Chad & Jeremy

The Ark

VG+/VG++

US 1968

Columbia Records - CS 9699

Directly out of the English Pop invasion David Stuart Chadwick, aka Chad Stuart, and Jeremy Clyde first met at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England. Both had previously been choir vocalists at Durham Cathedral and Eton College, respectively. Rock and Roll was in the air and they formed a quintet with Ray Stiles (bass), Liam Hill (drums) and Stephen Holder on (vocals) called The Jerks. Stephen Holder wanted to be a Ricky Nelson clone. After a few months of not so notable shows Chad and Jeremy branched off on their own, acoustically, and played the local coffee houses.

They both left school with Jeremy opting to act in theatre and Chad working for a music publisher. The two worked nearby and would join together at Tina’s Coffeehouse for a short set during the lunch hour. John Barry, an English composer, overheard them playing and asked if they would like to make a record. They signed a record deal with the obscure Ember Records and released “Yesterdays Gone b/w Lemon Tree” as their first single. The song got some airplay reaching number 37 on the UK charts, but the two were found out as upper-class kids.

Jeremy Clyde was of royal blood and was the triple great grandson of Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington. Once the tabloids got wind of who he was, the duo was labeled as misfits, lacking the work ethic of ground roots musicians and they were deemed as ones who were handed a golden platter. The papers displayed them as upper-class twits who had no right to play in the working-class rock n roll playground.

But the song was picked up in the US by World Artists Records in Philadelphia and it climbed nationally to #21 on the charts. They followed it with “Summer Song b/w No Tears For Johnny” which climbed to #7. They went to Abbey Road Studios, in London, to record their first and second albums. Seeing success across the Atlantic they decided to move to California and after being snubbed in the UK, had serious thoughts about becoming US citizens. But because of the Vietnam War, they put that thought on hold. Within their first year here, Columbia Records picked them up as hitmakers in the industry.

Starring on several teen shows, they became teen idols. In two years-time, they wrote seven top 40 hits and within a five-year period, released eight studio albums. Most of the album songs were 3-minute AM radio ditties, but after The Beach Boys released the album Pet Sounds and The Beatles put forth the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, music changed considerably. This prompted an outburst of Beatlesque music extraordinaire.

Chad and Jeremy's answer to all of this came in the form of two albums called Of Cabbages and Kings followed by The Ark. Both albums were recorded at Columbia Studios at 6121 Sunset Blvd Studio D, in Hollywood, and were highly experimental with genius production by Gary Usher and Curt Boettcher.

The Ark cost a very extravagant $75,000 to produce. Gary wanted to push production limits and ignored the Columbia executive demands to cut costs. The albums were complete with two released singles, a promo, “Sister Marie b/w Rest In Peace”, and public distribution of the single “Paxton Quigley's Had the Course b/w You Need Feet”. But Columbia refused to spend any promotional costs and both albums went unnoticed. Gary Usher was fired for insubordination. They never toured in support of either LP and by this time both Chad and Jeremy had tension anxiety and needed to find their own space.

They took a hiatus. Mike Curb approached Chad Stuart to do a soundtrack album, something he had been wanting to do for quite some time. The movie and LP called Three’s A Crowd was released on the Sidewalk label. This record continued the magic of the previous two albums, but it too went nowhere.

Chad stayed in California as music director for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and eventually did production work for A&M records. Chad was in a terrible auto accident that nearly took his eye. But he did recover.

Jeremy Clyde followed his dream, went back to England and starred in movies, theatre and on TV.

20 years later they reunited and played concerts all over the world. Disillusioned with the record industry any recordings were produced and recorded by themselves and distributed at concerts or through their website.

Sadly, Chad Stuart passed away after he took a fall and developed pneumonia just before Christmas December 12th, 2020.

Read the full story about this band in the book I wrote called THE PSYCHEDELIC DIGEST only found at Amazon.

Musically, they were a pop group and a hit making machine with several singles topping the charts. For the last albums Gary Usher pulled out all the production stops for both magical recordings that made them the absolute best of the Beatle-psych albums out there. Lots of special effects, orchestration, sitar, phase-shifting, harpsichord, unusual instruments and dreamy vocals. Everything good about melody and psychedelia by the duo.

This was their seventh LP. An original Columbia label issue. There were no hit songs because the label refused to spend money for promotion. But every song on this album is magical. Includes "The Ark", "Sunstroke", "Painted Dayglow Smile", "Paxton Quigley's Had the Course", "You Need Feet". Full of psychedelic studio effects.

Cover is pretty clean with some very slight shelf, edge, corner and ring wear. record has some sleeve and age marks that DNAP. Record plays clean with maybe a tick or two while spinning. Generic inner sleeve.

Long time buyer from E-bay and other record websites since the 90's.

Please bear with me. I'm selling off my entire record collection (about 40,000 LPs) listing them one at a time.

A long and arduous task. Lots of gems and rare stuff.

