TODD RUNDGREN A WIZARD, A TRUE STAR ORIG. '73 US PRESS NM in SHRINK ALL INSERTS

$

100

Todd Rundgren - A Wizard/A True Star

Rare Original 1973 US Press on Bearsville Records

1B/1B Matrices - Early Pressing!

Original die-cut, gatefold jacket design!

"STERLING RL" etched in the run-out on both sides!

Original Patti Smith-designed "bandaid" insert!

Original postcard insert!

Original promotional flap insert!

[For a detailed explanation of the significance of those "STERLING RL" etchings, please scroll down to the bottom of the page (past the item condition descriptions), where we provide a VERY comprehensive summary.]

Now for condition...

We grade the disc as Excellent (EX).

(You know, that grade between NM and VG+...)

Overall it is very clean. Strong and direct light does reveal some very faint and shallow sleeve brush marks, which we cannot imagine will in anyway affect playback or sound quality. The disc still retains much of its gloss, and was very likely not played too many times.

We grade the die-cut, gatefold jacket as Near Mint (NM).

Absolutely GORGEOUS jacket here folks!

Still in its original shrink wrap, AND with rare hype sticker still on the front!

We honestly don't see a thing wrong with it, but will grade it Near Mint just to play it safe!

The original liner is included, and graded Near Mint (NM).

No splits or tears, and only just some faint "waves" (no sharp creases).

Fantastic copy!

The rare Patti Smith "bandaid" insert is graded Very Good+ (VG+).

It has a few wrinkles and light creases, but nothing severe.

(For those who don't know, Patti Smith was at this point yet to record the legendary "Horses", and was making a living as a rock journalist. She was a fan of Rundgren's and wrote some pretty wild, poetic reviews of this albums - with the one she wrote for this one being exceptionally eccentric. Anyway, as token of graditude Rundgren included a poem she wrote as an insert which came with this album, in the form of a long strip of paper bearing the image of a bandaid, against the background of which the poem was printed.)

The EXTREMELY rare postcard insert is graded Near Mint (NM).

Truly flawless!

(Why so rare, you ask? Because nearly everyone who bought this album filled it out and sent it in to Bearsville Records, as anyone who did so would get their name included on the poster included with Rundgren's next album, the eponymous Todd!)

The promotional insert is graded Near Mint (NM).

Flawless and still in place on the back!

The insert provides a quick run-down of Rundgren and the album, plus a tracklisting and picture of the jacket. Such inserts were common among Warner Bros. releases (Bearsville being distributed by WB), although almost exclusively with promotional copies. We have, however, come across these inserts included with extremely early 1st pressings of stock copies, most likely to hawk an artist who had yet to amas a large following (the earliest stock pressing of Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure is one other example).

...

"STERLING RL": What does it mean and why should you care?

These etchings indicate that both sides were cut from masters prepared by the great Robert Ludwig at Sterling Sound of New York. Now obviously, the work of the great Robert Ludwig is always in itself something to celebrate, given the way he can liven up a recording while also keeping it nice and tidy. However, what makes Ludwig's contribution especially important on this release is the fact that he was essentially the only man who could make this album sound good! Let's not forget that Mr. Rundgren was quite fond of testing the spatial limitations of the LP, many times packing each side far beyond its recommended 23-or-so-minute limit. In fact, Todd even makes mention of this on the liner notes, claiming to have exceeded that limit by "6 or 7 minutes per side" on this album. And when one attempts to fit more on an LP than they should, they are forced to cut the grooves much narrower than normal, resulting in dynamic range compression and a softer, weaker sound. That's where Mr. Ludwig comes in. By some technical trickery upon which we couldn't even begin to speculate, Ludwig was able to fit the full programs on both sides while still keeping more power in the sound than any lesser mastering engineer could even imagine! Having said all that, it is still important to recognize that, even with the "RL" touch, this album will still not have the same clout as one which observes the aforementioned 23-or-so-minute limit per side. But it is equally important to recognize that this is the best-sounding edition of this album this side of the original master tapes (and don't try to tell us that the CD release of this album corrects this problem - no inferior digital recording is any conceivable match for the organic realism afforded by its analog counterpart!) In fact, go ahead and do a web search of this album and you'll find legions of Rundgren freaks who will tell you all the same things we just have - that's how we learned about all this! And it is only on a first pressing (such as this) that you will find this mastering! Later pressings were not cut from Ludwig's lacquers, but rather from weak second-generation copies of the master tapes! Also keep in mind that, with its 1B/1B matrices, this is one of the earliest of the first pressings, made long before the stampers could be worn out and all the subtle but crucial variances of this complicated recording truncated! This is as close to Ludwig's ear - and Todd's vision - as you will find on a commercially-availble release of this album!

...

Well that about does it on our end.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

There is no reserve, but still be sure to bid while you can!

Good luck!