FREE Fire & Water RARER UK 1970 FIRST PRESS Nr EX LP, PLAYS GREAT / NICE COVER.

	£		62
	$		82

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £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, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer 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 ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: FREE

Album Title: Fire and Water

Producer(s): Free and John Kelly

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Fire and Water; Oh I Wept; Remember; Heavy Load.

Side 2: Mr. Big; Don’t Say You Love Me; All Right Now.

Label/Format: Island – genuine first issue format with matt, deeply textured rough surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with moderate spindle marks seen under light, but the record plays impressively with little unwanted with no inherent pressing noises. This can prove a difficult album to find without pressing issues and few seem to avoid them. Also, this label format was available for the briefest time, soon to be smooth and then on pink rim.

Cat Number: ILPS 9120

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Few vintage records are ever perfectly ‘flat’, so some slight or very gentle arm movement is normal. If any record I offer has more than that, I will mention it, and it can be assumed all I offer should track without issues, even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 144 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: The very first pressings on the textured pink label are scarce. Also a notoriously difficult album to find with a clean pressed record and decent cover. Pressed several times in different forms – and that just the early ones – many suffer crackle, often heavy and pressing issues with distortion. This still clean example plays impressively with little unwanted at all, it was a pleasure to play-grade. It also has a very nice cover with far less wear than most.

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9120A//1 1 ? / ILPS 9120 B//1 1 1 1 2 C

Musicians: Paul Rodgers – Vocals; Paul Kossoff – Guitars; Andy Fraser – Bass; Simon Kirke – Drums.

Brief Artist & Album Info: A classic and popular album in the Free catalogue, it was their third and sold well. This original pressed by Philips and devoid of those pressing issues some subsequent ones have. The production and detail is immense, a band that had a wonderfully unique sound. Produced by themselves and John Kelly, the driving bass lines are especially noteworthy. On ‘Mr Big’ and the supreme long version of ‘All Right Now’ the strings throb and resonate with significant impact and detail, you can actually see the speaker cloth moving. Fraser’s hand can be heard as he moves up and down the fret board. This detail seems almost lost on the digital versions I have heard. Brilliant blues-tinged rock, Free really deserve more acclaim than they ultimately get. Kossoff is a legendary guitar hero and Rogers vocals are sublime and expressive, together with that wonderful bass-rich sound they made stunning music. All preserved and heard to high advantage on this genuine first issue. Knowing just how variable pressing quality is on this title, I will never buy any copy without hearing it first, and this one failed to disappoint. Those stunning deep bass notes fully intact and powerful, they simply seem lost or diluted on revamped or tweaked modern versions. Never mess with perfection, and this is how ‘Fire and Water’ should be heard.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: a single unlaminated format with a matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by MacNeill Press, includes the Polydor/Philips date-coded (April 1970) inner sleeve.

Cover Front & Back: Thin matt card with a thick record inside usually means heavy ring wear and rubbing. But in terms of this, it has little with only mild rim impression and dulling seen under light, but no penetrating or cutting ring wear or ink loss. Few can hope to avoid a great deal less. A few gentle, fine creases and a tiny stick pull trace – again, no ink loss or tear, most a surface movement trace viewed up close (look hard to even see it). Both sides retain deep colour and even a fine degree of freshness, given the unforgiving natural of these surfaces, this has fared generally well and still looks attractive as-seen.

Top Edge: Very thin but straight with quite light patchy rubbing.

Bottom Edge: Slight more rubbing than above, overall quite similar. Being the storage edge, this again has fared reasonably well.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with any thickening light (for thin card), especially given just how thin the card is. This is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced, the record enters here.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with any compression patchy and light. The white surface is still clean and devoid of toning or rubbing, all text is present and unworn, that a significant plus.

Corners: Any tip rubbing mostly light with very fine shape retained and no heavy knocks.

Cover Summary: A difficult cover, so a little edge rubbing is difficult to avoid. This attractive original should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: a Polydor-style polylined inner that is date-coded 1/0470 (April 1970), so manufactured a few weeks prior to issue. This has aged gently with any discolouration light. Both window circles are crisp and undamaged, the lining still clear and even quite fresh. Hardly creased with all edges naturally intact with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR EXCELLENT: a very visual copy that is clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. There is a visible quite fine line surface mark on ‘Mr Big’ that does nothing at all. Any fine surface marks are light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light little else registers bar the ‘Mr Big’ line. Visually a lovely record that should please many collectors, but not for perfectionists.

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 equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This brilliant album plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. The brilliance of the production and sound is that warm, deep bass where you can clearly hear Fraser’s fretwork hitting the neck and strings of his bass guitar. It’s almost a unique sound for Free and no other format I have heard betters vinyl for this lovely detail. Few available copies will outperform this early first pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp and the experience was a pleasure. Nothing of any real note spoilt the play-grade. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to 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 it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. 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] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 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 £2 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 only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.