BBHC Janis Joplin Cheap Thrills N/M STUNNING

	£		25
	$		33

Hi, I am Mike, I have been a music collector for over 30 years now. I always still try to offer 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 interested collector. You may notice I only submit one or two items a day for Ebay; time rarely allows more as I Play-Grade every record I offer (on a Rega 3 deck with Ortofon cartridge) - 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. 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. A ten pounds record that plays close to new is as important to the collector as a 250 pound record that plays less well. 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. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. Good luck.

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. 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. Item wants are always welcome - email me with anything needed, you never know - I may just have a copy in stock

Please read all the information carefully - these adverts take an age to compile properly - so it’s well worth a few minutes of your time to read the details thoroughly. I really cannot take any responsibility if any bidder fails to read any facts that are clearly stated in the advert.

Artist or Band: BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY

Album Title: Cheap Thrills

Cat Number: S 63392 Stereo.

Label and Condition: CBS, full orange original types. Superb clean examples that show two spindle marks on side one and just about one faint one on side 2. Stunning labels that make this album that extra bit special. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: Very early copies of this classic are quite scarce - in this condition even more so.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: SBPG 63392 A1 and SBPG 63392 B2

Genre Type: Blues/Rock/Psych

Brief Artist & Album Info: An astonishing album that featured the legendary Janis Joplin. Her full blown vocals sparred with the loose electric guitar of Sam Andrew and the finger-picking style of James Gurley. Totally remarkable and unique this album perfectly blends rock and psychedelia with the full blues voice of Janis - what a combination (of the two). Issued in 1968 this is a sparkling and ear-shattering experience. Both ‘Piece of my Heart’ and ‘Ball and Chain’ are classics of their time, and, although this is not the most stunning production ever, Janis creates an atmosphere which is riveting and has never been bettered by any female copycat ever since. This near masterpiece astonishingly never even charted in the UK but justified strong sales in the US where it reached No. 1. That statistic clearly states early UK pressings are not common, and finding one in stunning, close to mint condition with no more than 2 to 3 plays maximum is a rare feat. A true classic album and with a wonderful cover too this album does not just deserve to be in any serious album collection - it demands it.

Cover Condition and Details: I always err with caution when I use the word mint, but this one I am surely tempted to. But lets say conservatively graded at Mint(-), its a single format and laminated on the front only. This was issued when mono albums were still available, these two had the same covers, so this stereo version has its original shaped gold ‘Stereo’ sticker on the back. This cover was made by the famous UK cover manufacturer Ernest J. Day & Co Ltd, London. This item is so near perfect it almost defies my limited words - but magnificent will do nicely. The beautiful cartoon classic artwork will always feature high in my personal favourite 60s covers. Janis is depicted as a full breasted and bra-less who can sing very loud, well for sure she could do that - and how!

Cover Lamination: Can album album cover this age have perfect laminate?, well if not, this is sure as close as it gets. It has a mirror-like shine and has no peeling or dry areas. It is completely devoid of any marks, even surface marks are absent, and this is viewing under angled light. It is super clean and has not even any dull areas or indentations or even any trace of a ring mark from the heavy record enclosed. This is not just stunning, its remarkable.

Cover Front: Close to perfect, I can remember even buying new records years ago that were not this good. This front is pristine perfect and just looking at it gives pleasure. Its as clean as the day of production and shows nothing more than the odd faint hairline crease, these barely show atop the deep rich artwork. The whites on this are still snowy white, this album has clearly never been stored in a smoker’s house.

Cover Back: Absolutely beyond belief: this is predominately black or dark at least, it has laminate and it still looks like brand new. I can honestly say I have never seen a cover this age and type like this before. The word mint does not do it justice. This has zero rubs or creases and is spotless clean. The stereo sticker is pristine too. This is jaw-dropping quality.

Cover Edges/Corners: Top: unworn. Bottom: unworn. Record entry edge (right): unworn, clean and sharp. Spine: Solid and square and unworn, all text is pristine under the uncracked laminate. Corners: All four show little wear at all and are still nicely shaped. Summary: A world-class example of this scarce 60’s cover, one that would prove hard to find much better. This super item will please ALL collectors, if this one exists in better shape, I sure would like to see it.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-), even though it has been played, once by me for my mandatory play-grading. This is just as good as the cover, without any doubt the owner bought this, played once and stored away. No record or cover with any use can look like this. This one is pressed on heavy vinyl and is super clean and shiny and I can see few marks, any present would be tiny.

Sound Quality: A record that plays almost as good as it looks. It plays close to perfect and is a superb clean pressing with no surface noise or crackle, there are a few very faint ticks on ‘Turtle Blues’, the real faint light types, very few - it did not come close to spoiling this wonderful record. I was a little surprised as I can see no mark to cause this, maybe in the pressing - I emphasise again, these are very light and brief, I have to mention even the tinniest flaws (if flaw is the correct term to use here). I still state few, if any albums will play as quiet as a CD in their entirity, this one sure comes close though. . Even the run-in grooves are virtually silent as are the linking-grooves - how many albums 30 years plus years of age can boast this? The production is a little flat, but played loudly this album still hits the mark. ‘Ball and Chain’, even the quiet passages, is just so clean and quiet and the underlying power in the music and vocal is staggering. Janis’s legendary status is cast in stone on this sublime album and her vocals are crystal clear on this copy, no distortion or sound degrading at all, even when all gets very intense like on the two aforementioned tracks, nothing suffers, all frequencies are handled with clarity and precision. Nofemale rock vocalist gave more, until Patti Smith in the mid-70s and only Grace Slick comes close to matching her for me from the glorious 60s, with her own unique style also. Cheap Thrills is a unreserved classic.

