NEIL YOUNG On The Beach SCARCE Orig UK 1974 EX++ LP

	£		40
	$		53

ONEADAYRECORDS – Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: NEIL YOUNG

Album Title: On The Beach.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Walk On; See The Sky About to Rain; Revolution Blues; For The Turnstiles; Vampire Blues.

Side 2: On The Beach; Motion Pictures; Ambulance Blues.

Label/Format: Reprise – Tan format with no Warner logos.

Label Conditions: Both as clean and fresh as when made. Just a couple of ultra fine and faint spindle traces and without any doubt, this one has hardly even been played. (Please see my label scan).

Cat Number: K 54014.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 106 grams. I have yet to see or hold a heavy pressed copy of this title.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce, some say rare but I disagree with this, it does show up occasionally but it’s the condition that often lets it down. I have seldom heard a ‘perfect’ copy of this classic Young album but this one has practically nothing to fault. The original ‘wallpaper’ inside cover is in stunning condition as is the inner, that has avoided the cellotape so many deemed necessary to apply to protect the edges. The record looks almost as new – such copies are far harder to find.

Original Year of Release: July, 1974

Matrix Nos: 54014 A4 / 54014 B4 (most seen have the B5 matrix).

Musicians include: Neil Young – guitar, vocal, harmonica, wurlitzer piano; Ben Keith – Steel guitar, slide guitar, vocal, hand drum, bass guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal.

Brief Artist & Album Info: After the live Time Fades Away, Young undertook another controversial tour but the album that was due to be issued Tonight’s The Night was put on hold. Instead Young issued this remarkable set, one of the greatest achievements from his highly impressive catalogue. Issued to very mixed reviews at the time On The Beach is now regarded by most Young and rock fans as a masterpiece, so long out of print and unavailable. Often regarded as too bleak, it does feature the word ‘Blues’ in three titles. The album took the pain and uncertainty witness on Young’s last two tours and distilled from it a work of astonishing vision. Here was Young both analysing his past like a man three times his age and offering a fresh perspective on his future. The second side of the album especially is testament to Young’s songwriting brilliance and has ‘classic’ written all over it, that said there is not a bad musical moment on this record. After two gentle openers, the third song ‘Revolution Blues’ is a daring attempt at satire based on Charles Manson, it might not be the most tasteful of ideas but it works superbly. The title song and the first of the momentous second side, Young questions the nature of fame and it’s impact upon his mental state. A stunning slow guitar solo unfolds as he seems to resolve his state of mind. ‘Motion Pictures’ written as a tribute to his actress wife, Carrie Snodgrass, has the man sounding at his saddest, a trait always associated with Young when he sings his happiest songs. The finale, the long ‘Ambulance Blues’ is arguably the best song Young ever wrote, it’s an extraordinary examination of his career, but unlike ‘Don’t Be Denied’, this is not a straight autobiography, but a more a mental journey into his history and career, scathing attacks on his critics and at times he almost seems to get entrapped in a web of lyrical complexity - It’s hard to tell the meaning of this song - this is a beautiful acoustic track and was the summit of his achievement as a singer songwriter and still remains the strongest candidate as his best ever song. Finding this album is not quite as difficult as some imagine – that said they do seem to be getting ever more elusive. So many are unplayable with constant surface noise and pressing sounds throughout and covers badly damaged and inners in a right mess. This was not a great period for some records with variable pressing quality and this album seemed to suffer badly (as did one or two others from his early 70s catalogue). I have only rarely heard a copy that will anything like ‘perfect’. The delicate song ‘See the Sky Abvout to Rain’ seems the most affected by crackle and pressing noise, here little to nothing heard and the whole album plays superbly. The odd sporadic light click or crackle trace is almost impossible to avoid but this proved a delight to listen to and cleaner pressings truly are scarce. Regarding the cover, this has a delicate pale unlaminated sleeve that never wears well and the inner is often written-off or even missing altogether, often celloltaped to stop it splitting. Included too is the famous wallpaper design on the inside of the cover, yes where the record is stored (please see the inside picture, I have tried my best to show this as best as I can, this proved difficult without stressing this unusual cover). Later copies omitted this inside design and became a white standard style. The hard original inner is also included and for a change is not split or torn – it was never kind to the record’s playing surface – this record was stored in a lined replacement inner. Overall, a superb copy, the cover is perfectionist standard and the pressing quality up to the job to reproduce this delicate and wonderfully compelling album.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: High.

Cover Grade and Format: MINT(-): a single unlaminated format with matt, smooth surfaces and including the inside ‘wallpaper’ artwork. Printed in England, the card inner was printed by Shorewood Packaging. Later examples omitted the inside design and had more coated surfaces.

Cover Front: My best ever example of this unforgiving cover, the front is as clean and fresh as when made and I can find barely anything worthy of special mention to fault. A stunning example to hold, view and enjoy to the absolute maximum. .

Cover Back: The back is practically the same, the lack of any ringwear and grubbiness is near impossible to find. A minor pressure impression against the internal flipback near the top is almost nit-picking and any edge hairline creases tiny, few and faint.

Cover Inside: I rarely have to mention the inside of the cover, that is where the record is stored, but on this one it’s vitally important. This famous cover is fully printed on the inside with what looks like a flowered wallpaper (please see my picture of this). All this appears to be perfect with no rubbing which can and does happen via the hard inner. Clearly this is unusual but not absolutely unique, later ones omitted this artwork.

Top Edge: Unworn and dead straight.

Bottom Edge: Very faint and light patchy rubbing.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, very sharp with no traces of wear and guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with no compression, clean and unworn. All text present as well as the design and as fresh as when made.

Corners: Any tip rubs are tiny and faint and all retain superb near mint shape with no dinks.

Cover Summary: Never an easy one and I can hardly imagine finding a better one. At last, one for the very discerning collector, being cover protected this has survived the years practically unscathed.

The Inner Sleeve: Mint(-): a hard card inner with no lining, never great news for record surfaces. No splits, tears, rubbing and as clean and fresh as new. Often seen with edge tape, but not this one. Printed and made in England by Shorewood.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a very fine visual copy that is clean, shiny, intense black and fairly solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence. Any surface trace marks are few, fine and very faint, side one barely anything at all. A unusually fine copy of this difficult record that should please most 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 miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic status record plays even above it’s high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. ‘See the Sky About to Rain’ plays to absolute perfection, sounding clean and clear and devoid of irritating crackle. I have seen several copies of this album where pressing impurities are actually seen in the grooves which cause the poor sound regularly encountered. There is little seen on this copy and this early pressing really delivers. A clean pressing devoid of the (often) consistent crackle that ruins even the cleanest looking of copies. Few copies will match or outperform this one significantly I feel sure, no pops and any tiny sporadic minor clicks very few and faint, three or four noted on the final song – hardly bad for a lengthy acoustic song. Nothing to spoil my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – the most satisfying vinyl copy I have ever heard for some time. A much better all-round copy will not be found at all easily and this one I can strongly recommend – this is very impressive.

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 QED Silver 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 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 3 or 4 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). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as 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.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (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 [£46 maximum]) = £10. (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 [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (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’.