JACK BRUCE of Cream Songs for a Tailor RARE ORIG N/M LP

	£		45
	$		60

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Artist or Band: JACK BRUCE

Album Title: Songs For a Tailor.

Producer(s): Felix Pappalardi.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Never Tell Your Mother She’s Out of Tune; Theme For an Imaginary Western; Tickets to Water Falls; Weird of Hermiston; Rope Ladder to the Moon.

Side 2: The Ministry of Bag; He the Richmond; Boston Ball Game, 1967; To Isengard; The Clearout.

Label/Format: Polydor (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both in supreme condition, very clean and attractive with just the odd single light and faint spindle trace and no wear around the hole area. Try finding the classic album in better condition that this.

Cat Number: 583058.

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 this Record: 136 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: The album itself is moderate to scarce but most seen or offered are later pressings. This copy has first-made cover that is laminated front and back. Only a handful of this, the most prized Jack Bruce album, will ever be seen laminated, most all are matt finish with no protection. Not only that, this is notoriously difficult to find with fine lamination. Most suffer badly from non-adhesion, creasing and heavy mottling or heat flaws that badly spoil the rarer laminates. Manufacture issues are a big problem on this cover and rarely is it seen with few and none at all are a near impossible find. This beauty has little to fault and for a huge change, looks fantastic as I hope my pictures prove. Such early examples are very rare indeed and seldom seen or offered.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Matrix Nos: 583058 A 2 1 1 1 / 583058 B 2 1 1 2

Musicians Include: Jack Bruce - bass guitar, vocals, piano, organ, cellos, guitar; Dick Heckstall-Smith - saxophones; Chris Spedding - guitar, John Hiseman - drums; Felix Pappalardi - guitar, vocals; Harry Becket and Henry Lowther - trumpets.

Brief Artist & Album Info: At last, I can again offer the most elusive and rare copy of this Jack Bruce debut album. Yes a laminated cover copy of this title is very hard to find and never easy to find either record of cover in near top conditions. After the demise of Cream, the legendary bass-player, but now multi-instrumentalist, issued this mini-classic. Short quirky songs with brilliantly bizarre and surreal lyrics by Pete Brown, a combination that was heard to great effect in Cream’s classic output. Still sounding as fresh and vibrant as when issued back in 69, this famous album still sounds wonderful today. Never underestimate the rarity of the first-made copies of this gem and finding this album better will prove immesenly difficult.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: More moderate with protection, but on this one, that only tells part of the story. The far more common unlaminated covers often suffer rubbing and ringwear. Fully laminated covers are more resistent to wear of course, but often the laminate ages with dulling, creases and blistering. This one just about always suffers manufacture problems as outlined above and often they are severe and spoil the cover’s appearance more than actual wear.

Cover Grade and Format: I am happy to grade this very rare cover as EX++ simply because it looks practically as made bar one surface crease on the back (but even this is probably a manufacture blemish). Not only does this cover vary in the fact both front and back are fully laminated, the Polydor credits vary also. This one has the text ‘Manufactured by Polydor Records’ that was then changed to ‘Marketed by Polydor’ on the unlaminated reprintings, so beware of standard covers being ‘hand laminated’ to fake originals. Also this has the single thickness front card making it heavily prone to creasing and burring. Construction was slightly strange too with a flattish spine with the text that can be read from the front, these can vary and sometimes visible from the back. This is NOT compression, the spine appears to have no foldlines and is simply rounded and maybe it’s why the laminate was suddenly dropped from later pressings. This rare original cover was printed and made in England by MacNeill Press Ltd.

Lamination: Front & Back: This cover looks certainly lustrous with the lamination on both sides exceptional. Rarely, if ever will ‘perfect’ laminate be seen on this cover. I have seen several examples of this one over time, but this is up there with the very best ever. Heat mottle is common as are manufacture crease folds, this has avoided them totally and only one in many ever will. When seen so fine, a thing of great and rare beauty, being so dark, blemishes ruin its good looks. Practically the entire laminate area is fully adhered, just one tiny lift on the back spine near the very bottom the only exception, this being tiny and most would not even mention such trivia. There is one surface crease on the back, bottom left with modest visiblity. The front face being so thin rarely ever avoids creasing, often deep and ugly, this has practically none of note at all, simply incredible. Any other creases are fine edge type that none will ever avoid. Here few, fine and faint. This retains incredible shine, freshness and clarity. Any friction rub or dulling being faint and light and the small amount present only visible with angled viewing. Highly significant is the total lack of mottle - small bubbles of non-adhesion that is rife on virtually all these. One of the very few that has been practically perfectly manufactured and survived to be enjoyed to the maximum, this is near connoisseur standard and will truly prove immensely difficult to find better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Generally very clean and unaged, the odd tiny trace of set-off if being critical. No laminate inside of course so the white areas are prone to toning and grubbiness of which this is pretty much avoided.

Top Edges: Both very neat and showing barely any noteworthy wear.

Bottom Edges: Mild thickening on these ‘resting’ edges, any burr tracing being minimal. Still very straight indeed as indeed are the top pair.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp with barely any wear and no feathering or trimming Record enters on this back edge.

Spine and Text: As stated above, this has little in the way of foldlines and being more rounded so the text, which is perfect, is read more from the front as my picture hopefully shows. The spine is solid, straight and appears uncompressed and certainly square with both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. When viewed from the top (or bottom), the rounded construction is more evident, the spine surface and text has little to no chance of being in the ‘correct’ position. Later examples were more standard in construction.

Corners: Very crisp and sharp with any tip rubs minuscule, again not easy to find these so neat.

Cover Summary: An unusual cover in many respects and certainly a rare one as a first made with lamination. A very strong all round example that I really can state is exceptional. The lack of manufacturing flaws is highly unusual as are handling and storage issues. This has been stored within a protective cover for most of its existence and it really does shows. This rare and attractive item should please most collectors and do not underestimate just how hard this one is to find like this.

The Inner: The lined Polydor inner is included in great shape too. Minor age darkening around the edges but hardly any creasing and all edges unsplit. The window remains very clear and attractive too.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: Mint(-), as looking practically as made. I know for a fact this record has barely been played and came from a prestige collection, many albums of which I sold last year. A superb visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and very solidly pressed. With close viewing, a faint manufacture dull is just evident on side two, but this has NO effect on sound whatsoever and this fantastic first pressed record plays beautifully for its complete entirety. Any marks to the playing surfaces are few and ultra faint, the odd super-fine hairline or two that few records ever avoid but visually a super record that should please most 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: This sublime record plays even above its high visual grading with nothing 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. Devoid of surface sounds and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a fairly challenging album. I have heard later pressings that have disappointed with surface sounds and crackle, this plays with gorgeous, clear and clean audio quality. This early pressed example was a sheer joy from start to finish and plays to perfection. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been clearly well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Audiophile quality, nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. Like the original cover, this copy will prove immensely difficult to find better and can be strongly recommended – such all-round originals do not surface often.

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 ‘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, 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 even 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 5,000+ items sold in over 8 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. I discount of course for 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 (SECOND Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = FREE. This is the new Ebay rule. HOWEVER I STRONGLY URGE UK WINNERS TO PAY THE £3 FOR THE FIRST-CLASS SERVICE AS THE PACKETS WILL ARRIVE MUCH FASTER AND SAFER.

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £3.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500).

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £8. (insurance optional extra £3).

NOTE: I NO LONGER SEND TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION. ANY BIDS WILL BE IGNORED.

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 (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£39 maximum]) = £12. (insurance 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: 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’.