TASTE - ON THE BOARDS 1st UK Press 1970 CREAM GROUNDHOGS EX+

	£		44
	$		58

TASTE -

On the Boards

1st UK PRESS 1970

Stereo

POLYDOR  583083 

Machined Matrices

earliest mother stampers ending  A//1  B//1

Stunning example of this super rare first press which was soon retracted!!

Quote: "How does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world? I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher.’ —Jimi Hendrix"

I couldn’t imagine being a guitar player in the mid sixties to early seventies. Players were evolving faster than the sound of the notes they played. Hendrix came from a parallel world and was changing everything, Clapton was making his mark, along with Jeff Beck, Jimmy Paige, and Carlos Santana just to name a few. Meanwhile, a reclusive Irishman named Rory Gallagher was tearing it up with his Stratocaster, earning a fraction of the recognition of what the aforementioned players were gaining. Gallagher’s second record, On the Boards (1970) with his power trio Taste, is one of hard rock’s understated gems, a fiery, raw blend of blues-rock, jazz, folk, country, and sophisticated progressive rock. All three players shine in this stripped down affair. The opening track, “What’s Going On” is a biting, hard rockin’ ominous number about social discord and the mixed signals of the times that are felt through Gallagher’s gruff voice. There’s the jazzy swagger of “It’s Happened Before, It’ll happen Again” (he also blows a convincing sax on this track). “If the Day was Any Longer” is a vulnerable ballad with an earnest seduction too it; some sweet harmonica augments the tenderness. Side two begins with some elaborate slide guitar workouts on “Eat my Words” that would make Duane Allman’s eyebrows rise. The title track is another jazz-tinged tune; Gallagher’s Strat chimes with bright, clean tones but contradicts this with a dark melody. “See Here” is an acoustic track that has a searching, yet sweet lullaby vibe too it that never seems to resolve musically (in the good way). There are also some basic blues rockers that could’ve easily gone into tired, honkey- tonk, bar fight territory but were saved not only by Gallagher’s astounding guitar playing but his intricate song writing as well. Rory Gallagher was a guitar player’s guitarist, but to the general public one of the most (arguably the most) overlooked guitar players of all time; who knows why; maybe he just wasn’t “psychedelic” enough. All that put aside, On the Boards is a remarkable album; and a true testament to his masterful six string navigation and his brilliant song craft. (From: rateyourmusic.com)

Vinyl: EX+.  I'm very happy to be able to present this gem by Rory's band in this wonderful condition. The audio is simply sublime played on my Technics deck with Linn Sondek cartridge and through my Rotel amp and B&W speakers.  This vinyl sounds out of this world, a majestic album that showed that really went largely under the radar. Why ...? 

 Unbelievably it has no hairlines and the audio is simply stunning.  I played this through in full and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was even tempted to keep this as it will be very hard to find this again, it is indeed getting very hard to find now in this kind of condition. Under a strong light just a few paper retraction traces visible. These are not detectable in plain daylight. Just a few light spindle traces. Needless to say NO jumps, clicks or ticks. 

 Sleeve: EX.  Single textured sleeve with barely any creasing, bar the light thumb crease near the opening.  Light edge and spinal wear. It sits superbly flat and has a sharp crisp opening. The spine is fully legible.  A beautiful original sleeve and the winner will be very pleased indeed, they don't come much better than this esp. after 50 years!! No marks, no stickers, no seam splits or tears.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact 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! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. 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!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.