Sold Date: January 5, 2021
Start Date: January 5, 2021
Final Price: $500.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 402
Buyer Feedback: 0

Led Zeppelin II Atlantic SD 8236 RL Robert Ludwig “Hot Cut” original 1969 first U.S. pressing.

Thick heavy cardboard Atlantic gatefold sleeve is clean front and back as shown in photos. As anyone who has collected this album knows, its heavy cardboard dark brown sleeve is highly prone to ringwear and scuffing. This copy is clean front and back, with no visible ringwear on either the front or the back cover. There is no writing or other visible marks on the sleeve.

As shown in the photos, the spine is nearly flat, with all spine text, including the band name “Led Zeppelin” and the album’s catalog number “Atlantic SD 8236” clear, undamaged, and readable. As shown in the photo of the top half of the spine, due to a fairly common factory printing error and/or misalignment issue of this era, the band name “Led Zeppelin” and the green “stereo” badge at the top of the spine are not perfectly centered on the spine, but are closer to the front cover side of the spine than to the back cover.

While this cover is as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen for an original 1969 pressing of this album, it has several flaws. As shown in the in the photo of the spine, there is dinging and scuffing of all four corners of the album. As shown in the overhead photo of the sleeve, there are several light dings along the top of the gatefold sleeve. While the photographs do not clearly show it, the white sections of the now-52-year-old heavy cardboard sleeve are beginning to yellow slightly from age. This is more noticeable on the spine than on the white “zeppelin” portions of the front and back sleeve, but it is beginning to happen. Again, still one of the cleanest covers of an original 1969 U.S. pressing of this album that I’ve seen, with no ringwear.

The original custom Atlantic catalog inner sleeve is present, with no seam splits. Some light crimping is evident on one corner of the inner sleeve. Since I have owned this album, the record has been stored in a Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab inner sleeve to prevent the possibility of damage to the original catalog inner sleeve. The other Atlantic albums pictured on the catalog sleeve confirm that this is a first/early pressing of Led Zeppelin II, as the only other Led Zeppelin album shown in the pictures is the band’s debut. The newest Aretha Franklin album pictured on the catalog sleeve is Soul ’69, released in January of 1969, while Led Zeppelin II was of course released in October of 1969. Franklin’s next Atlantic release, This Girl’s in Love with You, was not released until January of 1970, and is not pictured on this catalog sleeve.

The handwritten matrix numbers in the deadwax of the record are as follows:

Side One: ST-A-691671-C RL SS LW W AT

Side Two: ST-A-691672-C LW RL SS W AT

Both sides have the Specialty Records stamp in the deadwax, i.e., a small “R” and “C” surrounded by a large stylized “S.”

This copy of Led Zeppelin II was pressed in 1969 at Specialty Records in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, from a lacquer cut at Sterling Sound from the Robert Ludwig or “RL” hot mastering, so named because Ludwig mastered the record so hot and loud that it caused needles of cheap record players of the day to skip or jump out of the groove. While the RL cut was quickly replaced due to customer complaints, played back on a modern turntable and cartridge that can handle the “hot cut,” it remains the best way to hear this album, particularly as the original stereo master tapes used by Ludwig in 1969 have reportedly since been lost.

As shown in the photos, the record labels are clean, with no spindle marks, writing, or other visible wear or damage.

While I have seen shinier and glossier 50-year-old records, the LP retains much of its original gloss and shine. Held at an angle under bright light, light sleeve removal lines and several faint scuff markings are visible, but there are no scratches, gouges, or dents to the vinyl. The record is flat and unwarped. Play-graded from start to finish, the record play grades as follows:

Side One:

Whole Lotta Love - There is light surface noise during the run-in groove. The theremin break plays cleanly. When John Bonham and Jimmy Page re-enter after the theremin break, the sound of the drums and guitar is huge. This moment is why this RL cutting of this record is sought after. During Robert Plant’s final a cappella “way down inside” section of the song, light pops and ticks are audible.

What Is and What Should Never Be – Between “Whole Lotta Love” and this track, light surface noise is audible. During the quiet verse passages of this song, largely featuring just bass, cymbals, and Plant, light pops and ticks are audible. When the “catch the wind see a spin” section leads into the chorus, we again hear the huge sound huge of this pressing, and the full band overpowers any surface, noise, pops, or ticks. The hard panned left to right stereo guitar break also sounds huge.

