LED ZEPPELIN II - 1969 LP Atlantic SD 8236 Robert Ludwig RL Lee Hulko LH - Good
$
80
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Description
Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 22 October 1969 in the United States and on 31 October 1969 in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Records. It was a commercial success, and was the band's first album to reach number one on charts in the UK and the US. The album's cover designer David Juniper was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package in 1970. On 15 November 1999, the album was certified 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales reaching 12 million copies in the US. Since its release, various writers and music critics have cited Led Zeppelin II as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time.
FUN FACT: The blonde-haired woman in the cover photo is French actress Delphine Seyrig in her role as Marie-Madeleine in the film Mr. Freedom, a leftist anti-war satire by William Klein.
The album also yielded Led Zeppelin's biggest hit, "Whole Lotta Love". This song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1970, after Atlantic went against the group's wishes by releasing a shorter version on 45. The single's B-side, "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)", also hit the Billboard chart, peaking at No. 65 in April 1970. The album helped establish Led Zeppelin as an international concert attraction, and for the next year, the group continued to tour relentlessly, initially performing in clubs and ballrooms, then in larger auditoriums and eventually stadiums as their popularity grew.
THIS IS A SPECIAL RARE COPY, some times referred to at the "hot mix". Robert Ludwig and Lee Hulko were the ones who mastered the record, following directions from the director of engineering, Edwin H. Kramer, to make it as hot as possible. Unfortunately, that meant that when Ahmet Ertegun (head of Atlantic Records at the time) played a copy on his daughter's little turntable, it skipped. So he had had the disk cutters use an alternate source and the cut it WAY lower than the original Ludwig cut.
So only all the disks that were played at the radio stations and all the initial pressings world wide came from Ludwig (and Lee cut a part or two) and that was what "sold" the record and made it a hit.
THIS COPY is one of the "hot" ones, as described above. It is a 1st Terre Haute pressing from 1969 on the Atlantic Records label (see Notes, below), Note also that I could not find an exact match to the deadwax info, but based on the "T" on the deadwax and "CTH" in the label (it's at the end of the numbers within parentheses near the bottom of the labels) I am confident that it's a Terre Haute pressing. The deadwax as shown is copied from the record itself.
The vinyl, per a test listen, does not seem to have any skips, per se, but in many places one or more "ticks" could be heard. Although a lot of the songs still play perfectly, because of those ticks, I am grading the vinyl as only Good [G].
The original cover is in surprisingly good condition, with only signs of light handling. Overall, the cover is in Very Good Plus [VG+] or better condition.
The original inner sleeve, which advertises albums "FROM THE ATLANTIC CATLOGUE" on both sides, has only one small split in the middle of the bottom seam. Overall, it is in Very Good Plus [VG+] or better condition.
Notes
Labels include "CTH" suffix (indicating Terre Haute pressing) and "Mfg By Atlantic Recording Corp., 1841 Broadway, New York, N.Y.".
The dead wax side two is slightly narrower than that on side one.
Later press information:
If this doesn't have "SS RL" and "LH SS" etched in the run-outs then it is a repress - remastered at Atlantic, rather than Sterling Sound.
Around 200,000ish pressings were done of Robert Ludwig's 'high mix' which, like Hendrix's 'Ladyland' 1st masters, caused some poor-quality phonograph needles to 'skip'. Thus, a repress was ordered by Ertegün at Atlantic.
Clarification: Disc may have "RL SS" on Side A and "LH SS" on Side B
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: ASCAP
Pressing Plant ID (Columbia Terre Haute, on labels): CTH
Matrix / Runout (A side bottom label): ST-A-691671CTH
Matrix / Runout (B side bottom label): ST-A-691672CTH
Matrix / Runout (A-side runout etched [skinny "RL" etched next to a very small "ss"]): ST-A-691671-1A RL ss D2 T | [NOTE” “RL ss” appear above “ST-A-691671-1A”]
Matrix / Runout (B-side runout etched [very small "LH" etched next to a larger "ss"]): ST-A-691672-D SS LH A 12 o T |
ENJOY!
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