LED ZEPPELIN III (3) IST UK PRESS A5-B5 / EX

£ 41

$ 54

£ 41 Sold For

Mar 25, 2012 Sold Date

Mar 15, 2012 Start Date

£ 20 Start price

7 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

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Description

LED ZEPPELIN III

Original UK 1ST PRESS Vinyl LP

UK 1ST PRESS ALBUM COVER

UK 1ST MATRIX A5 B5

RED / PLUM Labels

Original E. J. Day & Co Sleeve

Inscribed in the dead wax:

Side one - "Do what thou wilt" 2401-002 A-5

Side two - "So mote it be" 2401-002 B-5

THIS LP IS MEGA RARE AND HIGHLY COLLECTABLE

About me & policies;

I am an enthusiast in vinyl and have been collecting since the early 70’s, it is one of my hobbies and not my living. I always try my hardest to get my description correct and always put on as many photos as I can, the good and bad bits so you can see everything in detail. I also try and put on any Biography’s I can as sometimes they can be very useful information. I always play through the entire album before I list it. Nearly all of the records I put onto eBay are at least excellent, but sometimes I will put ones that are a lower grade if they are rare or collectable. I use the Record Collectors Grading Guide to grade my vinyl. I always offer a refund if I have missed something you’re not happy with. I normally post on Monday’s and Wednesday’s so it could be posted next day or at the most 3 days from when I receive payment. As for payment I think that 4 to 5 days after you have won should be long enough, but if you need longer please contact me before you bid. I always post ‘To be signed for’ as this stops any confusion. I will always leave you 5 star feedback and hope that you will do the same, if for any reason you’re not happy then please contact me first.

Notes:

This is a first pressing of Led Zeppelin’s third album released on the 5th October 1970 (this has the original inner sleeve with 1070 confirming when this was made). This is one of a few that is a first pressing vinyl, after they then changed the label, and left it in the first gatefold cover. It has the first pressing’s gatefold album cover and the first matrix number A5 B5, with’ Do what thou wilt’ & ‘so mote it be’ in the dead wax on side 1 & 2 respectively which only comes with a first pressing. It also comes with the original inner poly lined sleeve with ‘Plastic Bags Can Be Dangerous’ plus the Made in England with the date code 1070, denoting October 1970. It is though the second label version as it does not have ‘Produced by Peter Grant’ only the very first few did before they quickly changed the labels. The second press has the matrix A7 B5 plus they moved the track listing to the opposite side inside the album cover, and it also has the track ‘Celebration Day’ miss-spelt to ‘Celebration’.

Inscribed in the dead wax:

Matrix Number

Side 1; 2401002 A5

Side 2; 2401002 B5

Mother Stamp & Inscriptions

Side 1; 1 2 1 1 – Do What Thou Wilt

Side 2; 1 5 1 6 – So Mote It Be

Vinyl:

Thickly pressed quality vinyl, you only find with the early red/plum labels.

The sound is absolutely stunning; I played it all the way through and as loud as I could, it was fantastic NO clicks or jumps or any distortion, it was first class and only had minimal static type noise in the quiet parts but this was not a lot. For grading purposes, using the Record Collectors Guide it has to be better than Excellent as there seemed to be NO deterioration in sound quality. EXCELLENT+

It looks really good, there is only 1 light surface mark on side 2 when looked at in normal light, when angled to a strong light there are only a couple of sleeve removal wispy lines and they are very feint and hard to see. It retains that just pressed look and looks as if it hasn’t been played very much, you can still see a bit of black plastic in the spindle hole which would normally come away after several plays. It is graded at EXCELLENT+.

Sleeve:

First issue fully laminated E J. Day Gatefold sleeve is in superb condition, (plenty of photos so you can see it at all angles) I don’t think many survive without the laminate lifting but this one is ok. It lays flat no curving as with most you find, and only a slight amount of yellowing at the edges.

The sleeve has a slight corner crease in the middle when open or the bottom left & right when the album is closed, it’s not too noticeable (see photo), and absolutely NO graffiti or stickers whatsoever. The spine is excellent and 100% readable. The wheel does move round but the centre peg has come away. Again using the Record Collector Magazine's Grading Guide, it has to be EXCELLENT

Inner sleeve;

This comes with the original inner poly lined sleeve, ‘MADE IN ENGLAND 1070’ & ‘PLASTIC BAGS CAN BE DANGEROUS’ with the British Patent no 800513 & 973939.

It is completely in one piece with NO splits or tares and no graffiti or any other unwanted marks. It has got some brown ageing near the top. It is in Excellent condition. The vinyl is housed in a brand new poly liner.

Labels:

Labels are the sensational red / plum ATLANTIC with the ATLANTIC logos to the left of the central holes on both sides of the labels. The central white strip is as clean now as it was when it was new. There are NO marks whatsoever. The top and bottom again are spotless. This issue of the magnificent label rarity has not got the ‘Peter Grant’ credit, and the cat no is 2401-002. This is a first press vinyl with the second press label design. I can only see a couple of spindle lines, plus there is still some of the original black plastic left in the spindle hole. (see photo).

SIDE ONE GRADED; MINT

SIDE TWO GRADED; MINT

Biography

Led Zeppelin III's original vinyl edition was packaged in a gatefold sleeve with an innovative cover, designed by Zacron, a multi-media artist whom Page had met in 1963 whilst Zacron was a student at Kingston College of Art. He had recently resigned a lectureship at Leeds Polytechnic to found Zacron Studios, and in 1970 Page contacted him and asked him to design the third album's cover.

The cover and interior gatefold art consisted of a surreal collection of seemingly random images on a white background, many of them connected thematically with flight or aviation (as in "Zeppelin"). Behind the front cover was a rotatable laminated card disc, or volvelles, covered with more images, including photos of the band members, which showed through holes in the cover. Moving an image into place behind one hole would usually bring one or two others into place behind other holes. This could not be replicated on a conventional cassette or CD cover, but there have been Japanese and British CDs packaged in miniature versions of the original sleeve. In France this album was released with a different album cover, simply showing a photo of the four band members.

The volvelle used on the front cover

The idea of including a volvelle, based on crop rotation charts, was initially Page's concept. However, the result was a meeting of minds as Zacron had been working on rotating graphics from 1965. Zacron felt that by not including text on the front of the cover, the art would endure.

In an article featured in the December 2007 issue of Classic Rock magazine, Zacron claimed that upon his completion of the artwork, Page telephoned him while he was in New York to express his satisfaction with the results, saying "I think it is fantastic". However, in a 1998 interview Page himself gave to Guitar World magazine, he described the results as a disappointment:

I thought it looked very teeny-bopperish. But we were on top of a deadline, so of course there was no way to make any radical changes to it. There were some silly bits—little chunks of corn and nonsense like that.

The album cover featured on the front page of The Daily Mail's Live Magazine in December 2007, which hailed Led Zeppelin III as "the greatest rock album of all time".

The first pressings of the album included the phrases "So mote it be". Then later on included the phrase "Do what thou wilt", inscribed on the lacquer itself by engineer Terry Manning during the final mastering process. This phrase is from the core tenet of Aleister Crowley's philosophy of Thelema: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law. Love is the law, love under will. There is no law beyond do what thou wilt." Page was a scholar of Crowley's work, once owning a private collection of Crowley manuscripts, artwork and other ephemera, and in the 1970s even bought one of his residences, Boleskine House on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland.

TRACK LISTING

A1 Immigrant Song

Written-By – Page*, Plant*