HMS DONOVAN Rare Orig UK 71 Dawn N/M LPs & MINT POSTER.

	£		410
	$		543

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: DONOVAN

Album Title: HMS Donovan.

Producer(s): Donovan * Mickie Most.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Walrus and the Carpenter; Jabberwocky; The Seller of Stars; Lost Time; The Little White Road; The Star.

Side 2: Coulter's Candy; The Road; Things to Wear; The Owl and the Pussycat; Homesickness; Fishes in Love; Mr. Wind; Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Side 3: Celia of the Seals; The Pee Song; The Voyage of the Moon; The Unicorn; Lord of the Dance; Little Ben; Can Ye Dance.

Side 4: In an Old Fashioned Picture Book; The Song of the Wandering Aengus; A Funny Man; Lord of the Reedy River; Henry Martin; Queen Mab; La Moora.

Label/Format: Dawn – original orange format (Please see my label picture).

Label Conditions: All four look beautiful: very clean, fresh and attractive with only two or three light and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole areas. Side 3 has one fine longer spindle mark. Another from that wonderful collection of barely played records - try finding these better.

Cat Number: DNLD 4001.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 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 these Records: 125 / 143 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Dawn originals are very scarce, in barely played condition, quite rare. With a near mint, unmounted poster as well, it’s rare and highly elusive. The poster on this album is one of the greatest ever included in any album. A double folded very large and colourful insert that looks simply fabulous. So beautiful infact, most all would have been mounted on walls and then they faded, got damaged and often, sadly, disgarded. For me anyway, one of the crown jewel posters in any album as I hope my pictures show, it only came with a few initial pressings. So wide, I have actually photographed in three separate segments to show the maximum details and lack of wear. You could search a very long time to find this better.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: DNLD 4001 A-1 *T / DNLD 4001 B-1 *T / DNLD 4001 C-1 *T / DNLD 4001 D-1 *T

Mother & Stamper Codes: G 1 / A 1 / B 1 / C 1

Brief Info: The term ‘acid folk’ is often misused, but ths album is the perfect true acid folk album. A truly beautiful double set now issued on the Pye spin-off label Dawn. It sold very poorly and remains one of the most elusive albums in his catalogue. Record one has music of surreal charm, using classic children’s poetry written by the likes of Lewis Carroll, Thora Stowell and Edward Lear beautifully arranged with music by himself. Record two comprises mainly self-written material with some magical and haunting songs. Some famously covered by other artists including ‘Lord of the Reedy River’ (Mary Hopkin and Kate Bush) and the most wonderful of all ‘The Voyage of the Moon’, one of his very best songs ever. The lack of commercial success must have surprised his record company and Donovan himself. A real shame for such a treasure. Not only is the material so charming, the packaging is also noteworthy. The cover is fabulous but the real star is the large double-folded poster. So rare and rarely seen, it came with an initial few copies and as this sold so poorly, few ever saw or owned one. Of those that made into people’s collections, the law of averages states many were used, damaged and disgarded. This one is factory fresh and unmounted and looks stunning. For those who own this album without the poster, it really is not the same – a bit like those who own Black Sabbath’s ‘Master of Reality’ without the gloomy dark poster – it’s simply incomplete. For fans of this man who missed out on this initially, well this is a superb and complete example. The records and poster will not be beaten and the cover only a small notch behind. Do not lose this spellbinding dreamy acid folk classic.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High.

Cover Grade and Format: EX+ an unlaminted gatefold format. Printed and made in England by Howard’s Printers. Includes the stunning and rare original poster.

Cover Front & Back: Beautiful with stunning artwork on both outer faces. In terms of wear, this has very little and for a gatefold double set this is remarkably well preserved. The lack of ringwear is particularly worthy of mention. A very few, very light surface rubs that only really show under angled light. There is a mildish crease on the top right corner area and on the back too on the same corner – the most noteworthy blemish on the entire sleeve – there are barely any others. Little else to fault, simply open it up and enjoy – what a gem this is and it prove very difficult to find much better. Almost as clean and fresh and when made all those years ago – a real work of surreal art.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Apart from the same crease, almost as made.

Top Edges: Hardly any wear.

Bottom Edges: Ultra faint rub traces.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with little wear and no feathering. Records entered on these right outside edges.

Spine and Text: Little short of perfect and looking magnificent: Solid, straight, uncompressed and square, both right edges meet up perfectly together. All text is near perfect and unworn and the artwork unrubbed or darkened.

Corners: All in superb condition with any tip rubbing minuscule. All retain very fine shape too.

Cover Summary: A very strong all round example of this very fragile early 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please most collectors.

The Inners: Both the plain polylined inners are included. Some modest creasing and both have darkened with age but remain sound and neat. Importantly, both are mirror-image originals.

The Poster: Mint as made and even the back is still very white. Guaranteed original and looking magnificent. Very surreal artwork with lovely vivid colour and printed on quality semi-gloss paper. This has NEVER been mounted, thus no pinholes, cellotape marks or blu-tak stains. Uncreased, razor-sharp edges, no creases, stains or blemishes. Both manufactured folds are as made and very strong and unstressed. Indeed this poster barely looks even handled and has no fingermarks or even surface ripples. A classic and rare poster time has forgotten and the collector’s dreampiece. If this was a framed piece of art and as rare as it clearly is, this would command a vast price on its own merit. Truly, truly beautiful.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-) and probably even undergraded at that. A superb visual pair that are super clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. A pair barely even played on all the evidence with hardly a noteworthy mark or blemish to be seen. Visually super records that should please all 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 snippetts 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: Both records play up to their high visual grading with practically noting to fault. 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 no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a fairly difficult album. Soft, delicate and gentle music, this is the ultimate test for any vinyl record, but this pair excel and any unwanted sounds are minimal and most all plays with none. Maximum pleasure was acquired from this pair, and I am sure even the most discerning audiophile collector will treasure these. Few copies will outperform this ultimate pressing significantly I feel sure. I am certain both records have been played very lightly and have been clearly well stored and carefully handled. Sorry but the odd mishap can happen over time, but the cover crease is only modest in real terms. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading these beautiful Dawn records. This set will prove almost impossible to find better and can be strongly recommended.

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 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets out ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is no bad thing. Also: any item with a value over £40 will have to be insured as well, but for any item that sells for over £150, I will pay the extra insurance (then the lower shipping price applies).

I now offer the fastest possible posting, mostly the very next day after payment is received or within three days maximum (unless on holiday). All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) 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 TWO VERY THICK stiffners for even extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will be Double Boxed. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. 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. 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 offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 4,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course of multiple purchases with a maximum of FOUR records per packet. I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included in the advert.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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. (Only for items under £40)

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (Compulsory for items over £40).

Posting & Packing: ALL EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA including RUSSIA and nearby countries. (Airmail Only):

1 LP, value less than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8.

1 LP, value greater than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, [£500 Maximum]) = £11.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (any part); Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP, value less than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £12.

1 LP, value greater than £40 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500 Maximum) = £15.

For items that sell over £150, I will pay the insurance, so the lower shipping price will apply.

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: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

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 neccessarily 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’.