Check out the book I wrote called "THE PSYCHEDELIC DIGEST" only found at Amazon.com.

GRADING DETAILS - SHIPPING DETAILS - RETURNS - FEEDBACK - ETC.

Auctions are listed for 7 days.  

ITEMS PULLED FROM THE AUCTION LIST - Keep in mind that if I continue to relist auction items that have been sitting for weeks with NO ACTION and several watchers with NO BIDS, I may pull the record and sell it to my local buyer. This can occur before the auction ends. LPs will typically be discounted before this happens. So, please bid if you are at all interested. Bids can always be retracted for no reason.

All records are Graded to the best of my ability and are rated VINYL FIRST / THEN COVER. For Double LPs Vinyl / Vinyl / Cover. 

GRADING DETAILS – Everything I list will be at least VG+ or better, both visually and audibly, unless I state otherwise. 95% of what is offered and up for bid is very clean with maybe 1 or 2 minor flaws. If it’s very rare, it may be offered with obvious visual marks, scratches, warps and might make some low-level noise. But this would be a rare instance. I’ll describe any flaws as best I can. I ASK THAT YOU READ THE FULL DETAILS AS DESCRIBED BY ME ABOUT THE LOOKS AND SOUND OF THE RECORD. Don’t base everything on a simple grading rate M, EX, VG++, etc. I’m not that good at it.

AUDIBLE GRADING – All vinyl records are played before they are listed. Some records look bad and play good. Others look perfect but play badly. Any visual flaws that I see will be described and I will let you know if they make an audible noise. 95% of the records up for bid are very clean sounding. You may hear a minor tick or click as its spinning but typically light hairline scratches and sleeve marks Do Not Affect Play (DNAP) and should not detract from your overall listening pleasure.

VISUAL GRADING - PLEASE READ THIS!!!

COVERS - I'm a 73-year-old guy with Strabismus (an eye disorder). I try to visually describe every flaw that I can see, but sometimes I miss a small tear or a tiny seam split.

SHELF WEAR generally means that the cellophane was removed when the LP was new and it sat on a shelf or in a box without a plastic sleeve, before they were available, for several years, so there can be some rub blemishes, sticker residue if it was purchased used, tiny tears, slight seam splits and other defects.

EDGE WEAR usually means the picture wrap around the edge has been worn, sometimes into the cardboard itself. This usually happens on the top or bottom edge.

CORNER WEAR is the same as edge wear but sometimes there will be a dent or ding at the corner. All 4 sides are suspect for this occurrence.

RING WEAR occurs when a record was not stored in a protective sleeve for a very long time. Back in the day, plastic sleeves were not easily available. Most of us as teenagers, ripped off the cellophane and didn’t consider how the record cover was being stored. Most of the record covers laid on the floor or were stored in the closet or on a shelf for easy access. If they sat for a long time, earth movement, that nobody feels, causes vibration and the record sleeves would rub together and wear on the cover picture or illustration causing the ring wear and other flaws.

THE VINYL RECORD ITSELF - I will try to visually grade both sides of the vinyl record. There might be some sleeve rubs or marks on some of these. All of my records were played more than once, unless they are sealed. If I mention ticks and or clicks in the description, that means that you can visually see and sometimes hear the imperfection. Most of these Do Not Affect the Play (DNAP). I try my best to see any flaws but understand I don’t Inspect these LPs with a High Lumens Tactical Light and a Magnifying Glass. If the visual flaws are obvious or severe, I try and describe these as best as I can. If there are a lot of visual scratches, it won’t be listed. The exception is if the LP is very rare. I will list a rare record that looks bad but plays pretty good without skips.

SPINDLE MARKS can be obvious if a record was popular and played a lot. The record label material and finish will determine if marks are visible. Most of the big labels don't have this problem because the finish is unusually pretty solid and durable. It's the small and private labels or a matted finish where most spindle marks will be noticed. I don't mention these for any of my listings but if that is a concern to you, ask me before you make a bid.

INNER SLEEVES - Most of the inner sleeves are simple paper sleeves and have slight splits, bends and tears on older LPs. If they’re really bad or split in half, I replace them with a newer paper or plastic sleeve. GENERIC means a blank paper sleeve.

WARPED RECORDS normally occur when they are stored near high heat. I will never send a warped record unless it is very slight and doesn't affect play. If you live somewhere in the world that has high temperatures that could affect package delivery. Insurance is a must to guarantee no loss on the item you bought. You are responsible for this request and there is an additional charge for insurance. Let me know. There is NO REFUND for a record that was sent not warped when packed but was delivered as warped and unplayable. I cannot put records on ice for delivery to high heat areas of the world. Buy package insurance so there won't be any $$$$$ loss in case this happens.

HIGH END RECORDS - There will be a few more pictures for any records that are high end items. I will give a more critical inspection and description of both cover and vinyl. Ask for more pictures if you need them and I can send them to you.

