Nick Drake FRUIT TREE Vinyl LP Boxset NDSP100 **UK 1ST PRESSING 1979** NEAR MINT

	£		250
	$		331

For sale is this scarce vinyl LP boxset of NICK DRAKE - FRUIT TREE THE COMPLETE RECORDED WORKS on Island Records  1979 in complete and immaculate condition. This example is a genuine 1979 1st pressing of this sought after box set. It comprises box, 3 LPs housed in redesigned sleeves and black paper inners and 16 page booklet containing a short biographical essay by Arthur Lubow with lyrics and photos. The records comprise Nick Drake's first two LPs, FIVE LEAVES LEFT and BRYTER LAYTER, in their original released form and his final album PINK MOON in an extended version with four extra tracks from his incomplete fourth album left unfinished at the time of his death in November 1974. The catalogue number of the set is NDSP 1000. The matrices of the discs as well as I can make them out are as follows:
Disc One - Side One:     ND 1001 A-1U JONZ     Side Two:     ND 1001 B-3U Disc Two - Side One:     ND 1002 A-4U JONZ     Side Two:     ND 1002 B-1U Disc Three - Side One:  ND 1003 A-3U JONZ     Side Two:     ND 1003 B-2U

If Nick Drake's records sold very few copies before his death, by the late 70s he was almost entirely forgotten. At the request of his parents Rodney and Molly Drake who had a personal relationship with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell this wonderful boxset was prepared to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Nick's death. I believe the redesigned sleeves were the work of a family friend and the Drakes were closely involved with the whole project. The final four tracks added to the end of PINK MOON, VOICE FROM THE MOUNTAIN, RIDER ON THE WHEEL, BLACK EYED DOG and HANGING ON A STAR seem to have been taken from a tape in the family's possession either a half inch reel to reel or possibly a cassette. Presumably the existence of the studio master tape was not known of at the time as Island had had no involvement in Nick Drake's efforts to record a fourth album, the sessions for which had been carried out in fits and starts during 1973-4 with engineer John Wood working pro bono. The four songs as presented in this set are shockingly raw, seemingly mixed down as working copies with no EQ or other studio effects. There has been speculation that they are different takes to those released in cleaned up forms on the Hannibal Records reissue in 1986 but I think they are the same recordings albeit starkly different sounding.
The pressings of BRYTER LAYTER, PINK MOON (ignoring the compromised sound on the final four tracks) and especially FIVE LEAVES LEFT in this boxset are regarded by collectors as possibly the best apart from of course the wonderful and eye-wateringly expensive first pressings. For this reason this boxset is highly sought after.
Condition*:
Box: The box is graded Excellent (EX). It has only very light wear, slight wrinkling to the laminated surface and very minor bruising to the corners. There is very slight foxing inside the bottom of the box. Overall this is by far the best example of this box I have seen.
Sleeves: The sleeves are all in true Near Mint (NM) condition - almost as new.
Inner sleeves: The black paper inner sleeves are all excellent.
Booklet: The booklet is in true Near Mint (NM) condition.
Discs: The discs are all graded Near Mint (NM). Even under harsh light there are almost no marks - there a few extremely light paper retraction marks but nothing more. They have been played through from start to finish and play without fault really like new discs. They may not have been played at all prior to my testing them. Overall three really immaculate examples of these records and by far the best copy of this glorious box set that I have seen.

Thanks for looking. If this item interests you why not have a look at my other listings? These records are just some of a number I was lucky to acquire recently, all from the archive of a single fastidious collector, many of which I will be listing in the coming days taking in Jazz, Blues, Folk and Rock including many stunning and rare 1st Pressings. Please feel free to make use of the "MAKE OFFER" button - I won't mind at all.

*Please note: Grading vinyl is a highly subjective thing. For this reason I have given a detailed description of all the flaws I was able to see or hear. I am not a professional. I am just selling a small number of records. I have given an honest appraisal based on careful visual inspection and thorough play testing. I do try to describe all significant faults and where possible photograph them and I certainly won't intentionally hide anything. Please read the description carefully, look at the pictures and make your own mind up. The grading scale I have used  goes from G to NM with VG+ as par. In other words: Good (G), Very Good (VG), Very Good+ (VG+), Excellent (EX) and Near Mint (NM). Anything better than that would be Mint and would be listed as new. Anything worse than Good I probably wouldn't be selling.