ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

…“Still falls the rain, the veils of darkness shroud the blackened trees…

Artist or Band: BLACK SABBATH

Album Title: Black Sabbath

Producer(s): Roger Bain

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Black Sabbath; The Wizard; Behind the Wall of Sleep; NIB.

Side 2: Evil Woman; Sleeping Village; Warning.

Label/Format: Vertigo, a rarer original first issue large Spiral format that includes ‘A PHILIPS RECORD PRODUCT’ at the 6 o’clock position of the label. This detail was only on the first issues, subsequent Swirl pressings omitted this text. The labels have matt surfaces with a gentle trace of texturing.

Label Conditions: Both labels are very clean, fresh and attractive with only light, fine and faint spindle marks.

Catalogue Number: VO6 (847903 VTY)

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 136 grams. A very good weight for this record.

Rarity: The album itself is moderately scarce, indeed it was one of the better sellers on this most collectable label. But the genuine first issues with the Philips credit text on the label are much harder to find. Finding these lesser played and clean is harder still, especially with a lovely clean, hardly worn cover. Within the early Vertigo catalogue, there are few albums better, more groundbreaking and important as this dark lesson in early heavy metal gloom. This is a very strong example and seldom found as such.

Country of Manufacture: England

Original Year of Release: 1970

Matrix Nos: VO 6 1Y * 1 420 1 2 1 2 & VO 6 2Y * 1 420 1 2 4

Musicians: Ozzy Osbourne – vocals, harmonica; Tony Iommi – guitar; Geezer Butler – bass; Bill Ward – drums. With: Rodger Bain – Jew’s harp.

Brief Artist & Album Info: Issued to scorn and damnation by the critics in 1970, but universally loved by fans of heavy rock. Ozzy gave the finger and they thrived and became superstars of the genre. Black Sabbath played real heavy metal – an awesome quartet that were very dark, with menace and, sang songs of doom, gloom, war and the occult – this is what they did best and no-one, for me anyway, ever came close to matching them. Even today, after hearing this classic a many times, the sound of that rain falling on the opening grooves and the loud thunderclap with the distant tolling bell sends a shiver down my spine. What is this that stands before me?; Figure in black that points at me. screams ‘The Prince of Darkness’ before the band go into overdrive. The opening track ‘Black Sabbath’ has to be one of rock’s defining moments – the birth of British heavy metal and the critics had to fade away. It’s hard to believe it was issued way back in 1970.

Led by Ozzy Osbourne, now a cult figure extraordinaire but never forget the other three: Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. The pure heaviness and phenominal crunching bass they produced was breathtaking. I saw a fairly young Black Sabbath back in the late 1970s at Hammersmith Odeon and it remains vivid in my memory. The Spiral era material was played, and how. This is a classic issue, the cover is chilling, the text on the inverted cross inside is as dark as the music inside. An album to be played loud, as loud as possible. I still remember that huge stack of Marshall’s on stage with all the speakers being driven hard and really getting the air moving. The first four are often said to not being terribly well produced, all I can say to that is these listeners have not heard them on a decent system – only Paranoid is a little muted at times. These have an in-built power and quality brings it out (as well as volume). Just listen to the detail of the splashing rain and the tremendous thunderclaps at the beginning. The bass grinds and punches with awesome power riffs – it shakes the foundations, the drums pound and the cymbals crash, the guitars soar and of course Ozzy’s blood curdling screams speak for themselves – oh nowwwwww!!! Forget the soundalikes, nobody does it better than Sabbath. This stunning lesson in gloom was rarely bettered, even by them, the distant bell tolls… and still falls the rain – magnificent!!!

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better still, this has little to fault. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. This has no ‘Dunbar’ credit for the song ‘Warning’. And has the original text for copyright which is ‘WARNING—Copyright subsists in all Vertigo recordings…’. Later ones have the word ‘Vertigo’ changed to ‘this label’. Also it has the early mispelling of Ossie Osbourne. Made in England, uncredited. Includes the Swirl inner sleeve with the late 1969 manufacturing code.

Cover Front: A small tip crease on the bottom left tip apart, this magnificent, classic spooky cover front has little else to fault, with any marks of blemishes few, ultra fine and faint, only really seen right up close with utmost scrutiny. One of the cleanest and freshest originals I have seen for some time. Any other creases are very fine and faint, the colour is strong and deep, lacking the usual light fading issues most seem to acquire. Barely any rubbing at all and no sticker issues. The ghosly figure looks fantastic as seen in close-up, this famous cover front is seldom seen much better.

