STEELEYE SPAN Please to See the King RARE ORIG UK 1971 B&C LP, 1st HESSIAN COVER

	£		51
	$		68

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: STEELEYE SPAN

Album Title: Please to See the King

Producer(s): Sandy Roberton

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Blacksmith; Cold Haily, Windy Night; Jigs: Bryan O’Lynn / The Hag With The Money; Prince Charlie Stuart; Boys of Bedlam.

Side 2: False Knight On the Road; The Lark in the Morning; Female Drummer; The King; Lovely on the Wate.

Label/Format: B&C, matt surfaces with a very gentle hint of texturing.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and attractive, the odd minor mark or handling trace, these are very revealing. Spindle marks are very few and faint.

Catalogue Number: CAS 1029

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 140 grams. An impressive solid weight, the copy pressed by EMI.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Scarce with the first heavily textured ‘hessian’ cover. There are several different versions of this cover. The first issues were heavily textured with rough surfaces and had much darker artwork. Even slightly later ones appeared paler and the texturing far less pronounced, almost disappearing totally. Also originals were printed on very soft card and massively prone to all forms of wear and damage. A few included a square insert sheet, which this has. But I cannot be entirely sure if this is an original – it may well be, but it almost looks too white and clean, so I reserve judgement and state it ‘could’ be a reproduction, or it ‘could’ be original – I do not know for sure. This simply came with this copy on purchase, that is a fact. This is a very fine overall example of quite a delicate album, it sold very modestly and the cover especially, is seldom seen in anything like decent condition. Thin, bendy and very fragile indeed, this is a strong example – such copies are scarce. It soon disappeared altogether when fairly quickly repressed on Mooncrest Records, the trademark cover then totally changed.

Original Year of Release: 1971

Matrix Nos: CAS 1029 A-2U / CAS 1029 B-1U [these are first issue matrixes]

Mothers / Stampers: 1 L / 3 GR

Musicians: Maddy Prior – vocals, spoons, tabor, tambourine; Tim Hart – vocals, guitar, dulcimer; Peter Knight – violin, mandolin, vocals, organ, bass; Ashley Hutchings – bass, vocals; Martin Carthy – vocals, guitar, banjo, organ.

Brief Info: The second Steeleye Span album dating way back to 1971. Gay Woods had now departed, replaced by Martin Carthy, the sound now more electric and included no drums. A superb folk-rock classic many regard as one of their finest. It charted and peaked at a very modest 45 in the UK – it deserved better – it fared considerably worse in the United States and was quickly deleted. Notoriously difficult to find with the original cover in finer conditions. This one more than qualifies with most of any wear on the perilous edges, the soft card has scant chance of avoid as the barest minimum. The original B&C label record plays mostly superbly, the odd gentle click or two, but mostly impressive and very enjoyable. Not seen often like this, and one many fans and collectors will enjoy.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): even with mild rubbing to the top and bottom edges, I cannot grade this ultra fragile, soft card cover less. BE AWARE: NOT ALL THESE COVERS ARE THE SAME. This a true first printing with the very rough, and more defined texturing to the matt surfaces, also much deeper shades of brown. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group on very thin, fragile, bendy soft card. A detail to confirm first printings: the inside has inner flipback construction, the ends seen near the opening edges are rounded rather than square. This includes the plain white inner sleeve and the square insert sheet – as stated above, I cannot be certain if this is original as it almost looks to clean and unaged.

Cover Front: Magnificent! this unforgiving surface looks probably as good as you will see. Clean, fresh with fantastic deep colour. Deeply textured with immense detail, this really does feel like vintage sack-cloth exactly as it was intended to. I have tried to show this in close-up detail. A faint hint of a semi-crease near the bottom left, but this almost nit-picking. This unforgiving surface will rarely be found better with barely a rub to be seen – hints only on the extreme edges and corner tips – few will show less. Although appearing simple, this is far from the truth, it is a work of quite complex art. No wonder Mooncrest dropped it when they won the rights to the early Steeleye Span album rights, these would not be cheap to produce and few survive this nice.

Cover Back: The back is equally impressive and even more complex. The band insert picture, also seen up close, has a different style of texturing again, less dense so the picture detail is not lost or too grainy. The lack of ring wear to either side is unusual, but a delight to see.

Top Edge: Straight and thin, surface rubbing a fraction of moderate and barely encroaching on to the front or back surfaces. No splits, no repairs.

Bottom Edge: Almost the same, with the rubbing slightly heavier, but more than respectable for a perilous storage edge.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, quite sharp with very little wear. Any thickening or burring minimal and light as seen viewed end-on. Record enters on this edge that is guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression, the ends are pinched in manufacture, these areas have only light rubbing. Inbetween there is hardly any wear, and the text has survived practically fully intact. No fading, the hessian artwork is still intact bar the very ends as stated. Another delicate area that has fared very well.

Corners: Moderate tip rubs to match the actual edges with very fine, arguably better shape retained. No bashes or noteworthy dinks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this difficult and challening first print 1970’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. The main surfaces are fantastic and rarely seen better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a solid plain white unlined inner only gently aged with mild discolouration and some moderate crinkle on the back. No edge splits or repairs.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): printed on square paper that looks very fresh and white, thus I cannot be certain if it’s original, I have no other to compare it with – put simply – it may be a production. Either way, it’s lovely and uncreased, it appears the same as others I have viewed on the Net, the printing offset to left.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and very solidly pressed. A copy with minimal plays on all the evidence with any surface marks mostly light and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Wispy and very fine and registering little in average room light, one tiny mark on ‘False Knight’ emits a half-a-dozen or so mostly gentle ticks. Visually a lovely record 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 folk-rock album plays above it’s high visual grading for most of its entirety with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed – as stated above, a small few light ticks on ‘False Knight’, any other blemishes are few and faint, overall a very fine clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing sounds (which B&C records sometimes have). Few available copies will outperform this first issue significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been well stored and mostly carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Very little spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It could prove difficult to find significantly better (the cover especially so) and can be strongly recommended unless perfection is mandatory.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

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 as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – 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 it’s 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 programs. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. 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 Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium 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, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners 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 minuscule in over 14 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. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. 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 TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, 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 as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. 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] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 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 £2 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’.