JETHRO TULL Thick as a Brick RARER Orig UK 72 EX++ LP

	£		66
	$		87

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: JETHRO TULL

Album Title: Thick as a Brick.

Producer(s): Ian Anderson .

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Thick as a Brick.

Side 2: Thick as a Brick.

Label/Format: Chrysalis – first press format with the Island ‘i’ logo, this credit removed for subsequent pressings. (Please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both look fantastic: ultra clean, fresh and hugely attractive. Any spindle marks are tiny, few and very faint indeed, any traces are only really seen critically under bright angled light.

Cat Number: CHR 1003.

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: 140 grams. An impressive weight for this record and year.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Much harder to find as a first issue with an attractive cover. Many, if not most are seen grubby and very tatty, often literally falling apart. Few retain unworn spine text and anything like neat edges. Often rammed inside protective inners that were regularly too tight for the job. Hence tears and creased or burred edges are common. The spines get scuffed and the corners severely damaged. All common traits on one of the most adventurous and fragile covers within the rock genre. This one is very nice indeed but not perfect with the owner joining the dots neatly on ‘Children’s Corner’, and a small filling-in on a small cartoon as seen in close-up. But this first issue copy is so attractive and visually pleasing, I could hardly not offer it because of a couple of minor misdemeanours. It is without doubt one of the best I have seen for ages, especially a first and record is exceptional. This another lovely record from the quality collection recently purchased and have been offering for the last couple of three weeks. Clearly these minor imperfections could be an issue for the perfectionists, but I have more than made any interested collector aware, so make up your own mind. All the major pluses on this copy far outweigh any small negatives.

Original Year of Release: 1972

Matrix Nos: CHR 1003 A-3U / CHR 1003 B-2U [these large and deeply punched]

Mother & Stamper Codes: 2 RL / 2AD

Run-Out Groove Etchings: ‘PORKY’ / ‘PECKO’

Musicians: Ian Anderson – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, violin, trumpet; Martin Barre – electric guitar, lute; John Evan – piano, organ, harpsichord; Jeffrey Hammond – Bass guitar, Vocals; Barriemore Barlow – drums, percussion, timpani. David Palmer – Brass and string arrangements.

Brief Info: "Really Don't Mind If You Sit This One Out' – the famous opening line to Jethro Tull’s first real excursion into ‘progressive rock’, as the man himself announced at the 40th anniversary gig I attended. BUT, you really would NOT want to sit this one out. The whole album is a brilliant spoof based on lyrics by a non-existent boy ‘Gerald Bostock’ who is actually Anderson himself. The cover, one of rock’s most famous, is a brilliant take-off of local newspapers and was lavishly made using real newsprint-style paper for the inside pages. It features bizarre stories and features, including a children’s section with ‘Fluffy the Duck’ drooling over a very risque join-the-dots (this has been very neatly done as mentioned above). The album is highly adventurous and received mixed reviews on issue. It includes even more expansive use of instruments and includes only one long song. Catchy melodies and many different time structures in the typical prog way, this took fans by surprise. But over time, this has become a real Jethro Tull favourite and I absolutely love it. This copy has a very fine early pressed record with the Island credits that plays beautifully. The cover has a little wear and few blemishes, they will seldom be seen a great deal better. Just finding one intact is a bonus and one hardly aged and still an excellent shade of white difficult. A great example for fans who can just tolerate a couple of minor issues inside.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Massively High: flimsy, delicate and incredibly fragile and prone to just about anything you can possibly think of.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): this NOT taking into account of the joining of the dots and small colour-in inside. I have graded purely on looks and wear. A large format cover with a fold-flap at the bottom that opens out to full size. The ‘cover’ is made with very soft, matt card that frays and rubs almost by looking at it. The inside has 8 pages held together with the two original staples and printed on very thin paper, that is, or very similar to real newsprint. This tears and creases very easily and seldom seen fully intact. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group.

