ROY HARPER, SOPHISTICATED BEGGAR, 1967 UK STRIKE 1st PRESS

	£		511
	$		677

betsy50 store

Hi, my name is Nick (aka cornerstonevinyl). I have been an avid record collector for many years, building up an extensive collection of mostly blues/rock, psych, progressive and classic rock 1st issue albums from the mid sixties to early seventies period. I have decided to sell off a few choice albums in either the Fixed Price or Auction formats. These offerings represent the crème de la crème of my 35 years of record collecting and are of the highest quality. My grading is strict and any significant defects will be mentioned. You can rest assured that a record that I grade as MINT- will be both visually and aurally as fine a copy as you are ever likely to find (hopefully my feedback and 4.9/5.0 "item as described" rating will bear this out). My descriptions are concise and in accordance with the GRADINGS detailed below. I will not bore you with the unnecessary duplication of song lyrics, and self-respect will not allow the use of ridiculous words like "awesome, mega, hyper", etc., or endless exclamation marks. Customer satisfaction is of the highest importance to me. In the unlikely event that you are not entirely happy with an LP bought from me for any reason, I will refund you in full upon return without any hassle.

From my own personal collection I am pleased to offer a seriously rare example of the debut studio album by ROY HARPER titled "SOPHISTICATED BEGGAR", Catalogue Number JHL 105. This is an original 1967 UK MONO 1st PRESSING on the STRIKE RECORD LABEL, with an exceptional 1st ISSUE FULLY-LAMINATED DAWSON ROSSITER LTD SLEEVE. [The record labels are rough-textured. The matrix numbers are JHL 105 + A and JHL 105 + B].

The sleeve is in EX+ condition with virtually no wear and only a few very minor creases. It’s a beautiful 1st issue sleeve which will be almost impossible to improve upon.  

The top quality STRIKE record is in VG+ condition. It’s a heavyweight 152g pressing which retains a lovely deep shine and rotates evenly on the turntable. There are just a few light surface marks evident under bright light which have barely any effect on the audio playback. The textured STRIKE labels are unmarked apart from a moderate number of spindle traces near the centres. The record plays excellently throughout with no deterioration in sound quality and only very low levels unwanted noise (just occasional light surface sound which is never intrusive and only mentioned for complete accuracy). The mono sound quality is very loud-cut, powerful and vibrant. There is a grey pinhead-size pressing mark on Track 4 of Side 1 which causes 5 lightish ticks. Playback is otherwise faultless.

Complete with the original plain white inner sleeve.

Overall this is a lovely 1st press copy of Roy Harpers debut album which is seriously hard to find on the original STRIKE label.

GRADINGS

The records that I offer for sale have been critically play-graded, at loud volume, on a Rega P5 turntable fitted with an Elys 2 cartridge. I will only sell records that play to a high standard. My gradings are strict and in accordance with the following descriptions:

·         MINT- Record is superb, almost like new, with just a few sleeve removal type surface marks and no deterioration in sound quality. Sleeve is near perfect in all respects.

·         EX Record is a top quality example, with just a few very light surface marks which do not sound, and barely any discernable deterioration in sound quality. Sleeve has slight wear and/or creasing.

·         VG Record has some visual surface marks, but still plays to a high standard without any major deterioration in sound quality – just a few clicks or light surface sound in places. Sleeve has normal wear and tear without any major defects but is still very presentable.

PACKAGING        

LPs are packaged with care and well protected to ensure that they arrive safely in the same condition as they leave me. Records are removed from both inner and outer sleeves in order to prevent seam-splits in transit.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE

LPs posted outside of the UK will only be sent International Signed-For with insurance at the following cost:   

Europe - £5.95

Worldwide - £9.30