Sold Date: March 17, 2024
Start Date: March 10, 2024
Final Price: $660.00 (USD)
Bid Count: 23
Seller Feedback: 243
Buyer Feedback: 0

ORIGINAL 1st US ELEKTRA RECORDS MONO PRESSING PROMOTIONAL DJ RADIO STATION COPY

LOVE feat ARTHUR LEE ~ FOREVER CHANGES (1967)

ORIGINAL “PROMOTION COPY NOT FOR SALE” RED STICKER

ULTRA RARE ORIGINAL “I STOLE THIS ALBUM FROM ______” STICKER

“11-24-(6)7” DATE STAMP IN THE RUNOUT GROOVES

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

~ Before placing a bid, please make sure to attentively read our updated international shipping policy ~

Original 1st US pressing promotional copy of Love’s 3rd studio album “Forever Changes” released on Elektra Records in November, 1967. The album is considered to be one of the greatest psychedelic rock albums in history according to various publications. 1st print EKL-4013 Mono catalog number cover with the original “Promotion Copy Not For Sale” Day-Glo sticker. The back cover contains a rare sticker reading “I Stole This Album From_____”. This original, vintage and quite creative sticker was meant to remind that the album ought to be returned to the owner. 1st print Elektra tan 2.75” pressing ring labels with the “EKL-4013” Mono catalog number and large white Elektra logo. Elektra had this title pressed in 1967 by three different plants: Allentown (AL), Columbia, Terre Haute (CTH) and Monarch (MON). Each plant was sent a different master lacquer to cut from (rather than a copy of the master tape which was more common in those days), thus ensuring that all pressings had similar high sound quality. This copy was pressed at the Allentown, PA plant as identified by the “(AL)” symbol in the trail-off vinyl. Unlike the majority of copies which have the November 30th date stamp in the runout grooves, this copy contains the November 24th stamp which we had never seen before. The full matrix numbers including the date stamp and the “Ray” initials of the mastering engineer Ray Hagerty are as follows: Side 1 - EKL 4013A (AL-1) ARC 11-24-7 Ray; Side 2 - EKL 4013B (AL) ARC 11-24-7 Ray. The album comes with the original gold-white Elektra Records inner sleeve.

★

I grade the cover as Excellent Minus. It's very clean and doesn't have any splits, writing or residue. The front cover has a very light hint of ring wear at the bottom. A little ding to the corners and very light shelf wear in a couple of places. The spine contains a fully readable text. The vinyl is graded as Very Good Plus. It retains its glossy factory lacquer only having some very light non-feelable surface hairlines as well as scuffs from the original inner sleeve which is in Near Mint Minus condition and doesn't have any splits or tears. The clean labels are in Excellent Plus condition and don't have any scuffs or wear. The vinyl sounds amazing only having some light occasional static and several light clicks on the fifth track of Side 2. Perhaps, they will disappear if you change the balance of your tonearm. Most likely, the static and clicks also could get reduced or go away if the record was professionally cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

We don't accept bids from the accounts created during the auction or the ones created by the blocked bidders. The buyers with a low rating, please contact us prior to placing a bid. In order to assure a safe transit and prompt delivery we prefer shipping our items with Priority Mail, it concerns the domestic shipping as well as the international. You can be sure that your purchased item(s) will be professionally packed as we don't save on the packing materials. 100% of our buyers are satisfied with our packaging. We guarantee an exact and professional description of each item. If for some reasons something escapes our attention, please let us know. Please do it before you make the decision to open a return request. We'll put our best effort into providing the best customer service. We 100% guarantee a full refund and issue a partial refund only in certain rare cases. We're a Top Rated Plus seller and an opened return request would negatively affect our seller performance. Who would like that? Opening a return request is your right, however, we're sorry but we'll have to block you and it's our right. We're not going to hide the fact that we prefer to see among our customers the intelligent, decent and kind people. If you don't possess these qualities, you won't like dealing with us. We don't list items for an auction often and when we do it's a small quantity as these items are highly collectible and very rare.

FOR INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS' CONSIDERATION

Due to the high risks involved when it comes international shipping, we’ve recently stopped sending our items with USPS First-Class Mail International and now use only USPS Priority Mail International Express. However, if your order exceeds the amount of $5000, we’ll have to ship the package with FedEx as oppose to USPS.

I don't have the information concerning the existing customs regulations and policies in your country. Before placing a bid please find out more details about it yourself. I don't take any responsibility for the length of customs clearance. I also don't have any opportunity to influence the work of postal carriers in any way. For this particular reason, I ship internationally only with expedite shipping service that includes signature confirmation. My capabilities are limited to the professional packing that assures a safe transit throughout the way and fastest shipping dates. After shipping the package I don't accept any claims related to the work of postal service or problems related to the absence of knowledge related to the customs clearance in your country. If you have any negative experience related to the postal service and you'd like to insure the purchased item please contact me about it beforehand. Keep in mind that just like you, I'm interested in our transaction being concluded successfully but my abilities are limited to the service I describe above.