AL KOOPER I STAND ALONE (1st ALBUM) ULTRA-RARE ORIG'68 UK-ONLY MONO LP+STEREO LP

$

51

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  MORE THAN 100  LISTED ITEMS

►Click here to see ALL OUR ROCK auctions ►Our PSYCH & PROGRESSIVE ROCK  auctions ►Our PUNK & NEW WAVE  auctions ► Our  JAZZ auctions ►Our BLUE NOTE JAZZ auctions  ►Our BLUES auctions ►Our CLASSICAL auctions ►Our COUNTRY auctions  ►Our LATIN auctions ►Our METAL auctions►Our REGGAE auctions ►Our SOUL, FUNK & R&B  auctions ► Our STILL SEALED ITEMS  ►Our PROMO auctions ►Our ACETATE  auctions ►Our TEST PRESSING  auctions ►Our AUDIOPHILE auctions

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

·      AL KOOPER with DON ELLIS, CHARLIE DANIELS, KENNY BUTTREY & CHARLIE McCOY (BOB DYLAN'S 'JOHN WESLEY HARDING' RHYTHM SECTION), THE BLOSSOMS AND OTHERS – I STAND ALONE (AL KOOPER'S FIRST SOLO ALBUM) –  ULTRA-RARE ORIGINAL 1968  BRITISH-ONLY MONO PRESSING WITH  DIFFERENT MONO MIXES NEVER RELEASED ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD IN MONO- ORIGINAL 1968 CBS RECORDS (UK) MONO LP 63545

·      ORIGINAL BRITISH  PRESSING

·      PLEASE NOTE: THE WINNING BIDDER GETS AN IMPORTANT BONUS: THE EXACT SAME ORIGINAL FIRST U.K. PRESSING OF THE ALBUM, BUT IN STEREO, SO THAT HE CAN COMPARE THE TWO MIXES SIDE-BY-SIDE. THE  BIDDERS SHOULD NOTE THAT OUR GRADING (SEE BELOW) IS FOR THE MONO COPY ONLY; THE STEREO COPY IS IN A REMARKABLY SIMILAR, VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL, CONDITION AS THE MONO (THE MONO COPY HAS A SLIGHTLY BETTER RECORD, WHEREAS THE STEREO COPY HAS A SLIGHTLY BETTER COVER; SINCE BOTH COPIES USE THE MONO COVER WITHOUT ANY STEREO INDICATORS (IT APPEARS THAT CBS (UK) NEVER MADE STEREO-SPECIFIC SLEEVES AND USED MONO COVERS FOR BOTH FORMATS), THE WINNING BIDDER ESSENTIALLY GETS TWO MONO COVERS WHICH HE CAN SWITCH BETWEEN THE TWO COPIES AS HE PLEASES. THE PRESSING MARKS (A1/B1) ON THE MONO AND STEREO COPIES ARE IDENTICAL

·      ORIGINAL ORANGE CBS (UK) LABEL WITH BLACK PRINT

·      THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.K. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·      ORIGINAL, THIN, FLIMSY PAPERBOARD COVER (EUROPEAN STYLE) [NOTE: UNLIKE ORIGINAL AMERICAN PRESSINGS WHICH CAME IN THE 'UNIPAK' GATEFOLD SLEEVES, BRITISH SLEEVES WERE SINGLE-POCKET)

·      ORIGINAL LAMINATED COVER (AS WAS THE CASE WITH PRACTICALLY ALL LATE '60s UK-MADE COLUMBIA MONOS, THE BRITISH ARM OF THE AMERICAN COLUMBIA LABEL (CBS) NEVER MADE FORMAT-SPECIFIC COPIES OF THE JACKETS, SO BOTH MONO AND STEREO COVERS COME IN GENERIC ALBUMS SHOWING ONLY THE MONO CATALOG NUMBER); ESSENTIALLY, THE TWO JACKETS ARE THE SAME.

·      THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·      MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) ENDS WITH '-A1/-B1'.  ON SOME LABELS,  SUFFIX '–1' DENOTES THE VERY FIRST, ORIGINAL PRESSING)

·      MACHINE-STAMPED MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX) OF THE RECORD

·      MONO version of this album has NEVER been available on legitimate Compact Disc or in any other digital format.

