THE INSECT TRUST (1st) RARE ORIG UK 1968 EX++ LP, HARDLY PLAYED, SUPERB SOUND.

	£		240
	$		318

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Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). All my records are sent in boxes and the price of them has increased over time and these are my first price increases for nearly 10 years. Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on 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.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

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: THE INSECT TRUST

Album Title: The Insect Trust

Producer(s): Steve Duboff

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Skin Game; Miss Fun City; World War 1 Song; Special Rider Blues; Foggy River Bridge Fly.

Side 2: Been Here and Gone So Soon; Declaration of Independence; Walking On Nails; Brighter Than Day; Mountain Song; Going Home.

Label/Format: Capitol Records, a rare original UK on the single box format – this was not issued on the rainbow format in the UK. The labels are matt with lightly textured surfaces. These have the lesser-seen Made By – Electric & Musical Industries Ltd credits on the upper area of the rims.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, still fresh and attractive with only a mere couple of light, small, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. This superb album purchased new by one owner who put his records to tape, this appears hardly even played and sounds fantastic. So-much-so, I put it to CD for my own future pleasure as I had never seen or heard this album before.

Catalogue Number: E-ST 109

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of Record: 160 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Rare, quite an obscure album probably pressed once and quickly deleted. Few would have even noticed or purchased this one, and another mini classic that slipped under the radar, especially in the UK. An album that was long out-of-print and some more modern repressings are unofficial. Also finding such a superb, barely played and beautifully pressed original in such condition makes it rarer still. The record of archive quality with little short of pristine sound – I would never put any record to disc for myself unless it failed to be so, and this rare gem more than up to the required standard. This will rarely be matched or found better.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: E-SKAO 1 109-A5 / E-SKAO 2 109-A4 (these are first press matrixes, and I am confident it was never repressed within the original era)

Mothers / Stampers: 1 G / 1 R [the very first and second stampers]. Finding records with G and R stampers is no coincidence on such rarities, the simple fact is so few were ever made and few, if indeed any will go beyond these.

Musicians: Robert Palmer – Alto saxophine, alto and soprano recorders, percussion; Nancy Jefffries – vocals, percussion; Bill Barth – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, knife guitar, bottleneck guitar, percussion; Trevor Koehler – baritone saxophone, acoustic bass, riccolo, thumb piano, percussion; Luke Faust – banjo, banjo guitar, vocal, percussion. With: Buddy Saltzman – drums; Joe Mack & Chuck Rainey – electric bass; Hugh MacCracken – rhythm guitar; Steven Duboff – percussion.

Brief Info: The first of two albums by the American band The Insect Trust – the second was not issued in the UK – and only a tiny few of this debut were pressed here. So quite an obscure, but highly impressive ‘lost’ gem, I would imagine many still would not even know this album or band. Most vocals are provided by the excellent Nancy Jeffries and the most famous band-member was woodwindist Robert (Bob) Palmer (no, not the even more famous one from Vinegar Joe and solo artist). This Robert Palmer became a famed record critic, producer and author who worked for the ‘New York Times’. The album is an eclectic mix of styles and material, and after hearing this I was immediately hooked. Often pigeon-holed as a jazz band, but I disagree, there are only a few jazzy moments amongst the material which is varied and strong with just about all styles covered. Highly original and impressive, and certainly one of the more accessible and consistent albums from this hippy-orientated era. It has been said the band took its name from the famed surreal William Burroughs novel ‘Naked Lunch’, about a race of giant insects seeking world domination. Well the band certainly never achieved that, but after hearing this album they certainly deserved success which clearly eluded them. A very rare and superb condition UK original that seldom surfaces for sale, and one for collectors of the unusual and obscure. I can hardly recommend this one highly enough and a rare opportunity, it could be one of the best albums of its type you have still never heard.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with front laminate. This covers all the folds and ends on three rear flipbacks, the main back panel is matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd, includes the EMI black and white promotional inner sleeve.

Lamination & Front: The laminate retains excellent shine, freshness and clarity with few blemishes. The odd tiny corner tip crease and only one very small lift. Minimal dulling on this revealing very dark artwork and just a couple of light laminate creases away from the edges. The impressive graphic looks superb and cover-protection for decades has ensured this has aged or worn little, finding a better UK original will prove immensely difficult.

Cover Back: The main matt panel is superb with barely anything to fault. Just a couple of small corner tip creases with the three flipbacks still solid and strong, their laminate coverings with just a couple of fine surface creases (the tips apart) and a couple of small lifts near the spine ends. The lack of burring and ugly grime lines on the laminate ends are always pluses and overall, this back has aged little at all.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both edges remain generally straight, fully laminated and smooth with no surface wear at all.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mostly sharp with any thickening very little and light. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression. The text is unworn under the solid and unpeeled, barely creased laminate.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and light, a little light tip creasing as stated, very fine to excellent shape mostly retained.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this rare 1960’s UK-made cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): an unlined black and white EMI promotional inner sleeve that has hardly aged. Barely creased, any discolouration minimal and faint with all edge folds naturally intact. It has the ‘PATENTS APPLIED FOR’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): grading less would hardly be doing this hardly played rarity full justice. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. Any surface marks very light, wispy, fine and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors seeking this unusually found rarity.

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 wonderful ‘lost’ obscurity plays even above it’s high visual grading with barely 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 match, let alone outperform this original first UK pressing 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 within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this superb record. It will prove immensely difficult to find better and merits my highest recommendation.

* 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.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ 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.