BLACK SABBATH on Vertigo Spiral. UK 70 Orig. Nice Copy.

	£		53
	$		70

Hi, I am Mike, I am 46 and have been a music collector and enthusiast for over 33 years now. We all wish we could turn back the clock and buy those wonderful brand new records from the 60s and 70s, but alas, this is not possible; so I always try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. No vinyl/music lover really would choose to buy second-hand, but this is only way now to own these valuable, prized and ellusive items now. 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, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirity, not just bits to guess a grade (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 reader – 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. 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 or sticks or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

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. I by quality single items and collections also (Email me please if you have quality items for sale).

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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 - Thankyou.

Artist or Band: BLACK SABBATH

Album Title: Black Sabbath

Cat Number: VO 6 (847 903 VTY) Stereo. (Not issued in mono)

Label and Condition: Vertigo full spiral format with large spiral on back above the centre hole. Beautiful clean examples that show only light spindle traces. Zero wear around the centre hole either proving this copy has been played very little. Side two label has a slight textured look and feel too, I dont remember seeing this before. This pair of Spirals are quite magnificent and whiter than white. (Please see label scans for all information needed).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: Getting scarce, this is fast disappearing along with the rest of the Vertigo Sabbath albums, a huge surge of interest in this legendary band now. This debut with the original WARNING inside the cover is even scarcer.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: VO6 1Y 1 420 1 and VO6 2Y 1 420 1. A very early pressing for sure.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Issued to scorn and damnation by the critics but universally loved by the fans of rock, Ozzy gave the finger and they thrived and became superstars of the heavy metal genre. Black Sabbath played real heavy metal - forget the rest of the long haired tight trousered pretenders. This awesome foursome were very dark, with real menace, sang songs of doom, gloom, war and the occult - this is what they did best and no-one ever came close to them. Even today, after hearing this classic a hundred times, the sound of that rain falling on the opening grooves and the loud thunderclap with the distant tolling bell sends a shiver down my spine. For full effect have the cover in your hands at the same time - the ghostly spectresque girl standing in the woods will make you shudder. What is this that stands before me?; Figure in black that points at me. screams Ozzy and just before the band go into overdrive he lets out with blood curdling power Oh no, no, please God help me totally awesome. The opening track Black Sabbath has to be one of rock’s defining moments - the birth of metal and the critics had to fade away. Its hard to believe this came out in 1970, I remember buying this all those years ago, not this copy hasten to add. Led by Ozzy Osbourne, now a cult figure extraordinaire but let’s not forget the other three: Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. The pure heaviness and awesome bass heavy sound they produced was phenomenal (and still is). I saw a youthful Black Sabbath back in the mid-70s at Hammersmith and it remains vivid in my memory. All the Spiral era material was played, and how. This is a classic Spiral issue, the cover is chilling, the text on the inverted cross inside is as dark as the music enclosed. No collection should be without this one. A fine copy here too, a lovely clean record that plays strongly. The cover has a little wear but remains very attractive and its early. It has the original WARNING—Copyright subsists in all Vertigo recordings etc. (Please see the close up picture of this Warning). Later pressings had WARNING—Copyright subsists in all recordings issued under this label inside. It has too the VO 6 and 847 903 VTY number on the top left of the back cover. Most Sabbath fans will enjoy this copy. The cover may fall just short for the perfectionist, but still worthy of consideration - Oh Lord Yeah!

Cover Grade and Format: EX, gatefold made with heavier type card. Original warning side as already mentioned and number on back the same. A non-laminate, always prone to wear. No printing credit.

Cover Front: A real nice one with little visible wear. If viewed extra critically under angled lighting it may just show some minor rubbing or ageing, but please believe me, when viewed in normal conditions this looks terrific. Real, ink removing rubbing is almost nil, a little minor blemishes near the very edges only. This is clean and uncreased and retains a very rich colour. Surface marks are minimal and there are no indentations. A very solid front, way better than average. (I have seen some real bad examples of this one).

Cover Back: Similar to the front, odd minor indent mark, little shows again. One of the very best examples I have ever seen for this back, this always seems to attract ringwear and rubbing but this one is very strong and its very clean too and devoid of that unwanted ringwear.

Cover Gatefold Inner: Little to fault here, still very black and unworn. Please note the white area is my flash reflection, this centrefold is intense jet black all over.

