VAN MORRISON Astral Weeks RARE Trans. UK Press LP EX++

	£		206
	$		273

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: VAN MORRISON

Album Title: Astral Weeks

Cat Number: K 46024 .

TRACK LISTING:

Side 1: “In the Beginning’’: - Astral Weeks; Beside You; Sweet Thing; Cyprus Avenue.

Side 2: “Afterwards’’: - Young Lovers Do; Madame George; Ballerina; Slim Slow Slider.

Label/Format: Warner Bros – first repress on the deep green labels. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and highly attractive with only ultra faint spindle traces and no wear around the hole area. One of the cleanest early pressed copies of this evergreen masterpiece I have ever seen.

Country of Manufacture: England.

A Special Note and Rarity: Original orange WB copies of this wonderous record are very rare make no mistake about it. But the early green label repressings are not so easy either - and this is the earliest first repressing that includes the dual matrixes and still includes the original WS 1768 flipbacked cover. The ultimate transition pressing that are no less easy to find than the orange originals. The sadly out-of-touch price guides until recently gave few clues of the real rarity of this album as an original – that said the value is now rising apace. It did not chart, sold in very small numbers and has always been very elusive and most that show up are trashed. It’s classic status remains undimished and demand for early pressings is high amongst serious collectors. With a high percentage of the orange label copies now unplayable because of excessive plays on primitive record players with heavy scratches or damaging groovewear, these earliest pressed green transition copies had a better chance of survival. This solidly pressed dual matrix copy has few marks and plays beautifully, one of the very best vinyl copies I have ever heard in fact. Morrison takes you to a different world here, this man was on a creative high here and was truly inspired – a massive change in direction from the classic RnB of Them. Few noticed it on issue, even fewer shelled out to buy a copy and the orange labels and early deep green copies were not available for very long before being replaced to the more familar paler green, single matrix format. The cover has aged little and remains very attractive and undamaged. It has the original WS 1768 number along with three large rear flipbacks proving beyond any doubt just how early this example is. An impossible album to categorise, simply file this album under ‘genius’.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: WS 1768 A-2 *T STEREO (K 46024 A2T) / WS 1768 B-2 *T STEREO (K 46024 B2T).

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: 134 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Brief Artist & Album Info: After the disbandment of Them and a hurried issued Blowin Your Mind, Van Morrison took a short time out and then issued one of the greatest albums ever made - I say this unreservedly and with full conviction - it remains, and always will in my personal top ten albums ever (I actually placed this at nine in my ‘fun-250’ I listed at Christmas on the Net). Recommended and worshipped by the critics for well over 40 years, this underground masterpiece has now become part of the establishment. It cries to be listened to without interruption, which may explain why it failed to reach either the UK or US charts. It wanders and weaves, repeating themes and lyrics as if one song, yet we never tire of ‘gardens wet with rain’, ‘champagne eyes’ or the wonder of how Morrison can make a place like Ladbroke Grove seem so hauntingly evocative. The record is also a great educator in opening your eyes beyond pop, to soul and jazz, and although Morrison continues to return to its themes again and again, this is his core. A true timeless classic of immense beauty and sung with such power and emotion it takes you through highs and lows of joy and sadness. For me one of the greatest lyrical albums ever made, even surpassing the greats like Dylan and Cohen - no music-lover can fail to be moved by this record. This one album alone made this man immortal and it has and never will age. I swear when I was play-grading this copy the shiver and tingle factor rush down my spine came like no other album can make happen. This is a deeply mystical experience, at times almost too intense (‘Beside You’), Morrison puts his entire soul into this song. Divided by the two sides, called ‘In the Beginning’ and ‘Afterwards’ this album has eight tracks, and not even a second of time is wasted, every track is sublime. Few songs can move like ‘Madame George’ or ‘Cyprus Avenue’ and the beauty in ‘Sweet Thing’ and ‘Ballerina” is beyond my words. Delicate strings, interweave with guitar and occasional reeds. The acoustic bass, played by Richard Davis, formerly with Miles Davis’ band gently pulsates from the speakers from this amazingly perfect production. The whole album has an interstellar musical feel and the musicianship throughout is quite magnificent. This record is so very special, to offer an early copy as an original is almost an honour and to own one a privilege. Not only is this aural experience difficult to track down, its even harder in anything like decent conditions. With a record that plays beautifully and a very attractive original cover, this is a copy to be enjoyed. For a delicate near 40-year-old record it’s in lovely overall condition and will not realistically be easy to find much better. Bought by the few but cherished and well played for those who did. Although not an orange original, that were not available for too long, do not underestimate the first pressed green examples. With such stunning music and very clean, near flawless sound that is totally distortion-free thsi is a mystical experience and no CD version will reproduce those lovely intricate details and that punchy bass. I just hope the winning bidder enjoys this monumentous experience even half as much as I did.

Cover Condition and Details: EX+ (at least, and one of the best flipbacked originals I have yet seen), a single format with a laminated front, three large rear flipbacks, printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. It has the WS 1768 number on the back and spine.

