JETHRO TULL Aqualung RARE EARLY UK ISLAND PINK RIM PRESS LP, GREAT SOUND/DETAIL.

	£		79
	$		105

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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 – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks 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. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full 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. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

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. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: JETHRO TULL

Album Title: Aqualung

Producer(s): Ian Anderson & Terry Ellis

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Aqualung; Cross-Eyed Mary; Cheap Day Return; Mother Goose; Wond’ring Aloud; Up to Me.

Side 2: My God; Hymn 43; Slipstream; Locomotive Breath; Wind Up.

Label/Format: Island – pink rim format. This being a far from standard UK pressing with few make or seen on this early-issued format.

Label Conditions: Both clean, still fresh and attractive with spindle marks less than moderate with modest visibility.

Cat Number: ILPS 9145

A Special Note about this Copy: Most issues are usually seen on the green Chrysalis label in various forms. A few ‘Aqualung’s were briefly available and made on the Island pink rim format in a similar way to ‘Benefit’. It has been a long-standing debate on why and when these significantly rarer issues were made. Chrysalis Records were founded in 1969 as a collaboration with Island as distributors, this hastened by Jethro Tull’s failure to get a recording contract, so the label link is positive – indeed the cover has both Island and Chrysalis credits. But why a small number were run on this label is something of a mystery and opinion is divided to the reason, and even which came first. The consensus seem to agree these were made in 1971 or early 1972, and possibly even in error?, but for sure, in small numbers compared to most other formats – but probably (but not certainly) were not absolute first issues. However, some think this Island pressing was the very first, I am far less certain myself. What IS certain, they are rare and seldom surface and considerably more elusive than practically all others. This record is heavy pressed and includes the first and rarer E. J. Day Group cover with the Basing Street address as seen in close-up. Also with the wider top opening and flipbacked graphic inner sleeve. Again these details were soon changed, the Basing Street address quickly dropped from the cover altogether. Also I am convinced these Island cuts were far better pressed than most of the green examples I have heard. I have heard too many early green label pressings that crackle with inherent pressing noises for my liking, and this view is shared by several other record collectors mentioned this to. Both Island copies I have had have had no such pressing issues, these made in considerably smaller numbers and probably with more due care. This record has ‘2’ mother codes rather than the usual ‘1’ for early issues which could be a major factor. The main matrixes are the same as the first green pressings, no B-1U or B-2U versions were commercially available, but may exist as Test pressings. So a considerable and rare variant for one of rock’s most famous 1970s albums, and one many collectors will really want to own – these really do not show-up often.

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: 150 grams. This is a heavy weight for this album, considerably above average.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: The actual album itself is not too hard to fine, but the earliest pressings are a different matter. This was quite a popular album. However, the pink rim Island pressing is way rarer as the current price guides now confirm. Indeed, it has only been relatively recently these guides actually acknowledged its existence. That itself should speak for itself to how few of these are around.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: ILPS 9145 A-1U / ILPS 9145 B-3U

Mothers / Stampers: 2 AG / 2 0L

Musicians: Ian Anderson – Vocals, acoustic guitar, flute; Martin Barre – electric guitar, descant recorder; John Evan – piano, organ, mellotron; Jeffrey Hammond – bass guitar, alto recorder, voices; Clive Bunker – drums and percussion.

Brief Info: Jethro Tull’s fourth album, a semi-conceptual classic based around ‘Aqualung’, a pervy old tramp. Many regard it as their best ever. Superbly recorded and beautifully packaged, and here seen as the near legendary pink rim UK pressing. A copy with a few light marks, but it plays very well indeed with little unwanted. Heavy thick vinyl, deep grooves with all the crucial information intact, it includes the first format Basing Street cover and flipbacked, wide top inner sleeve. The first example I have seen for years and it failed to disappoint. With opinion still divided on why it was issued on this label at all, what is for sure, I think it is the very best pressing and possibly the rarest official UK-made Jethro Tull album available. This goes beyond just being a variant for specialists – I deem it essential.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): one of Island’s most celebrated covers with fantastic artwork. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt surfaces that are all textured. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group with the gothic (Old English Text font) style Island ILPS catalogue number and imprint with the original and rarer ‘Basing Street, London W11’ address (please see these details in close-up). This includes the wide top opening inner sleeve with the external flipback construction.

