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ELMER GANTRY S VELVET OPERA RARE SAME-TITLED FIRST AND ONLY ORIGINAL 1968 ALBUM BY THE GROUP ELMER GANTRY S VELVET OPERA VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1968 EPIC RECORDS STEREO LP BN-26415
ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING
INSANELY RARE STILL SEALED GUARANTEED ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING THE ONLY STILL SEALED COPY OF THIS LEGENDARY U.K. PSYCH ALBUM TO BE SOLD IN ALMOST 10 YEARS
PROMOTIONAL COPY THE RECORD PROBABLY HAS STOCK LABELS HOWEVER, THE PROMOTIONAL STAMP ON THE COVER CLEARLY IDENTIFIES THE ITEM AS PROMOTIONAL
GUARANTEED ORIGINAL YELLOW EPIC LABEL WITH BLACK PRINT HYPOTHETICALLY, THIS COULD ALSO BE A WHITE LABEL PROMO
THE THICKNESS OF THE VINYL, THE APPEARANCE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE COVER, LABEL S LOGO AND OTHER PERIPHERAL ELEMENTS OF THE COVER, ARE ALL PERFECTLY CONSISTENT WITH THE ORIGINAL, FIRST PRESSING OF THIS TITLE.
TWO BREATHE AIR HOLES NOTED ON THE SHRINK WRAP
THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.
THICK CARDBOARD COVER, AMERICAN STYLE.
THICK, HEAVY VINYL 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
Although labeled a psychedelic band in their day, Elmer Gantry s Velvet Opera never sat comfortably in that strawberry field, partially because of the diversity of their sound, but also due to the simple fact they were just too far ahead of their time even for the psyched-out crowd. In fact, Elmer Gantry s Velvet Opera continued to sound thoroughly modern for decades, while their myriad musical meanderings took them down wayward byways that later became stylistic highways -- at least in their native U.K.. So it s no surprise then, that this band would have slotted perfectly into the Britpop scene, or going back further in time, into the R B-drenched mod scene. The Opera s admiration for R B is evident on Intro, an homage to Archie Bell the Drells, while their equal respect for bluesy jazz is showcased on a fabulous cover of Oscar Brown s I Was Cool which absolutely smokes. Flames, in contrast, fires the band straight into rockabilly, and boasts a thumping intro bassline that, coincidentally enough, would also storm through the Jam s Town Called Malice. So where s the psychedelia? Well Air languidly drifts on sitars across India, but it s heard most magnificently on the instrumental freak-out Walter Sly Meets Bill Bailey. The rest of the 13-song set, in contrast, slides into gentler, harmony drenched numbers reminiscent of the Kinks, early Small Faces, and of course the Beatles.
EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY JO-ANN GREENE, ALL MUSIC GUIDE /ALLMUSIC.COM/
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.
CONDITION:
THE 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 THE ALBUM IS STILL FACTORY SEALED AND IS BELIEVED TO BE PERFECTLY MINT. Please note: sealed items are assumed to be mint and are sold as-is, as we have no way of inspecting them. For our policy on still sealed records click here PLEASE READ BEFORE PLACING A BID .
b 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
c Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording
THE COVER
COVER IS STRONG NEAR MINT, STILL SEALED AND COVERED IN ITS ORIGINAL SHRINK WRAP A PIECE OF SHRINK WRAP IS MISSING ON THE BACK SIDE WHERE THE PROMO STAMP WAS STRUCK PLEASE NOTE: THE SHRINK WRAP HAS BEEN SLIT OPEN ALONG ABOUT 20 OF THE OPENING SIDE, BUT THE ALBUM IS STILL VISIBLY SEALED.
The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:
- Cover has a light wrinkle crease in one of the corners.
- Cover has two corners slightly dinged nothing significant
- Cover shows JUST A HINT of yellowing on back side, apparently from aging.
NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS AND IMPERFECTIONS ON THE COVER
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