KEVIN AYERS Bananamour ORIG UK 73 Harvest EX LP + Book

	£		27
	$		35

I would like to thank all customers, new and old, regular and occasional for their support, custom and generously pleasing comments throughout 2010. I will endeavour, despite difficult times, to find and offer superb, interesting, varied and value-for-money items throughout 2011. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – Mike.

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down with Picture & All Shipping Rates.

Artist or Band: KEVIN AYERS

Album Title: Bananamour.

Producer(s): Kevin Ayers.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Don’t Let it Get You Down (For Rachel); Shouting in a Bucket Blues; When Your Parents Go to Sleep; Interview; Internotional Anthem.

Side 2: Decadence; Oh! Wot a Dream; Hymn; Beware of the Dog.

Label/Format: Harvest – original format with ‘The Gramophone Co Ltd’ on the label rims. Also ‘The Gramophone Company Limited’ text at the 9 o’clock position. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both clean and attractive with less than moderate spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. These are mostly fine and only show under light and not even a hint of any wear around the hole rims.

Cat Number: SHVL 807.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 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: 135 grams. a good, above average weight for this album.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Originals of this one are moderately scarce especially in fine condition. The cover is incredibly wear-prone and is rarely seen without significant ringwear of which this one has little. Special mention must be made on a booklet that (possibly) came with a tiny (TINY) few initial pressings. This seems a little uncertain due to its massive rarity. It may have even been a promotional booklet or only available with ‘demo’ copies. Whatever, it has 16 pages and it’s a lovely item. Although listed in the price guides with the book at crazy, almost ridiculously low values, making such a copy seem achieveable, the truth is, the book is one of the rarest inserts ever made, and not within the Harvest catalogue. Just about everyone I have asked about this have never seen one before and many even doubt if it even exists. Well it does, I actually acquired one last year (at vast cost) and decided to make a repro for myself. I know of only two people, both very serious collectors who actually own an original, and the times I have seen this album on ‘wants lists’ with the book is almost countless, almost proof itself this book is massively rare and close on impossible to find. So with this very early-pressed copy of this record I include a repro of the original booklet as a FREE example to the winning bidder to make this album like complete. You, the collector are bidding on the album itself, nothing else, this is a giveaway book, made slightly smaller than the original so it cannot be passed-off as the real thing. Finding the original book is truly a near impossible task, and that is using the word ‘impossible’ in its correct context. Why the price guides are misleading people into thinking a ‘Bananamour’ book is only a scarce item is beyond me. When was the last time anyone actually saw one?

Original Year of Release: 1973

Matrix Nos: SHVL 807 A-3 / SHVL 807 B-3

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 P / 1 H

Musicians: Kevin Ayers – Guitar, Vocals; Archie Legget – Bass, harmony vocals; Eddie Sparrow – Drums; Steve Hillage – Lead Guitar; Mike Ratledge – Organ; Robert Wyatt – Harmony Vocal; David Bedford – Orchestral Arrangement; Howie Casey – Tenor Saxophone; Dave Caswell – Trumpet; Tristan Fry – Cymbal; Lyle Jenkins – Baritone Saxophone; Ronnie Price – Piano; Barry St. John – Vocals; Liza Strike – Vocals; Doris Troy – Vocals.

Brief Info: A former Soft Machine member, this was Ayers fourth ‘solo’ album that ended his first series of Harvest titles. Vastly undervalued and rated, this being slightly more accessible than his more experimental early works and including some lovely haunting songs that pays tributes to Nico (Decadence), the pivitol track on the album and ‘Oh! Wot a Dream’, for Syd Barrett. Now featuring a new band, this has a different sound but Ayers distinctive vocals are dominant throughout. Last year, I offered a copy of this album with an ultra rare promotional ‘Family Tree’ insert, a totally original insert that few people would have even knew existed. Do not confuse that with the 16-page book that also exists but is rarely, if ever seen. This copy does NOT include an original book and only one in many thousands (or less) ever will. What is included is a FREE repro version taken from the original, just a little piece of icing on the cake for the winning bidder. The book has pictures of Nico and Syd Barrett with some interesting artwork. This is superbly printed to professional standard and stapled but is made slightly smaller than the original – believe it or not, this actually looks better than the original.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High++. Within the Harvest catalogue, few are more wear-prone than this. The deep purple ink is totally unforgiving and most seen are badly rubbed and ringworn. This is not perfect by any means, but a very decent example.

