THE BEATLES-SGT. PEPPER-1ST PRESS MONO 1G/1G WIDE SPINE

	£		76
	$		101

THE BEATLES-SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND TYPE SINGLE LP MONO LABEL/PRESSING INFO

PARLOPHONE YELLOW & BLACK 1ST PRESS WITH MATRIX NUMBERS XEX 637-1 XEX 638-1 AND STAMPER CODES 1GP/1GO

CATALOGUE NUMBER PMC 7027 YEAR OF RELEASE 1967 COUNTRY OF RELEASE UK SLEEVE TYPE GATEFOLD FULLY LAMINATED WITH INNER FLIPBACKS "WIDE SPINE" E.J. DAY EDITION. INSERTS/EXTRAS CARD CUTOUTS Bizarrely not only did,what appeared on first inspection to be yet another copy of Sgt Pepper,nice to find I know but not the rarest record in the world,but turned out to be one of the VERY FIRST ever pressed and in a sought after E.J. Day sleeve,inside was a bunch of newspaper clippings from The Daily Express dated May 19th 1967 ,a week or so before the release date, a 1/2 page article devoted to the sleeve art. Not an earth shattering discovery I know as the world and his brother was running a huge marketing campaign for the "latest Beatles album" but a nice provenance to the fact that this LP must have been purchased on or around the release date,and reinforces the fact that it is,out of the millions in existence, one of the very first ever pressed. Even more bizarrely also included is an article about Janie Jones and her vice trial,also from the same edition,see pictures at the bottom of the listing I will naturally be including in the sale as they should be kept where they belong I think. GRADING DISC(s) EXCELLENT (NICE COPY with really only a light amount of playtime,the record as is well known was pressed without track seperators,and is one of the easiest to grade accurately,as you get a long and virtual sea of black vinyl,and it is very easy to see anything amiss straight away,and having played it through a couple of times am perfectly happy with the reproduction quality that is crisp and sharp with hardly any background noise or distortion and of course it is MONO which as always is pleasing to the ear.Cosmetically it is clean with only light handling marks,and the only reason that I dont award it a higher grade is a noticeable but very light surface scuff at the beginning of side 1,and it is light and nothing more than a smudge on the face of the vinyl and completely inaudible,but I know from experience that the look of a record is almost as import as the sound that it reproduces.) LABELS

EXCELLENT+(NICE CLEAN LABELS with NO writing,stickers or removal marks scuff or tears and just light spindle usage)

EXCELLENT (NOT only do you get a rare very 1st press,there is also the bonus that it is housed in an equally sought after E.J. Day wide spine sleeve,and this too appears to have been well looked after.The front board is unmarked with nice shiny laminate that hasnt been too dulled by the ravages of time and has no ringwear and only a light pressure mark near the top an a few very light "thumbnail" type creases.The rear card is also clean and bright and shiny and much in the same condition as the front.Inner boards are more or less as they were 44 years ago and the laminate still cracks slightly when you open it.The all important wide spine is also well preserved,and hasnt been squashed by being laid flat,and is clean,the laminate is complete and just has a few small cracks,a very small nick in the laminate about an inch from the bottom,and a bit of wear at the top and bottom.The top and bottom edges are unworn apart from some wear to both top corners,which is a bit heavier than I would have liked but not a major influence on the overall state of the sleeve.)

INNERS/EXTRAS

EXCELLENT+ (ORIGINAL DARKER GREEN COPY and is unmarked with no rips tears folded over corners and only very light handling wear)

 

 

  DETAILS

With Revolver, the Beatles made the Great Leap Forward, reaching a previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless experimentation. Sgt. Pepper, in many ways, refines that breakthrough, as the Beatles consciously synthesized such disparate influences as psychedelia, art-song, classical music, rock & roll, and music hall, often in the course of one song.

