Sold Date: July 24, 2020
Start Date: July 14, 2020
Final Price: $49.99 (USD)
Bid Count: 1
Seller Feedback: 272
Buyer Feedback: 42

Cream "Disraeli Gears" Exc. Stereo Vinyl LP Rare 1967 UK 1st Pressing (Reaction 594003)

This 1967 album is in Excellent condition. I bought this album in 1968 and it's always been one of my favorite albums and treated with kid gloves. I just played both sides - twice. It plays clean, even after 52 years.

Visually, as you can see from the photos, the surfaces are in great shape. There is a shallow scratch on both the first and last tracks on Side 1. There are only a few clicks from these two marks during play, but I don't find that they diminish the listening experience; especially when playing it loud. There is minimal background crackle between tracks and in some quieter passages, but again, I think this has more to do with the pressings of the time. I could be wrong, but the LP Stereo recording technology was still improving during this period. The cover is definitely in excellent condition, which surprised me. I'm thinking it was protected by my Wheels of Fire double album which has a little bigger outside perimeter, since they were always stored side by side. My name is on both the album label and the back cover, but neither is too obvious.

I play each album before listing it to best determine the condition of the album. This also gives me one last chance to say goodbye to my old albums. As an audiophile, I took care of all my albums and always used a disc cleaner before spinning them (still do). I only single played my albums and never multi-stacked them on the turntable. The albums were always put back into their jackets after playing them. As a result, all albums I put up for sale are of good, very good, excellent or near prime condition.

All the albums I am putting up for sale are my own and mostly date from 1974 to 1988. Since I periodically had roommates in the old days, I had a tendency to put my name on covers and album labels. Most of the albums that had album art inserts still have the inserts. I wasn’t into putting them up on the wall.

I will not list an album that is too beat up and worn. Typically, any album I bought before September of 1969 could be suspect because a less than precision turntable was used. However, as others have pointed out, older LPs (1950s to about 1971) tend to play better than they look, and newer LPs (at least until 1989) tend to play worse than they look.

Between 1969 and 1974, I had a pretty good Sylvania stereo system and turntable. Any album purchased in 1974 or later was played on a top of the line Dual 1229 turntable teamed up with a great sound system. I still have the system, the 1229 and a Micro Acoustic needle and cartridge that work great. As such, the post 1974 albums are mostly in very good to excellent to primo playing condition.

If you are interested in collecting some great vinyl, I have a few hundred excellent discs, some with amazing “presence of sound” that you sure won’t experience with ear pods (i.e., Elton John’s first Greatest Hits album, Procol Harem’s Grand Hotel, Linda Ronstadt’s Heart Like A Wheel). I’ve always had eclectic tastes and my interests include a wide spectrum of artists and musical types. My collection includes folk, rock, folk rock, jazz, new age, country and classical. So, if you are looking for great old albums that were not exactly “Top 40” radio tunes, then you should periodically follow me and check out the albums I put up for auction or sale. You can bid with confidence knowing that I am passing along my personal collection and have a 100% rating on EBay.

All albums are shipped in album mailers via USPS Media Mail.

Thanks for looking.