Item Description
Sweet child in time you ll see the line,
The line that s drawn between the good and the bad.
See the blind man shooting at the world,
Bullets flying, taking toll.
If you ve been bad, Lord I bet you have,
And you ve been hit by flying lead,
You d better close your eyes and bow your head,
And wait for the ricochet.
DEEP PURPLE: Deep Purple In Rock . FIRST UK PRESSING, 20th, JUNE, 1970.
HARVEST LABEL: SHVL 777.
.
MAITRIX: SHVL 777 A - 2 / SHVL 777 B - 1 The very first pressing
Regarding Side 1 s A - 2 being the very first pressing made, I have never personally seen A - 1 with the label text and logo
exclusive to the very first pressings. I check internet info on vinyl websites but rarely find accuracy and the claims of A - 1
existing, are not substantiated with a picture. Stating A - 1 is an Extremely rare very first pressing is not good enough,
You might as well claim another EMI album from the same era exists as an extremely rare very first pressing with A - 1 ,
The Beatles Abbey Road was issued only nine months earlier than Deep Purple In Rock and the very first pressings had really
distinctive exclusive identification on the labels and the cover. If Abbey Road had exactly the same A - 2 / B - 1 , 36 weeks
later, it was perfectly logical for Deep Purple In Rock to have A - 2 / B - 1 , which coincidentally also had exclusive items
printed on the label...just like Abbey Road. There is a strong possibility A - 1 was stamped on the very first pressings of
Deep Purple In Rock , but only on the earliest Text Pressing made, I have never seen a pre June, 1970 Test Pressing and the
possibility is strongly supported by the maitrix on these very first pressings. If you look at my picture of Side 1 s maitrix,
the letter A is stamped at an angle above the rest of the line, on the other hand, it could have just been the sound engineer
making a minor error
I might as well deal with the other fallacy about the first issue Garrod Lofthosue gatefold covers, the Discog website states
The earliest copies are those which have one line around the EMI logo on the front.
They have missed the Harvest logo directly below it, did not have yet have a second line around it, next the EMI s boxed logo
had a second very thin parallel line around the EMI logo and to balance that out, a second very thin parallel line was added to
the Harvest logo. I agree completely about the earliest copies only though, because all described happened during the initial
cover manufacturing, without the full details, other websites have jumped to the wrong conclusion and announced only the first
pressing had the EMI logo without a thin parallel line addition. Of course three types existed simultaneously, all printed items
were made before the records were pressed, covers were paired up with them at random, variations exist due to small design
alterations during production..... just like the Abbey Road cover With such distinctive label differences between the very
first pressings and the original immediately following pressings, the relatively small, easily missed cover changes are really
best left to fanatics. I do not mean that to be derogatory, I number among the fanatics or I would not be writing this or be able
to criticise and correct errors made by text books and websites, I became a professional record seller with genuine personal
knowledge and experience, in a period none of this was written down. I bought In Rock on the day of release in June, 1970
and before the internet existed, I bought and sold more copies of every 1970 s and 1980 s UK In Rock pressings, than I
could even begin to count. I give this much detail in descriptions to prevent spending hours answering emails, I devote a full
day to writing this on a Saturday, so please do not sens emails with your particular variation, any huge selling album had to
create variations Deep Purple In Rock reached No.4 in the UK charts and resided there for a consecutive 68 weeks, one
whole year and three months.... including the records being pressed by EMI and all items printed by Garrod Lofthoue, I had
every reason to compare it to the October, 1969 Abbey Road album.
EMI STAMPING CODES: GAL 1 / GHM 4
After the clearly stamped 1 digit is 4 , as I consistently say about two digits at 9 o clock, EMI nor any UK record company
ever made mothers in double figures Seven or Eight was rare even for the biggest selling 60 s Beatles records, so the first
digit was the one intended or it would have been crossed out. In this case, you can actually see how the error happened, after
stamping 1 the sound engineer set 4 for Side 2, but mistakenly stayed on Side 1 and stamped by mistake. No need to cross
it out, the 1 was prominent and just turned it over and stamped the 4 set on the machine, as I write twice this week about
EMI pressings, the mothers were not numerically matched per individual sides. 1 4 were commonly stamped on either
side of the same record, like the other endless combinations, all that mattered was every single record made was indexed.
