PINK FLOYD - Atom Heart Mother - Orig UK 70 Harvest LP

	£		37
	$		49

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Band: PINK FLOYD.

Album Title: Atom Heart Mother.

Producers: Pink Floyd.

Executive Producer: Norman Smith.

Engineers: Alan Parsons and Peter Bown.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Atom Heart Mother (a) Father’s Shout; (b) Breast Milky (c) Mother Fore; (d) Funky Dung; (e) Mind Your Throats Please; (f) Remergence.

Side 2: If; Sumer 68; Fat Old Sun; Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast (a) Rise and Shine; (b) Sunny Side Up; (c) Morning Glory.

Label/Format: Harvest – original pre-EMI labels with ‘Gramophone’ rim text and no EMI logo.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and highly attractive. Spindle marks are light+ and light and have little visual impact, mostly seen under light.

Cat Number: SHVL 781.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of this Record: 145 grams. A very good weight for this one, being a first issue, considerably heavier than subsequent pressings which tend to average out between 115 and 125 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: The actual title itself is not rare, sales of this increased significantly by the curious after the band became very popular and a household name after Dark Side of the Moon but it sold well initially anyway. But I have always found this one of the most difficult Floyd albums to find clean and play with top sound quality. The earliest pressings are so often seen badly scratched or played with less than wonderful equipment that damaged the delicate groove walls that made this most complex of recordings suffer noise and distortion. Clean early pressings with the correct label format and cover text (seen in close-up, beware of substitutions), are considerably harder to find lightly played and offering clean sound. Now can I make this clear: this copy has a mega-fine mark at the very beginning of side one. It has clicks for around 30 seconds, the mark so tiny and fine, I actually had to trace it via the label position to the point of impact to actually find it. But that’s why I play-grade ALL of my records from beginning to end to find out if near invisible blemishes are present. This appears to be an exceptional visual copy and without doubt, little played and offers near perfect sound thereafter the initial super-fine mark has gone. Without this blemish, it truly is one of the very best first issues I have ever heard. ‘Very difficult’ is no understatement for this highly complex recording and there is no way I cannot offer this top quality pressing because of one tiny mark that’s almost invisible. Indeed it’s so fine I am surprise it sounds, but it does. So, if this is an issue, do not bid, but the rest of the album plays beautifully, and that initself is no easy task.

Original Year of Release: 1970.

Matrix Nos: SHVL 781 A-1G / SHVL 781 B-1G

Mother & Stamper Codes: 1 2 AR / 2 OD

Musicians: David Gilmour – guitars; bass guitar, drums, vocals; Roger Waters – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, tape effects, tape collage, vocals; Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, orchestration, vocals; Nick Mason – drums, percussion, tape editing, tape collage. Guest musicians and vocalists: John Aldiss Choir – vocals; Ron Geesin – orchestration; Alan Stiles – voice on ‘Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast’; Philip Jones Brass Ensemble; Abbey Road Session Pops Orchestra – brass and orchestral sections.

Brief Artist & Album Info: This still has to Pink Floyd’s most underrated and often under-appreciated work, ‘Atom Heart Mother’ was a very brave experimental piece. Partially written with avant-garde composer, Ron Geesin and produced by Norman Smith and beautifully engineered by Alan Parsons. It featured the first in a series of impressive album covers, designed by the Hipgnosis studio, none of which featured photographs of the band on the front. A cover most regularly seen with substantial wear and clean examples of the matt finished printings are more difficult to find. This one has aged a little with some wear but it’s guaranteed the original with the correct printer’s imprint and text inside (seen in close-up). Later printings omitted the later text details. The album’s first side is taken up with the title track broken down into six segments. Brass, choir and sound effects are used throughout including a high powered motorbike near the beginning which roars from speaker to speaker, also horses and a high-speed train – all interesting for the audiophile listener. Side two offers four songs and is more familiar period piece Floyd, but ‘Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast’ is pretty strange too – a full English with a difference – most of any crackle here is spitting bacon in a pan. A highly challenging record with so many quiet passages, clean copies do not come easy and this record suffers very badly if over-played or subjected to thick heavy pickups from yesteryear. This example is very well pressed and plays through with little unwanted and all is fully focused and distortion-free. The only issue of any note is the tiny aforementioned mark at the very beginning that clicks for around 30 seconds, thereafter, it’s superb. The groove patterns are complex with varying dark and light bands, wide and narrow groove widths. Telling any vinyl ‘reader’ it has varying degrees of volume, intensity and importantly, real high fidelity sound – an album that’s hugely challenging to any record deck, the early mono record-players could destroy these types very quickly especially if the stylus was not up to standard and many early issues were still subjected to these things. Overall a strong contender for the most ‘difficult’ Pink Floyd album simply due to the intricate sounds and music embedded. With two very clean playing surfaces and labels, this strongly suggests a copy only lightly played which is reitterated by a fantastic sound, this is a copy for the collector who wants high audio quality and this offers just that. The clicks at the beginning of course are a factor, but they appear almost before the music get really gets going, and when they are gone, the rest is pure high class. So you decide, if these clicks are a factor, do not bid.

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High: few of the originals will be seen devoid of some wear and this non-laminate is vulnerable to just about everything time, bad storage and heavy handling can offer.

Cover Grade and Format: VERY GOOD, maybe worthy of a (+). This is a gatefold format and unlaminated. It was printed in Great Britain by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd and includes the important Patent details.