PACKAGING - LPs will be packaged in the proper corrugated cardboard box, we all know about, with extra cardboard pads. Each LP will have a clear plastic sleeve. The record itself will be removed and shipped within the inner sleeve, outside the cover or inside the fold of a gatefold cover all within a plastic outer sleeve to prevent any seam splits. All of the boxes I package records in are new and there are typically no problems. I can also ship in a Whiplash Box which protects the edges and corners. But I will only do this if you request it. 

SEALED RECORDS - The vinyl record will NOT be removed from a sealed LP purchase for shipping. I would advise you to add additional insurance for all sealed LPs that are being shipped to high heat areas due to possible heat warping. No obligation, but it safeguards against some potential problems.

PAYMENT - Payment is good only through E-Bay options, either PayPal or Credit Card, and is due within 7 days unless you let me know. I will send you at least three invoices with reminders to pay during the 7-day period. If payment has NOT been received within that 7-day payment period and you have NOT contacted me, the order will be canceled and the record will be offered to the second place bidder or will be relisted. 

I WILL SHIP WORLDWIDE, BUT INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IS DETERMINED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE PACKAGE. DO NOT MAKE A PAYMENT UNTIL I SEND YOU AN INVOICE.

INVOICES - E-Bay will always send you an invoice for each item ordered. If you ordered one item, there is no problem. Go ahead and make the payment. But, they DO NOT combine the shipping cost for multiple purchase orders. So, when they invoice you, the minimum shipping cost will multiply times that of however many items you won. Example: 5 items won will appear as 5 times the minimum postage rate. DO NOT PAY the separate E-Bay invoices you receive for multiple orders. Only I can discount the postage rate for two or more items ordered. So, wait for me to invoice you if you've won two or more items. I package them all together and send you an invoice with discounted postage costs.

PAYMENT EXTENTION - If you have won an auction and see another item that ends beyond the 7-day maximum payment period, let me know and I will hold your item until that bid period ends. This would be a special circumstance that would not typically extend beyond 10 days. I will invoice you for the full amount and expect payment at that point.

POSTAGE COST - Typically, the minimum cost for USPS Media mail in the USA would be 1-2 LPs $5.50 USD. Canada 1-2 LPs around $24.00 USD. Europe, Japan and other countries around the world, $33.00 USD for 1-2 LPs. Additional LPs as per total weight. I will send an invoice with the total postage cost. Everything is shipped via USPS. I don't use the E-Bay International shipping. 

TRACKING - Each package will be assigned a USPS tracking number. Tracking for International shipping only covers destinations within the USA and only gives Dates of Arrival for all countries outside of the USA. Customs delays can and do occur. Your package may have arrived in your country and/or city, but it is probably sitting at your customs depot. (Sometimes for weeks) It would be up to you to call them and provide the tracking number for details about your package.

POSTAGE DISCOUNT - I combine the shipping for multiple record purchases but will only send a maximum of 10-12 records per package. Additional postage will be determined by the total weight of the package. An invoice will be sent to you by me.

ADDITIONAL COSTS - Priority Mail, Insurance, etc. is available at additional costs. Let me know and I will send an invoice.

REFUNDS - I will Refund for any item purchased and received that was not fully as described. Grading is difficult and is the usual cause of concern. We're talking used and 30-60 years old. THERE ARE NO PERFECT RECORDS. Even sealed records can have visual and audible flaws, ticks, clicks, skips and heat warps. IF YOU OPEN A SEALED RECORD AND IT IS WARPED SO BADLY THAT IT DOESN'T PLAY, that usually means it was stored near or shipped in high heat. I have no way of knowing. All sealed records should be insured, just in case that happens. But with regard to a warped record that was sealed and is unplayable, contact me anyway, I will make it right. Any other flaws found on a sealed record that was opened by you, deems the LP non-refundable. If there is a concern, please contact me. We can always work things out.

DAMAGES DURING DELIVERY CAUSED BY THE POSTAL SERVICE - Any damages that are caused due to unfortunate circumstances during the delivery process, broken records, scrapes, heavy package dents caused by something heavy set on the box, warpage caused by excessive heat during delivery, etc. should be handled through E-Bay. They guarantee that packages arrive in the condition as described. If there are obvious damages to the package and the record is unplayable, email me with pictures of the record and the package as delivered and let me know. I mark all packages with "Fragile. Do Not Bend" notices marked in RED, so they should be careful. But $&#t happens. I will not be responsible for damages that were not incurred by me. But E-Bay can refund the transaction with proof. Pictures speak a thousand words.

Please message me through E-Bay to discuss any problems or concerns. ANY OBVIOUS MISTAKES I MADE IN THE DESCRIPTION OF AN ITEM PURCHASED WILL BE HONORED AND PARTIALLY OR FULLY REFUNDED. But email me through E-Bay to discuss the situation first. I'm always happy to work things out. Every customer is cherished.

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