TO QUALIFY AS THE VERY FIRST PRESSING, THE LABELS ALSO DO NOT HAVE THE YET TO BE INTRODUCED,
EMI BOXED LOGO S ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE CENTRE HOLES. THAT WAS NOT UNTIL MID- 1971, WHEN IT WAS
PLACED IN THE SPACE ABOVE THE LARGE GREEN HARVEST LETTERING AT 3 O CLOCK.
THE LABEL RIMS HAVE The Gramophone Co. Ltd. AND NOT EMI Records Ltd .
Made In Gt. Britain IS PRINTED AT 6 O CLOCK.
The above details on the record and labels conclusively place this as the first pressing.
ORIGINAL 1970, Harvest PROMO INNER SLEEVE POLY-LINED WITH LP COVER PICTURES, FIRST INTRODUCED IN
1969 WHEN Harvest WAS FOUNDED. THE PICTURED ALBUMS WITH CATALOGUE NUMBER WERE NEVER CHANGED
AND THE SAME DESIGN WAS IN USE UNTIL 1973.
Unused without any tears or splits, just some ageing of it s 45 years of age and that has to include the glue seepage from the
seams and fixing the polythene lining, fully contributing to the ageing appearance of the very absorbent textured paper.
Only a few minor record impression related creases that formed naturally, regardless of not being used.
THE INNER SLEEVE IS IN EXCELLENT / NEAR MINT.
1970 FIRST ISSUE GATEFOLD COVER, THE OUTSIDE HAS DELUXE THICK GLOSSY LAMINATION. INSIDE THE GATEFOLD
IS MATT, THE BOTTOM RIM OF THE RIGHT PANEL, HAS THE MANUFACTURING DATE ENCODED:
7006 June, 1970
The first issue gatefold cover was printed by Garrod Lofthouse , now 45 years old and still in really outstanding condition.
The front artwork is self explanatory, what a great idea to tie in heavy music by superimposing the band s faces over the U.S.A.
President s faces carved on Mt. Rushmore. A deluxe gatefold cover but with normal excessive handling it became badly battered
and worn, this still as stunning as the day it was made, the lack of use and more to the point, the storage was perfectly made.
The deeply glossy lamination on the outside has no dulling at all, a fantastic shine enhances unfaded and richly bright colours,
in particular, the deep blue of the sky. A plastic outer sleeve protected the cover from the day of purchase, so superbly unworn
edges, right side corners and the spine, the extreme tips of the spine / left side corners, only have the merest standing brushing.
I have just described a familiar pattern for an unplayed record, standing in storage traits are not connected to use, the inside
panels have has legacy started by Sgt. Pepper three years earlier. The credits and individual band pictures include full album
lyrics, with a white background to the black printing stains and greasy fingerprints usually spoil both panels, unused, there is
only the very slightest ageing. Sometimes I find it absurd describing natural events after a period of time as long as 45 years,
but accept stating the obvious is essential information for potential buyers. Unplayed or not, nothing can stop the effect of
gravity on a massively heavyweight 1970 record, which was exactly the same thickness and weight of a 60 s record inside the
cardboard cover. A reasonably record impression simply had to form and a few related tiny laminated edge lines, formed naturally
and once again, not from use or handling, I state that positively in text because highly reflective lamination obscure tiny details
in photography. In fact, today was so dark with storm clouds and heavy rain, the sheer quality of this cover produced really
superb, representative pictures, the bright sunshine of the summer is long gone now. Grading covers is never easy when inside is
a very rare unplayed record, I cannot possibly include natural formations in the grading, besides, how can there not be a record
impression outline on a 1970 cover? The same applies to the described slightest standing traits, the spine only has a few gentle
ripples and but very clear printing, grading an unused, carefully stored cover in a plastic outer sleeve from day one, simply has to
include the term, Mint or this becomes no more than a farce. 45 years is a long time ago and I refuse to drop below this when
the whole principal of grading all items, hinges on use , which this did not have
THE COVER IS IN NEAR MINT CONDITION.
