*Lennon/Ono Two Virgins UK 1968 Stereo (Beatles) MINT*

	€		173
	$		201

Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins
 
Studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Released 29 November 1968 - Recorded 19 May 1968 (most likely date)
Genre Avant-garde - Length 29:27 - Label Apple Records / Track Records 613032
Producer John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins is an album released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1968. The result of an all-night session of musical experimentation in Lennon's home studio at Kenwood, John and Yoko's debut album is known not only for its avant garde content, but also for its cover. The album's title came from the couple's feeling that they were "two innocents, lost in a world gone mad", and because after making the recording, the two consummated their relationship.

The recording consists largely of tape loops, playing while Lennon tries out different instruments (piano, organ, drums) and sound effects (including reverb, delay and distortion), changes tapes and plays other recordings, and converses with Ono, who vocalises ad-lib in response to the sounds. Lennon's longtime friend Peter Shotton remembered later in his memoir (The Beatles, Lennon and Me) that many of the loops were made by Lennon and himself, in the days before the recording. Lennon recorded directly to two-track stereophonic, but much of the source material was monophonic.

Two Virgins was the third album released under the Apple Records label, after George Harrison's Wonderwall Music and The Beatles. It was distributed by Track Records in the United Kingdom and Tetragrammaton Records in the United States, after EMI in the UK and Capitol Records in the US refused to handle it, because of the cover photo. (Nonetheless, EMI mastered and pressed the record in Britain, charging their standard fee.) The couple soon after released a related recording called Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions.
Two Virgins never charted in the UK (and only 5000 British copies were ever pressed), but managed to reach #124 in the US.

The album was officially reissued from a proper remaster on Rykodisc in 1997 as part of a series of Yoko Ono reissues, with an additional bonus track — "Remember Love", Ono's B-Side to "Give Peace A Chance". This edition is slightly edited; it is missing about a minute of audio from the end of each side.

A recording of "Together", written by George Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson, is heard in the background. "Together" was originally a no. 1 pop hit by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra in 1928, featuring Bix Beiderbecke on coronet.

The couple used a time-delay camera to take nude photographs of themselves, for the album's cover; the front showed them frontally nude, while the rear showed them from behind. (The photos were taken not at Kenwood, but at Ringo Starr's basement apartment at Montagu Square, where Lennon and Ono stayed later that year.) The cover provoked an outrage, prompting distributors to sell the album in a plain brown wrapper. Copies of the album were impounded as obscene in several jurisdictions (including 30,000 copies in New Jersey). Lennon commented that the uproar seemed to have less to do with the explicit nudity, and more to do with the fact that the pair were rather unattractive (and the photo unflattering; Lennon described it later as a picture of "two slightly overweight ex-junkies").

Track listing
All selections by Yoko Ono and John Lennon unless otherwise noted.

Side one
1."Two Virgins Side One": – 14:14 ("Two Virgins No. 1" / "Together" (George Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson) / "Two Virgins No. 2" / "Two Virgins No. 3" / "Two Virgins No. 4" / "Two Virgins No. 5")
Side two
2."Two Virgins Side Two": – 15:13 ("Two Virgins No. 6" / "Hushabye Hushabye" (composer unknown) / "Two Virgins No. 7" / "Two Virgins No. 8" / "Two Virgins No. 9" / "Two Virgins No. 10")

This is the original 1968, first UK edition of this legendary album. The cover is in an EX condition. It has a couple of air pockets under the laminate, something which happened very often with late 1960s EMI album covers and especially with this cover. However, the laminate is 100% intact and is in a splendid condition. The corners are very sharp and the parts where the cover is not laminated (there are always a few mm's which are not covered by laminate and these are prone to getting dirty) are absolutely clean. There are a few minor spots where there is a hint of browning, there are a few very light creases near the mouth, but generally the cover is in a solid EX condition with no writing, no tears, no damage, no major wear.

The disc is in an amazing Near Mint condition, there are no scratches, no jumps, no sticks, the grooves are not worn, it shines like the day it was released and probably has had only very few plays. It is in a splendid NM condition. The labels are absolutely clean, no writing, no wear, no damage, just some very superficial spindle wear- it is obvious that this copy has been taken care of; a real keeper! The disc comes in its original black inner bag, which has a die-cut opening on one side. The inner is free of any damage, has no seam splits and is in a NM condition.

Matrix numbers of this disc are SAPCOR 2A - 1 // SAPCOR 2B - 1 and the markings "1" at 9 o'clock and "R" at 3 o'clock at both sides.

Obviously I have had to obscure John & Yoko's privates by Photoshopping, this is not on the actual cover.

Due to the rarity of this album, I will ship ONLY by Registered Mail. Inside Holland this will cost 7 Euros, in Europe this will cost 13 Euros, Rest of the World 22 Euros.

The LP will be placed outside the cover in a separate, poly-lined inner sleeve, and packed together with the inner and outer cover, in between solid cardboard. I have more than 25 years experience of sending records abroad and you can be assured that the item will reach you in the same state it was shipped from my house.

Please check my Feedback (more than 2,000 positives) and you can be confident that you are trading with a reliable dealer and that the item will be in a satisfactory condition.

PAYMENT:

• Inside The Netherlands: by bank transfer ONLY
• Inside Europe: EU countries by International Bank Transfer preferred, otherwise via PayPal
• Rest of the World: PAYPAL ONLY!

All in all, a superb copy of this very rare record, which is getting harder and harder to find in a decent condition.