STEVE MILLER BAND Sailor SCARCE ORIG UK 1968 EX+ LP. SUPERB PSYCH-ROCK CLASSIC.

	£		77
	$		103

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

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 – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks 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. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers will now be blocked at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: STEVE MILLER BAND

Album Title: Sailor.

Producer(s): Glyn Johns.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Song for Our Ancestors; Dear Mary; My Friend; Living in the U.S.A.

Side 2: Quicksilver Girl; Lucky Man; Gangster of Love; You’re So Fine; Overdrive; Dime-a-Dance Romance.

Label/Format: Capitol – original ‘rainbow rim’ format with matt finish. The surfaces have very gentle fine textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only light+, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Played a few times, but it appears with due care, this is a lovely vintage record with sound to match.

Cat Number: ST 2984.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 135 grams. A typical very solid weight from this era of quality.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Scarce: most seen are later pressings, this was not a major seller in the UK but did okay in America. Finding clean UK originals is difficult.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: ST1 2984 - A6 / ST2 2984 - A6

Mothers / Stampers: 1 M / 1 P

Musicians: Steve Miller – guitar, harmonica, lead vocals; Boz Scaggs – guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals; Lonnie Turner – bass guitar, backing vocals; Jim Peterman – keyboards, background vocals, lead vocals; Tim Davis – drums, backing vocals, lead vocals.

Brief Info: A superb second album and last to include guitarist, singer and writer Boz Scaggs. Now based on the West Coast, Miller’s early music was more acid-rock and psych-based. The first track on the classic is one of my personal favourite openers ever – this worth the price alone – and no CD copy does this justice. The magnificent ‘Song for Our Ancestors’ has the most haunting and eerie sounds not too dissimilar to Pink Floyd circa ‘Echos’ era. It includes a blast from a ship’s foghorn with incredible high fidelity sound, the dynamic range digital media simply fails to reproduce. The album sold fairly well in the United States, but far less so here in the UK. For me still an under-appreciated gem, most know this man and his band from the more commercial output of the 1970s and beyond, his early work more overlooked. This is the first UK-pressed original I have had to offer for a long time, a few I have seen have simply not been good enough. At last a one that does this great album near full justice, modestly played with very clean and minimally marked playing surfaces. The crucial test being the aforementioned opening song that is very quiet indeed, I honestly doubt if any original will ever play silent these days. Any surface sound on this one very light and gentle and very little spoilt the audio experience. It also includes a very fine cover as well – this purchased from new by the one owner – there has been some ‘customising’ of the original inner sleeve, but these can be found and replaced if deemed necessary. Everything seen in my pictures.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: and arguably better still. A single format with front lamination. This covers all the closed edges and ends on three rear external flipbacks. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse and includes the original promotional inner sleeve (now customised by the original owner from way back).

Cover Cosmetic Improvements: None Apparent.

Lamination & Front: The front is very impressive and my conservative grading hardly does this justice. Clear, shiny and fresh laminate with no lifting and minimal traces of dulling. Viewed critically under angled light, a couple of minor press marks are seen and gentle dulling around the thick record’s rim area. Any of the few creases are fine, small and light – mostly near the edges. A small rub-chip on the centre of the bottom edge and a tip rub on the bottom right. With artwork like this, they show little anyway. A lovely vintage front with fantastic artwork, this 1968 original front will not prove easy to find much better.

Cover Back: The back is equally impressive with the main matt back panel practically blemish-free. The lack of rubbing, creasing and ringwear all major pluses, any grubbiness minimal. All three flipbacks are solid with clean grime-free ends. A little light and gentle burr traces to the bottom ends and a few hairline surface laminate creases that are so hard to avoid. Just a tiny tip crease to the bottom left (reverse of front), but again, it will take an exceptional example to better both front and back.

Top Edge: Thin but straight with barely any wear, still very smooth and scuff-free.

Bottom Edge: A fairly small central rub with chipping, that apart, all solid and as above up to the right corner tip that has rubbed.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, fairly sharp with a more rustic style of manufactured trim. A little mild thickening as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced, the fine unlaminated strip on the front edge still intact and present, this with minimal burr traces and any rubbing tiny and light.

Spine and Text: Solid, fairly straight with minimal compression, the ends pinched in manufacture. The text is close to perfect and unworn with just an ultra fine hairline seen (just) on the ‘V” in ‘STEVE’. This also very well centred on a fairly narrow depth, the laminate unpeeled, solid and strong.

Corners: Moderately rubbed on the bottom right, all others show little at all. Fine to very fine shape retained.

Cover Summary: A strong all-round example of this elusive 1968 UK cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: I cannot really grade an inner sleeve that the one and only original owner decided to ‘enhance’ for own use and pleasure. Minus the writing each side, this has little else to fault, and in terms of wear, barely any. All edges unsplit with no repairs and barely any creasing. I have photographed each side to view – a fairly common inner sleeve that, if deemed necessary, can be replaced with another. I prefer myself to always include the original that came with the record if at all possible.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better. A very fine visual copy that is clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy with only modest, and careful plays on all the evidence with any surface trace marks few, very light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Any minor dull spotting is purely within the pressing itself. No penetrating stylus marks at all and visually a splendid vintage record that should please many, if not most 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 B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This brilliant very early Steve Miller album plays for most, even above it’s high visual grading with little 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. That rasping foghorn on the opening track sends a shiver down the spine, and this utmost challenging song, that is very quiet plays very well. However, silence is a near impossibility – it can be compared to Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’ with a long quiet introduction. Beautifully eerie and atmospheric, any surface sounds are minimal and very light, overall, a very fine pressing. We all know a digital media copy will play silent, but it will never offer that ultimate fidelity the purists demand. That foghorn rasp is superb as are the other effects on this killer opening track. Few copies will outperform this very early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – the odd sporadic tick or crackle trace is almost par-for-the-course on a somewhat challenging album. As a genuine original, it could prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded 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 as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will 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 its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, 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 Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 10,000+ items sold in over 12 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). 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] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 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 £3 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 can 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 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, actually 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.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.