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

Postage: UK £4.95. Europe (including Russia) £12.95 (£1 per extra record). Rest of World £19.95 (£2 per extra record). Royal Mail prices have also gone up again. I will never compromise on quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for 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 if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer 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.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

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. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: NEIL YOUNG

Album Title: On The Beach

Producers: Neil Young, David Briggs, Mark Harman, Al Schmitt.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Walk On; See The Sky About to Rain; Revolution Blues; For The Turnstiles; Vampire Blues.

Side 2: On The Beach; Motion Pictures; Ambulance Blues.

Label/Format: Reprise – Tan format with matt gently textured surfaces that have the distinctive CBS style ring ridges.

Label Conditions: Superb near mint examples with barely a spindle trace to be seen. The owner from new said he could not remember playing more than once. Although the cover has fared less well with some corner wear, the record itself is in super condition.

Catalogue Number: K 54014

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Weight of Record: 131 grams. This is the heaviest copy of the scarce album I have held or had to date. Most were pressed wafer thin.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Moderately scarce: also difficult to find in clean playing condition, often let down by inherent contact sounds and pressing issues. This hardly played record has little to fault at all and was a pleasure to play-grade, and so few usually are.

Original Year of Release: 1974

Matrix Nos:K 54014 A4 / K-54014-B5 [both machine punched, clear and distinct], these are also original, forget about ‘1’ and low matrixes on this one, retail copies only had 4s and 5s.

Musicians include: Neil Young – guitar, vocal, harmonica, wurlitzer piano; Ben Keith – Steel guitar, slide guitar, vocal, hand drum, bass guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal.

Brief Artist & Album Info: After the live Time Fades Away, Young undertook another controversial tour, but the album that was due to be issued, Tonight’s The Night was put on hold. Instead Young issued this remarkable set, one of the greatest achievements from his highly impressive catalogue. Issued to very mixed reviews at the time On The Beach is now regarded by most Young and rock fans as a masterpiece, it was so long out-of-print and unavailable it became regarded as an unavailable cult classic. Often described as bleak, it does feature the word ‘Blues’ in three titles. The album took the pain and uncertainty witnessed on Young’s last two tours and distilled from it a work of astonishing vision. Here was Young both analysing his past like a man three times his age and offering a fresh perspective on his future. The second side of the album especially is testament to Young’s songwriting brilliance and has ‘classic’ written all over it, that said there is not a bad musical moment on this record. After two gentle openers, the third song ‘Revolution Blues’ is a daring attempt at satire based on Charles Manson, it might not be the most tasteful of ideas but works. The title song and the first of the momentous second side, Young questions the nature of fame and its impact upon his mental state. A stunning slow guitar solo unfolds as he seems to resolve his state of mind. ‘Motion Pictures’ written as a tribute to his actress wife, Carrie Snodgrass, has the man sounding at his saddest, a trait always associated with Young when he sings his happiest songs. The finale, the long ‘Ambulance Blues’ is arguably the best song Young ever wrote, it’s an extraordinary examination of his career, but unlike ‘Don’t Be Denied’, this is not a straight autobiography, but a more a mental journey into his history and career, with scathing attacks on his critics and at times he almost seems to get entrapped in a web of lyrical complexity – It’s hard to tell the meaning of this song – this is a beautiful acoustic track and was the summit of his achievement as a singer songwriter to date. Finding this album is not quite as difficult as some imagine – that said this is my first for some time and they do seem to be getting ever more elusive. So many are unplayable with constant surface noise throughout and pressing issues, I have heard few or cleaner than this hardly played example. This was not a great period for some records with variable pressing quality and this album seemed to suffer badly (as did one or two others from his early 1970s catalogue). I have only very rarely heard a copy that will anything like ‘perfect’. This one does play impressively well indeed with very little at all unwanted – never to be taken for granted. Regarding the cover, this one has the inside storage area with the floral graphic, often referred to as the ‘wallpaper’ picture – not all included this feature. Mostly the top corner areas only, it’s still a nice one, but clearly not for purists or cover connoisseurs as this has moderately rubbed on the ends. The actual main areas however are fine as described further down. The often missing card inner sleeve is impressive with little to fault. Certainly the record more than compensates for the corner wear on the main cover and actually one that can be played and enjoyed.

Cover Grade and Format: VERY GOOD: a single unlaminated format with matt, smooth surfaces and including the inside ‘wallpaper’ artwork that I have photographed to show the best I could. Printed in England, uncredited and includes the graphic card inner sleeve which does have Shorewood credits, and would be very confident the main cover was as made by them as well.

Cover Front: Like the record, this cover is never easy to find in better conditions. The previously mentioned corner rubbing apart, this is still a highly respectable one. The top left edge has clearly received a knock and has rubbed and softened with a little gnarling, but its not that big. The opposite right top is similar. Both lower corners ends have rubbed – left very little – right moderate and they are still solid with finer shape. The main cover area is still mostly clean and even still fresh with minimal hint of creasing with fine colour retained (as this is prone to light fading as well). Any surface rubbing only light mostly near the top edge from the record rim that has darkened slightly. Minus the corner wear, the main surface is attractive and would grade nearer excellent apart.

Cover Back: The back is similar, but the corner wear is lighter and these areas appear neater. The lack of ugly penetrating ring wear on this cover is a plus and seldom avoided.

Top Edge: The surface rubbed with moderately light rubbing, more near the corner ends. Still straight and unsplit.

Bottom Edge: Solid and straight with moderate rubbing and again no splits.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The storage edge has light to moderate thickening. Inside includes the floral ‘wallpaper’ design graphic on both edges as I tried to show on my picture, and still looks very impressive. A unique feature on the earliest covers and not all have it.

Spine and Text: The top corner as stated is rubbed and softened a little. The rest of the spine is still solid, straight with hardly any compression. Virtually all the text is intact with any letter erosion minimal and small. There is a little patchy rubbing to the surface and top fold.

Corners: These have been described in the ‘front’ paragraph – I remind again they have wear.

Cover Summary: The corner rubbing apart, a fine example of this difficult and ever-increasingly hard to find original cover. It will please some collectors, but not for the more discerning. However, the record and inner go along way to compensate.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): just a couple of tiny corner tip creases that hardly show stops a superb Mint(–) grading. A hard thick card inner with no lining, never great news for record surfaces, this made in England by Shorewood. No splits, tears or repairs, this so often in shreds or reinforced with clear tape. This has square corners and shape, some were more rounded. Ultra clean, fresh with hardly a blemish to be seen.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): arguably better still. A very fine visual copy that is very clean, with fine shine and solidly pressed with a higher than average weight of 131 grams. A copy hardly even played with any surface marks, few, very fine and faint as seen with close scrutiny under light. No penetrating scratches or pressing defects, this plays as fine as it looks. This increasingly hard to find album will not prove easy to find much better and should please many 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 classic album plays up to, and most-all above it’s high visual grading with little to fault at all. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface or contact sounds minimal – the odd sporadic crackle trace seems near impossible to avoid on this album, but this is as clean as I have heard this one. I have heard some that have been pretty bad in the past and simply will not offer them. Few copies will outperform this finer pressed and hardly played copy I feel sure. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record – the most satisfying vinyl copy I have heard for several years. The record itself should please many collectors and merits strong recommendation (if the main cover corner wear is acceptable).

* 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 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest 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 all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite 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 story. I will try to 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 near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major 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 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie 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 D7500 DSLR 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.

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 bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal from­ winning bidders. I only 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 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

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, 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.