Sold Date: March 18, 2023
Start Date: March 11, 2023
Final Price: £12.99 (GBP)
Bid Count: 1
Seller Feedback: 12673
Buyer Feedback: 23

JOHN SIMON - JOHN SIMON'S ALBUM, Japanese WARNER BROTHERS P-7601W, 1970.

ORIGINAL Japanese ISSUE with Thick Textured G/F Sleeve, OBI & Insert, Orig Green Label.

Obscure & Excellent US 60s/70s Folk Rock/Folk Psych/SSW… Simon’s 1st album which featured a whole host of top musicians.

Here’s the review from a CD issue: ‘Producer John Simon did a pair of albums of his own during the 1970s, starting with John Simon's Album (1970), which was two years in the making and featuring many of the musicians with whom he'd been working over that period, including Cyrus Faryar, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Delaney Bramlett, Leon Russell, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Jim Price, and Rita Coolidge, Bobby Whitlock, and Jean Millington. Perhaps not surprisingly, John Simon's Album mostly resembles the first two Band albums, with a clear, sharp, brittle sound rooted in a multitude of popular music strains. The strangest song here is the first, "Song of the Elves," a surreal, psychedelic song derived from an R&B source and beat (with a strong '50s New Orleans feel) that calls to mind both Randy Newman and Brian Wilson -- the strange chorus with its deliberate distortion evokes the late '60s and the peculiar brand of psychedelia generated by the Beach Boys. And speaking of the latter, the bluesy "Did You See" sounds like some magnificent lost piece of the Wild Honey sessions, Simon suddenly trying his hand at piano-and-guitar blues. The album also encompasses stripped-down gospel in "Nobody Knows," but the real jumping off point comes early, in the horn-driven "Tannenbaum," which sounds for a moment like the original Blood, Sweat & Tears jamming with the Band, and "Davey's on the Road Again" (co-authored with Robbie Robertson) could be a lost Band track in its playing and texture, though Merry Clayton's soaring backing vocal adds a special wrinkle (and recalls Simon's arrangements on Leonard Cohen's first album). Much of the rest, regardless of who's playing, moves between intimate Newman-like (or even Wilson-like) quirkiness and the lean, rocking sound of the Band -- though the piano tends to be the lead instrument, somewhere in there (most notably on "Don't Forget What I Told You") the guitar (mostly played by John Hall) comes in along with the bass and drums, all sounding like part of the Music From Big Pink of The Band sessions. Anyone seeking a kind of stylistic/textural extension of either of those first two albums need look no further, and Simon's music holds up as well -- it's difficult to see what would have been a single off of this album (maybe "Railroad Train Runnin' up My Back"?), though "Annie Looks Down" or "Did You See" could and should have gotten radio play.’

Original Japanese issue which came in a thick G/F sleeve with a unique 4 page insert… which is quite rare with decent complete copies usually $25+.

This copy is complete with the OBI & insert.

A really nice copy. 

NOTE: Postage counts as 2 LPs due to the weight.

Condition is Mint/Mint (cover/record), cover has no cutout.

POSTAGE:

If you win more than one item please wait for your invoice for the correct combined postage amount.

UK: £4 for up to 6/7 LPs under 2 Kg with a value up to £25, but £5 if the value is £25+.

For over 2 Kg, approximately £8 for values up to £100, £12 for values of £150, £15 for values up to £300.

CDs & 7" Singles are FREE with LPs, otherwise £1.90 for the first then 50p for each additional. Thicker CD Box Sets are the same as LPs due to the size/weight. For larger orders cost will be the same as LPs depending on the weight/value.

EU: 8 GBP/9.50 GBP for the 1st LP (for under/over 500g, most LPs are under), 2 LPs 9.50 GBP, 3 LPs 11 GBP, 4 LPs 12 GBP, 5/6/7 LPs 13 GBP.

With tracking: 11/12 GBP for 1st LP (under/over 500g), 2 LPs 12 GBP, 3 LPs 13 GBP, 4-6/7 LPs 14 GBP (Germany 13 GBP).

NON-EU: 9 GBP/10.50 GBP for the 1st LP (for under/over 500g, most LPs are under), 2 LPs 10.50 GBP, 3 LPs 12 GBP, 4 LPs 13 GBP, 5 LPs 14 GBP, 6/7 LPs 15 GBP.

With tracking: 12/13 GBP for 1st LP (under/over 500g), 2 LPs 13 GBP, 3 LPs 14 GBP, 4 LPs 15 GBP, 5 LPs 16 GBP, 6/7 LPs 16.50 GBP.

2LP sets count as 2 LPs.

1st CD/Single is 5 GBP then the next CD/Single is 1.50 GBP... then each batch of 2 are 1.50 each.

