David Bowie The Man Who Sold The World Genuine First Pressing USA Rare
£
98
$
130
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Description
This is a genuine first pressing of The Man Who Sold The World USA. Mercury SR 61325; USA 11/1970 This is in stunning condition for its age, no rips or tears to sleeve and vinyl looks awesome! Please note this vinyl has the machine stamped matrix (of which can be seen in the photos) and not the scratched version, of which was the second pressing.
Please see below a reference to this item from http://www.bowie-collection.de.
The Man Who Sold the World
(Mercury SR 61325; USA 11/1970)
Format: LP
Release notes: cartoon cover, 1st pressing with machine-stamped matrix numbers
Tracks: see promo issue
Collector's notes: The history of the US issue of TMWSTW is quite confusing. There were two editions, this original one and the second edition below, which was sold even after RCA had acquired the rights to the album. The second edition is often called a counterfeit, but in edition 185 of the Record Collector magazine (January 1995), Mark Paytress writes that "[s]ome insist that the cartoon sleeve has also been counterfeited, but copies with handwritten - as opposed to printed - matrix numbers in the run-out groove were available as early as early '71, suggesting that they were bona fide releases" (p. 24). But at that time Bowie was still a nobody, and who would produce counterfeits of an album by a nobody?. However, if it is a regular second edition, how come it was still sold after RCA had bought the rights to the album? One story I have read is that a former employee of Mercury bought the remaining copies of the Mercury issue and had further copies re-pressed after Bowie had become famous and was under contract with RCA. But why, then, did second issue copies turn up as early as 1971? If the latter claim was true, the only explanation would be that some copies of the second issue are fully legal ones. Be that as it may, most (if not all) of the second issue copies certainly have a dubious legal status.
As already mentioned above, the original release can be distinguished from the second issue by its matrix numbers: the original has machine-stamped matrix numbers, second issue copies have hand-scratched numbers. There are also minor differences in the cover (the colours are brighter on that of the original and the outlines are clearer), but these can only be detected if you can compare the copies side by side. Moreover, even among original copies there is some variation as regards the brightness of the colours and the clarity of the picture. So, if in doubt, ask for the matrix number! Apart from the aforementioned minor variation in the degree of brightness and clarity, the cover of this first issue stock copy is identical to that of the promo in the previous entry.
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