John Mayall Looking Back +Clapton, Green, etc 1stUK Press +V Rare Press Cuttings

	£		27
	$		36

John Mayall ‘Looking Back’ (Clapton, Green, etc) 1st UK Press + Very Rare Press Cuttings. Excellent

First U.K. Pressing with P-2W ending matrixes

Matrix Number Side 1 ZAL8987-P2W

Matrix Number Side 2 ZAL8988-P2W.

Catalogue number Decca SKL 5010 Originally released 1969

Overall condition is EXCELLENT

The legend that is John Mayall. Grandfather of the British Blues movement, playing from the mid 1950’s to the present, opening the public's’ eyes to the greats who had gone before and mentoring the young raw talents who would go on to worldwide fame – Clapton, Green, Taylor, Fleetwood, MacVie, Bruce, the list is endless. This collection of little known tracks compiled towards the end of the first fifteen years of his career features a host of famous musicians and fascinating photos from the early days.

Sleeve EXCELLENT

The laminated gatefold sleeve is still bright and glossy in EXCELLENT condition with no tears or splits but it has some very light wear to some corners and the bottom edge, but there isn’t any writing, taping or stickers. There is an ''indicator hole'' on the back to let the colour coded, poly lined, inner sleeve show through: blue indicated a stereo record, red a mono one. The unlaminated inside of the gatefold is unmarked and very clear, showing many unique photos from Mayall’s archive together with his fascinating notes.

Spine EXCELLENT the spine is firm, clean, crease free and totally legible

Inner Sleeve EXCELLENT The original Decca stereo blue inner sleeve is still in excellent condition. I will also include the original plastic outer that I bought with it, which still fits tightly and has successfully kept the dust off for all these years

Record EXCELLENT It’s pressed on heavyweight vinyl The record itself is clean and glossy and the disc retains its deep, black vinyl sheen.

Labels EXCELLENT The blue and silver labels show some minimal signs of use, have no writing and are clean with minimal spindle marking. As this is the Classic first UK stereo pressing, it has the large unboxed Decca logo on the labels, later pressings had a boxed Decca logo. Upper rim text reads: ''Made in England - The Decca Record Co. Ltd. London' with the “Full Frequency Stereophonic Sound” band across the middle.

Audio Quality EXCELLENT It plays really well apart from some very slight surface noise and a couple of light pops which don’t detract from the overall sound, which is still amazing; although deep cleaning would probably remove them. But, to quote the Record Collector grading system for the category of EXCELLENT, “there is very little lessening in sound quality.” It lays flat on the turntable and plays well without the needle sticking or jumping.

Please remember even new, factory fresh vinyl is likely to have some clicks and pops, but the richness of sound will always be better than digital. OK eventually the robots and aliens will make digital sound as good, but until then, it’s a compromise, you have to choose; deep rich tones and a beautiful sleeve (often with lyrics or other notes) or clinical sterility with nothing to see and a narrow frequency range.

Until 1970 I only ever played my albums on a Garrard Sp25 Mk11 with a Sonotone 9TAHC cartridge and from 1970 onwards on a Pioneer PL12D with a Shure N75 ED-T2 cartridge and stylus, tracking at 1.5 grams which I continue to use today – although the stylus has been replaced regularly

The album features songs by both John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and John Mayall’s solo work. The album reached No. 79 on the Billboard 200.

Other artists appearing on this album include Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, Roger Dean, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, Keef Hartley, Dick Heckstall-Smith, John McVie and Mick Taylor.

Track listing is Mr James/ Blues City Shakedown/ Stormy Monday/ So Many Roads/ Looking Back/ Sitting In The Rain/ It Hurts Me Too/ Double Trouble/ Suspicions (part two)/ Jenny/ Picture On The Wall.

PRESS CUTTINGS I’m also including a few press cuttings from Melody Maker and Sounds from the same period. I think they are all very rare, as I’ve never seen them referred to in books or on the web.

SUMMARY: this ICONIC, British Blues masterwork album is a lovely piece of genuine memorabilia from a bygone time that changed the world, as well as the way that music is made, and would grace any collection. If you haven’t heard it on vinyl this could be for you. It certainly doesn’t sound 52 years old.

Admittedly it is not in Mint condition, but the album overall counts as EXCELLENT and that is why I’m starting at a sensible price so a genuine fan or collector can enjoy them without paying rip off prices. If you check my feedback you will see many people think my grading is spot on.

I’m not a dealer of any sort, but am just downsizing and having to clear things out and trying to survive on a poxy pension. Good luck with your bidding and feel free to ask any question.

A Word About Payment and Postage

Sorry but I accept Paypal only and it will be posted as soon as payment has cleared, which must be paid within 24hours of the end of the auction. This may seem harsh but I’m fed up with time wasters!

I use 12" Vinyl LP Record Cruciform postal mailers and protect them with an additional layer of bubblewrap. In the UK I use Royal Mail Signed For.

Price for postage is for 2nd class and reflects the fact that eBay & PayPal take a combined total fee of 13.4% on shipping charges. If you are outside the UK, I will use Ebay’s Global Shipping Program and you are therefore accepting their shipping terms and charges over which I have no control.

Record Collector grading system used

MINT: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

EXCELLENT: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and / or creasing.

VERY GOOD: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

GOOD: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discolouration, etc.

FAIR: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and / or defaced.

POOR: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

As well as the above grades, Near Mint is often used as well; this is really for a record that appears new but is known to have been played because the label has light spindle marks or because it has come from a previous owner and is assumed to have been played by them. For records which appear to fall between the accepted grades, + and - are also often added to the grading.