CANADA/ZONE 1: 13.50 GBP/16.50 GBP for the 1st LP (for under/over 500g, most LPs are under), then additional single LPs are 3 GBP each.
2LP sets count as 2 LPs.

Insurance/tracking depends on the weight: 1 to 2 LPs is 3.50 GBP extra, 3/4 LPs is 2.50 GBP, 5/6/7 LPs is 1.50 GBP.

1st CD/Single is 6.50 GBP then additional CDs/Singles are 2 GBP each...larger quantities will be less.

USA: 18 GBP for the 1st LP (under 500g), 2 LPs 21 GBP, 3 LPs 25 GBP, 4 to 6/7 LPs 29 GBP. CDs/Singles as Zone 1. Tracking is 1 GBP extra for 1 to 2 LPs, included for 3 to 6/7 LPs.

Economy Mail is also available to the USA at the same prices as Europe: 9.00/10.50 GBP for 1 LP... etc, delivery times can be the same as airmail but can also take up to around 8 weeks.

AUSTRALIA/FAR EAST/ZONE 2: 16 GBP/19.50 GBP for the 1st LP (for under/over 500g, most LPs are under), then additional single LPs are 3.50 GBP each up to 6/7 LPs.

Insurance/tracking depends on the weight: 1 to 3 LPs is 3 GBP extra, 4/5 LPs is 2 GBP, 6/7 LPs is 1 GBP.

1st CD/Single is 7.50 GBP then additional CDs/Singles are 2 GBP each...larger quantities will be less.

Economy Mail is also available at the same prices as Europe: 9.00/10.50 GBP for 1 LP... etc, but delivery times can take up to around 8 weeks.

NOTE: Ebay now levy an extra 12-14+% charge on all postage amounts...so please realise the actual postage cost is: the actual cost of shipping + the ebay charge + other smaller costs such as petrol, cost of mailers etc where appropriate...

PAYMENT:

PERSONAL CHEQUES IN UK STERLING/ PAYPAL.

GRADINGS:

I DO TRY TO PLAY/TEST GRADE ALL THE LPs I SELL.

MINT:

RECORD: PERFECT...AS NEW CONDITION, SO NO DETEORIATION IN THE SOUND QUALITY…bear in mind that not all ‘new’ LPs are Mint because of the quality of the pressing etc...also SEALED/UNPLAYED LPs should be Mint.

COVER: AS NEW CONDITION WITH NO OBVIOUS DEFECTS.

M-: RECORD: SLIGHTY WORSE THAN Mint, LP may have the odd surface mark due to removal from its sleeve etc…but should have minimal noise and is still in great condition.

COVER: SHOWS SIGNS OF BEING HANDLED WITH THE ODD CREASE/TINY BIT OF WEAR or a Mint cover with a deletion/cutout hole or notch.

EX: RECORD: MOST REGUARLY PLAYED LPs KEPT WITH CARE FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY...LP may play with more hiss/slight crackle but not louder than the music.

COVER: SLIGHTLY MORE WEAR/CREASING/BENDING even some very slight ring wear...or may be a M or M- cover with a tiny split seam or a tiny sticker tear, but still nice.

EX-: Record & Cover a bit worse than EX, but better than VG+.

VG+: RECORD: LP PLAYS WITH MORE NOISE DUE TO EITHER DIRT OR STRONGER SURFACE MARKS BUT NO BAD MARKS/SCRATCHES and is STILL IS IN A VERY LISTENABLE CONDITION though starting to affect the music to some extent.

COVER: HAS QUITE A LOT OF CEASING/BENDING often with FADING/RING WEAR/ STICKER TEARS/TEARS...or may be an EX cover with a split seam(s).

NOTE: Any buyers looking for reasonably nice playing records should avoid anything below VG+.    

VG: Not exactly ‘Very Good’, an often-misinterpreted grade, most VG records I’ve bought have some obvious defects affecting the record and/or cover.        RECORD: THE SOUND QUALITY OF IS AFFECTED BY SURFACE MARKS/ LESSER AUDIBLE MARKS/SCRATCHES or DIRT etc...but still plays through and is still in quite a REASONABLE condition for playing, though obviously affecting the music to a greater extent.

COVER: PLENTY OF CREASING/BENDING/FADING/RING WEAR but still in one piece.

G: LP still plays through but is very noisy due to scratches/dirt etc....but still not totally trashed!

COVER: AS VG BUT TORN and starting to fall apart.

F/P: LP is trashed...for ornament purposes only.

PLEASE NOTE GRADING IS SUBJECTIVE AND EVERYONE CAN HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION (for instance, some sellers don’t grade below VG). Myself, I think there should be an obvious difference between each grade.