Inner sleeves have been swapped, exchanged and ‘upgraded’ for years on vinyl. You’ll find lots of very early Harvest UK 1st pressings offered for sale with company inner sleeves and it is my suggestion that collectors and sellers have mistakenly exchanged these inner sleeves on 1st pressings that didn’t originally include them.

Here’s the theory: the famous Harvest inner sleeve advertises releases up to the middle of 1970…so logic suggests that prior to this date, the advertising inner sleeve could not have been issued on Harvest 1st pressings up to and including Edgar Broughton Band’s “Sing Brother Sing” (SHVL 772).

All of the albums pictured on the advertising sleeve would have been originally sold with a plain white sleeve, the only possible exceptions being the very latest ones advertised as these could have been imminent releases at the time the sleeve was produced. For example; how can a genuine 1st pressing of Deep Purple’s “Book of Taliesyn” (the very 1st LP on Harvest released in July 1969) have a Harvest company inner sleeve that miraculously predicts the next 25 albums up to a year in the future…! You get my point?

Albums depicted on the inner sleeves:

Side 1

SHVL 753 – PANAMA LIMITED JUG BAND
SHVL 757 – EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – Wasa Wasa
SHVL 758 – THE BATTERED ORNAMENTS – Mantle-Piece
SHVL 760 – FOREST
SHVL 763 – KEVIN AYERS – Joy Of A Toy
SHVL 765 – SYD BARRETT – The Madcap Laughs
SHVL 768 – PETE BROWN & PIBLOKTO! – Things May Come And Things May Go But The Art School Dance Goes On Forever
SHVL 769 – GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH – Horizons
SHVL 770 – BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST
SHVL 771 – SHIRLEY & DOLLY COLLINS – Love, Death And The Lady
SHVL 773 – THIRD EAR BAND
SHVL 775 – QUATERMASS
SHDW 3/4 – LOVE – Out Here

Side 2

SHVL 751 – DEEP PURPLE – The Book Of Taliesyn
SHVL 752 – PETE BROWN & HIS BATTERED ORNAMENTS – A Meal You Can Shake Hands With In The Dark
SHVL 754 – SHIRLEY & DOLLY COLLINS – Anthems In Eden
SHVL 755 – MICHAEL CHAPMAN – Rainmaker
SHVL 756 – THIRD EAR BAND – Alchemy
SHDW 1/2 – PINK FLOYD – Ummagumma
SHVL 759 – DEEP PURPLE
SHVL 761 – TEA & SYMPHONY – An Asylum For The Musically Insane
SHVL 762 – BAKERLOO
SHVL 764 – MICHAEL CHAPMAN – Fully Qualified Survivor
SHVL 766 – ROY HARPER – Flat Baroque & Beserk
SHVL 767 – DEEP PURPLE – Deep Purple In “Live” Concert At The Royal Albert Hall
SHVL 772 – EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND – Sing Brother Sing

In my opinion, all of the above should have a plain white inner sleeve and NOT a Harvest advertising one. According to the 7006 date code on the inside of SHDW3/4, (so that would seem to be the last issue advertised) which therefore indicates the sleeve was produced in June 1970, we can logically assume that the advertising sleeve was introduced either around or some time after that. Let’s say June/July 1970. Also around this time, the label sampler from Harvest was released – “Picnic, a breath of fresh air”…and my copy doesn’t have Harvest inner sleeves…(removed? replaced? how it was originally issued…?).

My best guess is that the 1st Harvest album originally issued with Harvest advertising sleeves would be The Pretty Things ‘Parachute’…unless you know better?! Comments and suggestions gratefully received.