RITCHIE VALENS La Bamba / Donna 1958 UK LONDON 1st Press EARLIEST EVER

	£		22
	$		29

Please also note - that this week I will have LOADS of 45s & LPs all ending March 31st.  Of course, I will have my usual listings of Prog/Psych/Jazz/Blues LPs ending this day, but also some EXCEPTIONALLY rare Reggae/Ska, Freakbeat, Psych, and Rock & Roll 45s aswell!!!!   So an absolutely INCREDIBLE set of listings (LPs and 45s!) will all appear during the week - all ending March 31st!!!!

RARITY:-   This is a very VERY important release indeed.  When this 45 was first released in the UK in 1958 - it sold virtually NOTHING and was quickly deleted.  However, when Ritchie Valens died in that terrible plane crash on the 3rd February 1959, this 45 sold bucketloads, with people only buying the 45 due to his death rather than the music (these re-pressings are well worth avoiding).  It even hit the UK charts after this in March 1959.  Whereas THIS 45 was bought by the one previous owner on the very 'day of release' in 1958 - with music being the only thing on his mind.  Luckily you can IMMEDIATELY tell the 1959 re-pressings and re-issues from the ORIGINAL 1958 1st Pressings!  And you really need to be able to do this - because only around 2000-3000 ORIGINAL 1st Pressings were ever made, before it was deleted, whereas many many MANY thousands of re-pressings were made in 1959/60!  And here is the order below:-

1) 1958 UK 1ST PRESSING (the only 1st Pressing made prior to the terrible accident):-  All Black 'Tri-Centred' London label, with 'Vocal with instrumental accompaniment' at the bottom of the labels in SMALL TEXT.  Tri Centre.  Only around 3000 copies were made on this label in 1958 ONLY.  This one is one of the VERY earliest 1st Pressings ever made - with 1U/1U stamper codings, showing that it was one of the first 500 copies ever made!  Only 2000-3000 copies were ever made and it is very VERY rare indeed!

This was 45 was then deleted for a time.

2) 1959 UK 2ND PRESSING (after the accident on the 3rd February 1959 London immediately re-released the 45) :-  However, although the 45 still had the 'All Black Tri Centre London label', the text was noticeably different (they had probably thrown away the original label printing sets) - with 'Vocal with instrumental accompaniment' at the bottom of the labels in LARGE THICK TEXT.   This 2nd Pressing is VERY common.

3) 1959 UK 3RD PRESSING (Later in 1959) :-  'Silver Topped' Black Tri Centre London label.   This 3rd Pressing is VERY common.

4) 1960 UK 4TH PRESSING (1960/61) :-  'Silver Topped' Black Round Centre London label.   This 4th Pressing is common though sales were starting to drop off now.

SO AS YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE - 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS 45 ARE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND, AND WITH 99% OF THEM BEING RE-ISSUES, FINDING A 100% GENIUNE 1958 1ST PRESSING IS NOW VERY VERY HARD INDEED!!!!

COUNTRY:-  UK

MONO/STEREO:-  MONO

PRESSING:-   1ST PRESSING 

ARTIST:-  RITCHIE VALENS

TITLE:-  DONNA / LA BAMBA

CAT NUMBER:-  45-HL 8803

LABEL:-  LONDON

DATE:-  1958

SIGNS OF PLAY:-  LIGHT

LABELS:-   EX+ towards NM

RECORD GRADING:-   The record is in absolutely BRILLIANT condition!  It has NO scratches, only 2 or 3 MEGA light hairline traces, NO scufflines, and only a VERY few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light!  There is an absolutely FRACTIONAL shine or shimmer under VERY bright light - though this does NOT affect play in the slightest!  Of course this could indicate cleaning in some way in the past, but as this record has clearly barely been played AT ALL, and has obviously been VERY well cared for, I believe I am just being paranoid here.  THE RECORD STILL RETAINS ITS ORIGINAL 'JUST PRESSED' LOOK AND SHINES LIKE NEW!  The record plays with NO pops, NO distortion, NO jumps, NO sticks, NO groovewear, and barely ANY crackle AT ALL!  The record must grade Very Good++++ if not better - and is a very VERY nice record indeed, and VERY strictly graded! 

DEFECTS OUTSIDE OF THE GRADE GIVEN:-  N/A

--ooOOoo--

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items (I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!) - PLEASE REMEMBER to contact with me FIRST, if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy!  Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again - Graham @ XXXRecords.