Paul McCartney Venus And Mars 1975 1st Press Factory Sample Demo Ex+ Condition

	£		28
	$		37

I am selling off some of my collection and over the next few months and will be listing some very nice and very rare albums and singles from the 50's through to the 90's!! I will be listing The Beatles, Cream, Purple, Zeppplin, The Stones, Small Faces, Floyd, Creedence Clearwater, Beach Boys and many, many more so please add me to your watch list as I may have something you need to help complete you collection!!!!

Artist or Band: Paul McCartney

Album Title: Venus And Mars  

Producer: Paul McCartney

Cat Number: PCTC 254

Label/Format: Capitol – Original dark format with Matt surface and Silver printing.

Country of Manufacture: UK

Track list: Side 1: Venus And Mars; Rock Show; Love In Song; You gave Me The Answer; Magneto And Titanium Man; Letting Go.

Side 2: Venus And Mars (Reprise); Spirits Of Ancient Egypt; Medicine Jar; Call Me Back Again; Listen To What The Man Said; Treat Her Gently-Lonely Old People; Crossroads.

Matrix Nos: Side 1: YEX-945-1U Side 2: Yex-946-1U

Stamper Codes: Side 1: 1 & OT Side 2: 1.1 & L

Other Etchings: Side 1: A Porky Prime Cut Side 2: M Room

Musicians: 

Paul McCartney: Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Piano, Percussion. Linda McCartney: Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Percussion. Denny Laine: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion. Jimmy McCulloch: Guitars, Vocals, Percussion. Joe English: Drums, Percussion. Geoff Britton: Drums on "Love in Song", "Letting Go" and "Medicine Jar". Kenneth "Afro" Williams: Congas on "Rock Show". Allen Toussaint: Piano on "Rock Show". Dave Mason: Guitar on "Listen to What the Man Said". Tom Scott: Saxophone on "Listen to What the Man Said". 

Brief Artist & Album Info: "VENUS AND MARS" is the fourth studio album by Wings. Released in 1975 as the follow-up to the successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of success and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour. The album was Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles album to be released worldwide on the Capitol Records label.

After recording Band on the Run (1973) as a three-piece with wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine, McCartney added Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Geoff Britton on drums to the Wings line-up in 1974. Having written several new songs for the next album, McCartney decided on New Orleans, Louisiana as the recording venue, and Wings headed there in January 1975. Before the departure to New Orleans, Wings had recorded three songs at Abbey Road Studios in London in November 1974: "Letting Go", "Love In Song" and "Medicine Jar", all overdubbed later at Sea Saint Studios between January and February.

As soon as the sessions began, the personality clash that had been evident between McCulloch and Britton during Wings' 1974 sessions in Nashville became more pronounced, and Britton, after a six-month tenure quit Wings, having only played on three of the new songs. A replacement, American Joe English, was quickly auditioned and hired to finish the album.

The sessions proved to be productive, not only finishing the entire album, but also several additional songs, including two future McCartney B-sides, "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" and "My Carnival". McCartney also decided to link the songs together much like the Beatles had on Abbey Road to give the album a more continuous feel.

John Lennon, often in a nostalgic mood during his "Lost Weekend" period, had told May Pang (his then girlfriend) that they would visit the McCartneys during the recording sessions for Venus and Mars, and considered writing with him again. Lennon's planned visit never happened due to his reunion with Yoko Ono.

Wings' interpretation of the theme to Crossroads, a British soap opera, was sometimes used to end the show in place of the regular theme tune, usually when there was a cliffhanger ending with a hint of sadness involved.

CONDITION

LABELS:

The Black with Silver printing Capitol Labels are Both in SUPERB condition with ONLY two spindle marks showing on Side 1:. Whereas Side 2: Is absolutely Spotless and Unmarked. I would easily grade these as Ex++!!!!