Cover Front: This famous old cow is still looking in fine shape. Mild discolour to the upper sky area with a few fine edge creases, mostly very small only and a few light surface marks mostly seen under light. Retaining fine colour with any rubbing minimal indeed. Overall a highly respectable front correctly graded very good.

Cover Back: Even more wearprone with the record resting against it, so obviously ringwear is a major factor. Glad to state this has has been avoided and t his back has only a little mild discolouration and fine edge creases, little else.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Minimal discolour and very little wear at all and both faces look great, note again: the correct imprint inside to denote a first-issue cover.

Top Edges: Very little wear, any rubbing is very light and faint, put into context for this one, unusual and exceptional.

Bottom Edges: Mainly quite light patchy rubbing only, most near the corner areas.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Mainly sharp with little wear, no feathering, guaranteed untrimmed. Odd minor burr or thickening trace viewed end-on. Record is stored on this back edge, the front being closed.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight and square, the right edges meet up closely together and parallel too – this is a cover I have seen many times folded off-square which never helps it’s appearance. This has a little rubbing, but only small on the top fold but little else. The text is virtually all unaffected, strong and present with just a rub to the ‘S’ on the ‘SHVL’ number.

Corners: All corners have tip rubs but retain fine shape.

Cover Summary: Considering just how difficult this cover is I consider this a very decent example. I feel sure it will please many collectors but clearly not the highly discerning or perfectionists.

The Inner: This early pressings includes the Harvest promotional inner which is still lined. A near excellent example that has lightly aged only. All edges intact with minimal creasing but a little darkening or toning of the seam glue which is hardly unusual and most consider normal.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT++ NOT taking into account of that ultra fine and super-fine mark at the beginning – you, the collector decide to what degree this degrades, my visual grading is based purely on what is seen and this lovely old record is a beauty. This is very clean, shiny, intense black and quite heavily pressed. Any other marks are few and very light and faint indeed. The one significant mark, albeit near impossible to even see, does sound for 30 seconds and I have made that more than plain throughout this advert, so no excuses. Visually a lovely record that should please many collectors, but again, not the perfectionists or those intolerant of those initial clicks.

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 super record plays for practically all up to and beyond it’s high visual grading with very little nothing to fault bare the several times mentioned clicks at the very start – only very rarely could I ever state this on this uncompromising title. As stated above, a massively challenging record for vinyl with so many quite passages and complex sounds – brass and choir are very difficult to track especially. Side two is quiet and delicate and has few hiding places for unwanted sounds and this is up there with the very best I have heard before. Many copies fail miserably with constant surface noise, loud crackle, loud pops and clicks throughout – I have heard even clean looking copies play badly, a notriously difficult record for sure so I was taking nothing for granted until this has been played in its entirety. The 30 seconds of clicks at the very start was a surprise as this fine blemish totally bypassed me on viewing, only following the label area to match the sound directed me to it, and then not quickly, it is so very fine and small, but present nonetheless. This quality pressing has strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear throughout including the brass, strings and choir - sound quality is very high with real high fidelity sound values, a massive dynamic range and very full and detailed sound (as you expect from any Pink Floyd production). Of course there will be the odd minor surface blemish or sporadic tick on the near silent passages – it’s vinyl, it’s old, the format dictates blemishes on records like this. But quick to state I noted little on this one (other than the beginning) and hardly anything thereafter, spoilt my pleasure hearing what is fast becoming one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums. The most crackle on this album is heard from the frying food on ‘Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast’. I prefer their experimental, more ‘difficult’ era, it challenges and thrills – this has taken time, but perseverance is well worth the effort on this progressive classic. I just love that lovely brass ‘riff’ on the title song. I feel certain this record has been played lightly and the tiny mark a likely misalignment slip from years ago. It will still prove difficult to find much significantly better throughout. This copy has the dripping tap playing into the run-out grooves that loop and repeat, exactly the same as all copies I have ever heard regardless of when pressed.

End Piece: A notoriously difficult album to find that plays this well, if total silence is demanded, stick to the small digital format but miss out on on the fine details and dynamics only the analogue format offers. This is a more challenging and experimental early work rather than the huge stadium rock epics they produced after Wish You Were Here. The title song is eerie in places and very compelling – a beautiful piece that remains quite unique in their catalogue, the use of the choir and brass are inspired. Side two is more typical, mostly acoustic and all magnificent and here plays exceptionally well, so often this side has the unwanted noises. This groundbreaking work has slowly won over more fans over the years and now become a far more respected work, this first issue pressing should please many Floyd fans, but will have to compromise on the clicks at the start. I state for the last time, if you have doubts, do not bid – I cannot state fairer.

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 Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET - PLEASE SEE MY TYPICAL PACKING BOX PICTURE.

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 Moth 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 thick boxes (NOT Mailers or Cruciforms, these do not offer maximum protection). The record(s) 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 THREE or EVEN FOUR 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. 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. Please see my picture of a typical finished box packet that will now be used on ALL transactions as from now. 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. These boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffners 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 6,000+ items sold in over 8 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 stiffners 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 FOUR 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: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

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 [£40 maximum]) = £9. (insurance optional extra £3). Add £2.50 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); 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 [£39 maximum]) = £13. Add £4 per extra LP. (insurance 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: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. 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 neccessarily 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’.