Cover Lamination and Front: A lovely fresh looking front: the laminate is fully adhered with no lifting or blistering and retains a superb shine and clarity. The lovely artwork of the young Morrison still looks lovely to the eye and has gorgeous deep rich colour. Few marks as is any wear, there is no peeling bar the odd corner tip or chipping. It has the least creases I have yet seen with just a very few faint edge creases and a couple of ultra fine that drift away from - the only one I have seen that has avoided ‘half moon’ types which is nice to say. The laminate ends a millimetres short of full width on the right edge but even this exposed strip is clean and unchipped and avoiding any grime-line build-up. Overall this front remains highly attractive and given its great age, still in superb condition and, significantly, its the original format which only a few green repressings would have included until they ran out and reprinted. Now fast approaching forty years old, this will take some beating.

Cover Back: This predominately white and unprotected back shows little real wear but has hardly even darkened with age and almost escaped grubbiness at all – any traces are minuscule and there is no toning either. Crease-free, ringwear-free with no rubbing, the main back panel is exceptional. The three vulnerable flipbacks are in nice shape too and will prove difficult to find better. Minimal traces of any end burring, these are really exceptional, just a couple of light surface scuffs on the bottom one. All are very clean and firmly adhered with no grime-line formation on their ends which are exceptionally neat. A very few light surface creases and all laminated. Over the years, these could have been badly damaged or buckled from rack or case storage but this has been avoided and they all still look exceptionally attractive, the light scuffs are apparent but hardly major. An impossibly difficult predominately white back, few will better this significantly and it looks just right for its significant vintage.

Top Edge: Barely any noteworthy wear on this one.

Bottom Edge: Mildly scuffed laminate on this ‘resting’ edge near the centre but little else.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Solid and still quite sharp with little thicking to the edges when viewed end-on, feathering has been avoided as has any softening, again good indication the record has been removed modestly. Record entered on this right edge.

Spine and Text: A super spine too: Solid, straight with no real compression. All text is perfect and unworn and the laminate remains very solid and totally uncracked (and even this has fine shine). The ends are gently tapered in manufacture and retain nice neat shape.

Corners: All retain fine shape with just the odd small tip crease or laminate peel. The very end tips have rubbed a tad but all are in very fine condition given all the facts.

Cover Summary: A lovely and attractive all round example of this rare classic 60s cover – this pressing would be more very early 70s but this cover was made prior to that and used until they ran out when they were reprinted with the new Kinney Cat. No. This one that will prove very difficult to find much better, this highly pleasing and attractive item should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner: A plain white polylined inner was included with the copy and this too is excellent.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: To grade this lovely record EX(+)/EX(++) is hardly doing this lovely copy full justice. With so many early copies in poor condition, this is worthy of a higher grade. A very clean record with fine freshness and shine and pressed on solid, quite thick vinyl. Side one has a fine surface mark with NO sound but little else of note at all. A very fine visual copy, remember what this could have been subjected too, pretty incredible to have avoided anything really damaging and the actual sound quality untarnished and still sounds magnificent. This album was not issued in mono and I would wager many of the few sold in the early days were played on Dansettes or similar heavy-armed record players. Deep grooves that store incredible sound value and detail and have NO degrading in sound quality. It’s just so rare to find a copy minus groovewear distortions or major clunks and pops. Any jolt or drop from those mono needles would have rendered much deep and heavier marks that could have written-off this classic. No such worries here, these indeed are possibly the cleanest playing surfaces I have seen on any early ‘Astral Weeks’.

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 snippetts 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This is a record to really get excited about and it’s always a slightly nervous experience to play-grade a genuine rare classic for the ‘first’ time. As soon as the stylus made contact and I heard that gorgeous bassline and strings the tingles began - only the most stunning records and recordings give me this sensation - sounds daft?, well I simply tell it the way it is. This record is gorgeous, the details and clarity make for a very special experience. The emotion from Morrison’s vocals simply flow from the speakers. This is such an emotional trip, you wont be listening out for the odd faint tick or crackle - there were barely any evident anyway, this was a joy from start to finish and delighted to say the mark on side one has no sound - totally ignored. Tracking throughout is easy and effortless – the music and vocals just flow. Even better there are no hints of sound degrading or groovewear. All songs play beautifully – and this very early pressing takes you into the recording studio itself. The quality of this pressing easily matches the orange first pressing, only later as the pressings became significantly thinner and lightweight, does the sound quality become slightly thinner and less detailed and dynamic. Again I emphasise this was played on one of the most revealing decks ever made, an LP12, it reveals all what’s good and bad on a record and takes no prisoners in revealing all, and with all being good. Few albums, from any genre, take you to a different place quite like Astral Weeks, beautiful is too small a word for this one. A monumental issue and never too easy to track down, why this failed to sell initially is a mystery to this very day. Most seen or offered are much later examples or even foreign pressings. Let’s be totally honest, few vinyl records this age will be blemish-free from start to finish, and many will be badly marked and unlistenable with horrendous distortion and noise. This copy has hardly anything to fault and this complex recording still has marvellous sound and most listeners will be delighted with it. Given all the facts it’s a record I am delighted, even privileged to offer and its one I am happy to strongly recommend – and, even after all these years, those gardens are still wet with rain.

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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within 48 hours maximum. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO thick stiffners for even extra protection. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity and well as sender label. 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. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 7 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£35).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.