NEIL YOUNG (1st Album) SCARCE US 1970 EX++ LP, HARDLY PLAYED with GATEFOLD COVER

	£		155
	$		205

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in 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: NEIL YOUNG

Album Title: Neil Young

Producer(s): David Briggs; Jack Nitzsche, Ry Cooder & Neil Young.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Emperor of Wyoming; The Loner; If I Could Have Her Tonight; I’ve Been Waiting For You; The Old Laughing Lady.

Side 2: String Quartet From Whiskey Boot Hill; Here We Are In The Years; What Did You Do To My Life?; I’ve Loved Her So Long; The Last Trip To Tulsa.

Label/Format: Reprise – two colour American format with matt, quite smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both immaculate, ultra clean, fresh and attractive with barely any spindle traces at all. Owned from new by one connoisseur owner who clearly hardly played this beautiful record. He even put a plastic lining inside the original inner sleeve to protect the record’s surfaces.

Catalogue Number: RS 6317

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Up and Down Movement: A faint trace only. Few vintage records will ever be perfectly flat, any issues with significant movement or tracking will be mentioned in detail if applicable.

Lateral Movement (Side-to-Side): A gentle a trace only.

Weight of this Record: 139 grams.

Country of Manufacture: United States

Rarity: Early American albums are seldom seen in this beautiful all-round condition. This a first repressing with the new named cover and remixed songs that Neil Young wanted. The American covers were gatefolds, UK ones were always single, so new artwork is seen inside. Outside the United States, this gatefold debut album will seldom be found, and rarely in this superb condition.

Original Year of Release: 1968. This early repress from 1970.

Matrix Nos: 30817 RS 6317 A. RE-1-2C / 30818 RS 6317 B -2C

Musicians: Neil Young – guitar, piano, electric piano, harpsichord, pipe organ, vocal; Jim Messina – bass; George Grantham – drums. Also: Ry Cooder – guitar; Jack Nitzsche – electric piano. Guest Vocalists: Merry Clayton; Brenda Holloway; Patrice Holloway; Gloria Richetta Jones; Sherlie Matthews; Gracia Nitzsche.

Brief Info: After the breakup of Buffalo Springfield, Stephen Stills stayed with Atlantic records but Neil Young went his own way to pursue a solo career and signed for Frank Sinatra’s fledgling label Reprise. This debut album received mixed reviews at the time and sold poorly making the early ‘original’ pressings difficult to find. The material is varied, ranging from rock to folk and unusually, the opener is an instrumental. The Young classic ‘The Loner’ follows and there is not a bad track throughout and time has acknowledged this album a ‘classic’. ‘The Old Laughing Lady’ has genuine eeriness and mystery, the death-like creepy backing vocals again work brilliantly. This is one of the album’s most challenging songs. The vocals are intense and often break-up or clip with crackle even on modestly played copies if played on less worthy equipment from the past. Here focused and sharp and with no inherent pressing flaws from which some do suffer. ‘The Last Trip to Tulsa’ is Young’s first solo epic, a long finale with great lyrics and a distinct folk-rock sound, an astonishing piece that set out the pathway for future great songs and eventual popularity, although the journey at times became rocky. This a superb 1970 pressed American copy with its lovely gatefold cover. The record appears hardly played and includes the original company inner sleeve that the one owner put inside a soft lining to protect the record’s surface to the maximum. A much better imported American copy will prove immensely difficult to find.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(++): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt very gently textured surfaces. The inside has the paste-on style panel. Printed and made in the United States, includes the Reprise inner sleeve.

Cover Front & Back: A strikingly beautiful cover and this does it near maximum justice. It retains a rich colour with no fading and remains clean and fresh, even the pale back with barely any rubbing. The only crease of note on the bottom right tip of the front, little else with no sticker issues. This one of the first made that now includes the artists name.

Cover Inside: EXCELLENT(++): almost as made, any minor crease blemishes purely as-made except small tip ones. This first gatefold example of this famous cover I have had.

Top & Bottom Edge: Both fully and naturally intact with no splits or repairs. Straight and flat with any rub traces tiny, very patchy and faint.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a thin printed front which is barely worn again. The back opening edges are crisp and very sharp with barely even a trace of thickening. These are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: A possible hint of fading apart, a fantastic spine which are always hard to find on American covers which are very prone to splits and rubbing. This is solid, straight with barely any compression, just a hint of tilt to right towards the bottom. The surface barely rubbed, all text present and very well centred as-seen.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and light, a tip crease on the bottom front right as mentioned already, also inside on the same tip which is only very light. Very fine and mostly excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: A highly impressive clean and fresh American gatefold format cover, these are seldom found without significant wear and edge issues, this has little and should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better, this has mildly darkened with age. The first owner put a polylined inner side this and even folded it over to the outside and holding it in place with a few very small pieces of clear tape, that has long since dried out and fell off leaving small residue marks on the edges and one on the centre of each side. Mere blemishes really, the vintage Reprise promotional inner is untorn with no creasing and all edges naturally intact. I decided to leave the lining inside as per the first owner, it will remove if deemed necessary.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): grading this hardly played record less would not be doing it justice. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. A copy appearing hardly used on all the evidence with any surface marks traces, very light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. A few surface marks within the pressing are natural traits that do nothing. Visually a super, age-defying 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 brilliant album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything 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, hardly anything and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will outperform this still early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* 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.

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] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; 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 [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK 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.