NEIL YOUNG Harvest SCARCE EARLY UK PRESS COMPLETE EX+ LP

	£		77
	$		102

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4.75. Europe (including Russia) £12.50. Rest of World £16.50. ALL signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes.

PLEASE NOTE: Overseas packets that go through the customs system, can take up to 4 to 6 weeks to process and deliver, this IS normal. For Russia, this can take even longer and is out of my control, so please be patient.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment. I try to keep my P&P prices as low as possible even yet another Royal Mail price hike, I will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably a little heavier.

Artist or Band: NEIL YOUNG

Album Title: Harvest.

Producer(s): Neil Young, Elliot Mazer, Henry Lewy and Jack Nitzsche.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Out on the Weekend; Harvest; A Man Needs a Maid; Heart of Gold; Are ou Ready for the Country.

Side 2: Old Man; There’s a World; Alabama; The Needle and the Damage Done; Words (Between the Lines of Age).

Label/Format: Reprise – Early tan format with no Warner logo on labels. (please see my label scan).

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a small few, mostly light spindle marks that show little.

Cat Number: K 54005.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 122 grams. A fairly typicall weight for this record made in the year of the great oil shortage.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: A fairly easy one to find, but again, finding early made, complete copies in high quality conditions is never so easy. Most are found as later, thinner pressings with the later format covers and missing their inserts, this is a lovely clean complete copy that offers super sound without the irritating crackle so many seen to have.

Original Year of Release: 1972

Matrix Nos: K 54005 A3 / K 54005 B1 [these are punched matrixes with NO scripting]

Musicians: The Stray Gators: Ben Keith - steel guitar; Kenny Buttrey - drums; Tim Drummond - bass; Jack Nitzsche - piano, slide guitar; John Harris - piano. Backing vocalists: James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills.

Brief Artist & Album Info: A massively popular Neil Young album, a chart topper in the UK and US and one of his finest ever recordings. An album of achingly beautiful songs, Young must have known he was on to a winner before he even recorded it. At times sounding old before his time, it’s hard to imagine he was only 24 when he recorded this true masterpiece. It even included a hit single in ‘Heart of Gold’, these were indeed very successful times for this great artist, but things changed quickly after the dizzy heights of this glorious album. Beautifully recorded and produced this early copy is a delight from beginning to end. It includes the darker earlier cover that has a more textured feel. Also a folded lyric insert and a heavish, plain biscuit colour inner (unlined) that has flipbacked construction. Later made covers were paler and more smooth finished and the inner sleeve changed to a plain white one. This record is often a notorious ‘crackler’ but this one is much better pressed than many I have heard and plays with little unwanted. One played very modestly and it will not prove too easy to find much better. An album that can correctly be labelled as a ‘Classic’ with no hesitation whatsoever, a man inspired and this sounds just as wonderful today as it did over 40 years ago.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: an unlaminated gatefold format with a very flat-matt finish and a quite textured, rough feel and finish. This the more robust, thicker and heavier original. Made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse. Includes inner sleeve and lyric insert.

Cover Front: This has a little darkening around the edges which the early versions of this cover seldom seen to avoid. So a little aged, but not in an unpleasant way and with a small mark near the top edge. Little else to fault with barely any creasing or other marks – any are few and very faint. These are typically darker than the later ones and this has a gentle rough feel to the fingertip.

Cover Back: The back is very dark indeed and has barely any real wear. A fine line near the top edge right, I think is a fine adhesive smear in manufacture, that a natural blemish but little else to really fault. The lack of creasing and especially ring wear are considerable bonuses.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Any blemishes inside here are minuscule and this looks very impressive. The Garrod & Lofthouse imprint is seen on the bottom left.

Top Edges: A small fine central back edge rub but little else. These are quite thick and remain straight.

Bottom Edges: Any rub traces are tiny, few and faint up to the right corner tips, again, both are straight.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, mostly sharp with little wear, odd minor burr trace or two seen viewed end-on but unfeathered or trimmed. Record entered on the back edge.

Spine and Text: A superb spine, this thicker than later ones. Solid and straight, uncompressed and square, the edges meeting up perfectly flush and parallel. All text is perfect and unworn which is less common on these more ‘rustic’ finished covers.

Corners: The spine pair are superb with practically nothing to fault. A little tip rubbing on the right pairs and very fine to excellent shape is retained.

Cover Summary: A strong and still attractive example, one that will prove difficult to find much better. Even though this album sold well, few of the early covers survive with such little overall wear. A little age toning I think actually adds to it’s vintage and looks, a trait these rustic card finish covers often acquire over the years. This attractive item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): a plain biscuit (ochure) coloured finish with a sturdy flipback type construction but made with soft card that is prone to wooliness. Untorn or worn and ultra clean and any tiny marks or blemishes minuscule. The outside is lightly textured like the main cover with a rustic type finish, the inside is smooth but unlined, a very unusual type design for an inner. The top opening is shaped and remains very neat, crisp and solid with barely any thickening. Importantly this shows hardly a trace of any creasing or even ruffling and unusually, barely any trace of record impression which is pretty remarkable, but, sensibly, the original owner stored this record in a line replacement hence the edges are secure, unsplit with no repairs. A simple, but in it’s own way, distinctive inner that will seldom be found much better.

The Lyric Insert: Mint(-). A single folded large format insert. Again in superb condition, with no creasing and scant evidence of even being handled. Clean and attractive with minimal discolour and no marks or grubbiness. Edges and corners are sharp and neat with no splits or tears. Printed again by Garrod & Lofthouse in England.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): with any surface traces minimal and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. A very fine visual copy that’s very clean with fine shine, jet black and quite solidly pressed, a lovely early pressed copy that will be quite hard to find much better. A copy with very few plays on all the evidence, it’s one that should please many collectors.

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 classic record plays mostly above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. I have heard this, and other Neil Young albums around this period that look great but disappoint with crackle and unwanted noises. As stated further up, this was not a classic year for vinyl quality due to the shortage of oil at the time. But this copy does play very well with no pressing sounds or distortion. All crisp and focused with minimal traces of surface noise. The odd sporadic click is difficult to avoid totally as this is quite a delicate recording with some quiet songs and passages. Just enough to politely remind it is a vintage vinyl record being played rather than a squeaky clean digital format, and personally, I have no qualms with that. A lovely early copy that should please many collectors again, this merits high recommendation.

End Piece: Following three other classics in his debut, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere and After the Goldrush, was it possible for Young to improve still further on this pair? Well the evidence is very much here, an emphatic yes. Backed by The Stray Gators and a host of wonderful backing vocalists as listed above. This is Young in a more mellow mood with fewer guitar solos, a beautiful timeless piece including some sublime orchestration. If any album demands to be included in any serious collection Harvest is one of them. It’s an album I like to play regularly and never, ever tire of it’s excellence and ability to move. And, after some considerable time, a clean player that does it strong justice.

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 Terrarium 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 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 8,000+ items sold in over 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 2 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). 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 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] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £8. (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 [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced 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 [£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’.