KING CRIMSON 1st LP 1969 ISLAND Original RAREST EVER E.J.DAY

	£		51
	$		68

HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY 'ONE OFF' FRIDAY NIGHT AUCTIONS (ENDING LATE FRIDAY 25TH APRIL!)!!!!

On offer here is a VERY rare LP (especially in this condition!!!!) by King Crimson called "In The Court Of The Crimson King" and is an ORIGINAL 1969 UK Pressing on the ULTRA RARE 'FULLY TEXTURED' Island label!!!!  THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!!!!  THIS WAS KING CRIMSON'S FIRST & RAREST LP EVER - AND VIRTUALLY NEVER TURNS UP FOR SALE!!!!  JUST TRY AND FIND ANOTHER ONE!!!!  IT IS WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER PROGRESSIVE LPs OF ALL TIME AND IS INCREDIBLY HARD TO LOCATE TODAY!!!!  IT IS ALSO IN BRILLIANT CONDITION - AND SO VERY HARD TO FIND LIKE THIS NOW!!!!

BUT THIS ONE IS QUITE LITERALLY THE RAREST PRESSING EVER MADE - AND THE ONLY THE SECOND ONE HAVE EVER SEEN LIKE THIS!!!!  I WILL EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHY THIS LP IS SO AMAZINGLY RARE!!!!  MOST PEOPLE (AS I ALSO WAS) WERE UNDER THE IMPRESSION - THAT THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING OF THIS LP HAS PINK 'i' ISLAND LABELS, 'TEXTURED' LABELS, 2/2 MATRIXES, 'DOUBLE THICKNESS' VINYL, AND AN 'E.J.DAY' COVER (LATER ONES ARE MADE BY 'ROBOR' INSTEAD).  AND EVEN AFTER THAT PRESSING (ALSO ON THE PINK 'i' ISLAND LABELS) CAME THE 'SMOOTH' PINK LABELS - WITH 2/3 MATRIXES, 3/3 MATRIXES, AND 2/4 MATRIXES!!!!  BUT THIS LP THROWS UP A MAJOR PARADOX!!!!  FOR THIS LP IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TO EVERY OTHER PRESSING I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!  FOR A START IT HAS 3/3 MATRIXES WHICH SHOULD NOT EVEN EXIST ON THIS LABEL AT ALL!!!!  AND EVEN THE '3/3' MATRIXES USED ON THE PINK 'i' 1ST PRESSINGS WERE IN 'SMALL MATRIX TEXT' - AND YET THIS LP HAS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET OF '3/3' MATRIXES IN THE OLD 'LARGE MATRIX TEXT' ISLAND STYLE - WHICH ISLAND HAD DISCONTINUED ALMOST 1 YEAR BEFORE THESE LABELS WERE SUPPOSEDLY TO HAVE EVEN BEEN MADE!!!!  THE ISLAND MATRIXES ON THIS LP ARE 'ILPS + 9111 + A3' & 'ILPS + 9111 + B3' - WHICH WAS THE MATRIX STYLE USED ON MUCH EARLIER 1968 ISLAND LPS - SUCH AS JETHRO TULL 'THIS WAS' FOR EXAMPLE!!!!  AND SECONDLY - THE COVER IS ALSO THE 'EARLIEST POSSIBLE' 1ST PRESS GATEFOLD COVER, WITH 'E.J.DAY' CLEARLY PRINTED IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER ON THE INSIDE LEFT HAND GATEFOLD!!!! SO THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT AT ALL - THAT BOTH THE RECORD & COVER ARE BOTH ONE OF THE 'EARLIEST' PRESSINGS EVER MADE, OF THIS INCREDIBLE LP!!!!

HOWEVER, THE QUESTION ARISES OF THE EXTREMELY RARE '3/3' MATRIXES, WHICH SHOULDNT EVEN EXIST ON THIS LABEL AT ALL!!!!  NO COPIES HAVE EVER BEEN FOUND WITH 'LARGE TEXT' USING ANY OTHER MATRIX NUMBER'S (ONLY 3/3's EXIST!)!!!!  SO WAS THIS LP SIMPLY RE-USING OLD MATRIXES????  NO - THIS ISNT POSSIBLE (OR PROBABLE!), AS THE 2/4 MATRIXES WERE STILL IN USE RIGHT THROUGH TO THE END OF THIS LPs PINK ISLAND RUN, AND LOGICALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST AVAILABLE MATRIXES AND EASIEST TO RE-USE!!!!  POSSIBLY - THESE MATRIXES (WITH 'LARGE' TEXT!) WERE A REJECTED MIX MADE EVEN BEFORE THE 2/2 'SMALL TEXT' MATRIXES - BECAUSE IN THIS 'LARGE TEXT' AND 'OLD STYLE' MATRIXES - THEY CERTAINLY 'PRE-DATE' ALL THE 'SMALL TEXT' MATRIXES (EVEN THE A/1 B/1s!)!!!!  AND IF THATS THE CASE - THEN THIS IS THE RAREST & 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSING EVER MADE - EVEN IF IT WAS USED ON THESE LABELS!!!!  AND THEY CANT HAVE BEEN LATER THAN THE 'SMALL TEXT' 2/2 3/3 2/4 MATRIXES - AS THESE 'LARGE TEXT' MATRIXES HAD LONG SINCE BEEN DISCONTINUED!!!! 