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

Listening to I Stand Alone for the first time is a lot like first hearing the Sgt. Pepper album, except that this album challenges and rewards the listener in ways that the Beatles' psychedelic classic never tried to or could have. Al Kooper's first solo album is a dazzling, almost overpoweringly beautiful body of music, and nearly as sly at times in its humor as it is impressive in its musical sensibilities -- specifically, the overture serves its function, and also pokes knowing, savagely piercing fun at the then-current vogue for sound collage-type pieces (most especially the Beatles' "Revolution #9"). Those looking for a reference point can think of I Stand Alone as a very, very distant cousin to the second Blood, Sweat & Tears album, as well as a much closer relative to the original group's Child Is Father to the Man, drawing on a few remnants from the tail end of his tenure with the group and a bunch of new songs and compositions by others that Kooper wanted to record -- one beautiful element of his career, that helped distinguish him from a lot of other talented people of the period, is that unlike a lot of other musicians who were gifted songwriters Kooper never shied away from a good song written by someone else, especially if he could throw himself into it 100 percent or so; and he jumps in headfirst, as a stylist, singer, and musician, all over "I Stand Alone." Stylistically, it's a gloriously bold work, encompassing radiant soul, elements of jazz going back to the swing era, classical, pop, and even rockabilly -- and freely (and masterfully) mixing all of them -- into a phantasmagoric whole. The sources of inspiration (and, in some cases, songs) include Harry Nilsson ("One"), Bill Monroe (and who else, except maybe Elvis in a really inspired moment, was even thinking of covering "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in 1969?), Sam & Dave ("Toe Hold"), Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff ("Hey, We$tern Union Man"), the Beatles, as well as Kooper himself -- he delivers a lost classic in "Right Now for You" (which sounds like a really good lost cut from the Zombies' Odessey & Oracle album), and a hauntingly beautiful McCartney-esque nod to the Beatles in the "Eleanor Rigby"-like "Song and Dance for the Unborn Frightened Child." And, yet, for all of its diversity of sound and its free ranging repertory, and the unexpected edits and tempo changes, the album all holds together as a coherent body of work, a sort of more ambitious and personalized follow-up to Child Is Father to the Man that still leaves one kind of "whited out" (like the bleached irises of astronaut Dave Bowman's eyes at the end of his voyage through the stargate in 2001: A Space Odyssey) at the end -- not even Sgt. Pepper does that anymore. On the down side, the sound effects that Kooper dubbed in between (and sometimes during) the songs may seem strangely distracting today, but they were a product of their time -- this was the tail end of the psychedelic era, after all, and even Simon & Garfunkel had succumbed to the temptation the previous year, though it's hard to imagine too many people in the business keeping a straight face about such production techniques after hearing the fun this album has at their expense.

(REVIEW REPRINTED COURTESY OF BRUCE EDER, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

TO SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER LISTED ITEMS BY THIS GROUP OR ARTIST ►  CLICK HERE

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

·                          CONDITION:

·                          THE RECORD

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)         WE GRADE THE VINYL AS NEAR MINT. The original luster is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)         The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)         Mono pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more  preferable to its stereo counterpart. We think that the mix is more natural, humane, "organic" and that the mixes are somewhat different than on the stereo version. We estimate that stereo copies of this album outnumber mono pressings by a ratio of at least 10:1.

(d)         The record comes in the original “Made in Great Britain” poly-lined stock inner sleeve.

(e)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·      COVER (THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, LAMINATED, GLOSSY COVER):

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-       Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the seams

-       Cover has some light ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 2  (front side) and 3 (back side)

-       Cover shows JUST A HINT of yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging.

-       Cover has a light "wrinkle" (crease)  in one of the corners.

-       Cover has one corner slightly worn / dinged / bent.

-       Cover has some fraying/wear along the spine

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

Our love & appreciation for your trust, loyalty and business, always and forever;  Thank You & Good Night!

© 2001,2007 MDJ. All rights reserved.