WELL, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS ON EBAY, I HAVE FINALLY FOUND AND LISTED AN UNPLAYED 1970 FIRST PRESSING
OF Deep Purple In Rock. THE IMMACULATE AS NEW LABELS, DO NOT HAVE ANY SPINDLE ALIGNMENTS AND THE
RECORD IS ALSO LITERALLY LIKE A NEW RECORD. WITH A BEAUTIFUL GLOSSY SHINE, WITHOUT ANY SCRATCHES
OR MARKS,I COULD NOT FIND ANY HANDLING TRACE ON THE PRISTINE SURFACE. KNOWING IT HAD TO BE HANDLED
AT THE PRESSING PLANT AND ORIGINAL 1970 RECORD SHOP, I WILL INCLUDE MY USUAL, ANY HANDLING IS NEAR
INVISIBLE TO INVISIBLE.
No to test my resolve to offer this for the next owner to be the first hear it for 45 years, the rarity of that is immense and
scrutinised the labels for an excuse to play one of my most loved rock albums, no spindle contact traces at all has to be
respected and it will be, I m looking forward to write this....
THE RECORD IS IN UNPLAYED, MINT CONDITION.
SIDE 1
Speed King
Bloodsucker
Child In Time
Flight Of The Rat
SIDE 2
Into The Fire
Living Wreck
Hard Lovin Man
Ian Gillan - vocals
Ritchie Blackmore - guitars
Roger Glover - bass
Jon Lord - keyboards
Ian Paice - drums
All Songs Written By Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord Ian Paice.
The Eight Tracks Were Recorded Between August, 1969 - May, 1970:
Speed King , Child In Time , Into The Fire Living Wreck At IBC Studios. Andy Knight- sound engineer
Flight Of The Rat Hard Lovin Man At De Lane Lea Studios. Martin Birch - sound engineer
Bloodsucker At Abbey Road Studios. Phil McDonald - sound engineer
My first encounter with Deep Purple was picking up their 1968 single, Hush , a really great version, but I was not all that
taken with a band who concentrated almost entirely on recording their take on other artist s material and for that, a single
was ideal and so I never got into their early albums. Limited funds played a big part in which albums you could afford to buy
and the late 1960 s was an era of monumental LP s being released on a weekly basis, there were always several vital titles
left outstanding. Then in the summer of 1970 all that changed, suddenly everyone was raving about the new Deep Purple LP
that was on the same level as Led Zeppelin for heavy rock/blues, the second you heard just the intro to Child In Time, this
was something new and sensational Just to put a perspective onto this, because time scales only come into the equation in
hindsight, heavy rock was starting to emerge as an alternative to underground progressive music ,which began to stagnate
and become boring. In Rock was released before Black Sabbath s August,1970 Paranoid single and the success from that
sent their same titled album surging up the LP charts, so this second line-up of Deep Purple, or Mark 2 , were the first UK band
to kick-start the 70 s decade by releasing such an adrenaline fuelled heavy rock album of real substance. Unlike Led Zeppelin,
who now included acoustic folk tracks on approximately half of their third album in 1970, every second of In Rock stayed at
an extraordinary level of overpowering musicianship. It often happens to bands who last decades or their splinter off-shoots,
they wrote and recorded such a era defining album, nothing that followed ever quite hit such heights, In Rock simply could
not bettered or replicated, a true masterpiece of a record. Deep Purple were very brave to attempt this because the previous
LP s and singles had failed to be commercially successful and unlike Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, In Rock did not contain
any kind of acoustic interludes, right from the opening howls of Speed King and the scorching pace never relented until the
needle left the the final grooves of the last track on Side 2, Hard Lovin Man. No studio enhanced effects were necessary or
inserted, only the most breathtaking musicianship because the band played as inspiredly as anything ever recorded, then or today.
The original 1968 line-up of Deep Purple had two different musicians to this second 1970 incarnation, I am not keen on calling
them Mark 2 , a very silly title that is better left for a model of a car than such a great band, they were
Rod Evans - vocals, Nic Simper - bass, Ritchie Blackmore - guitar, Jon Lord, organ and Ian Paice - drums.