Cover Front, with flap opened: Very clean, attractive with few marks at all and guaranteed with NO trimming or cosmetic improvements. The front cover is still a lovely shade of white and pretty much devoid of grubbiness and aged little with barely any trace of toning and no stains. The hinge flap is still strong and unsplit or torn. Often owners put cellotape on this for longevity and stop the risk of tears. The right edge of this fold show minimal traces of a scuff but no fraying, this almost impossible to avoid totally. The actual visible edges seen from the front view are all incredibly and unusually neat with any burr traces almost conspicuous by their absence. Almost nice to see the spine text visible too, as most are worn and eroded away, every character of ever word totally present, precise and sharp.

Cover Back, with flap opened: The back is very similar with just a little edge burring to the very top. The flap fold is as neat and strong as almost possible to get, and that is practically as made. Again any marks or blemishes, tiny, few and very faint. Both front and back rarely get seen better.

Cover Inner Gatefold Pages: The four newsprint sheets are in great shape with minimal ageing, no tearing other than a small nick on the right edge of page 9 and no noteworthy creasing. The ultimate spoof of a local newspaper with some great stories and features including a naughty join-the-dots in ‘Children’s Corner’ (I remind again, it has been neatly done), the St Cleve Crossword (this left totally blank). There are TV pages, a Horoscope, a spoof review of the New Tull LP (this one), cartoons (one neatly filled lightly with pen as seen in close-up), classified ads and sports pages. All tongue-in-cheek and amusing. All held together with two untarnished staples that have NOT pulled or loosened in any way. That is amazing in-it-self. The edges show little crumpling and do resemble a real newspaper as intended. Quite unusually, these inside pages sit neatly inside the inner and outer inside covers, sometimes they are seen sticking out which usually means they get tatty and shredded. Both the inside covers are superb, neat and clean. The storage area for the record on the back is also undamaged and quite crisp.

Top Edges: Any thickening or burring is light and mild, a near impossible task of avoiding any totally and few will show fewer issues than these.

Bottom Edges: This is a thick fold and critical to this set. Being the traditional storage edge, rarely will this be seen unrubbed, worn, frayed, split or damaged. This has just a small rub on the left with a minor crease on the word ‘on’, but that’s about it. The fold totally unweakened or stressed and even still very clean. An exceptional and delicate area, I do not think I have seen this area better.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Still mainly sharp and neat again. Minimal blemishing, thickening or burring, this too on the entrance area for the record which clearly has hardly made the trip outside.

The Spine Edge: Very solid with minimal traces of darkening or wear. The really great news is, ALL text is present and unworn. A little compression, but how many will not be on a format like this? All very impressive on such a cover.

Corners: All show a little mild scuffing with only very modest loss of crispness. The flap pair are very neat indeed, these clearly protected by the cover itself.

Cover Summary: A really attractive all-round example of this very fragile, classic 70’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. For the last time, I mention the join-the-dots has been neatly done and a cartoon as a small neat tip-in (lightly in blue) seen in close-up. Still an exceptionally well preserved item that I feel many, if not most will enjoy.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a plain white unlined solid inner that has aged little. Clean and nigh-on crease-free with unsplit edges. Only marked down for mild record impression.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a very fine visual copy that is very clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed. Any surface traces are very fine and faint, seen critically under angled light. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors again.

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 magnificent and totally original album plays even above it’s high visual grading with nothing to fault bar a click on almost the last rev of side two 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. Laden with progressive music and all the clarity and details you would expect from a thick-pressed early-cut record. Any surface sounds hardly even registered and no other pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean, heavyweight pressing. Few others will outperform this vintage copy significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Would this factor ever be more relevant on a cover like this? With smoking more popular in the 60s and 70s, it’s no wonder this cover is so often seen blighted with browning caused by nicotine filled air. Nothing (okay one click excepted) spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, for me one of their very best – entertaining and original and with one of the most inventive sleeves ever issued. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly 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/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with QED Silver 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 and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap 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 less than one in two thousand based on over 7,000+ items sold in nearly 10 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. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 3 or 4 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. 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). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, 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 and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). 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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

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

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (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’.