Rolling Stones S/T-England's Newest Hit Makers-ULTRA-RARE LONDON EXPORT LL 3375

$

104

Hello and Welcome!  

Despite being eBay Vintage Vinyl Sellers since 1999, we have recently elected to auction off several highly sought after as well as extremely rare vinyl records from our personal album collection under this new screen-name. We pride ourselves as collectors, sellers and most importantly, true purists when it comes to this hobby which has turned into a huge on-line business for many folks.   Unlike many eBay sellers of LPs these days, we still feel compelled to write up complete as well as accurate descriptions of our vinyl in order that no surprises will occur, other than happy ones. This is why we take painstaking efforts to describe every detail of our play-graded LPs, which never seem to disappoint our buyers.   

Our Goldmine Grading of this or any other album entails a Visual Assessment of the Vinyl, Labels, Jacket, Inner Sleeve and Inserts (If Applicable) as well as an Aural Evaluation.  All pre-owned LPs that we put up for auction are first professionally cleaned with our VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine prior to being Play-Graded on a Denon DP 54-F Turntable equipped with a SHURE M97xE Cartridge/Stylus.  Our Pre-Amp is a Denon PMA 750.  Our Polk Audio Speakers allow one the opportunity to hear any sonic distortion, variation in sound quality such as drops in sound levels, detection of the slightest background noise e.g. crackle, clicking, and, of course, jumps.  All of our albums are stored upright and kept in an air conditioned, smoke free environment and are, or have been protected by polyurethane jacket protectors since our acquisition of them.  

We have decided to list The Rolling Stones First Album (also known as England's Newest Hit Makers) on London Records LL 3375 which was released in 1964.  It is important to note the following attributes of this extraordinary and scarce Rolling Stones recording;

        ?This album is believed to be the ABSOLUTE FIRST 1964 EXPORT PRESSING OF 'ENGLAND'S NEWEST HIT MAKERS: THE ROLLING STONES

            ?Both labels possess THE EARLIEST 'LONDON' VARIANT STYLE; SCRIPTED 'LONDON' UN-BOXED DEEP BURGUNDY BACKGROUND COLOR WITH 'ffrr', the "Ear" is ABOVE THE WORD 'LONDON' and has the TWO SILVER LINES RUNNING THROUGH THE SPINDLE HOLE

        ?Our copy comes with its Original and Mega-Rare "Free full color photo of The Rolling Stones"

        ?Both labels have the print "Recorded in Europe/made in usa"  According to the following Rolling Stones London Label web-site, it has been reported that a few editions of the Stones earliest 'ffrr' LPs were pressed in the U.S. for export to other countries and some for the express use of the U.S. military.

( The aforementioned web-site cannot be posted in our item description due to eBay policy.  However, a Google Search with the Key-words "Rolling Stones London Label Variations" will provide documentation concerning what we stated about the labels in the previous 'bullet'. )

MATRICES/STAMPERS/RUN-OFF WAX DATA: 

Side 1: ARL 6291  LL3375 A  Pete Helffrich    Side 2: ARL 6292 B  Pete Helffrich*

*Early examples of this album have "Pete Helffrich" scrawled in on both sides of the dead-wax  

VISUAL GRADES

VINYL:   Both sides of this shiny, glossy vinyl present with many faint, non-feel-able but visible surface lines when examined under high intensity halogen lighting.  Side 1 exhibits a lessor amount of these superficial lines than Side 2.  This heavy-weight 1964 London album has no warp, no signs of groove wear, or any pitting.  Whilst the vinyl has obviously been played a myriad of times, this is, in no way, shape or form, a "trashed" copy.  Under normal lighting, the vinyl's surface marks are not readily apparent, and less conservative evaluators may be tempted to assign a higher Goldmine Grade.  That said, our goal is to be as descriptive, not to mention, "harsher" graders than most.  This is a 49 year old specimen of The Rolling Stones First Album, and has been reasonably cared for by its previous owners.  However, if one is looking for a "Minty" vinyl, this slab of wax will not fit the bill on a visual level.  Conversely, this LP's appeal is for The Rolling Stones fan and/or vinyl collector who is searching for one of the rarest pressings ever released by this iconic band.  We are absolutely confident in our analysis of this historically and important First Pressing's visual presentation.   Goldmine Grade:  VG    

LABELS:  As previously highlighted, the two labels on our copy are the extremely rare as well as the earliest London Records Variant Style used for any of The Rolling Stones' albums released on this label.  Both labels (see photos) are the 'ffrr' 'Ear' Above The Scripted and Unboxed 'LONDON' LONG PLAYING Silver Type which is set against the Deep Burgundy Background Color.  It needs to be reiterated that the two labels have the print 'RECORDED IN EUROPE' at the 9:00 AM label position as well as the 'made in u.s.a.' at the 3:00 PM position.  According to the London Records Label Web-site (Please refer to the url we provided), these "statements" indicate that this record was EITHER a UK EXPORT for the USA or a USA EXPORT PRESS designed solely for the US Military.  Finally, this unique label has Two Silver Bars which span across the label and have the words 'full frequency range recording' enclosed.   