Mono vs Stereo: Always a matter of opinion. For any serious collector where there is a choice e.g. Beatles, Stones, Hendrix etc. both are essential. True Stereo albums give great imagery and presence whereas mono albums usually are more dynamic, louder and present the detail more clearly. Mono albums are far harder to find in genuinely top playing condition. Most were heavily played, particularly the truly great bands and artists, often covered in mark and scratches, many severe and labels that were a mass of spindle marks. The majority were played on vintage and unsubtle decks with heavy tonearms and thick styli (often sapphire, not diamond, that chipped more easily) that rendered heavy wear in a very short time to many a fine classic record. Wear to the delicate groove walls, particularly the innermost tracks to the labels were most vulnerable where the tracking angle became more severe and the backdrag actually stripped the delicate groove walls. This resulted in surface noise and mild/moderate distortion or worse. These old decks tracked by sheer weight and little of any refined engineering. Next time you see such a deck at a local record fayre, feel the weight of the arm, it almost makes you wonder how any records survived at all. The point of this paragraph is emphasise that when a truly clean, lightly played and great sounding 60s mono album (or stereo come to that) is offered, treasure it, because for sure thery are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records.

Track Listing:Combination of the two; I need a man to love; Summertime; Piece of my heart; Turtle blues; Oh sweet Mary; Ball and chain.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: What a treasure this album is, and finding a copy in this condition will be unlikely to happen again. If all records and covers were in this condition there would be little need to grade at all. I am NOT stating this copy is a first pressing, the CBS labels are the smooth type, around this time these labels were sometimes the rough finish type. And at the start of 1968 the S prefix was dropped from the covers making identification even more tricky. Fore sure this is early, no doubt about that with the stereo sticker on the back, this one was available in mono too. But mono albums had all but disappeared from 1969 and with the A1/B2 matrix this is early, very early. This record comes in its orange CBS advertising inner which is also very neat and unsplit. A beautiful cover and a supreme clean record, one that plays close the top grading - a few very light ticks on one track, yes - but this will be light years ahead of just about any other copy of this gem. This I feel sure will please just about any collector, treasure it. – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

Buyer pays: (UK) £2.50 P&P , for first-class delivery with standard £28 insurance. Items that sell over £80 will be sent via Special Delivery as standard at no extra cost which are insured for £250.

Europe: £4. This is covered up to £28 insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. A recorded airmail service is now in place for Europe too: this means any item will be fully insured to its true value, No customs sticker is needed for Europe, so this is a worthwhile investment. This costs extra £5, the item is tracked and the item has to be signed for - I will use this service to Europe as standard for very expensive rare items e.g. records over £125 at no extra cost.

USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Far Eastern countries etc: £5.50. This is covered up to £28 insurance and would be sent 1st-class airmail. Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more).

Extra insurance with recorded delivery is available too for non-Europe countries but will cost an extra £5 also, the item will be covered for up to £250 or even £500 insurance for some detinations - customs label prices will be kept low.

I accept cash for payments worldwide in UK Pounds Sterling, Euros or US Dollars - but this at the senders own risk. Please send registered and insured if this method is chosen. I cannot accept responsibility if any cash payments do not turn up. This system is very reliable and rarely goes astray. The same goes for any shipped uninsured item, I can only try to claim for any undelivered or damaged article at basic insurance levels if no enhanced insurance is requested and paid for (unless the value threshold is high enough for me insure as standard, see above) PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Overseas bidders please note conversion rates for Pounds to Dollars and Pounds to Euros will be charged at 1.7 to cover PayPal or cash conversion costs.

PLEASE NOTE: Any PayPal user can now pay me with UK Sterling if they wish with no need to convert to US dollars (although they still can if they wish to). Any instant PayPal transaction from anywhere in the world will mean the item will be sent immediately - it makes deals fast and very efficient.

Mailing Details: All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR stiffners for extra protection (if space allows). More expensive items are also inserted into a de-luxe heavy duty padded bag AS WELL to give that extra protection. I truly want ALL my items to arrive to their destination in the same condition they leave me.

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. I now only accept PayPal, International money orders or cash from overseas bidders (UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros). Cash, cheques, postal orders and PayPal are fine from the UK. I allow maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if this does not happen I will relist the item and may send negative feedback unless an explanation is given. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask. Please keep watch on my Ebays, I have other intesting items coming very soon. Thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: As listening to every single record I offer all the way through is difficult timewise, can I make it clear 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. I still endeavour to play all the items in their entirity for grading if at all possible and is usually the case.