WE CURRENTLY HAVE MORE THAN 300 LISTED ITEMS
Click here to see ALL our ROCK auctions Our PSYCH PROGRESSIVE auctions Our PUNK NEW WAVE auctions Our JAZZ auctions Our BLUE NOTE JAZZ auctions Our BLUES auctions Our CLASSICAL auctions Our COUNTRY auctions Our FUNK auctions Our LATIN auctions Our METAL auctions Our REGGAE auctions Our SOUL auctions Our STILL SEALED ITEMS Our PROMO auctions Our ACETATE auctions Our TEST PRESSING auctions Our AUDIOPHILE auctions
MANDRAKE MEMORIAL PUZZLE VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1969 POPPY RECORDS PY-40.006
ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING
PROMOTIONAL COPY THE RECORD HAS STOCK LABELS HOWEVER, THE EMBOSSED PROMOTIONAL STAMP ON THE COVER CLEARLY IDENTIFIES THE ITEM AS PROMOTIONAL
ORIGINAL BROWN POPPY LABEL WITH THE RED POPPY FLOWER MOTIF
INCLUDES RARE ORIGINAL CIRCULAR ROUND POSTER WITH THE PHOTO OF THE BAND ON ONE SIDE AND PUZZLE SNAIL HOUSE MOTIF ON THE OTHER
THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.
ORIGINAL GATEFOLD COVER, MADE OF THICK CARDBOARD AMERICAN STYLE
THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING
CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS
MACHINE-STAMPED MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL DEAD WAX OF THE RECORD
MATRIX NUMBER IN TRAIL-OFF VINYL DEAD WAX ENDS WITH -1S/-1S . ON SOME LABELS, SUFFIX 1 DENOTES THE VERY FIRST, ORIGINAL PRESSING
PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW
Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a recycled image from our previous auction. What you see is what you ll get. GUARANTEED
Saying that this is a huge improvement on the somewhat stiff and slightly immature song-crafting of their first LP is the mother of all understatements. Impressive in its scope - the weirder, more abstract instrumental bits have an esoteric vibe to them not unlike the Moolah LP albeit much more subtle and elegant.. , and the proper songs are remarkable in their genuine creativity and refusal to stick to any clearly defined style or pre-conceived psych-pop formula. This is one hell of an ambitious album - yet it never falls into the self-indulgent horrors of proggy prog or the syrupy prettiness and wedding cake aesthetics of certain monuments of 60 s baroque pop. The mixing and production are impeccable too, and make it sound timeless ie : not dated at all, surprisingly enough . And I am only scratching the surface here - I only played this twice last night, and I feel a whole world of sound opening up before me. Stunning.
EXCERPT FROM AN ANONYMOUS ONLINE REVIEW
The PROMOTIONAL, RADIO STATION-, AUDITION OR DEMONSTRATION COPIES AND RELEASES such as the one we have here were often distributed among the radio stations before the record was released to the public, sometimes as much as four months ahead. These records are generally considered to be the first among equals , which is to say the VERY FIRST generation and the VERY FIRST pressings of the particular title a PROTOTYPE and the earliest known official pressing of the record.
For additional historical or discography information on this album, including track listing click here
CONDITION:
RECORD
IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded we grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight
a WE GRADE THE VINYL AS EXCELLENT. This is one of those albums that are somewhat difficult to grade. It is somewhere between VG and NEAR MINT, just a notch below NEAR MINT. A few light abrasions ARE visible, but they are extremely shallow, superficial and only moderately visually distracting nothing significant .For the most part, the vinyl looks impeccable without any MAJOR visual flaws or imperfections. Much of the original luster is intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.
b The record comes in the original stock inner sleeve.
c The album comes with the original round poster / insert.
d The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording
e Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording
COVER
THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT EXCELLENT OR VERY GOOD VG .
The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:
- Cover has some light ring wear nothing significant On the scale from 1 to 10 1 being the least, and 10 being the most severe , we assess the severity of ring wear as 3
- The cover has circular tarnish grayish, dust-covered sections, which closely follow the contour of the record , probably caused by friction or by rubbing against other covers during the storage. The tarnish is similar in appearance to a common ring wear, but, UNLIKE ring wear, these grayish areas may be possible to clean up with a minor effort and with a right cleansing solution.
- Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging nothing significant . Yellowing is also noted on the INSIDE gatefold
- Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine
