STEPHEN STILLS 2 SCARCE ORIG UK 1971 ATLANTIC PLUM EX+ LP, INNER, INSERT, LOVELY

	£		22
	$		29

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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.

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: STEPHEN STILLS

Album Title: Stephen Stills 2

Producer(s): Stephen Stills & Bill Halverson

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Change Partners; Nothin’ to Do But Today; Fishes and Scorpions; Sugar Babe; Know You Got to Run; Open Secret.

Side 2: Relaxing Town; Singin’ Call; Ecology Song; Word Game; Marianne; Bluebird Revisited.

Label/Format: Atlantic – original red and maroon (‘Plum’) format with matt gently textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a couple of tiny, very light, fine and faint spindle traces.

Catalogue Number: 2401013

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Few vintage records are ever perfectly ‘flat’, so some slight or very gentle arm movement is normal. If any record I offer has more than that, I will mention it, and it can be assumed all I offer should track without issues, even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 134 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce as a first pressing, a late ‘plum’ release from 1971, the year of the transition to the Kinney format and change to the orange and green labels. Also difficult to find with a decent cover, this is made with very soft textured card and seldom wears well.

Original Year of Release: June 1971

Matrix Nos: ST-A-712221 D [2401013 A] / ST-A-712222 D [2401013 B] (the bracketed matrixes are error corrected and faint). The initials ‘PR 3’ / ‘PR 11’ are also present.

Musicians: Stephen Stills – vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass; Nils Lofgren – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals; Eric Clapton – electric guitar; Paul Harris, Billy Preston, Mac Rebennack – keyboards; Calvin ‘Fuzzy’ Samuels – bass; Conrad Isidore, Dallas Taylor – drums; Gasper Lawal, Rocky Dijon – congas; David Crosby, Henry Diltz, Fred Neil – backing vocals; Jerry Garcia – pedal steel guitar. The Memphis Horns: Roger Hopps, Wayne Jackson – trumpet; Jack Helm – trombone; Sidney George, Ed Logan, Andrew Love – tenor saxophone; James Mitchell, Floyd Newman – baritone saxophone.

Brief Info: The second Steve Stills album and for me as good as the classic debut which was never going to be an easy act to follow. Brilliant and powerful songs with marvellous backing, no-one could have been disappointed with this album. Packaged in a very soft card textured cover, this often seen badly worn and aged, this one has fared generally well and still very attractive with most of any wear mostly on the perilous edges – the spine has little wear, certainly compared to most. This includes the original inner sleeve and a lyric insert sheet. So why does a gatefold cover that printed all the lyrics inside need a separate sheet? Well apparently, the printed cover lyrics have so many errors, it was decided the sheet was necessary. The unusual matrixes are also a bit of a mess with errors, so it appears they added a completely new set alongside. A real joy to see and hear this lesser-lauded second album in such fine overall condition. My play-grade was a delight.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: an unlaminated gatefold format with quite heavily texturing on all surfaces. Made with soft card that rubs and softens so easily. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group and has the original 2401013 catalogue number. This one issued right on the Kinney transition, so it sometimes shows up with the new K 40249 sticker on the back. This one clearly early and never had it. Includes the lyric insert sheet and custom card inner sleeve.

Cover Front: A lovely cover, but very delicate – this looks very impressive with amongst the least rubbing I have seen on one. Any rubbing very little, light and faint near the top, any traces on the fold also little and very light. No creasing, the graphic clean and fresh with deep colour retained, the lack of sticker issues is always great news on unforgiving surfaces like this. A lovely front that will prove hard to find much better.

Cover Back: Virtually the same, the lack of grubbiness and especially ring wear is seldom seen on this one. Very impressive indeed.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superb and little short of perfect with beautiful artwork. These surfaces are also textured and the lack of speckle to all four of the main faces outside and in, is a major achievement to preserve. One of lesser spoken-of beautiful covers of this era of quality, and here seen to near maximum advantage.

Top Edges: Straight and flush with light rubbing with a hint of wooliness that these areas seldom escape.

Bottom Edges: Light patchy rubbing on these storage edges is almost the least to be espected. These often threadbare and even split – nothing like that on this one.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean and still quite sharp with any thickening light with no feathering. Record enters on this edge, the front is closed. Both are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced in any way, absolutely totally natural, as is the entire cover.

Spine and Text: Here must lie the ultimate test of this cover, and glad to say, it shows only modesly light The fragile and delicate text still largely intact with a little patchy rubbing, but still very readable as seen on my picture. Many of these are often theadbare with no details left at all putting one like this is true perspective.

Corners: The corners are all still neat with any rubbing light with hardly any on the actual front and back, this mostly seen end-on. Very fine to excellent shape retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: Uncompromising and wear-prone, but this has been largely cover-protected, thus it remains impressive and attractive. It should please many fans and collectors.

The Illustrated Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): an unlined thick paper inner with rear external flipback construction. Little to fault on this one and it seldom survives without edge splits, but this one has none. Barely creased, rubbeddd ith minimal traces of rim impression. This the best I have seen in many years.

The Lyric Insert: PRACTICALLY MINT: possibly unique to an album with the lyrics printed on the cover. As stated further up, apparently the number of errors on the cover lyrics deemed this sheet necessary. Printed both sides and with the original 2401 013 number, this is guaranteed original. Practically as-made being honest with no creasing, both surfaces clean and fresh with all edges crisp and sharp.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): a very fine visual copy that is clean with nice shine and solidly pressed. Any surface marks few and very faint as seen under light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room little even register. A little dulling within the pressing, but with no affect on the impressive clean sound. Visually a fine 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 quality album plays even above it’s 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 and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Few available copies will outperform this very early pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played lightly and has been generally well stored and handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. It could prove 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.