record has been played very little – once or twice most and finding any early-70s example cleaner or less used will prove immensely difficult.

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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic record plays up to its high visual grading with nothing to fault. Strong, focused, clean sound with any surface sounds barely registering with no pops or clicks noted. On occasions, I have been very disappointed with some very clean looking copies of this album, especially those on the pink label, and when discussing with collectors and customers, they have experienced just the same problems. Island records pressings were known to be variable: some superb at best, some noisy – King Crimson’s ‘Lizard’ a real case in point with some shocking ones experienced on occasions and the same for Roxy Music’s debut. This album is often similar but this one does it maximum justice. Overall the sound quality is very impressive with a wide dynamic range and very warm sound – the basslines, as stated earlier, are high in the mix and very powerful giving the band their very distinctive sound. I have also found this album that does not tolerate heavy use or abuse too well and I have heard several copies with high frequency clipping with the treble shattered by heavy pick-ups from the distant past. Without doubt, this one has hardly been played and nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this sublime album. This copy will prove challenging difficult to find better – that’s record and cover (even the inner). A copy that merits strong recommendation.

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 VPI-17 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.

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 VPI-17 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 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. The 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 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 stiffeners 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 FIVE 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); 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 [£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 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’.