On offer here is a VERY rare LP especially in this condition
by Nick Drake called Five Leaves Left and is an ORIGINAL 1969 UK 1st
Pressing on the 1st Press Pink Island Block Logo label THIS LP IS
SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND THIS WAS NICK
DRAKE FIRST RAREST LP EVER - AND VIRTUALLY NEVER TURNS UP FOR
SALE JUST TRY AND FIND ANOTHER ONE BACK IN 1969 WHEN THIS LP
WAS FIRST RELEASED, IT ONLY EVER SOLD IN ABSOLUTELY TINY AMOUNTS - AND
WAS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY DELETED AS A RESULT IT IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND
INCREDIBLY HARD TO LOCATE TODAY THIS LP IS MADE EVEN RARER STILL - AS IT IS THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING EVER MADE AND THIS IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND ON THIS LP WHEN THIS LP WAS FIRST RELEASED - IT CAME WITH THE DAY OF RELEASE 1ST PRESS ONLY SMOOTH PINK ISLAND BLOCK LABELS AND A//2 B//2 MATRIXES THERE WERE NONE EARLIER THAT THIS . HOWEVER, THIS WAS QUICKLY CHANGED TO TEXTURED LABELS AND A3/B3 MATRIXES - WHICH DATES FROM MUCH LATER ON IN OCTOBER OR NOVEMBER 1969. SOME PEOPLE THINK THE TEXTURED LABELS CAME FIRST EVEN THOUGH MATRIXES TELL YOU DIFFERENTLY - BUT THERE IS 1 UNDENIABLE FACT WHICH VERIFIES THAT ALL ISLAND LABELS FROM THIS PERIOD CAME WITH THE SMOOTH LABELS FIRST THIS LP WAS RELEASED ON JULY 3rd 1969 - ALONG WITH DR STRANGELY STRANGE - KIP OF THE SERENES ALSO ON A SMOOTH LABEL , AND MOST IMPORTANTLY FAIRPORT CONVENTION S - UNHALFBRICKING AND EXACTLY LIKE THIS LP 1ST PRESS UNHALFBRICKING COPIES ALL HAVE THE SMOOTH PINK BLOCK ISLAND LABELS - WHEREAS ALL LATER COPIES ON THE PINK i LABEL HAVE TEXTURED ONES INSTEAD ACTUALLY IN TRUTH - AS THIS LP DIDNT SELL VERY WELL, AND NEVER MADE IT TO A PINK i ISLAND LABEL - ISLAND WOULD HAVE HAD EXCESS STOCK OF THE BLOCK LABELS FOR THIS LP. SO IT IS MORE LIKELY THAT THE TEXTURED LABEL VERSIONS OF THIS LP DATE WELL INTO 1970 - AND ARE PROBABLY AT LEAST 6 MONTHS AFTER THE RELEASE DATE HOWEVER THIS LP HAS NONE OF THOSE ISSUES - AND IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING EVER MADE, WITH ULTRA RARE A//2 B//2 MATRIXES THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE - LATER ONES WERE HIGHER AND 100 CORRECT EARLIEST 1ST PRESS SMOOTH PINK ISLAND BLOCK LOGO LABELS LATER ONES WERE TEXTURED INSTEAD
NOT ONLY THAT BUT THIS LP IS IN BRILLIANT CONDITION - AND HAS BARELY BEEN PLAYED AT ALL EVERYONE KNOWS JUST HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND A NICE 1ST PRESSING OF THIS LP - AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST I HAVE EVER FOUND JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES THIS IS THE ORIGINAL 1969 UK EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING ON THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESS SMOOTH PINK ISLAND BLOCK LOGO LABEL, EARLIEST 1ST PRESS A//2 B//2 MATRIX ENDINGS, EARLIEST 1ST PRESS INNER SLEEVE, AND EARLIEST 1ST PRESS E.J.DAY GATEFOLD COVER THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND LIKE THIS - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY This is the ORIGINAL Island UK 1st Pressing from 1969 and is in BRILLIANT condition The record is pressed on THICK quality vinyl. The Cat. No is ILPS 9105 on the ORIGINAL 1st Press Island label see picture and is a UK Stereo 1st Pressing there were NO Monos
The record labels are in SUPERB condition see pictures with NO wear, NO writing and barely ANY spindle marks AT ALL IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT THIS RECORD HAS BARELY BEEN PLAYED AT ALL The vinyl is in absolutely BRILLIANT condition Most of these 60s LPs had been to a lot of wild parties and are usually found totally worn out, and almost unplayable. This one is NOT and has NO scratches, NO hairlines, only 3 or 4 absolutely TINY surface marks, NO scufflines, and only a VERY few of the lightest paper scuffs only visible under light ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT THE RECORD STILL RETAINS ITS ORIGINAL JUST PRESSED LOOK AND LOOKS SUPERB It is also great to find that the record plays as STUNNINGLY as the visual It plays with NO skips, only a very VERY few VERY light clicks though mostly NONE , NO jumps, NO sticks, barely ANY crackle AT ALL, and only some EXTREMELY low level background sound on the run on grooves and gaps - NOT in the music AT ALL And because this record has BARELY BEEN PLAYED AT ALL, the sound quality is simply SUPERB - with absolutely NO groovewear, and NO distortion either The record must grade Very Good if not better BRILLIANT RECORD Believe me this record is NOT overgraded in ANY way I use STRICT RC grading standards - it is not in my interest not to Brillant The record also comes in its ORIGINAL 1st Press inner sleeve which is in SUPERB condition - and still FULLY poly-lined The ORIGINAL 1st Press E.J.Day Gatefold Cover is in GREAT condition - and very VERY nice indeed, and way WAY better than most It has NO rips, NO tears, NO sticker marks, NO ringwear to the cover front most do , only some minor evidence of touching in to the VERY edges spine, NO splits, NO sticker tears, a VERY bright clean cover back with barely ANY yellowing AT ALL, NO rubbing to the cover back AT ALL, only slight corner wear NOT through the colour , NO ringwear to the cover back, only a few VERY light creases cover is VERY flat looking , only VERY slight rubbing to the cover front MILES better than most , NO annotations, and NO writing The opening edges are beautifully straight with barely ANY feathering AT ALL Even the inside of the cover is in SUPERB condition with NO grubbyness, NO yellowing, NO rubbing, NO ringwear, and NO writing The cover must grade Very Good if not better - and definitely FAR better than most THIS LP IS SERIOUSLY RARE AND VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND LIKE THIS ESPECIALLY AS THE EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING EVER MADE - SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY
HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I DO MY BEST TO SHOW THE RECORD FROM ALL ANGLES AND MAKE THE PICTURES AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE - THERE IS NOTHING TO HIDE It really is a GREAT looking LP and it is truly rare to find any copies of this MEGA RARE LP in this sort of condition THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO BUY AN ORIGINAL 1969 UK EARLIEST 1ST PRESSING OF FIVE LEAVES LEFT BY NICK DRAKE, IN BRILLIANT CONDITION Dont forget to take a look at all my other items including many other TOP LPs and contact me with any queries you may have. Postal discounts for multiple buys are always available - and I guarantee to ALWAYS undercharge on postage Paypal, Bank Transfers, Cheques, International Money Orders, and Postal Orders accepted. Thanks for looking Cheers--ooOOoo--
Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items I always try my very best to describe everything exactly - PLEASE REMEMBER to contact with me FIRST, if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem. Thanks again - Graham XXXRecords.
CONCLUSIVE PROOF THAT SMOOTH LABELS CAME FIRST -
AND TEXTURED LABELS WERE
LATER:-
1 3 Island LPs ILPS 9102
Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking , ILPS 9105 Nick Drake Five Leaves Left
and ILPS 9106 Dr Strangely Strange Kip Of The Serenes were all released on
the same day - 3rd July 1969. The other two ONLY had smooth labels as 1st
Pressings - so clearly this LP made and released on the same say wouldn t be any
different
2 Nick Drakes Five Leaves Left LP was a
RUSH RELEASE - it was only finished 1 month before release date in June 1969.
Whereas Fairport Convention s Unhalfbricking was finished 3 months before the
release date in April 1969. So clearly Fairport s LP would have begun pressing
prior to release WELL before Nick Drakes LP It was also expected to be a huge
seller. So if any of the 3 LPs released on July 1969 had a so-called earlier
textured label release - it would have been the Fairport LP. Yet it doesnt.
Every single one is smooth.
3 Later Unhalfbricking 2nd pressings from
October 1969 on the Pink i label were textured - showing textured labels came
later on Island 2nd Pressings, than on the original July releases.
4
Just because an LP has thicker vinyl and textured labels - doesnt mean it is
earlier. For example King Crimsons pre-release DJ only A1/B1 pressings
extra groove space - were all smooth labeled and made in late September 1969.
Whereas the later released A2/B2 second pressings from early October 1969 were
all textured.
5 The matrixes on Nick Drakes 2nd Press TEXTURED Block
logo are higher, being a3/b3 in larger text. This again clearly shows the
textured labels were made quite some time after the release date.
6 It
is a myth that textured labels are earlier. People like to think this - because earlier Island LPs were indeed textured, and it would be nice to have everything fit in a nice little order . However it is VERY clear that in July 1969 Island were using SMOOTH LABELS ONLY. And those who support textured labels also fail badly to consider that many FULLY textured labels
exist on plenty of later Island LPs from 1970 aswell For example:- Jethro Tull Benefit 1st
Pressings were textured - and then changed to smooth. And almost EVERY SINGLE
copy of Quintessence s 2nd LP from July 1970 - have IDENTICAL shaped labels to
the Nick Drake s 2nd textured block pressing - and the same large matrix
style. Also John Barleycorn ILPS 9116 and ESPECIALLY Free s Fire
Water ILPS 9120 are REGULARLY found with FULLY textured labels. So they were
commonly used well after this LP was released. And you can EVEN find copies of King Crimson Court Of The Crimson King on FULLY Textured labels on the PALM TREE label - with the SAME large text 3/3 matrixes which appear on the 2nd Press textured Block logos on this LP And as Nick Drakes LP never had Pink i Island labels made as sales were so poor and would have had a large excess of Block logo labels to be used up well after they had finished on other Island LPs, it is VERY likely indeed that the later Textured Block logos of Five Leaves Left could actually date from well into 1970
7 But the main
fact above ALL else - is that 2 other Island LPs released on the SAME DAY as
this one were indeed smooth labelled as detailed above . And of course
Fairport s LP was expected to be a BIG seller and pressed much earlier. So if
any LP would have had 2 pressings textured / smooth it would be Fairport - but
they didnt Nick Drakes LP was rush released - with only 3 weeks between the
end of the recording and the release date And the cover was littered with
errors too - due to this rush release. So the very thought that 2 different
pressings were made in those 3 weeks is clearly ludicrous
In short there is overwhelming
evidence to support Smooth labels as being the VERY Earliest 1st Pressing from the day of release in July 3rd 1969 . But ZERO evidence to support textured
labels - which are clearly much later, and in truth probably date from late 1969/early 1970....
