THE BYRDS Mr. TAMBOURINE MAN MONO 1st US PRESS EX +ULTRA RARE PRESS CUTTINGS

First U.K. MONO Pressing

Catalogue number: BPG 62571 Originally released 1965

Overall condition is EXCELLENT

Sleeve EXCELLENT

The gloss laminate front flipback/ matt back sleeve is still bright and glossy in very good condition with no tears or splits but there is a slight hint of ringwear and some minor laminate creasing towards the spine. The colours are still very bright and there isn’t any writing, taping or stickers.

Spine EXCELLENT the spine is firm and totally legible

I will also include the original plastic outer that I bought with it, which still fits tightly and has successfully kept the dust off for all these years.

Record EXCELLENT The record itself is clean and glossy and the disc retains its deep, black vinyl sheen. There are some faint hairline marks, but nothing ugly or deep to affect the sound quality

Labels EXCELLENT The original orange rough textured labels show some minimal signs of use, have no writing and are clean with absolutely minimal spindle marking.

Audio Quality EXCELLENT The record itself is clean and glossy and plays well apart from some absolutely minimal vinyl hiss and crackle between tracks, but they vanish after a few seconds and don’t detract from the overall sound, which is still amazing. although deep cleaning would probably remove them.

But, to quote the Record Collector grading system “for the category of EXCELLENT, there is very little lessening in sound quality.”

It lays flat on the turntable and plays well without the needle sticking or jumping.

(Please remember even new, factory fresh vinyl is likely to have some clicks and pops, but the richness of sound will always be better than digital. OK eventually the robots and aliens will make digital sound as good, but until then, it’s a compromise, you have to choose; deep rich tones and a beautiful sleeve (often with lyrics or other notes) or clinical sterility with nothing to see and a narrow frequency range.)

Until 1970 I only ever played my albums on a Garrard Sp25 Mk11 with a Sonotone 9TAHC cartridge and from 1970 onwards on a Pioneer PL12D with a Shure N75 ED-T2 cartridge and stylus, tracking at 1.5 grams which I continue to use today – although the stylus has been replaced regularly

Tracklist: Side A: 1. Mr. Tambourine Man 2. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better 3. Spanish Harlem Incident 4. You Won't Have To Cry 5. Here Without You

6. The Bells Of Rhymney Side B 1. All I Really Want To Do 2. I Knew I'd Want You 3. It's No Use 4. Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe 5. Chimes Of Freedom

6. We'll Meet Again

PRESS CUTTINGS I’m also including a double sided press cutting from Melody Maker from February 16th 1974. One side is a retrospective of Roger McGuinn and his work with the Byrds featured as part of the paper’s ‘Rock Giants’ series. The other is one of Pete Frame’s famous ‘Rock Family Trees’ detailing all the various personnel changes over the years. Unfortunately the lower right hand corner has lost a few millimetres and some parts of words, but you can still get the gist of what was being said I think they are both very rare, as I’ve never seen them referred to in books or on the web.

Summary: this ICONIC, masterwork album is a lovely piece of genuine memorabilia from a bygone time that changed the world, as well as the way that music is made, and would grace any collection. If you weren’t there you can’t really appreciate the amazing impact of the Byrds on the music scene and beyond. They invented Folk-Rock, Raga-Rock, Country-Rock and too many other styles to list. Every single member who left, went on to form a new innovative group while McGuinn continues to produce amazing music. If you haven’t heard it on vinyl this could be for you. It certainly doesn’t sound 56 years old.

If you check my feedback you will see many people think my grading is spot on.

I’m not a dealer of any sort, but am just downsizing and having to clear things out and trying to survive on a poxy pension. Good luck with your bidding and feel free to ask any question.

A Word About Payment and Postage

Sorry but I accept Paypal only and it will be posted as soon as payment has cleared, which must be paid within 24hours of the end of the auction. This may seem harsh but I’m fed up with time wasters!

I use 12" Vinyl LP Record Cruciform postal mailers and protect them with an additional layer of bubblewrap. In the UK I use Royal Mail Signed For.

Price for postage is for 2nd class. If you are outside the UK, I will use Ebay’s Global Shipping Program and you are therefore accepting their shipping terms and charges over which I have no control.

Record Collector grading system used

MINT: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

EXCELLENT: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and / or creasing.

VERY GOOD: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

GOOD: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discolouration, etc.

FAIR: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and / or defaced.

POOR: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

As well as the above grades, Near Mint is often used as well; this is really for a record that appears new but is known to have been played because the label has light spindle marks or because it has come from a previous owner and is assumed to have been played by them. For records which appear to fall between the accepted grades, + and - are also often added to the grading.