Hi and thanks for looking at my listing

I have a massive RARE VINYL collection gathered over the past 40 years

I am now planning AGAIN to sell hundreds of the rarer ones at approximately 10-20 lps per week

so check all my listings, RARE, near MINT, FIRST PRESS listings each week including:

Pink Floyd Led Zeppelin, Beatles,

Rolling Stones, Vertigo Swirls, Sex Pistols, Punk,

Indie Prog Rock and Reggae, ETC.

I DO THIS ONCE A YEAR ONLY FOR 2-3 MONTHS

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY PREVIOUS YEARS SUPERB FEEDBACK

FROM OVER 1000 SATISFIED BUYERS

WORLDWIDE AND COMBINED POSTAGE OFFERED

ALL VINYLS CORRECTLY POSTED IN A MUSIC MAX CRUCIFORM MAILER WITH STIFFENERS

0.99p START PRICE WITH NO RESERVE SET

LED ZEPPELIN

HOUSES OF THE HOLY

RARE FIRST EVER UK PRESS RELEASED

AND IMPORTATANTLY MASTERD BY ROBERT LUDWIG

NOTES

This Led Zeppelin UK First Pressing of Houses Of The Holy possesses the earliest possible matrices A/2-B/2 , with the Master Signature of Robert Ludwig RL STERLING on BOTH SIDES of the vinyl s Run-off wax,

It has both labels devoid of the later Warners Logo aka the dreaded W which ends the perimeter type on the two labels of later pressings.

Both sides have the Superhype Credits on the Green and Orange Atlantic Records Non-Plum labels as well as the Made in UK designation right below the word, STEREO --again on both sides

Moreover, the Gatefold Jacket is a matte finish and not laminated, the latter which typifies later releases. Finally, this HOTH album comes with front half of the original UK Obi Sash, a feature which is virtually impossible to find on this 50 year old Led Zeppelin LP.

It is virtually impossible to locate a complete First Issue UK Houses with its Obi sash as well as its correct inner card which denotes the manufacturer of the Soft Textured inner as MacNeill Press Ltd. Later issues of the inner were not textured. This is also the first Led Zeppelin album which had its song lyrics in type-face font. The A/2-B/2 matrices are perhaps the most important confirmation of this album being a pre-prepared batch of HOTH albums. Led Zeppelin s 5th album had generated such pre-release frenzy that German as well as French imports had to be imported into the UK to meet the excessive demand for the title. This particular copy happened to be one of the very few UK made, mastered, and distributed, yet ran out almost immediately

In summary, here are the differences between this album and the myriad of later issues:

-A matte gatefold sleeve-later ones were made with a glossy finish.

-A soft textured inner lyrics sleeve-later issues were thicker with no textured finish.

-No Warners logo on record label-later issues have the W logo.

-The master signature-RL STERLING on BOTH sides of the vinyl-Only found on the very first UK pressings

-The exquisite loud cut Bob Ludwig engineering which made the audio tones so much better as compared to the later pressings.

-Of course, there is the most elusive Obi Sash. Most were lost or discarded as they were found to be a great nuisance HENCE the back half of the wrap round sash has been discarded on this one. The UK Obi is now virtually impossible to locate and is only found on the earliest, very first pressings.

RECORD IS VERY NEAR MINT, LOVELY WITH A DEEP GLOSSY LIKE NEW RAINBOW SHEEN TO THE VINYL SURFACES WHICH ARE CLEAN AND BRIGHT. OBVIOUSLY PLAYED SPARINGLY IN THE LAST 50 YEARS, LOVELY

I CAN ONLY SEE ONE VERY FEINT SLEEVE REMOVAL / HAIRLINE IN TOTAL ACROSS BOTH SIDES, BUT ONLY WHEN VINYL IS TILTED, UNDER A STRONG LIGHT NO EFFECT AT ALL ON AUDIO PLAYBACK, SEE PICS

CENTRE LABELS ARE IN SUPERB CONDITION SEE PICS WITH JUST A COUPLE OF VERY VERY FEINT TINY SPINDLE MARKS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE CONFINED TO THE DISC CENTRE EACH SIDE , FURTHUR CONFIRMATION OF VERY FEW PLAYS IN 50 YEARS SUPERB

THEREFORE OBVIOUSLY , A GREAT AUDIO EXPERIENCE WHEN PLAYTESTED ON MY REGA TURNTABLE, TINY STATIC AT RUN INS LOVELY PLAYBACK

THE OUTER GATEFOLD SLEEVE IS NEAR MINT ON THIS RARE COPY, PERFECT LEGIBLE SPINE, NO AGING OR PEN MARKS, OR ANY RING RUB ETC. ALMOST LOOKS AS GOOD AS THE DAY IT BOUGHT IN 1973 AMAZING

THE CORRECT FIRST PRESS INNER LYRIC SLEEVES WITH IS ALSO NEAR MINT LOVELY DUE TO ONLY LEAVING THE OUTER SLEEVE ON A FEW OCCASSIONS

A REALLY LOVELY CLEAN EXAMPLE SEE ALL PICS

SO, IN CONCLUSION, NOT ONLY A VERY RARE SUPER CONDITION UK RL STERLING STAMPED FIRST PRESS, BUT IMPORTANTLY THE VINYL LOOKS SOUNDS SUPERB

NOT MANY OF THESE COME UP FOR SALE ,SO PLEASE DONT MISS OUT

PLEASE VIEW ALL PICTURES CLOSELY AND USE ZOOM FUNCTION TO SELF ASSESS

ALSO PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER RARE FIRST PRESS BEATLES, ZEPPELIN, ROCK VINYLS, PUNK LISTED, FROM MY PERSONAL COLLECTION, GATHERED OVER 40 YEARS,

AND THANKS FOR LOOKING

PLEASE NOTE:

READ DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY AND VIEW ALL PICTURES

THE OBI SASH FRONT ONLY, IS SUPPLIED WITH THIS RECORD

THE REAR PART WAS DISCARDED WHEN OPENED ON DAY OF PURCHASE in 1973