Vinyl:  VG+ Play Graded. Sounds Great!  Has some marks that don't affect the sound quality.  Asylum Labels are Clean and Bright.  This is the 1973 Asylum SD-5061 1ST PRESSING!  This is the audiophile acclaimed pressing, Pressed by Specialty Records Corp of Olyphant, PA!!  The Minor Key Masterpiece that introduced the world to the oddities that inhabit Tom Waits' World...Has his first "hit" (for someone else, namely, The Eagles) in "Ol' 55" and Ice Cream Man and I Hope I Don't Fall In Love With You...The barroom is open and the cast of characters are pushing for the stage door...allmusic gives it 4 stars!!!

See Review Below!
In the Dead Wax:  matrices, etched.  On both sides:  the SRC glyph ((Pressed at Specialty Record Corp., Olyphant, PA))  Complete dead wax information cheerfully given upon request.  
Cover:  VG/VG+ (see photos)  NO BARCODE!   Nice high gloss on cover. Front and back of cover artwork and text are rich and clear, with ring wear.  The seams, corners and spine are solid and clean, with some wear.  There's a small piece of scotch tape on the top left corner.  No splits.  No writing.  Spine print is crystal clear.

Goldmine Standards.   I play grade every record that I sell on eBay as I have found you can't rate an LP accurately by just visually inspecting an album.  I wipe the dust off of every cover with clean, unscented baby wipes.  I professionally clean the vinyl.  (I also operate a Vinyl Record Cleaning business for your dusty/dirty records--if interested, send me a message).

U.S. Shipping:  $4.99 Media Mail.  Tracking included.   50 cents additional shipping per additional item, when the shipment is combined.   If you wish to take advantage of my COMBINED SHIPPING deal, simply select your items by clicking on "ADD TO CART" on the main listing page.  Do this for all of your selections and then go to your cart to checkout. Your combined shipping discount will be computed automatically.  Free domestic shipping if you spend $100 or more!

All records are packaged securely with the vinyl outside the jacket (to avoid seam split in transit). The vinyl and jacket are sandwiched between two cardboard stiffeners and shipped in a custom cardboard record mailer box. 
INTERNATIONAL BUYERS!  EBAY'S PLATFORM DOESN'T ACCOMMODATE FOR COMBINED SHIPPING FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS---BUT DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU!!!---I CAN COMBINE SHIP FOR YOU AND MINIMIZE SHIPPING COSTS!!!  TELL ME WHICH ITEMS YOU WANT TO BUY, AND I WILL WEIGH THEM AND THE SHIPPING BOX TOGETHER AND THEN I WILL CREATE A "LOT OF 2..." OR "LOT OF 3...", OR "LOT OF 4...", ETC WITH THE ITEMS YOU WANT, AND CREATE A LISTING WITH THE EXACT WEIGHT OF YOUR LOT.   THIS WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY!!!  IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THIS, SEND ME A MESSAGE TELLING ME WHICH ITEMS YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AND WE'LL GO FROM THERE.  OR, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS.
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Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album? 
First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl.  Why  experience the worse elements of both formats?  These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared.  They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound.  There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm.  First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider.  Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive.  Inner details are  clearer.   On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant.  The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.  Closing Time Review

by William Ruhlmann

' debut album is a minor-key masterpiece filled with songs of late-night loneliness. Within his chosen narrow range of the cocktail bar pianistics and muttered vocals, and producer manage to deliver a surprisingly broad collection of styles, from the jazzy "Virginia Avenue" to the uptempo off-kilter funkiness of "Ice Cream Man." The acoustic guitar folkiness of the tender "I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You" is an upside-down take on the Laurel Canyon sound, while the saloon song "Midnight Lullaby" would have been a perfect addition to the repertoires of and/or . ' entire musical approach is highly stylized and, in its lesser moments, somewhat derivative of some of his own heroes: "Lonely" borrows from 's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today." His lovelorn lyrics can be sentimental without penetrating too deeply, but they still get the job done since these are song portraits in miniature. The frameworks of most of the songs come from the songwriter's literary obsessions with and . also has a gift for gentle, rolling pop melodies; his original scenarios are strikingly visual on the best songs, such as "Martha" -- which discreetly augments with strings -- and the now iconic "Ol' 55." ' original version is far superior in conveying the early-morning emotions after leaving a lover's room to ' hooky hit cover -- which ultimately guaranteed an income for life. quietly announces the arrival of a talented songwriter whose self-consciousness, wry barroom humor, and solitary melancholy made him a standout from virtually all of his peers, and difficult to pigeonhole.