JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Crown of Creation RARE UK 1969 MONO EX+ LP, LAMINATED COVER.

	£		27
	$		36

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

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.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks 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.

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. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE

Album Title: Crown of Creation

Producer(s): Al Schmitt

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Lather; In Time; Triad; Star Track; Share a Little Joke; Chushingura.

Side 2: If You Feel; Crown of Creation; Ice Cream Phoenix; Greasy Heart; The House at Pooneil Corners.

Label/Format: RCA Victor – first small circle repress orange labels with matt surfaces that have a gentle hint of texturing. This was the final pressing in mono and still manufactured by Decca, albeit, very briefly.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and attractive with only light spindle marks.

Cat Number: RD 7976

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: 146 grams. A typical solid pressing by Decca for RCA.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: This pressing is quite rare, only available for a few months on this format and in this mode. The small circle orange RCA label came and went fast, it briefly replaced the black format, then disappearing when pressing passed over to Pye with a full-size circle, and then in stereo only.

Original Year of Release: 1968. This a copy from 1969.

Matrix Nos: WPRM-0547-2K /

Mothers / Stampers: 2B C / 1 ? [unclear, best guess K]

Musicians: Marty Balin – guitar, vocals; Jack Casady – bass; Spencer Dryden – percussion, organ, vocals; Paul Kantner – guitar, vocals; Jorma Kaukonen – guitar, vocals; Grace Slick – keyboards, vocals. Guests: Charles Cockey – guitar, vocals; David Crosby – guitar; Tim Davis – congas; Bill Goodwin – drums; Dan Woody – bongos.

Brief Info: Another stunning album, their fourth overall but third in the UK. The quality of the music just went from strength-to-strength. Uncompromising and political, the incredible power and impact of the cover imagery led the way for what to expect. Right from the beginning, Grace Slick is in tremendous form with her weird and strangely bizarre tale of ‘Lather’, until fairly recently remaining a mystery to who this somewhat disturbing song was about. On a Jefferson Airplane DVD Grace herself explains the song was written about Spencer Dryden, the drummer, and about his refusal to really grow up and enter the world adulthood. This amazingly surreal song sets the tone for one of the greatest rock-psych albums of the 1960s. The final song, ‘The House at Pooneil Corners’ is truly disturbing, dark and bleak and describing the aftermath of annhilation.

“Everything someday will be gone except silence; Earth will be quiet again; Seas from clouds will wash off the ashes of violence; Left as the memory of men; There will be no survivor my friend.”

A high intensity song that really does send a shudder down the spine, just listen to the lyrics while viewing that immensely powerful front cover image. All this with a backdrop of wailing, bendy-strings, siren-like electric guitars and chaos – remember this song was written at the time of the Vietnam war and the world’s fear of atomic conflict. The Airplane were masters of hard-hitting songs with scathing lyrics that had real meaning and substance. This band made four absolute classic studio albums in the 1960s and all their output pre-1970 is essential. Since my mid-teen years, this band have been one of my absolute favourites and this an absolute diamond from one of the greatest ever US bands. This may be a slightly copy, but is possibly the rarest pressing UK made on a label format seldom-seen. The small circle Decca-pressed RCA label only available in small numbers for a few months before it changed again. Also by 1969, the mono format had largely had its day with few new titles even issued in the single channel mode. This a lovely copy, the cover with front lamination to give extra dramatic impact of that intense artwork, the mono record appearing little played and offering impressive sound. The original owner put the band and title on the 1969 date-coded inner sleeve as seen, but more than reiterates its authenticity. This version would have been withdrawn only weeks after and the laminated covers also later as well.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with front Clarifoil lamination, this covers all the folds and ends on the back via the spine. The back is matt and smooth. Printed in England (S.P. Ltd), includes the Decca-style inner sleeve as seen. The infamous Hiroshima bomb photograph was supplied by the U.S.A.F.

Cover Front: One of rock’s most powerful covers and when laminated the real depth and colour really stands out. Most orange label examples have no laminate and they hardly compare to those that do. This a dedicated mono cover as well, these are far more elusive, especially looking this nice. The laminate retains fine shine with minimal traces of lifting – a super-fine sliver on the spine barely even registers – some mildish dulling seen around the thick record’s rim area, mostly under light. Very little creasing at all and no fading. This gives that perfect sense of drama and it era exactly as the connoisseur collector wants them.

Cover Back: The dark artwork back was never laminated, hence very prone to wear. So the lack of rubbing and ring wear is great news. Again, mild evidence of the rim area which is rarely avoided, but this is almost as light as it gets. A little light creasing near the top corners, but no breaking of the ink, so they show little. Any marks light, this has withstood the test-of-time well overall and only gives relatively scant clues of age, it will not prove easy to find much better.

Top Edge & Bottom Edges: Both folds are laminated which is fully retained. The edges thin and still quite straight with barely any real wear.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly sharp with any thickening little and very light as seen critically viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced in any way. The laminate end still clearly visible on the front, the fine exposed strip barely worn and clean.

Spine and Text: Solid, again thin, but straight, still fully laminated with only one ultra fine hairline, a little patchy compression in places. All text perfect and unworn, also very well centred as-seen.

Corners: All impressive, crisp and neat with hardly any hint of rubbing, no major knocks, the odd fine tiny crease from a possible gentle dink.

Cover Summary: A very striking and dramatic cover, one of the classics from the 1960s. The laminate enhances the drama massively. It should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: in terms of wear, it has gently aged with one neat bottom corner creases, these often deliberate to stop the record sliding out. A polylined Decca-style inner, this the final pressing of this album to include them as pressing duties were quickly shifted to Pye. It has two neat crisp window circles and the lining still clear and quite fresh. The paper a little aged and, clearly as seen, the original owner put the band and title on one corner area in pen. All edges unsplit with no repairs. This is date-coded 5-69, so it was manufactured within May 1969, so this a very late mono record and final pressing in this connoisseur mode.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): an impressive visual copy that is very clean with fine shine and very solidly pressed. Any surface marks are very fine, quite wispy and faint as seen under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, little even registers. A lovely mono record that should please many collectors. This quite rare pressing and record will prove very difficult to find less used or better, especially in mono.

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 classic Jefferson Airplane album plays even above it’s high visual grading with very little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is high with a full dynamic range and detailed sound. Their albums were never as highly polished sound-wise as some acts of the time, maybe deliberately so. I actually prefer the mono mix for their albums when they can be found. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed – a trace of contact sound between tracks via my sensitive Linn, but all the songs are impressive with little unwanted. That always a major plus for any vintage mono record that has no penetrating scratches or degrading. A fine Decca-pressed record with no tracking issues*. Few available 1960s pressed copies will outperform this significantly I feel sure, this a mono copy that has more than survived the ‘Dansette era’. Both channels are clean and sharp when played on a standard stereo system, I am certain it 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 magnificent record. It cold prove very difficult to find significantly better – this pressing one of the most elusive in their catalgoue – 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 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. 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 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, 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’.