Loudest Whisper – Children of Lir. Impossibly rare 1974 Irish acid folk/prog LP

$

510

Holy grail time! Stupidly rare original as only 500 copies of this absolute gem of folk/psych from Ireland were pressed in 1974. Comes with the original poly/paper inner sleeve but no booklet. This is the studio adaption of the musical The Children of Lir that was performed in Fermoy, Ireland in 1973. This LP should need no introduction to anyone who has been following my auctions. If not, just listen to the Celtic infused acid folk masterpiece Good day my friend in the video/sound file. This album is right up there alongside Vashti Bunyan as one of my all-time favourites. In the same league as Mushroom (also from Ireland!) and Trees, but much MUCH rarer. Extremely difficult for me to part with. Anyway, here are the particulars. The notoriously flimsy cover is VG+, with some slight wrinkles, a wee bit of ringwear, and minor flaking/corner bumping, as shown in the photos. Yet the spine and seams are rock solid, with no splits – not even close! For such a fragile cover, its appearance is FAR better than most copies that have ever turned up for sale if you look at the photos of what has been sold on Popsike.com. Vanishingly few of the originals are left in this condition. The vinyl is VG++ in my ranking system but actually is almost flawless. Just listen to the quiet majesty of both the lead in and the track itself for Good day my friend in the video/sound file. Under bright light with a magnifying glass, the labels have a couple of dozen spindle marks on Side B and absolutely ZERO spindle marks on Side A. The spindle hole itself is perfect, as seen in the photos. The poly inner sleeve, as opposed to plain paper, has been very kind and there are hardly even any spider traces even under bright light. The vinyl has full gloss and plays perfectly all the way through on both sides. Personally, I played this only once 40+ years ago to record the album to cassette. Unless you are a cover freak, you will never need an upgrade from this copy. And good luck finding one with a better cover, much less with the vinyl in this condition!

I am planning to list some ultra-rarities from my personal trove of vinyl LPs and 45s over the coming months. These have been painstakingly collected since the late 1970’s. Included are the absolute crown jewels of psychedelia, garage, prog, acid folk and folk-rock, all ranked 3-6 stars in Hans Pokora’s books. Artists like Vashti Bunyan, The Haunted, Fresh Maggots, Kaleidoscope, Plastic Cloud, Loudest Whisper, Reign Ghost, Synanthesia, Blues Section, Jormas, Mighty Baby, Sunforest, Trees, The Folklords, Anne Briggs, Kak, Moving Sidewalks and countless others. Most are stupidly rare, especially in such jaw-dropping condition. All have been extremely well cared-for across 4+ decades, and some are nearly un-played. In many cases, I also have the accompanying 45s for sale, including insanely rare non-LP tracks for e.g. Vashti Bunyan, Reign Ghost, Kak, Kaleidoscope, etc. These are not “spare” copies, these are THE copies from my personal collection. I am selling these only reluctantly, and if the first few samples do not attract an appropriate level of interest, I will simply return the rest of them to storage. All records have been dust vacuumed on a Moth-MKII Pro Record Cleaning Machine. 

My vinyl rankings are only slightly modified from Goldmine Standard for grading Please read them (below) carefully. I will describe every LP and 45 in detail and include photos as well as sound files. If you pay close attention to the cover/vinyl condition descriptions, check the photos in high-resolution and listen to the sound files, then you should know exactly what you are aiming for before you start bidding. I try to carefully note any flaws with the disc and the cover so that there are no surprises when the box arrives. I have 100% positive feedback on eBay and want to keep it that way. If there is ANY issue after receiving a shipment, please let me know immediately so we can resolve it before sending any feedback. 

Please do not pay before confirming your preferred shipping method and total shipping costs!! The domestic shipping costs to US are NOT real since the item comes from Finland! The international shipping costs also depend on the buyer’s location and preference in terms of service used. NOTE for US and Canadian buyers: it is significantly cheaper to ship to Europe if you have someone there to receive your package!

Buyer pays packaging, which costs $5 USD. I use top quality packaging and need to cover those costs, which will be included in the invoice. Vinyl will be packed extremely securely and LPs are double-boxed with cardboard stiffeners added inside the inner Euromailer to increase stability to avoid any damage in transit. The discs are always removed from the jackets to prevent seam splits, and all albums and 45s come in plastic outer sleeves. Each LP itself comes in a VRP rice paper-style inner sleeve. UPS and DHL Global Express Shipping from Finland are both available with or without insurance. Finnish Posti service is available to everywhere except the US, albeit without insurance. Posti no longer sends packages of any kind to the US, only documents/letters. 

Be sure to check my other listings now and in the coming months as these items almost never turn up for sale, much less in this condition!

I do not use Mint (M) unless the album is sealed. Near Mint (NM) means I literally unsealed the record myself and played it once or twice to record it to cassette. Any surface noise is therefore a function of the pressing and not due to wear and tear. I do not use EX. 

Very Good Plus Plus (VG++) will show only very minor – if any – wear, has been extremely well taken care of and plays with top-notch sound. The cover is crisp with minimal defects, and the record label shows very few spindle marks or other signs of wear or damage. The vinyl retains full gloss and for 45s the picture sleeve is mostly intact. This is as close to NM as it going to get for 99% of rare vintage vinyl for sale anywhere. 

Very Good Plus (VG+) will show minor yet visible cover wear, has been well taken care of and still plays with generally excellent sound. Spindle marks on the label may be more pronounced, yet vinyl gloss and sonic clarity both remain solid and surface noise minimal. For 45s the picture sleeve is intact but has significant defects, such as seam splits, age-related discoloration, wrinkling or visible rubbing.

Very Good (VG) will show visible wear and tear on the cover, have significant spindle marks on the label and the vinyl will have lost some of its gloss and/or sonic clarity. Surface noise in evident. I will offer almost no LPs or 45s rated VG as I simply do not own them, except a very few that are exceptionally rare in any condition.