Top Edge: Light rub traces.

Bottom Edge: Light+ rub traces, the edges are very thick, only the middle areas have rubbed a little.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with a little light wear in odd place. Record entered on right outside back edge.

Spine and Text: Solid and square with a little wear near top and bottim, text is okay but a little faint, its a fine pink colour. There is a small dink on the word Vertigo causing this to be more obscured.

Corners: All four show a little wear, mostly near the tips but more moderate on the bottom right. Most still pleasantly shaped.

Cover Summary: A fine all round example of this fragile early 70’s cover, if kept inside a heavy duty plastic cover this looks superb. Its above average, it should please many collectors but not quite for the perfectionist to be fair.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX, maybe worthy of a (+) A strong copy with just light surface traces or hairlines, most only show under bright angled lighting. This has no scratches in the true sense of the word and it plays very well indeed. Clean and shiny, and jet black, pressed on heavier than usual Vertigo vinyl, this is quite robust. A copy with modest plays on all the evidence. Visually a very pleasing record that should please many collectors.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record plays up to its high visual grading with little to fault. Strong, undistorted sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear. No pops or ticks from memory and a fine pressing overall, any surface sounds are minimal indeed, the odd faint sound on the very quiet beginning if being critical but anything fades fast and most all of anything else will be absorbed by the massive loud sound and mix. Both channels are clean and unstressed, even the loud guitar frenzies, I feel very sure this record has been played only modestly. Little, if anything spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this gem, always a pleasure to a hear a clean copy of this one. This copy will prove quite difficult to significantly improve on. The record comes complete with its spiral inner, a nice one that is unsplit or torn, clean with a nice clear window. Only minor ruffles and faintly toned.

Mono vs Stereo, an overview: Always a matter of opinion which is better or more important. 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 they are truly getting vary rare and precious - beware - demand only play-graded records. As a general guide to rarity, mono was the far more common format from 61–65; Around 66–67 the balance was roughly equal, then from 68-69 the balance swung more to stereo, making monos from these dates far scarcer, even rare - this guide is important and effects values greatly.

Track Listing: Black Sabbath; The Wizard; Behind the Wall of Sleep; NIB; Evil Woman; Sleeping Village; Warning.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: An album to be played loud, as loud as possible. The Spiral four are often critised for not being terribly well produced, all I can say to that is these listeners aint heard them on decent gear. These have an inbuilt power and quality brings it out (as well as volume). Bar a little faint surface sound in the odd quieter moment, this is a super copy. The bass grinds and rattles with awesome power riffs - it can shake the foundations, the drums pound and the cymbals crash, the guitars soar into sheer manic nirvana and of course Ozzy’s blood curdling screams speak for themselves - oh nowwwwww!!! Forget your lightweight soundalikes, nobody does it better than Sabbath. This stunning lesson in gloom was rarely bettered, even by them, the distant bell tolls and still falls the rain - Oh Lord yeah!! – Mike.

Payment Details please read carefully:

UK First Class: = £2.50; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £4.00 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £6.00

Europe Air Mail: = £4 Insured: £8.00

Overseas, non-Europe e.g. USA, Japan, Australia etc. Airmail:= £7; Insured with recorded delivery (where available) = £11.00

Singles: (Packed to the high standards of the LPs)

UK First class: = £2.00 Insured: £4

Europe Air Mail = £3.00 Insured: £5.50

Overseas, non-Europe (as above) Airmail £3.50 Insured: £6.00

Doubles add extra £1, triples add extra £2. Box sets add extra £3 (£4 overseas and Europe)

Any item that sells for over £85 will be sent Special Delivery in the UK at no extra cost. Items over £125 get the same service Overseas. This is gives peace of mind for the winning bidder and myself for valuable items. Reduced postage of course for multiple items.

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 (£28). PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT use surface mail, its too slow, with a higher risk of loss and damage.

Mailing Details: Please note I do not profit on postage (my packing standards are high and the package weighs a little more. All records are sent in plastic covers with the record taken out of the sleeve and sent in professional mailers with FOUR professional stiffners for extra protection (if space allows), I do NOT use old cardboard boxes or cereal packets for protection. 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. I will also include in most cases a brand new lined inner, but will include the original inner if available and in a condition to be given.

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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 interesting 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.