Cover Front: The front is superb with little to fault, the only blemish is a faint sticker residue trace near the top right, but it hardly even shows unless looked for under angled light, hence I did not deem it worth the risky challenge in trying to remove the small dark fragments that remaiin. There is NO tear or ink damage at all and any residue traces are nigh-on invisible with normal viewing. The famous graphic of Aqualung is still very clean, fresh and attractive with barely any rubbing or noteworthy creasing – a few fine edge types being near impossible to avoid totally. The quite finely textured surface has little to fault and retains lovely deep colour and no fading, even to the edges.

Cover Back: Overall similar to the front without any sticker blemishes. A few fine and gentle surface rub marks on the pavement area to the left of the dog almost blend into the graphic and hardly stand out. Little else to fault again and the lack of ringwear is always a major plus.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Both sides are magnificent with rich deep, vivid colour – as fresh and clean as when first made.

Top Edges: Both straight, flush with barely any hint of rubbing or wear.

Bottom Edges: Against the odds, both these storage edges are the same again.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge that has minimal hint of wear. The back open edges are clean, mostly sharp with any thickening or burring minimal and light. No trimming or enhancements guaranteed.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression and folded square, so the edges meet up very closely together and parallel. All Old English Text font text is nigh-on perfect as seen. Further down are faint trace marks, possibly writing (a name?), likely in pencil that has been erased. I have looked at this minor blemish under a magnifying glass and what ever was there is fine, light and indistinct – it registers little anyway, but I will mention all I see.

Corners: Any tip rubs are tiny and light, indeed the front right pair have tiny bobbles still there from manufacture. So excellent shape, largely as made is retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: This rarer E. D. Day ‘Basing Street’ cover has a couple of blemishes, but for sheer fresh fine looks, it will take a lot of beating. An all-round attractive early example to please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: VERY GOOD(++): only really marked down for some tone spotting, so gently aged, but clean the tone spotting apart. This inner being the rarer original with the recessed wide top opening and importantly, with the two external back flipbacks. Hardly any creasing and all edges intact and solid. Only this style of inner is correct for the early copies.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(–): a fine visual copy that is clean with equally fine shine and quite heavily pressed on top quality vinyl. Significantly heavier than most subsequent pressings and with ultimate detail and sound values. Certainly played a few times with mostly very fine surfaces marks seen under bright angled light, but no penetrating stylus scratches. The marks being for most ultra fine and whispy types, sometimes the result of dry-cloth ‘cleaning’ and almost totally harmless. In fact this record plays really well with little unwanted, that for me is always the most important factor bar none. When viewed in normal daylight room lighting, little even shows and look record looks impressive. Visually a lovely, and of course, unsual Island record for this title that should please many collectors, but not the ultimate purists who only want visual perfection at any cost.

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 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 progressive classic plays above it’s highly respectable visual grading with very little to fault. It offers 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 – the odd sporadic tick or crackle hint here and there being near impossible to avoid – and remember I play on an LP12, one of the world’s most revealing turntables. All to regularly, I have often heard other examples of this album (on the green labels) with significant inherent crackle and even pressing noises or distortion, this is well-known to be a difficult album pressing-wise, the year of manufacture being a clue to the likely reason. Clean-pressed copies are at a real premium and this Island pressing is way above most others I have heard – and I have heard a fair number over time. I am certain, like ‘Benefit’ on this Island label, were pressed sparingly and the run cleaner and offering possibly the best sound available on standard original vinyl. Unless absolute ‘perfection’ is mandatory – and good luck with that – this considerably rarer Island pressing will prove difficult to find better. Most of any light visual blemishes being purely superficial and non-sounding with no tracking issues* or hidden manufacturing nasties. Both channels are clean and sharp and nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful album. A copy that is more than just a specialist collector’s piece, it really offers immense detail and fidelity I feel is superior to all others I have heard. It may not be visually pristine or absolutely audio ‘perfect’, but realistically will any used copy ever be? With many of the early green label copies having invisible inherent issues and even faults, this will better most I feel sure. One many collectors will treasure, and these will not be seen or offered or often.

* 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 2.2 grams.

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 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 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 it’s 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. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 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 D5000 SLR Digital 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.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. 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. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are 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 at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. 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, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 14 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

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 withdrawals. 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 can 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 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. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

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, 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’.