Side 1's label presents with virtually no spidering around the spindle hole, is free from writing, retains its sharp detailed type face, and both the Silver print and Burgundy colors are vibrant and clean.  Side 2's label shows several faint spider lines which can be detected under regular lighting.  Aside from one or two 2 cm. lines (one is adjacent to the second "O" in 'LONDON'), this label shares all the virtues of Side 1.  We believe that our detailed photos of both labels support our assigned ratings.   Goldmine Grade:  VG++ (Side 1) VG+ (Side 2)

JACKET:  One would be hard-pressed to find an album jacket of this title in better condition than what we are offering.  Our Mono cover is the heavy-stock, poster-board, textured variation which features the Square Rectangle box on the lower left-hand side of the front cover, with the 'hype' print 'FREE full color photo of THE ROLLING STONES inside; OUR COPY HAS THE THIS SCARCE AND CORRECT TEXTURED PHOTO (SEE BELOW DESCRIPTION AND PHOTO).  Moreover, the catalogue number of this release, LL 3375 and the 'LONDON ffrr ear' are positioned to the upper right side corner.  Other than a "ding" to the right-side, nearly parallel to the picture of Mick Jagger, this matte finished textured front cover is absolutely stunning!  There is no ring-wear, no writing, no creases, or seam splits anywhere on this specimen.  On these heavy stock jackets, the reverse side is actually a slick, which was pasted on 49 years ago.  Only the faintest indications of ring-wear can be detected.  Our copy's white background has hardly been effected by nearly a half century of use, all of the print is sharp and legible, and, incredibly, there are no indications of the slick 'lifting' or peeling.  All four corners are intact and show mild "tip" wear.  The spine remains sturdy, yet years of storage have managed to cause rubbing on the catalogue numbers (present on the top and bottom of the spine).  'The Rolling Stones' is clear and legible on the spine; however, the "L" in London has been rubbed away and the top catalogue example is 50% intact, with the bottom catalogue number presenting as barely legible.  Only the bottom "rim" of this jacket exhibits minor signs of paper wear, one organic dynamic which is virtually non-existent on the top rim.  We believe that our photos of this album cover will support our conservative, yet accurate rating. Goldmine Grade: VG++ (EX+)

BONUS PHOTO:  As most Rolling Stone Vinyl Collectors are aware, the advertised FREE full color photo is rarely ever found with this LP or jacket.  Our album, however, is 100% complete and comes with the Correct Textured Color Photo which mirrors the same exact type of jacket.  There were 2 different variants of The Rolling Stones 'England's Newest Hit Makers' album jackets and the so-called FREE full color photo; one was smooth and the other, was the textured type.  Our album's 'photo' is in excellent condition and would be a NM example, yet the presence of 2-3 creases above the band member's heads, does lower the grade, in our analysis.  **It must be noted that these fold marks can easily be eliminated by using an extremely careful ironing technique**  We elected not to do this, since we truly did not assess the creases as severe enough to merit this action.  This needs to be the decision of the winning bidder.  It goes without saying that there are no rips in this scarce insert, no staining anywhere, no writing, no pinholes, and the half-century old picture of the band remains in stunning condition.  Goldmine Grade:  VG++ (EX+)    

INNER SLEEVE:  The Original LONDON ffrr ear poly-line Inner Sleeve is without any flaw whatsoever.  It is completely free of seam splits, separation of ANY portion of the poly-liner from the paper, is free of tears, folds, or writing.  It has remained in "Like New" condition!  Please note that we will ship the vinyl in an anti-static, poly-lined sleeve, separate from the album jacket.  We will, of course, include this crucial component of this album for the winner--but it will be protected just like any of our other parts to this set!    Goldmine Grade:  NM    

PLAY-GRADE 

On August 4th, 2012, we cleaned this ultra-rare heavy slab of vinyl with our VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine and allowed it to properly air dry prior to its play evaluation.  Based on the visual VG Grade we assigned to the surface appearance of the LP,  we obviously needed to confirm that it played well or even better than it looked.  We had stored this album in our personal collection for years--prior to our owning a professional record cleaning machine and neither one of us remembered how this old record played!

