CHICKEN SHACK 40 Blue Fingers… SCARCE ORIG UK 1968 MONO LP. SUPERB SOUND.

	£		128
	$		169

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all. More details on this nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible even yet another Royal Mail price hike, I will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably a little heavier.

Artist or Band: CHICKEN SHACK

Album Title: Forty Blue Fingers Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve.

Producer(s): Mike Vernon.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Letter; Lonesome Whistle Blues; When the Train Comes Back; San-Ho-Zay; King of the World.

Side 2: See See Baby; First Time I Met the Blues; Webbed Feet; You Ain’t No Good; What You Did Last Night.

Label/Format: Blue Horizon – original blue format with smooth outer areas and textured on the inner parts.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with a couple or three very fine and light marks on side one – in terms of spindle marks, barely any. Side two has light(+) spindle marks that are mostly fine and light as seen under angled light.

Cat Number: 7-63203.

Mode / Speed: Mono / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 115 grams. A little below average for the label and era.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite scarce, like most blues albums, not a massive seller. Now regarded as a classic within it’s genre and one of the most famous and prized on the Blue Horizon label. This a lovely example with a clean, little-worn cover and the record offering superb clean mono sound, even thought it does have some fine visual marks on side one. Another important factor of note for the more discerning collector, is the text on the spine, that is not protected by laminate, is all fully present, intact with barely any wear. Many thin spine covers of this type, and this one in particular, as it has so much text, are rarely seen devoid of wear and all the text still solid and easily readable. This is a considerable bonus on this famous cover.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: 7-63203 - A 1 / 7-63203 - B 1 [the mother codes are 1 / 1].

Musicians: Stan Webb - vocal, guitar; Christine Perfect - vocal, piano, organ; Andy Sylvester - bass; Dave Bidwell - drums. Dick Heckstall-Smith guests on tenor saxophone; Johnny Almond on alto and Alan Ellis on trumpet.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Classic title, classic cover and a true blues classic debut featuring the slightly eccentric Stan Webb and equally famous, a young Christine (later McVie) Perfect, arguably the most talented member of this fine band. Chicken Shack were the second most successful group on this prestigious specialist blues label after Fleetwood Mac and this album is arguably one of the best ever to adorne it. Ten marvellous blues numbers packed away in the famous tin can graphic cover, ready to be opened and enjoyed. This copy has an exceptionally attractive and little worn cover with minimal visual ageing or blemishes. The mono record takes you directly into the recording studio itself and will never be beaten easily for clean sound. No damaging old mono heavyweight stylus have ruined the sound and detail of these clean playing surfaces. Any light surface marks are purely superificial with nothing even close to penetrating. So clean visuals, sound and cover, this vintage mono original will take some beating.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: arguably better. A single format with laminated front. This covers the top and bottom fold, but NOT the spine, making that very vulnerable to all forms of wear. The back is unprotected with a matt finish with no laminate end lines. Made in England by Ernest J. Day Ltd with the ‘Patent Pending’ text. The heavy-duty polylined inner is included also.

Lamination & Front: One of the most famous cover fronts in blues-rock music and this does it strong justice. The laminate retains a fine shine and freshness with no lifting. Under light, some moderately light surface dulling is seen but barely even shows with full-on viewing. The same goes for some fine half moon surface creases near the right edge with a few other hairline types on the edges. A cover made with thin card and rarely escaping some light wear at very best. The famous fingers can graphic looks terrific and as already stated, viewing this full-on, as it was intended to be, nothing of any real note shows bar a quality 45-year-old (or so) cover.

Cover Back: Very dark, matt and unprotected, few will match or better this one. Any rubbing very light and faint with very few visual blemishes at all. The odd gentle surface mark or two, but barely any creasing at all. A major bonus is the lack of ring wear, or even rim impression, this is very clean and aged little, bordering on exceptional for its type.

Top Edge: Practically unworn, very smoth and straight. Any thickening to the back end-panel, tiny and very faint indeed, barely any in fact.

Bottom Edge: As above, possibly even better.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp, the front very sharp, with minimal wear. The back edge very slightly thickened viewed end-on, both are guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: The cover has a highly vulnerable spine simply because the laminate ends on the front face on both left and right edges. Meaning the thin spine is fully exposed and unprotected. So many end up rubbed with the text eroded, often fully with nothing left. This one has totally defied the odds and makes the difference between a fine cover to a more outstanding one. This clean, solid and straight with barely a trace of wear and the text, practically unworn, yes true. The odd tiny letter clip being critical, but well centred, strong and very easy to read. I have tried to photograph it all in one picture, the depth-of-field is an issue in more limited light the winter offers, but be assured, the spine text is close to perfect – that is VERY unusual on this one as it has plenty of words and letters with the very long title.

Corners: The least corner rubbing I have seen on this fragile cover, any tip rubs tiny and light. Very fine to excellent shape is retained with the odd tiny hint of a tip crease.

Cover Summary: A very clean and attractive example of this quite delicate thin cover, just mild hints of it’s considerable age, but it should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a plain white polylined heavy-duty inner that has aged a little with some mild darkening of the seam adhesive areas. Both window circles crisp and undamaged with a clear lining. Minimal creasing, a hint of wear on the edge of the top opening only. All edges unsplit with no repairs, the back side is UK Patented with ‘Foreign Patents Pending’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR EXCELLENT / EXCELLENT(++): very clean, fresh with a lovely shine, intense black and quite solidly pressed. Side one has some evident surface marks and some very fine whispy ones seen under bright light. These are totally superficial with no sound. Side two is superb with minimal blemishes at all. So not for the visual purist, but for a mono copy not to have any groove wear or penetrating scratches is a massive plus, and this is still a mighty fine copy of this blues classic. One getter harder to find all the time, finding clean sounding mono copies especially so. This record will please many collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Side one may have a few light surface marks, but this wonderful blues classic plays beautifully, and above it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. A 1968 record that plays fully focused, quiet and barely any surface sound to practically to highest level. This too on a very revealing LP12 stereo turntable and system for which this mono record was not really designed. It offers strong distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound with a solid mono mix. No pops or clicks were heard and this record gave a practically reference standard account of itself. Both channels are clean and sharp with no mono noises and crystal clarity and sharpness retained from beginning to end. Certainly avoiding any potential blunt stylus abuse from it’s early days and I am almost certain this has been modestly played. Nothing whatsoever spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful album. Forget any minor visual blemishes and listen to the quality of the music – the early Chicken Shack that included Christine (McVie) Perfect were extra special and this lady simply exudes class and makes this already special album, extra special. For top audio quality especially, this copy will prove immensely difficult to find better in original mono, for that alone. this merits my highest possible recommendation. The very clean and attractive cover is also a major plus and factor for consideration.

End Piece: Although I don’t claim to be a major blues buff, I do like John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack, and this album is amongst my favourites within this genre. The early Christine Perfect era was the vintage period before she left to join Fleetwood Mac, on this title she writes two songs. A blues album that many non-blues fans want in their collection, and rightly so. This is now getting quite an elusive title and never easy to find in mono especially that playsnigh-on perfectly – this does exactly that, as the saying goes, as it says on the tin. With Christine McVie in the band, it had to be Perfect didn’t it?

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering 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 potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - 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 – 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 and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. 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, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 10,000+ items sold in over 12 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.