Joni Mitchell Clouds Vintage 1969 Reprise RS 6341 Pitman Pressing

$

27

• Joni Mitchell.
• Clouds.
• 1970 Repress.
• Gatefold Jacket.
• Reprise Records RS 6341.

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA
Recorded: 1969 at A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA
Pressing By:Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman NJ
  Original Issue: May 1, 1969
This Issue: Believed to be late 1969 or early 1970 (based on label design and Pitman matrix)
Label: Reprise Records RS 6341
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (etch:) 30885 RS 6341 A 1B1 c D (stamp:) (pitman symbol) (etch:) ○ XT
Side 2: (etch:) 30886 RS 6341 B -1E· D (stamp:) (pitman symbol) (etch:) ○
The very first pressings had a solid red top half of the label with a gold “r” in it. This is the true “two tone” first pressing label version. The first pressings also had a rectangular flaw in the rear cover image center that extended from the top to bottom. This flaw was airbrushed out in later pressings. My pressing does not have the red label top but it’s matrix is a close match for ones in the first edition, so I think its possible to be a late 1969 or early 1970 edition. If you are hunting for a true first pressing and pass mine by I’m fully OK with that. Just make sure you get a genuine copy from an honest and knowledgeable seller. Regards, Ice.
Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had just a few plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I neutralize residual static charge with a Zerostat immediately after cleaning. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.

Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with NOS Soviet Voskhod matched tubes (see last photo).

Track list
For track listings, please see my attached record label photographs.

I never take "distant" photos nor the so-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
Grading Details
Note: Grading LPs by text characters is subjective and at best are only a guide as no two used records are of exactly the same quality. Please, refer to both my photo evidence and detailed descriptions to judge by YOUR OWN grading standards. Questions are always welcome. eBay no longer allows me to enter separate grades for each side of the sleeve or record so you may not see any in the box above but are listed below. Play quality is personally most important to me so vinyl visual qualities are graded and described in detail separately for your complete assessment.

Outer Jacket Inspection/grading:
VG++/NM--/NM--/VG+
The front face seems to have no ring wear as it's surface is very smooth. Colors are still brilliant. What keeps it from being NM or NM- is the rubbing wear along the lower half of the spine and at the bottom left corner. There are light touches of rub wear at the top left corner. The two inside gatefold surfaces are in very fine condition except for some spots of discoloration along the outer bottom edges. The rear jacket face is almost as clean as the front but the rubbing wear along the bottom half of the spine is more pronounced as can be seen in my photo. There is also more rubbing wear along the bottom edge and a 2" seam split at the top left corner. There are no other seam separations on the jacket and it remains otherwise solid and sturdy.

Vinyl visual inspection/grading:
VG++/VG+
Side 1 has light spots of "mottling" here and there. There are two thin reflective hairlines, one through T1 and another extremely fine one (very hard to see) through T2 and T3. It is otherwise very glossy. Side 2 has what I would describe as 3 long fog-like "contrails" all within one narrow slice of the circumference, They all barely visible and appear to be only on the top-most surface of the vinyl. I found a potential surface "scuff" (~ 3/16" long) in the middle of T3. Made a note to check this carefully during play test to see it it might cause correlating noise. T1 has spots of "mottling" through T1. I made a note to play test those two tracks 100% during my sound check. .

Play Testing:
VG+/VG+
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection (continuous written notes were taken). I listened to the beginning, middle, and end of each track for a few minutes on each needle drop. When the track width was noticeably greater I took more play samples to get good coverage. I also listened to all lead-in, lead-out and transition grooves between each track. Some tracks were played all the way thru when digitizing my favorites to 96k/24-bit WAV files. This allowed me to go back and re-check some of my notes on digital playback in ProTools. Here is rundown of each side from those notes.

Side 1 Play
First, I observed that the record sat pretty flat on my TT (I do use a record clamp, but warps always show if present). This album presents Joni without any background musicians. It's pretty much just Joni and her guitar(s) recorded closely and mixed so she appears right there in your listening room. It has an intimacy that may bring about a special emotional resonance with the listener. It certainly did that for me while I play tested it, given that many decades have gone by since I've heard it. The spare performance does sometimes allow the vinyl noise floor to be heard as what I call "micro-ticks." These are tiny low-volume random ticks whose spectral density is mostly just high frequencies. That helps to make them mostly non-distracting. My headphone monitoring allowed me detect that vinyl noise when came and went. The music was always pulled into my attention, even when I was actively listening for vinyl noise. My notes on each track below will reveal single "ticks" or "clicks" that might have potential to be distracting. T1 had just a single "click in it's middle. T2, a very popular song, was nicely quiet. T3 was one of my favorite tracks and it sounded just beautiful as did T4. T5 featured some very impressive fingerpicking and impressively powerful vocals. I heard a single moderate-volume tick near it's start. In terms of audio quality/clarity this side was easily NM, but because of the occasional "micro-ticks" in the quietest spots I think its better to grade the play quality at VG+, maybe closer to VG++.

Side 2 Play
T1 had some mid-frequency ticks in the 1st 1/8" but they weren't present during the middle and end. The transition grooves into T2 were pretty quiet. T2 is a top pick of mine. It was very clean and quiet plus gorgeously recorded and performed. T3 was always my top favorite of the whole album. This one is unique as it has Joni singing multiple harmonies with herself as does her guitar. This was a "must record" track that has always gotten to me every time I heard it. My notes said: "!wow." (Apple lossless digital re-master file available for transfer to whoever buys it) The only vinyl artifacts I caught were a couple of moderate level ticks in the 2nd half. T4 was performed a cappella so it had a lot of quiet space in it for vinyl pressing noise to make itself known. The background was certainly not dead-silent but was more absent than present. T5 is of course one of Joni's most well-known pieces. The recording was very closely mic'd and the most intimate presentation on the album that places Joni right there in your listening room. The lacquer was cut pretty hot too (-4.2 dBFS peaks on my recording meters), so any residual vinyl noise was effectively masked. I thought I heard tiny bits if sibilance smearing once in a while on Joni's vocals. This could be a result of the microphone closeness or from the track being on the innermost grooves where vinyl high frequency reproduction is always compromised. It was a gentle effect and very infrequent. I'd give this side a strong VG+.    

A classic vintage album very much worth owning. Both the jacket and vinyl are in decent shape with all details known for buyer consideration.

Packaging

• Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting.
• Original inner sleeve is included separately.
• Record has been placed into a new MFSL-style "rice paper" plastic sleeve, as the original is only paper and may be holding onto some dust. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean and well protected during shipping and ultimate buyer usage.
• Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve.
• Sent in high quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners and all corners double-taped.

Shipping

• Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale.
• A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed on the same day($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP).
• If you do buy more than one LP on the same daydo not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice.eBay does give you the option to "Request an invoice from the buyer," but this option is not available on the eBay mobile app. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.