Sold Date: August 16, 2018
Start Date: August 9, 2018
Final Price: $41.00 (USD)
Bid Count: 5
Seller Feedback: 556
Buyer Feedback: 99

BOB DYLAN - BLONDE ON BLONDE - ORIGINAL 1966 MONO RELEASE w/ ALT "GIRL" PHOTOS
Columbia Records  C2L41 1966
This is a vintage 1966, original first edition Pitman pressing of Bob Dylan's landmark double album Blonde on Blonde.  It includes the nine-photo layout that first appeared in the gatefold jadcket featuring, on the right side, a large photo of Italian-Tunisian actress Claudia Cardinale, a hugely famous 1960s movie star, plus another photo of an unidentified girl whispering into Dylan's ear. The layout was changed soon after to remove the Cardinale photo since it had been used without permission. All subsequent U.S. editions were issued with an altered 7-photo layout that eliminated the photo of the whispering girl as well. (see photos 3, 4, and 5 for comparison)

The records bear the old red Columbia "2-eye" labels with ''MONO'' printed in large white lettering at the bottom and the word "nonbreakable" on the left side underneath the catalog numbers.

The identifying matrix codes stamped and engraved on each LP are:
Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A): XLP113761-2B P Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B): XLP113762-3G P Matrix / Runout (Runout Side C): XLP113763-4F Matrix / Runout (Runout Side D): XLP113764-2G S
...which mark it as an original Pitman, NJ plant pressing. Pitman was Columbia's premiere record pressing plant in the 1960s:  it opened in 1961 and was designed by the same Japanese architect who later designed the World Trade Center twin towers.

   The jacket of this copy is in exceptionally good quality for its age, while the vinyl is decent. Disc 1 is in less good shape than Disc 2.  It's rated G to VG for having glossy vinyl but many thin, light surface scratches plus a couple of deeper and longer marks that can be felt when running a fingernail across, although the record is still perfectly playable. Disc 2 is far better, with just some sleeve scuffs and very light, shallow visible scratch marks, none of which are sensible to touch.     The jacket has only minimal ring wear and other modest signs of age on the front and back, along with some edge wear, but absolutely no splits, tears, creases, pen marks or any other imperfections aside from the remains of a small price label. Inside the gatefold is almost perfect except for a bit of fading from age and very minimal wear.  The labels are also in nearly pristine condition with no marks of any kind.