The Lemon Song - As with the previous track, during the quiet passage introduced by Plant urging the band to “take it down a little bit,” light pops and ticks are audible. During the full band passages, the music plays strong, clean, and, and loud.

Thank You - This track is the torture test for this album, as the stylus has to battle inner groove distortion to reproduce both Jimmy Page’s acoustic guitar solo and John Bonham’s huge drum sound at the same time. Damaged or noisy pressings of this album have nowhere to hide during this song.This copy of the record passes that test, with the snap of Page’s acoustic strings against the fretboard during his solo confirming that this pressing has suffered little or no groove damage. As with the other songs on side one, during Plant’s a cappella vocal showcase, and also during the final isolated organ fadeout, surface noise and light pops and ticks are audible.

Side Two:

Heartbreaker – Side two of this copy features a cleaner and quieter lead in groove than side one. This track rivals “Whole Lotta Love” as the most powerful example of Ludwig’s “hot cut,” which I suppose makes sense, as the outermost edges of the LP afforded him the most room to cut as hot as possible. Enormous guitar and drum sound on this track, as big a sound as I’ve ever heard on any rock LP. Page’s isolated guitar solo plays cleanly, although this track does feature the biggest flaw on this LP, two loud pops early on in the song.

Living Loving Maid – Plays strong, clean, and loud the whole way through.

Ramble On - As with “Thank You,” Page’s acoustic guitar on this track is crisp and clean with no groove damage. Huge drums and bass during the chorus. As with the other quiet/loud songs on this copy of the LP, some surface noise, pops, and ticks are audible during the quieter musical passages.

Moby Dick – Very natural drum sound on this RL cut, with light pops and ticks intermittently audible during the quieter passages of Bonham’s solo.

Bring It On Home – As with the other quiet/loud songs, light pops and ticks are intermittently audible during the quieter opening shuffle, but when Page’s solo kicks into the full band rocking out, the sound is again huge, a testament to Robert Ludwig’s ability to get such a huge sound on the innermost grooves of the record, with no inner groove distortion audible on my turntable.

Because of the price of this album, I have highlighted the surface noise, pops, and ticks, which are common to Atlantic Records pressings of this vintage, now over 50 years old. Compared to a new Mobile Fidelity 45 rpm record that plays on my Rega P3 with dead silent backgrounds, this record doesn’t have dead silent backgrounds. There is some surface noise, and some pops and ticks audible during the quieter passages. If you’re higher up the turntable food chain than I am, you may have a more expensive set up and/or cartridge than reduces surface noise. But this LP suffers from no skips, groove damage, or other major flaws. The worst flaw I heard during playback was the two rather loud pops during the intro of “Heartbreaker.” As reflected by the condition of the inner and outer sleeves, this record came from the condition of a fastidious collector who bought this record new when it came out and took very good care of it. It is not unplayed, and could be bettered by a sealed or unplayed copy. But, as far as actually played copies of this now-52-year-old album go, it is near the top of any copy I have owned or seen. During the full band passages where Jimmy Page is playing electric guitar, it plays NM-. During the quieter passages, it plays VG+ due to the ticks and pops, which aren’t tremendously loud, but are there. For all of the hype around the RL cut of this record, the hype is real. This is a fun record to listen to, as all RL copies of this record are, and this is the cleanest overall copy of the RL cut that I have encountered in 40+ years of record collecting.

Please review my 100% positive feedback as a seller on eBay, including feedback recently received for the sale of several other high end Led Zeppelin LPs, and buy with confidence. Your record will be shipped in a dedicated heavy cardboard record mailer, with an inner LP compartment surrounded by a larger outside box to prevent any corner damage to the LP during shipping. Cardboard inserts and bubble wrap will be used as necessary to ensure that the record is stable in the inner compartment. Your record will be shipped in a Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab inner sleeve to prevent seam splits or other damage to the original custom inner sleeve. Because of the rarity and cost of this album, I will not ship it by Media Mail. The postage cost reflects Priority Mail shipping, and I will insure the record for the full purchase price.