JONI MITCHELL Song to a Seagull RARER ORIG UK 1968 Nr EX EXAMPLE, LOVELY SOUND.

	£		77
	$		102

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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: JONI MITCHELL

Album Title: Joni Mitchell [Song to a Seagull]

Producer(s): David Crosby

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: I CAME TO THE CITY: I Had a King; Michael from Mountains; Night in the City; Marcie; Nathan La Franeer.

Side 2: OUT OF THE CITY AND DOWN TO THE SEASIDE: Sisotowbell Lane; The Dawntreader; The Pirate of Penance; Song to a Seagull; Cactus Tree.

Label/Format: Reprise – original RSLP tri-colour format with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both clean, still fresh and attractive. Spindle marks are quite few and relatively light. Moderately visible on what are always revealing surfaces. The record itself is impressive and plays great with very little unwanted.

Cat Number: RSLP 6293

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: 155 grams. A typically heavyweight pressing from the RSLP series of originals.

Country of Manufacture: RECORD & INNER SLEEVE: England. COVER: Canada (with UK RSLP stereo sticker inside as seen on my close-up pictures). This totally normal for this album with every UK pressed original having her native Canadian cover. Tan label Kinney copies from 1971 had a UK version cover.

Rarity: Scarce: and early UK originals in fine condition are very hard to find. Delicate predominately acoustic and vocal albums amongst the most vulnerable from old heavy tracking record players of the time. Although gently aged visually, the cover remains largely intact and attractive, the record modestly played and offering impressive very clean sound.

Original Year of Release: 1968

Matrix Nos: RSLP 6293 A-1 * G STEREO / RSLP 6293 B-1 * G STEREO

Mother & Stamper Codes: N 1 / Z 1

Musicians: Joni Mitchell - guitar, piano, vocals; Stephen Stills - bass.

Brief Info: A beautiful debut from one of the most gifted female singer-songwriters of all-time. ‘Song to a Seagull’ – the title somewhat hidden on the cover, written in small bird formation flying off a ship, and only obvious when you know it’s there – is a conceptual album with two named sides. Pretty much a solo set with just occasional bass from Stephen Stills, this is a delicate album and often suffers accordingly from vintage record players of the day. The earliest copies are notoriously difficult to find let alone in high quality playing conditions. This has little to fault and the sound and details embedded in these deep original grooves are a gateway into the recording studio itself. This was a relatively poor-seller, just a fringe entry in the US charts but failed to make any impact in the UK at all. Hence the early copies included the imported heavy-duty thick card Canadian cover – Reprise simply put a sticker over the inside Canadian prefix (seen in close-up). I have been a fan of Joni since my school days and love just about every album she has ever made – it all started here – and this vintage heavyweight LP does this album and the lady herself near full justice.

Cover Grade and Format: NEAR EXCELLENT: and put into context of what it is, is only conservatively graded. This is the imported Canadian cover used for the UK market which I personally think adds to this set as Joni is Canadian. Presumably the record companies did not consider it worthy of a special printing initially and used the imported readily available ones to cut costs. A very heavy thick card format with the US-style paste-on panel inside the gatefold, this was unlaminated and is slightly textured to the touch. Printed in Canada as is confirmed on the front and inside. This includes the RSLP sticker inside for the UK market, this obscured the different Canadian catalogue number.

Cover Front & Back: This retains impressive deep colour with no fading or rubbing, the original title is seen written by the small birds flying off the ship. Gentle traces of darkening from age and merest hints of grubbiness on the very pale areas that few will ever avoid at best. A few very fine marks on the back show little, the lack of ringwear and creasing being the most significant factors. Both sides will prove hard to find a great deal better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Minimal traces of any real wear, mild discolour of the paste-on panel is almost normal as the adhesive, just like on inner sleeves, ages and ‘browns’ over time. All the song lyrics included over the spread. The RSLP manufactured sticker has never been removed or picked at, just darkened around the edges.

Top Edges: Solid, straight, unsplit and flush. No real wear, just slightly darkened.

Bottom Edges: Both very thick and in superb condition, barely worn and so neat and flush they appear almost as one piece.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, sharp and both guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced. Record enters on the back edge, the front sealed with a proper edge that has the graphic, this is barely worn again.

Spine and Text: A very impressive spine as well: very solid, thick and robust. Straight, uncompressed and folded beautifully square, so the edges meet up perfectly together and absolutely parallel. Barely any wear at all and any discolouration light, all text present and unworn. This has the Canadian RS prefix instead of the UK RSLP – spine areas were rarely, if ever covered over like the main surface areas, the actual numbering is as per the UK record. The only blemish is a small and very fine surface (semi-) split on the top front fold. I call this a semi-split as this has not affected the inside and in terms of this, it is very minor and neat.

Corners: Minimal tip rubbing and no knocks or dinks, absolutely superb neat, crisp shape is retained.

Cover Summary: An impressive all-round example of this typically fragile late 1960’s imported cover, one that could prove difficult to find much better. Few survive this fine and not many will not have a little natural ageing. It should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: only marked down for the usual age darkening which is moderate. Any real wear minimal, this polylined white inner has very little creasing and the lining clear as seen through two pristine crisp window circles. All edges unsplit with no repairs, this has a British patent with ‘British & Other Patents Pending’ text.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: NEAR EXCELLENT: visually with a few fine surface marks and one quite gentle surface scuff. These relatively minor blemishes are practically all superficial with no audio issues. In fact this vintage first issue plays superbly with little unwanted at all. Still a lovely visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed which is typical for this label at this time. There are NO penetrating scratches on these impressive looking playing surfaces. A 47-year-old record that should please many 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 minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This rare first issue debut plays even above it’s high visual grading with very little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound with no tracking issues*. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed, the odd sporadic tick or two that few acoustic albums this considerable age will ever avoid totally. Overall this is an exceptional clean pressing for what is a typically challenging early folk Joni album. Few hiding places for blemishes but little here anyway. Few will outperform this early pressing significantly I feel sure. Remember also, the few originals that did sell, were often played on mono record players – this album was a stereo only issue – many music-lovers still used them into the 1970s (even beyond), hence a high percentage would have been subjected to heavyweight, thick stylus ploughing through the grooves reeking havoc to the delicate sound. All serious collectors will know what I mean – this record has NOT been subjected to kind of use or wear and the few fine surface blemishes are simply ignored and audio quality is very high indeed with Joni sounding almost in the room. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played little and has been generally well stored and handled. Nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record, the odd polite reminder you are listening to a record into it’s late-40s is the reality of vinyl. The lack of irritating crackle, distortion or repetitive clicks are the major factors on these more fragile recordings. This copy will prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended. Do not underestimate how rare this album is on this label and in such fine all-round condition, the cover is a really lovely and a work-of-art in it’s own right.

* 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’.