Not once does the diversity seem forced -- the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita." There's no discounting the individual contributions of each member or their producer, George Martin, but the preponderance of whimsy and self-conscious art gives the impression that Paul McCartney is the leader of the Lonely Hearts Club Band. He dominates the album in terms of compositions, setting the tone for the album with his unabashed melodicism and deviously clever arrangements.

In comparison, Lennon's contributions seem fewer, and a couple of them are a little slight but his major statements are stunning. "With a Little Help From My Friends" is the ideal Ringo tune, a rolling, friendly pop song that hides genuine Lennon anguish, à la "Help!"; "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" remains one of the touchstones of British psychedelia; and he's the mastermind behind the bulk of "A Day in the Life," a haunting number that skillfully blends Lennon's verse and chorus with McCartney's bridge. It's possible to argue that there are better Beatles albums, yet no album is as historically important as this.

After Sgt. Pepper, there were no rules to follow -- rock and pop bands could try anything, for better or worse. Ironically, few tried to achieve the sweeping, all-encompassing embrace of music as the Beatles did here.

  GRADING SPECIFICS All of my records are subject to close scrutiny before listing, and to ensure that I am accurate with my interpretation is carefully examined under a strong viewing light and played on a high end deck - I will never list a record that jumps,sticks,or is subject to so much background noise that the listening pleasure is radically impaired. I use the grading denominations as laid down in the Rare Record Collectors Guide,but with my own revisions as laid out below.