Much to our pleasant surprise, this historical Rolling Stones LP played powerfully, packed with mono punch, and, all of Side 1's tracks, played at a VG++ level!  Low level crackles did occur during the silent passages between the 6 tracks, but there was no distracting pops, snaps, or drops in audio play that we noted.  Side 2's first 2 tracks played at this same exceptional level, and, prior to the beginning of Track 3, "Tell Me", minor, low-level crackling was heard for a few moments, went away, and returned during the "softer", quieter parts of the song and just before "Can I Get A Witness" began.  Apart from the odd "click" or two we heard during "You Can Make It If You Try", we assessed Side 2's aural delivery as being a solid VG+ which bordered on VG++ for 3 out of the 6 tracks.  GOLDMINE GRADE:  VG++ (Side 1) VG+ (Side 2)

Payment

...is due within 48 hours via PayPal and must be made in US $

USA SHIPPING

$4.00 For USPS Media Mail with Delivery Confirmation

Or

$9.50 For USPS 2 Day Priority Mail With Delivery Confirmation

Worldwide Shipping/Posting

-All Payments Must Be Made Via PayPal and in USD Currency WITHIN 48 HOURS AFTER THE AUCTION ENDS

-DUE TO EBAY AND PAYPAL POLICY ALL INTERNATIONAL PARCELS WILL BE SHIPPED VIA USPS INTERNATIONAL EXPRESS MAIL.  THIS METHOD OF POSTING/SHIPPING ALLOWS INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS TO HAVE THEIR VINTAGE VINYL TRACKED, INSURED, AND EXPEDITED DELIVERY (5-7 BUSINESS DAYS). 

THIS METHOD OF POSTING/SHIPPING HAS AN AVERAGE COST OF $44.00

-Seller Reserves The Right To Cancel Any Bids From Questionable Bidders (Low Feedback Percentage, Blocked Countries).

**WE NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY**

How Your Vinyl Will Be Packed

All LPs won from our eBay listings are first professionally cleaned with our VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine and immediately placed in an anti-static poly-lined Inner Sleeve and/or a polyethylene 3 ml Album Protector prior to being professionally shipped/posted.  All Vinyl is separated from its Album Jacket.  We provide a second polyethylene/Mylar Album Protector for the Album's Jacket, Original Inner Sleeve, and any Inserts, if applicable.  Vinyl is placed between 2 cardboard pads or "stiffeners" and sandwiched between these 2 pads.  The pads and vinyl are appropriately secured and placed inside a NEW, TOP INDUSTRY STANDARD VINYL RECORD MAILER.  The Album's Jacket, already protected with a 3 ml polyethylene/Mylar Protector, is then placed on top of the sandwiched vinyl.  If needed, an additional cardboard insert or plastic "cushioning" is placed on top of the jacket's poly/mylar protector.  Finally, we secure the Vinyl Album Mailer and mark the parcel "Handle with Care" as well as "Fragile" in various spots on the mailer.

We've packed thousands of Vinyl Albums, EPs, Old and Fragile 78 RPM records as well as 7" Singles over the Past 15 years.  Our items have been shipped over the entire planet and we have never had a package arrive to a buyer damaged or had any  parcel end up missing.  Delivery Confirmation is Applied to All Domestic Packages as well as Insurance for value.  At this point in time, we Ship/Post World-wide (Excluding Italy Due To Their Postal System's Failure to Deliver Packages in a timely rate which is acceptable to eBay)  and We Use Only USPS Express International (Expedited Posting) Mail.  This is the only way a parcel can be Tracked, have Delivery Confirmation Applied to it, and affords us the ability to place Any Amount Of Insurance on the item.  

Any and all questions about this item, will be answered in a timely manner.  We ask that all questions be submitted via the eBay e-mail mechanism.

Have Fun and Bid on this unique LP!

Please take a look at our current listing of an Original and Incredibly Well-Conditioned 1968 Pye Records Album The Kinks Swedish Village Green Preservation Society.  In the next few days, we will be auctioning several extraordinary items from our collection, including:

• One of the RAREST variants of a UK Mono The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band 4Th Proof album

• A Canadian MONO The Rolling Stones Their Satanic Majesties Request Album

• An Authentic 100% Genuine Version 2 STEREOPHONIC  'Introducing The Beatles' on Vee-Jay Records