VINYL:

Plays throughout absolutely brilliant with no Pops, Clicks or Jumps. The record still contains that glossy sheen though there are several very minimal surface marks to be seen. There Is a Non feelable Scratch to Side 1; that goes across two tracks, however these in NO way interfere with the superb sound quality. This Album plays up to and  beyond its high visual grading with hardly anything of note to fault. It offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. A typical polished production from Paul McCartney. Minimal surface sound and no tracking issues. This play-grade proved a real pleasure when playing this fast disappearing Capitol album, this being the first example I have had for some time, and possibly the best all-round one for me yet. It will prove quite difficult to find a significantly better copy and merits a very strong recommendation. I would grade Side 1: as Excellent and Side 2:as Excellent++!!!!

COVER: 

The L.P. comes in an award winning sleeve, being voted the "Album Cover of the Year" by the music industry trade magazine, "Music Week". It is a gatefold sleeve designed by Hipgnosis and George Hardie. The front cover picture of two snooker balls was taken by Linda, and the centre spread picture was taken by Aubrey Powell in the desert in North Carolina. The rear of the cover features the lyrics.

Released in matt gatefold sleeve with a coloured die-cut card inner, two fold out posters, a 'Venus And Mars Are Alright Tonight' round sticker and a 'Planets' strip sticker

Cover: What a fantastic front picture. It still retains a fine Shape and Clarity without Any dulling. There are no Rips, Tears, Marks or Writing to be seen. The Spine is in Perfect order (apart from two Tiny knocks to the corners). All of the other Edges are in Perfect order, with even the Opening Edge straight and Unfrayed. The Reverse of the Cover is again in Perfect order with no Marks or Blemishes anywhere. The Inside of the Gatefold is as fresh as New. I have gone over this cover Minutely and I really Cannot find Hardly any fault with it. I have no Hesitation in grading this as Excellent++!!!! It Truly is that Good.

COVER SUMMARY: Not seen often, this one is in Beautiful condition with only gentle clues of age, any blemishes mostly light are incredibly hard to avoid at the barest minimum. This classic cover should please many collectors.

INNER SLEEVE: This is the Correct Inner to this Album and again is Faultless so I will grade this as EX++!!!!

Now for the Sad bit. This Album on Release had two Fold out Posters, a 'Venus And Mars Are Alright Tonight' round Sticker and a 'Planets' strip Sticker.

I DID have the Complete set but unfortunately (at present) I can only find the Planets strip Sticker. I have searched everywhere for the Others but cannot locate them. Should I find them at a Later date I would be More than Happy to forward them to the Winning bidder. However that is ONLY if I manage to Locate them.

Album Played For Grading: I play/grade ALL records I offer before submitting, I also play them in their 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. I use a Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge and Linn Lingo, with my Linn system and Forest Totem Speakers. This system is guaranteed  to pick up any distortion or interference within the sound.

Grading: In my opinion I REFUSE to believe there is ANY record that can be truly graded as Mint, the BEST that could be offered is Mint- (minus)!!!! Especially so from the 50's, 60's, 70's or even up to the present date!!!! Even copies bought new today would have some form of imperfection on the Record or Cover!!!! Under that assumption I will NEVER use the word Mint in any of my descriptions and Mint- is the HIGHEST grade I would ever offer. So I will only GRADE from Mint-, Excellent, Good or Poor with a -(minus), +(plus) or ++(plus,plus)!!!!

Bid With Confidence: I take great care and pride with what I sell and offer a FULL money back guarantee, in the unlikely event of the buyer not agreeing with my description. As long as the item is repacked and returned to me in the same condition it was sent.

Postage: All of my records will be professionally packaged. I use Dependapack Vinyl Record Mailers that have locking tab closures with strong locking tab record wraps. I also use corrugated record stiffeners and extra strong tape marked with Handle With Care. This is to ensure your Valuable Record/s are protected whilst in transit. I will add a nominal fee of .40p to my postage and packaging for this service. Any Record valued at £100 or more I would prefer to send by Special Deliver/International Signed For.