PLAYING SURFACE

MINT The record itself is obvious by its look and feel that it has never been removed from its inner sleeve,and typified by the very action of removal from a lined sleeve,where it has a very light friction against the poly,and a sheen across the playing surface that hasn't been dulled by the passage of a stylus,and requires no effort to remove any traces of foreign matter in the grooves,other than a cursory wipe with a soft cloth,and with a sound reproduction that you would expect from a piece of unplayed vinyl. MINT- Again a record that has been bought and stored away,but has been removed from its sleeves,either by the owner or more often some clumsy potential second user,and has some,but not many hairline marks across the playing surface due to the action of removal and insertion,these would not be noticeable unless viewed by rotation under a viewing lamp,and definitely have no effect on the reproductive quality. EXCELLENT++ A record that has endured only the lightest of playtime,say maybe only once or twice,and is perhaps only distinguishable by a spindlemark on the label or the presence of minimal hairline playmarks. EXCELLENT+ The majority of records that we sell fall into this category-the RRC defines EXCELLENT as:"The record shows some signs of having been played,but there is very little lessening in sound quality", but to take this a step further,there are a multitude of records that are far better than this and deserve a higher status. These are the records that you would feel more than comfortable in receiving,they have very light playwear and no abuse marks such as needle skating,edge scuffing,or feelable scratches,and the audio quality will be as such that any previous play will be completely inaudible. EXCELLENT As defined above-these are records that "show some signs" of being played,and by some signs we interpret ,lightish hairline markings (papercuts)that are the result of multiple removals from the sleeve,occasional visual playmarks and very light scuffing that cant be heard during playtime,and the record has the overall feel of one that has been popular but cared for. VERY GOOD/VERY GOOD+/VERY GOOD++/VERY GOOD+++ The definition of VG is of record that has been played many times but shows no "major deterioration" despite "noticeable" surface marks and scratches.We don't care for this sort of product and don't stock them,and are of the opinion that it doesn't really matter how many +++'s you suffix the grading with its still a VG (very good) LABELS MINT We are great believers in the fact that labels will tell you more about the life of a record than anything else,apart from playing it of course,the number and voracity of spindlemarks,the usage wear around the hole any tears stickers writing,attempts to remove or fill in blemishes all point to the previous care of the record itself,and we always detail pictorially and grade them accordingly .A MINT label is just that a perfectly clean and free from any signs that the disc has ever been near a turntable,and only used in conjunction with MINT or NEAR MINT vinyl gradings. MINT- Both labels are perfectly clean but there will be a hint of spindlemarking ,say one or two dectectable mark on 1 label EXCELLENT+ Again perfectly clean but with very light but noticeable spindlemarks that are the result of light but inaccurate placement on the turntable. EXCELLENT In keeping with grading system as a whole an EXCELLENT label grading is given to a record with clean and unmarked labels that have born the brunt of moderate play but have suffered in as much that the "player" has neglected to line the record accurately which has resulted in noticeable spindlemarkings, with the occasional wayward or spidery effect,dark rooms and alcohol can exacerbate this. EXCELLENT- Any label that has "neat" user embellishment -a small biro name ,initials or an unobtrusive sticker,obviously we will show this pictorially. VERY GOOD/+ it is rare that we offer for sale any record where the labels have been so defaced that cosmetically the record is unpleasing to the eye,this means major tearing due to amateur sticker removal,large scale writing, using felt tip pens or the like,this can apply to any grading of vinyl! -in a nutshell if we feel that it is ugly then we don't buy it. SLEEVE MINT A MINT sleeve is something that we do not believe in,you wouldn't even get one straight from the shop,they have always picked up even the slightest of knocks to the corners or a hint of a crease here or there,so you will never see a mint grading for one of our sleeves.   MINT- These are a reality ,but only very occasionally,and only where the initial purchaser has had so much pride in their collection that it has immediately been stored in a poly outer sleeve,and kept upright in an environment that has allowed to remain free from crushing,and external forces,sleeves of this calibre are perfectly clean with uncrushed spines no creasing and no wear to any edges,and not not even a hint of ringwear.   EXCELLENT++ A high quality of storage ,again in a protective sleeve,with no visible defects,but perhaps a very light wear to the opening or corner buffing,or a hint of ringwear etc,an exceptional sleeve but not quite NM   EXCELLENT+ Again as with vinyl grading,the majority of our sales fall into this category.Its clean and unmarked with no user markings,straight edges,there is light wear to the opening and only very light or no ringwear.   EXCELLENT A perfectly serviceable and clean ,but with a noticeable defect,such as excessive colour loss to the top or bottom edge due to storage and handling movement,some occasional light markings on the boards,lightish rigwear,or a very light sticker removal mark.   EXCELLENT- A sleeve that whilst being of good quality is marred by some significant event- biro name ,sticker markings,less than perfect edges or spine,and just a general sadness and careworn demeanour.As always we show multiple pictures,and will always note major defects in the grading section above.   VERY GOOD/ETC There are occasions where we feel that record is of sufficiently high quality or scarcity that it is of interest even with major defects,board tearing,significant writing and or a grubby disposition,on the occasions we do list with a low grading and display the faults.   INSERTS/EXTRAS The problem with a major part of lyric/picture inners is that are made of such light paper that they split very easily and are effectively rendered useless.We try very hard to limit this and do not normally stock any records with split,excessively creased or damaged inner sleeves or inserts.The exception that we make are to small worn portions which we will either repair or reinforce with a neat taped repair.Any defects that are not visible in our pictures will be noted in the grading above. Postal Shipping & Handling charges Region Single Item Extra UK £3.00 £.70 Europe £4.50 £1.00 USA £6.50 £1.50 Japan/ROW £6.50 £1.50   Terms and Conditions Guarantee I like to believe that I have an inkling about these things and accurately describe the item I am selling,but I along with everyone else am only human,and there might be an occasion where my assessment differs from yours,in this instance please contact me,and I will without question accept your criticism and arrange a full refund + your return costs if we need to go down that route. Communication and Feedback I have always been a great believer that feedback is a mutual thing between parties,and should be recognised upon the satisfactory completion of a sale .I know that these days it really matter when it is left as there is no recriminatory comments allowable for a buyer no matter how despicable they behave,but non the less I still prefer to leave feedback once I know that the buyer has received and is happy with the item,and have set my feedback profile to automatically reply to feedback given -So you will get your feedback minutes after you send yours,alternately I could do it manually and with my memory you could be waiting a loooong time. Payment We accept the following payment types - UK Customers - Paypal Cheque or Postal Order. Overseas Customers - Paypal Only