Grateful Dead Reckoning double LP 1987 release Jefferson Airplane Takes Off 1966

$

64

Prices can be lowered with multiple purchases:  5% OFF each auction price for two auctions, 10% OFF each auction price for three auctions, and 15% OFF each auction price for four auctions.  As always, I combine auctions whenever possible to get the lowest legal shipping rate.  Wait for my invoice if you expect to win or buy more than one of my auctions.

[ I will soon clear out all of my auctions so that my 2009 iMac can have software updates installed for the third time.  I estimate that my break from eBay will last between seven and ten days.  "I'll be back."  ~ The Terminator.]

San Francisco rocks!

This auction is for two vinyl 33 1/3 rpm LP record albums by San Francisco groups:  Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.

Grateful Dead, Reckoning, live double album, Arista PAIR-ARPDL-1053.  I assume that this is a second release or edition because on the album cover are the dates 1981 and 1987 (copyright symbol).  The songs were recorded in September and October of 1980 in San Francisco and New York City.

This is from the Glide Magazine web site:  “The Grateful Dead’s live album Reckoning (released 4/1/81) is a prime example of the new-found inspiration the band was experiencing with the enlistment of Brent Mydland into its ranks.  Recorded in the fall of 1980, some eighteen months after the keyboardist / vocalist / songwriter joined, this acoustic collection and its electric companion piece Dead Set was as close as the iconic band came to celebrating its fifteenth anniversary.”

I do not remember when I bought this as a used album but it looks almost new.  I am a veteran of thirty-five Dead shows and never much cared for this acoustic production so have played it probably three times, including the one a few days ago to determine if I was going to keep it or not, and if I heard any noise (which I didn’t).

Both albums are perfectly flat and sound brand new with zero noise.  They are shiny and clean with no smudges.  The only imperfection is an inaudible, very light, four-inch scratch that loops into and out of the first and second songs on Side 1.  It is barely visible and I must use a light source’s reflection to spot it.  It was undoubtedly caused by a tone arm as the record was spinning (when owned by a person before me, I might add).  If that scratch were audible, it would be most evident immediately before the first song starts and in the space between songs 1 and 2 because the scratch crosses each of those spaces twice.  I focused on those spaces songs and I could not hear any noise.  But its existence forces the album grade down to VG+, though in actuality, three sides are NM and one is VG+.

The one-third-century-old cover has no ring wear nor scuffing along the edges.  It is glossy and clean with no soiling, but has age-darkened to shades of light tan and off-white.  The only other flaws are a few short and light bend lines and barely worn corners.  VG+.

The original paper sleeves are crisp and clean with a few negligible light wrinkles.  NM or NM-.

The overall grade, because of that visible-only scratch, is a very high VG+!  

Seven months before the Grateful Dead released its first album, another San Francisco group released its first album:  Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, RCA LSP 3584, hit the stores in August 1966.  [Six months later the Airplane released its second album, Surrealistic Pillow, beating the Dead’s first album by one month and raising the Airplane to superstardom.  By then, Signe Toly Anderson had wisely been replaced by Grace Slick as front woman and lead singer.]

My late wife printed her name on the cover and since there is another name also, she got it second-hand for $1.90 (price sticker), undoubtedly in the 1970’s, so this album has been owned by my wife or me for the past nearly half-century!

This 55-year-old album is perfectly flat.  There are scratches and smudges, but noise can only be heard in the spaces between songs.  The sound is clean and there is no groove wear.  The labels are clean and both have numerous spindle tracks meandering around the hole.  The Side B label is worn but not enough to have interfered with any of the printing.  Because the album is flat and the songs are not disturbed by noise, the grade for the vinyl is VG+.

The cover has absorbed most of the wear of the total package.  All sides are partially split and three inches of cellophane tape hold the top together.  The front is soiled and has ring wear, two names, a price tag, and a bent and softened bottom right corner.  The back cover has light ring wear, light soiling, and some scuffing, but none of the words are made illegible and because of that, the cover is G.

The Odyssey Records paper-and-poly replacement sleeve has no splits, creases, soiling, or marks.  Its biggest flaw is light tanning from age.  VG+.

The cover forces the overall grade down to VG.

Summary

The overall grades of these two albums are VG+ and VG.  But of these six album sides, in regards to the audio and visual quality of the vinyl and its label and disregarding the covers and sleeves, three are NM and three are VG+.  The opening bid on these two 33 1/3 rpm albums (three vinyl records) by two of the best groups that defined the San Francisco hippy scene of the late sixties and beyond is $33.33.

SHIPPING

The buyer must pay to ship these albums in a sturdy album box using cheap USPS Media Mail.  Signature Confirmation is recommended if there is a chance that your package might be stolen.  I am not responsible for stolen items, only for delivery to your address.  Message me before paying if interested in purchasing Signature Confirmation for an additional $2.70.  This auction is limited to delivery within the forty-eight contiguous States.

FEEDBACK

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