MAN Revelation SCARCE ORIG UK 1969 Nr EX LP, GREAT PSYCH-ROCK, SUPER SOUND/COVER

	£		46
	$		61

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: MAN

Album Title: Revelation

Producer(s): John Schroeder

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: And in the Beginning…; Sudden Life; Empty Room; Puella! Puella! (Woman! Woman!); Love; Erotica.

Side 2: Blind Man; And Castles Rise in Children’s Eyes; Don’t Just Stand There (Come in Out of the Rain); The Missing Pieces; The Future Hides Its Face.

Label/Format: Pye, original black and blue format with matt quite smooth surfaces with the distinctive ring ridges.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only light, quite fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. This psych-rock classic plays very well.

Catalogue Number: NSPL 18275

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. A gentle light sideways movement on side one that has no affect on sound. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of Record: 164 grams. A more typical heavyweight Pye original.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce, and seldom seen a great deal better.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: NSLP 18275A-1 ?T STEREO / NSLP 18275B-1 ?T STEREO [these machine punched]

Mothers / Stampers: A 1 / A 1 [ultimate first press codes and very rarely seen on this major label]

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘KT’ (tax codes)

Musicians: Mike Jones – lead guitar, vocals; Roger ‘Deke’ Leonard – guitar, harp, piano, percussion, vocals; Clive John – organ, piano, guitar, vocals; Jeff Jones – drums, percussion; Ray Williams – bass.

Brief Info: The debut album by the Welsh rock band Man. For me, it’s their greatest ever album being a quality blend of psychedelia and early progressive rock. One of those more forgotten classics of the late 1960s, this is a highly original set and this copy in very fine all-round condition. Impressive acid guitars and keyboards dominate this rousing album, but it went largely overlooked. I regard this as one of the best of its type from this creative period. It includes the track ‘Erotica’ which concludes side one, a single that was banned in the UK due to the sexual nature of the song – possibly rock’s second orgasm on vinyl after the Freak Out album by Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Subsequent albums, especially the later ones, were more standard rock, and if psychdelic rock is your taste, this is unlikely to disappoint. A rare opportunity to own this gem which for a change includes a superb fresh hardly worn sleeve which was cover protected from new by the original owner.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): a single format with front lamination, this covers all folds and ends on three rear flipbacks. This is the very first mono prefix cover (on the spine), the matt back panel retains its original stereo sticker covering the word ‘MONO NPL’ on the back. This sticker never removed or picked at and in impressive condition as seen in close-up. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd with the patent number 943895. The original polylined inner sleeve is also included.

Lamination & Front: An impressive fresh looking front, the laminate retaining excellent shine and clarity, any creasing few, fine and mostly faint. Little detracts from the artwork, and the lack of lifting and minimal trace of dulling are also good news. Cover-protection for decades has ensured this scarce original cover has more than withstood the test-of-time.

Cover Back: A cover cover that comes very close to reminding of as-made, the card being exceptionally clean, uncreased with barely even a hint of rim impression from the very thick heavy record. This side in particular usually suffers badly from wear, ageing, grubbiness and damage – this is simply stunning with hardly anything of note to fault. Any discolouration minuscule and it barely even gives a clue to age. Finding the matt panel on this, or any similar cover like this is incredibly difficult and few will even exist better for this title. As stated, this has its original STEREO NSPL sticker on the back to obscure the mono prefix – clearly Pye thought this would sell better in mono than stereo, a sticker was the cheaper option rather than another print run for a low selling stereo copy. All three flipbacks are solid, crisp and clean, any trace of toning tiny just to the spine ends. The lack of grubbiness and burring to the laminate ends is unusual, but most welcome of course.

Top Edge: Thin, but straight but unworn, the laminate fully intact, strong, smooth and clear.

Bottom Edge: Superb and arguably even better than above.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly sharp with any thickening little and light. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Again practically as-made. Solid, straight with minimal compression, the ends gently taper in manufacture. The text is unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and faint, excellent shape retained with just the odd tiny tip crease (top right), which is hardly even seen.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this quality late 1960’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): arguably even better. Even this inner sleeve has hardly aged bar slightly darkening of the seam edge adhesive. This polylined white inner paper is hardly discoloured at all with little creasing and two immaculate window circles. The polylining is incredible, ultra clear and fresh as manufacture day, this is aspect is near impossible to still find today. I doubt if the record or inner has been exposed to light for decades. All edges are naturally intact, the text reads: ‘Patent Application No. 40904/61’.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: or close to. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed on high-quality pure vinyl. Pye generally pressed their own label albums to a very high standard, and this one is no exception. A copy with few plays I feel with any surface marks few, quite fine and light as seen under light. Fine line marks that cannot be felt with no affect on the impressive sound. So no penetrating stylus scratches, this sounds great and was a pleasure to play-grade, my first copy of this for ages. Almost certainly, this has not been removed from the inner for many years – a very gentle trace of inner sleeve dulling just being evident under light which is a trait of polylined inners where the record has been left undisturbed. This is is virtually as light as this ever gets and hardly registers with normal viewing in average light, and suffice to say, it has no affect on sound whatsoever. Visually a fine looking 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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This somewhat ‘lost’ psych classic plays mostly even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering 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 sounds are minimal indeed – this is an album with some very quiet passages, none more so than the massively challenging beginning to side one with a very gentle introduction. So the odd light contact sound/static crackle trace or light tick is near impossible to avoid totally on a record this age. Overall, a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will outperform this genuine ultimate first pressing A1/A1 stamper example I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp – superbly recorded with brilliant stereo effects which all psych albums utilise better. I am certain this record has been played only quite lightly and has been generally well stored within a non-smoking environment. Little of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record, this proved a hugely enjoyable experience, and being honest, I forgot how brilliant this album was. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended unless total perfection is mandatory, and good luck finding that on such a complex and challenging album. Finding this better for sound will go beyond difficult.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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 necessarily 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, 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.