Cover Back: The back is probably even better with little to fault at all. The lack of ring wear is a massive plus, as is the lack of creasing and rubbing.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The curse of this inner gatefold is so often grubby finger marks on the black matt surfaces. Few avoid these, and once applied, they are near impossible to remove. Well I am delighted to state, this inside has minimal traces of these, any present are few and very light indeed, which immediately tells me, this one has been handled very little. There is little to fault at all inside, and like the outer surfaces, this is rarely seen a great deal better.

Top Edges: Both fantastic: hardly any wear at all, both very straight, flush and parallel, again, near exceptional.

Bottom Edges: A little mild rubbing at the ends, inbetween, very little at all, and also again straight and flush. These storage edges seldom remain with such a lack of wear.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front is closed, the record enters on the back. All edges are sharp with minimal wear or thickening, any traces are light and very patchy as seen viewed end-on. These are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced in any way – the same goes for the entire cover.

Spine and Text: This is another perilous area for this cover. This is very solid, equally straight, uncompressed and folded square, so the edges meet up near flush and parallel. A spine that has a strong tendency to fade when exposed to natural light, the magenta text often fades away to nothing. As seen, all the text matter is present and still very easy to read. Any fading to the unforgiving magenta coloured letter is light. Even the very fine ‘VO6’ near the bottom is fully present, that often totally disappears, not so easy to show this, and it is quite pale, but fully present, be assured. A fine central crease line is seen purely from opening, few can hope to avoid that, this being as fine and light as it gets. Overall, this is a very pleasing and hardly worn spine, with the graphic retaining deep colour. Even the folds have avoid scuffs or rubbing which is also great news.

Corners: Mainly light tip rubs, a fraction more on the bottom right pair, but still small. A gentle crease on the bottom left front, but no other evidence of any dinks. All considered, the corners have fared quite well.

Cover Summary: A really impressive cover that sets the bar high. With so few overall blemishes and strong, fresh colour retained, this could prove a substantial upgrade for many collectors. Now into its 48th year, this classic Swirl cover should please many, if not most collectors. Do not under-estimate how difficult these are to find like this.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: or thereabouts, but this does have a couple of numbers in pen on the back as seen, so grading is somewhat subjective. This a first issue style Swirl inner with the important 119 date-code of manufacture. This translates to November 1969, so correctly made prior to the album’s release. It has minimal creasing, just one small burr on the back window circle, the polylining solid and still clear. There are no edge splits or seam repairs, the paper only gently darkened with age, far less so than most seen. The pen numbers, often done by retailers for identification, apart, this is a very fine vintage inner.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: clean with fine shine and solidly pressed. A few light surface marks, mostly fine as seen under bright light, there are no penetrating stylus scratches and the record plays devoid of clicks. A copy appearing quite lightly played and the audio experience is mostly superb. A first issue copy to please many fans and collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This dark metal masterpiece plays mostly above its high visual grading with little to fault. The odd gentle crackle trace here-and-there on the title song which sounds a little like static, this being played on very revealing equipment, but the vast majority of the song is fine. All other songs play superbly with hardly anything unwanted. Massively powerful sound with a wide dynamic range and very heavy sound, best enjoyed loud to bring out the power embedded into these vintage grooves. Laden with powerful riffs, the prince of darkness rarely sounded better. Overall a mostly clean pressing that offers a more ‘open’ sound that was more muted on later repressings. The quiet passages play as you would want – quiet – and this heavy metal classic has a few areas of lesser volume, but not that many. Tracking is effortless with no faults*, and for most, the sound clear with great detail. Little of any spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this classic debut, the lack of pops and clicks is always a bonus. A copy that could prove difficult indeed to find better – that is record, cover and inner sleeve – especially with the ultimate first label details which are becoming increasingly difficult to find. One many fans and collectors will enjoy, and one I am happy to highly recommend, unless total perfection is mandatory. An album that spawned a host of imitators but none (for me anyway) even come close. Real metal, no glam, just gloom – these four giants in the world of heavy rock are legends – Oh Lord Yeah!!!!!!!

…The cataract of darkness form fully, the long black night begins, yet still, by the lake a young girl waits, unseeing she believes herself unseen, she smiles, faintly at the distant tolling bell, and the still falling rain”.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programs. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Equipment Used for Play-Grading: I now play-grade ALL the records I offer (unless clearly stated to the contrary) on the following equipment:

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 14­ years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.