Three albums were released from them, initially on EMI s Parlophone label before moving onto their Harvest label, the vocalist
Rod Evans was replaced by Ian Gillan and the departing Nic Simper s bass was taken over by Roger Glover s. The effect from that
was immediate and dynamite The impact lost all their previous flirtations with pop cover versions and the orchestral enhanced
sounds found on their debut Harvest album, Concerto For Group And Orchestra , recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London in
1969. That did include Ian Gillian and Roger Glover but it was more like shaking off the experimental stages that were in no way
utilising the incredible musical chemistry that was not in need of stifling and formulised arrangements. Apologies to anyone who
is fond of that album, my descriptions are honestly given personal opinions, I do not build up albums I consider to be third rate with
the superlatives I do not believe they merit. There are dozens of examples where rock and orchestration worked superbly, but the
material had to be original and exciting or how could the outcome be even remotely inspired? In Rock was recorded with Ritchie
Blackmore s guitar and and Jon Lord s organ unshackled by those former restraints imposed by the previous material, now the band
co-wrote every single track and with such a commanding and an inspirational vocalist as Ian Gillan, the album caught fire and it hit
the heady heights of No.4 in the UK charts. So by no means a rare album as a first pressing but like my original they took such heavy
punishment, I would not even consider offering inferior graded vinyl, this is an album to blow your socks clean off, the sonic audio
properties mastered into the heavyweight vinyl in 1970 were colossal. Worn out is.... worn out, any attempts to stretch a grading
will not compensate for hearing Deep Purple In Rock as a pale shadow of it s true greatness. It is not a big deal to have the first
issue s label details outlined in my main headings, but the majority of copies being offered in Excellent date from after 1973 when
Gramophone was replaced by EMI. To be accurately named as a first pressing you have to also check the left hand sides of the
centre holes, because until 1971 there was not a boxed EMI logo printed there, positively not in 1970 All the details given down
to having the correct Harvest promotional inner sleeve apply and there no exceptions, the album was re-pressed constantly and in
our time on ebay, this is only the first unplayed very first pressing issue I have been able to offer. The following early 1970 s
pressings with either Gramophone Co. Ltd . label rim text up to 1973, then with EMI Records Ltd. pressings, are also stunning
sounding records. I love offering them just as much, but only when in Mint, which for the age now is not exactly easy to produce,
buying the very first pressing personally in 1970, makes offering this amazing unplayed first pressing, a very special occasion.
An ultimate first pressing of Deep Purple In Rock means a great deal to me because I was 17 only years old when this album was
first released and this is identical in every way to how I bought it I describe the effect of heavyweight records on a cover to
the best of my ability, but in reality this cover still gives the appearance and feel of just being distributed to a 1970 UK record
shop. That is not trying to ignore the storage traits, because had this album remained untouched and forgotten about on a dusty
shelf since 1970, the same comments made here would apply. That is the nearest I have ever to pass on to how it felt to buy
In Rock on release, take it home and be completely blown away by an album that had stepped into a whole new approach to how
you could record an album. To start and end with red hot, heavy rock was astonishing, even Led Zeppelin mixed slow, quiet blues
and acoustic melodies with heavy music in 1969, and very much so in 1970. As such a well known album anyway, I feel there is no
point discussing individual tracks when I need only to mention the immense, Child in Time , Flight of the Rat Speed King,
but In Rock is not a collection of tracks but an inspired complete album in every sense of the word, album. Musically, every
one of the tracks features musicianship of the highest order, edging into Classical music at times and even entering Jimi Hendrix
and Cream s territory, the most pile driving heavy rock never once enters into clich s, unlike the many, many bands who copied
Deep Purple and all of that Deep Purple In Rock originated and began 45 years ago. It was not only rather loudly mastered,
In Rock set audio standards in the 1970 new Stereo only era , that other records are still trying to catch up with, an unplayed
EMI first pressing will be a major listening experience.
Roy
R M RECORDS.
My lifetime s love of music and records began at a very young age, the arrival of the Beatles and the 1960 s decade
in general had a very profound effect. It was only natural to bring all my first hand experience of collecting vinyl
into becoming a professional record seller. Nearly thirty years ago we entered into the wonderful atmosphere
of record fairs with the highest possible standards set. When the Internet became the world s new market place for
vinyl, in 2001 it was time to join ebay. Those standards were rigidly adhered to as they will always continue to be,
the basics of honesty and integrity were very much part of the era the music I love originated in, so here is our friendly
and very efficient service we are proud to provide
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AND ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO ACCURATELY GRADE RECORDS. i.e. COMBINING A STRICT VISUAL
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