Sold Date: July 14, 2018
Start Date: July 13, 2018
Final Price: £275.00 £1.00 (GBP)
Seller Feedback: 2055
Buyer Feedback: 0

This item is not for sale. Gripsweat is an archive of past sales and auctions, none of the items are available for purchase.

Ok, so let's start with some FACTS!.....
The Blue Text variant cover being touted as very 1st issue by several sellers on E-bay is NOT the very very 1st issue cover. It is in fact a printing error bi-product that occurred when they tried to enlarge the original SMALL photos of Noel and Mitch in the interior [at the request of Noel & Mitch]. As soon as this anomaly became apparent the decision was made to revert back to the original design. As a result a small number of the blue text and large photo covers exist - however none are actually 'technically' very very 1st issue. So, they are interesting....'yes'....but very 1st issue 'nope - definitely not'.
This is a true 1st issue cover and 1st Track pressing of ELL from October 1968. Matrix A1/B1 & A1/B1. First thing to note is that label design is perfectly consistent with very 1st press. Very 1st press must not make reference to 'A two record Set' on the label and they must have an inverted tape number above the catalogue number. The heavy set vinyl comes housed in an original Ernest J Day printed gatefold over. As mentioned above small photos of Noel & Mitch and white text = 1st issue. In order to prove very 1st press providence we also have one original inner sleeve coded '098' - which computes as September 1968 >> One month before the office release of ELL in October 1968 in the UK.
Vinyl (Ex-/Vg+) In very nice condition and looks way better than many examples that surface. Under close inspection there are a number of light marks on disc 1 less so on disc 2 - nothing feelable or likely to cause significant issue. A thorough testing from beginning to end reveals a mostly NEAR EXCELLENT level of playback. Intros and inbetweens are mostly nice and quiet and the audio comes across with great clarity. These early TRACK pressings are quality and in true stereo this Hendrix classic really does sound majestic. Interference is relatively minor and infrequent. All we detected was a bit of static in one track per side of vinyl - usually the first track on each side. So, for instance on Side A - There is a good bit of crackle in the brief vocal intro and then a bit of static in EL and then it really settles down into a high standard of playback with little interference. No direct mono copies of ELL are known to exist and some might say that is no big issue when the stereo cut is clearly the definitive release.
Cover (Ex) Wow - this cover really is in very rude health! Let's just reiterate again for the n'th time that this is the very 1st version which you would have picked up on the day of release. And given that it is now 50 years of age it's certainly survived the years in an excellent state of preservation. Lovely shiny front and back with just a few light creases on the front. The interior is getting close to immaculate. None of the usual heavy creasing you usually find - shiny and all colours and images pin-sharp. Edge wear is reasonably light and the spine is 100% intact [nice!]. Overall the cover retains excellent rigidity and remains a terrific little specimen.
Inner (Vg) The double Lp will come housed in plain white new inners. But we have one original inner sleeve which is now looking a bit aged, but has no side splits. It also has that all important date code on it - '098'.


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