BYRDS Sweetheart of the Rodeo Orig UK 68 Mono LP EX+

	£		90
	$		119

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. The only thing I cannot guarantee one hundred percent is exact colour matching - this depends on the lighting at the time and that is out of my control, but I feel sure most items will be very close to the actual real item. Variation can sometimes occur too in colour of the label scans and labels taken next to the sleeve with a digital camera, the scanned full label pictures should be the most accurate. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert. 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).

Debutant Bidders: Many sellers refuse first time buyers: I do not follow this practice (everybody has to start somewhere), but I would appreciate any first timer letting me know their intentions of their intended payment method and very prompt communication, preferably before any bid or soon after the auctions ends. This gives confidence that their intentions are honourable, and I in return guarantee extra special good feedbacks to get zero rated Ebayers off to a flying start to help them with future transactions. NOTE: I WILL NOT ACCEPT BIDS FROM UNREGISTERED USERS, I will cancel them immediately, and sorry, I cannot give valuations on people’s personal items just for their own curiosity, no item can be accurately valued blindly.

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: THE BYRDS

Album Title: Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

Track Listing: You Ain’t Going Nowhere; I Am a Pilgrim; The Christian Life; You Don’t Miss your Water; You’re Still on My Mind; Pretty Boy Floyd; Hickory Wind; One Hundred years From Now; Blue Canadian Rockies; Life in Prison; Nothing Was Delivered.

Label/Format: CBS (Original full orange format).

Label Condition: A gorgeous pair, clean and fresh with a very deep almost dayglo intense orange matt finish. This mono beauty has only very light spindle traces, side one very light indeed and clearly this classic has received only very few plays, verified by the lack of any wear around the hole areas. We all know how important this is on any album but mono records especially, light plays is always even more important. (Please refer to my paragraph mono vs stereo further down and also please see label scans for all information needed).

Cat Number: 63353.

Mono or Stereo: Mono (This was issued in stereo too and has the S prefix.).

Country of Manufacture: England, UK

Rarity: A late mono issue, by 1968 mono albums were fast becoming the second choice to the more popular stereo format. This is never so easy to find in mono and a clean copy like this that looks and plays to the highest standards are extra special and scarce.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: 63353 A1 and B1

Brief Artist & Album Info: Is this the greatest country-rock album ever made?, well for me nothing compares to this tremendous late 60s album that featured Gram Parsons - his massive influence on this famous Byrds incursion into full country rock is beyond any doubt, although this wonderful US band’s songs had always contained elements of country music. The decision to make a full album of country music was always going to be controversial but the whole set works beautifully and remained pretty much a one-off album from their classic catalogue. Sadly not a commercial success, it even failed to chart in the UK so you can imagine how scarce early UK copies of this will be - the mono versions will be even scarcer and ones in strong, lightly played condition will be pretty rare now. A beautifully packaged album with superb cover artwork this record is truly essential - this not only sounds wonderful it looks terrific too and will rarely be found in mono looking and playing much better. A connoisseurs album and copy.

Cover Grade and Format: EX++, single format, laminated front. This early E. J. Day printed cover has ‘This Stereo Record’ on the back, I would doubt if this album ever had its own dedicated mono cover, some often had mono stickers on the back but this one does not. Possibly so few mono copies were pressed, a specialised mono sleeve were deemed uneconomical, I cannot be sure and this and is only a theory, not definitive. But to prove still further this is the original cover it has the ‘Patent Pending’ text on the back. What IS for certain the record IS mono.

Cover Front and Lamination: Another one of those 60s definitive classic covers that’s as famous as the band and album. This is a beauty and boasts stunning artwork that still very black and striking. Very clean with little wear and retaining strong freshness. The laminate is still very shiny and any dulling is minimal and mostly confined to the very top and only shows under angled lighting. No peeling or dry areas and hardly any chips at all - a tiny one near the top edge only. Vitally important is the lack of any significant creasing, just the mandatory light hairlines types near the sides and even these are minimal and super light. Surface marks and indentations are almost conspicuous by their absence and this laminate looks supreme.

Cover Back: Always hard to find nice, but this is again is exceptional. Generally clean with minimal rub traces and no ringwear or creasing. A front and back to do justice to this great album and bear in mind the great age.

Top Edge: Unworn.

Bottom Edge: Virtually unworn, the odd tiny microscopic chip.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear. Record entered on right outside edge.

Spine and Text: This is unlaminated, the laminate ends short of the spine so even more remarkable to find this pretty much unworn or damaged. Solid and square with little wear, text is close to perfect and unworn.

Corners: All four show little wear. All still nicely shaped, just minor wear to the very tips.

Cover Summary: A lovely all round example of this fragile late 60’s cover, one that could prove hard to find much better. This strong item should please most collectors.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Strong EX, especially for a mono copy. A superb visual record . Super clean, shiny, jet black and very solidly pressed. Just a few lightish surface marks, virtually all superficial and virtually all non-sounding. A super record that visually will instantly tell you this has been only lightly played and it should please most collectors again. The record comes in the early CBS advertising inner that does have a patent number. Its clean and untorn or split with minimal creasing and looking great.

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This super record plays up to its high visual grading and even well beyond with little to fault. Strong, undistorted sound - a fact I never take for granted or lightly with any mono record, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is astonishing with a massive dynamic range and very full sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed, and few copies will play better than this. The odd one-off faint tick just to remind the listener this is a record, but so few most would not even mention any. Both channels are clean and sharp, I feel very sure this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and looked after, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. For sure avoiding pile-driver stylii that wrote off so many 60s mono classics. Little, if anything spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this gem. This copy could prove near impossible to find significantly better.

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.

Album Played For Grading: Yes.

Final Summary: Even non-country music fans should love this landmark recording, its still pure Byrds and their style and class still shines through. Even though a poor seller initially this album over the years has become a collectors classic and always features high in any all-time great’s list - and justifiably so. The mono sound and mix is different and the connoisseurs will prefer it and what a joy when offered so clean and sharp. This beautiful album is one to treasure and will rarely appear looking and sounding much better. Don’t lose this fine opportunity – Mike.

Having the Powerseller Logo: This is recognition from Ebay for the highest possible customer services, satisfaction and quality, it should reassure any potential bidder that all items are described, graded and shipped to the highest standards possible. Customer care of the highest order is a standard feature here and I am proud to have achieved this recognised standard of excellence from Ebay with help from collectors and buyers from all over the World - I thank you all.

Payment Details please read carefully - I know its boring but essential:

UK First Class: = £3.00; Recorded Delivery (Recommended) = £5.50 Special Delivery (Next day, insured up to £250), the best service available = £7.00

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 and I often actually lose money on this part of service - I simply refuse to compromise with poor packing. 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 worthwhile.

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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.

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.