UK ABSOLUTE FIRST PRESSING VINYL ALBUM ON SMOOTH BLOCK PINK ISLAND LABEL IN WHITE INNER SLEEVE. THE OUTER SLEEVE IS AN UNMADE SLICK SLEEVE, IN TWO PARTS. PARTICULAR ONLY TO THIS ADVANCE COPY SLEEVE ALTHOUGH THE LABEL/SLEEVE ARE NOT MARKED AS PROMO, SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS IS A NOTICEABLE PRINTING DIFFERENCE. THIS SLICK SLEEVE HAS GREEN TYPEFACE FOR THE ISLAND LOGO ON THE REAR TOP LEFT. REGULAR RELEASES WERE HOUSED IN A GATEFOLD SLEEVE WITH A BLACK TYPEFACE LOGO. THIS SLICK SLEEVE IS, THEREFORE, UNIQUE AND ONE OF A KIND. IT WOULD SEEM THAT A GATEFOLD SLEEVE WAS POSSIBLY NOT ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR THIS RELEASE, AND THE LOGO COLOUR WAS ALSO CHANGED FOR SOME REASON.
The story behind this particular copy, which is so rare in this form that Nick Drake collectors are very unlikely to have one in their collection, is as follows:
The previous owner of this copy, a lifetime friend and music business associate, who has sadly left us now, was an employee of Polydor records in London. At that time, Polydor s Phonodisc pressing plant was the main manufacturer of vinyl pressings for the Island label.
On September 24th, 1969, my friend attended a concert at the Royal Festival Hall with a colleague from Island records, to see three new, then-up-and-coming artists in concert. My friend was mainly interested in seeing John and Beverley Martyn, but was also keen to see Fairport Convention.
The opening artist, my late friend told me, was a lanky fellow who wandered on stage somewhat awkwardly clutching an acoustic guitar that looked too-small for him, and then sat in a chair and performed solo for about 20-30 minutes. Between each song he said nothing to the audience, and spent more time than was usual, as is now well-known of course, attending to unusual guitar tunings. Most of the performance was spent with the artist staring at his shoes whilst he sang and played. After he finished his slot, the tall young man stood up and left the stage without saying anything.
My friend was mesmerised by what he had just seen and heard, and asked his companion from Island records who this was they had just heard. He was told it was a new Island signing called Nick Drake. My friend then asked if there were any albums released by him, and he was told Drake s debut album had just come out that month, and that he d send him over a copy.
A few days later, my friend received by courier at his office an advance copy although the album had just been released, these were the copies being sent to reviewers and other industry insiders of Five Leaves Left, in this slick sleeve. It is thus, not only a completely unique rarity of this now-classic album, it was owned by one of the few people that ever saw Nick Drake perform live. The matrix numbers are the true first pressing, it it features the earliest mother/stamper combination we have ever seen for this title.
The sale of this album is on behalf of the widow and daughters of the much missed husband/father/best friend, who lived and breathed music until the day he died. We hope that the new owner of this album will cherish it as much as he did since 1969.
MATRIX: SIDE A: ILPS 9105 A//2 1 1 1 SIDE B: ILPS 9105 B//2 1 1 3
SLICK SLEEVE: VERY GOOD CONSISTING OF TWO SEPERATE FRONT AND BACK CARDS, SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN A REGULAR SLEEVE. THERE IS SOME CREASING AND NICKS ALONG THE TOP EDGES, ONE SMALL MARK ON THE FRONT AND TWO MINOR CORNER BUMPS. INNER SLEEVE IS VERY GOOD WITH NO SEAM SPLITS.
DISC: VISUALLY VERY GOOD THAT PLAYS EXCELLENT MINUS. THERE IS SOME WAVY LINE SHADING IN THE VINYL ACTUAL PRESSING ITSELF. I HAVE THEREFORE PLAYED THIS ALBUM ON A REGA RP10, AND IT SOUNDS SUPERB, WITH NO SKIPS, JUMPS OR NOTICEABLE SURFACE NOISES. IT HAS CLEARLY NOT BEEN PLAYED MANY TIMES DOWN THE YEARS, THERE IS BARELY ANY SPINDLE WEAR, AND THERE ARE NO SCRATCHES OR MARKS. BOTH LABELS ARE SUPER-CLEAN.
WE WILL ONLY SHIP THIS ITEM INTERNATIONALLY BY SIGNED PRIORITY MAIL
PRIORITY SIGNED-FOR MAIL IS 14.99
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To protect both the buyer and seller from damage or loss, we will not ship this rare item by any other method than that stated above. If the total shipping cost to your actual location is 5.00 or more LESS than what you pay us, we will refund that difference to you.