BUT HERE IS THE PARADOX - AND I BELIEVE I HAVE THE ANSWER AS TO WHERE THIS LP SITS IN THE PRESSING ORDER!!!!  I AM CERTAIN THAT THIS IS INDEED STILL ONE OF THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSINGS EVER MADE AND PRESSED AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME AS THE PINK ISLAND LABELS!!!!  AND I WILL EXPLAIN WHY!!!!  I BELIEVE MATRIXES CANNOT LIE - AND THE IDEA THAT THEY WERE 'RE-USED' (GOING BACK 3 SETS OF 'SMALL MATRIXES' TO GET THIS ONE!) IS IMPROBABLE IN THE EXTREME - ESPECIALLY WHEN ISLAND HAD PRESSED TENS OF THOUSANDS USING THE MOST COMMON 2/4 MATRIX ENDINGS!!!!  SO I FIRMLY BELIEVE THIS WAS A 'TRIAL RUN' USING THE NEW (AT THE TIME) ISLAND LABEL!!!!  EVERY DETAIL POINTS TO THIS FACT - THE 'DOUBLE THICKNESS' VINYL & 'TEXTURED' LABELS (WHICH WERE ONLY EVER USED THE VERY 'EARLIEST' PINK 'i' LABELS, AND QUICKLY DISCONTINUED!), THE ULTRA RARE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESS 'E.J.DAY' COVER (DISCONTINUED ON LATER PRESSINGS), AND THE ULTRA RARE 3/3 'LARGE TEXT' MATRIXES (DELETED FOREVER SOON AFTER THIS LP WAS MADE!)!!!!  AND WHATEVER CONCLUSION YOU COME TO - CERTAINLY ONLY A FEW HUNDRED COPIES (WITH 'LARGE TEXT' 3/3 MATRIXES!) WERE EVER PRESSED WITH THIS LABEL - AND IT IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE RAREST PRESSING OF THIS LP EVER MADE!!!!

NOT ONLY THAT BUT THIS LP IS IN BRILLIANT CONDITION - AND HAS BARELY BEEN PLAYED AT ALL!!!!  JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES!!!!  THIS IS THE ORIGINAL 1969 UK PRESSING ON ULTRA RARE 'FULLY TEXTURED' ISLAND LABEL, ULTRA RARE 'LARGE TEXT' 1ST PRESS 3/3 MATRIX ENDINGS, 1ST PRESS 'DOUBLE THICKNESS' VINYL, 1ST PRESS INNER SLEEVE, AND ULTRA RARE 1ST PRESS 'E.J.DAY' GATEFOLD COVER!!!!  THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND LIKE THIS - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY!!!!  This is the ORIGINAL Island UK Pressing from 1969 and is in BRILLIANT condition!!!!  The record is pressed on THICK quality vinyl.  The Cat. No is ILPS 9111 on the ORIGINAL Island label (see picture) and is a UK Stereo 1st Pressing (there were NO Monos!)!!!!

The record labels are in AWESOME condition (see pictures) with NO wear, NO writing, and barely ANY spindle marks AT ALL!!!!  IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT THIS RECORD HAS BARELY BEEN PLAYED AT ALL!!!!  The vinyl is in absolutely BRILLIANT condition!!!!  Most of these 60s LPs had been to a lot of wild parties and are usually found totally worn out, and almost unplayable. This one is NOT and has NO scratches, only 2 or 3 MEGA light hairlines, NO scufflines, and only a VERY few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light!!!!  ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT!!!!  THE RECORD STILL RETAINS ITS ORIGINAL 'JUST PRESSED' LOOK AND LOOKS SUPERB!!!!  It is also great to find that the record plays as STUNNINGLY as the visual with NO pops, NO sticking, NO jumps, barely ANY crackle AT ALL, and only some VERY slight background sound in places (as is usual with this LP!)!!!!  The sound quality is simply SUPERB with NO distortion and NO groovewear either!!!!  The record must grade Very Good++++ if not better!!!!  BRILLIANT RECORD!!!!  Believe me this record is NOT overgraded in ANY way!!!!  I use STRICT RC grading standards - it is not in my interest not to!!!! Brillant!!!!  The record comes in its ORIGINAL 1st Press inner sleeve which is in SUPERB condition!!!!   The ULTRA RARE 'Earliest' 1st Press 'E.J.Day' Gatefold Cover is in BRILLIANT condition!!!!  It has NO splits, NO sticker marks, NO edge wear (apart from some almost INVISIBLE 'touching in' traces!), NO ringwear, NO spinal wear (apart from some isolated traces of 'touching in' & side words still readable!), only VERY slight corner wear (NOT through the colour!), barely ANY rubbing AT ALL, NO sticker tears, only a VERY few light creases (cover is VERY flat looking indeed!), only some very VERY minor evidence of 'tipping in' to the corner tips, NO annotations, and NO writing!!!!  The opening edges are beautifully straight with barely ANY feathering AT ALL!!!!  Even the inside of the cover is in AWESOME condition with NO grubbyness, NO rubbing, NO yellowing, and NO writing!!!!  The cover must grade Very Good++++ if not better!!!!  BRILLIANT COVER!!!!  THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND LIKE THIS (ESPECIALLY AS THE RAREST PRESSING EVER MADE!) - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY!!!!

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