Cover Grade and Format: Very Good+. An unlaminated gatefold format with the front and back quite heavily textured. The inside is smooth. The outer card is quite soft and intensely coloured, it usually suffers all the perils of rough handling, price sticker damage, creasing, ringwear and bad storage and few will even look half this good. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse.

Cover Front: The front has a few fine edge creases and a little minor rubbing, but lacking the heavy speckle many acquire over time to the raised parts of the textured surface. A little light staining near the left edge does not show to any major degree but is present nonetheless. The colour remains strong and vivid and given all the facts and vulnerability, this front looks more than highly respectable.

Cover Back: The back is even more prone to wear as the record rests against the back card. Hence ringwear is so often rife on most examples seen. This has very little at all with the merest hint of an ultra fine arc near the top. This often rubs badly against the inner flipback seams, but not this one. The lack of significant creasing is remarkable, this soft card rarely escapes it. Again the intensity of the deep purple colour has not faded with barely any speckle and the snazzy artwork is practically as made. Not seen to many backs on this one much better being honest.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both faces have little to fault and look very nice indeed. Light burring to the bottom right edge only.

Top Edges: Very light and patchy rubbing only.

Bottom Edges: The back right of centre has rubbed and thickened a little. Elsewhere any wear is minimal and light.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Both edges quite sharp with no feathering and guaranteed untrimmed. A little mild thickening with the odd small burr trace or two. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: A spine that rarely escapes often significant wear and damage. This is solid, straight, uncompressed and with any wear or rubbing very slight. A few fine line surface creases but overall inkloss is tiny, as is any rubbing to the fragile text which is almost all present with minimal disturbance. This one is also folded squarely and a few I have seen hve not been, thus the edges are in very close alignment and the right ones parallel.

Corners: The corners have moderate rubbing and again, few will ever avoid it, mainly fine shape is retained.

Cover Summary: A difficult cover is not overstating the case, and given the facts, this is a fine example and mostly eye-pleasing. Not perfect or for the most discerning, but many collectors will enjoy it. This came with a plain white inner sleeve in very fine condition.

The Book: Originals are rare beyond belief and command huge prices. This is NOT an original but reproduced from the original but at a slightly smaller size. You are NOT bidding on this book, it’s FREE to the winning bidder and it’s fantastic and actually looking better than the original. Sixteen pages and the perfect enhancement for this wonderful record. Quite why so few of these were ever put out with the records I do not know, but most-all of the few that were printed have been lost in the vaults of time and are rarely put on the open market.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX, with just very light and fine surface marks seen under light, no penetrating scratches at all. Few records will ever avoid these when scrutinised closely enough under light. Purely superficial and very fine indeed. A super visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A copy quite modestly played on all the evidence. Visually a super record that should please many 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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This wonderful Harvest album, still so under-valued and appreciated I feel, plays even above its high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. 1973 was not a vintage year for quality pressings with many companies recycling vinyl and pressing very thin records to save oil, resulting in noisy inferior sound. This has practically no evidence of that – this sounds fantastic with 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 sound is light and very infrequent, very light traces were just noted near the end of side two (this being quite critical too), no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing overall. Kevin Ayers albums are critically revealing and often they have mild distortions or sound clipping, this has none at all and plays very well indeed. Yes even the heavy brass parts are fully focused, precise and sharp with no clipping or break up. Few copies will outperform this significantly I feel and I enjoyed this record immensely, over time, it has become one of my favourite Ayers albums. Both channels are sharp and focused and has not been over-played. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This copy will prove quite difficult to find significantly better and merits high 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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon 2M moving magnet cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth 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 - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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 heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth 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 thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) 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 THREE or EVEN FOUR 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. 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. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. 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. These 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 6,000+ items sold in over 8 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 stiffners 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 FOUR 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); 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 timewasters. 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 neccessarily 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’.