UK 1st pressing of Steeleye Span’s “Ten Man Mop, Or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again” has been added and updated. Worth noting that Pegasus changed their label design from the winged horse to this ‘peg’ graphic and this was the first release on this new label. Strange but there you have it!
Just added this to the Purple Records section, the very hard to find Silverhead debut on Deep Purple’s label from 1973. Produced by Martin Birch and featuring the charismatic Michael Des Barres, who then formed the band Detective, releasing two albums on Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label.
Updated the Charisma Pink Scroll section…just missing three albums from the collection now (Rare Bird ‘As Your Mind Flies By’, Atacama and Leigh Stephens), keep checking back for when these get finally added to complete the collection! Click the sleeves below to go to each album’s page:
6 people are in a bar (The Off Beat Lounge) watching a guy burning a ‘Dear John’ letter. The sleeves vary by changing the viewpoint from each of the watcher’s perspectives. Each of the 6 sleeves is identifiable by a letter code (A-F) at the top of the spine.
The Watchers:
Fat guy in the doorway
Blondie next to the bar
Barman
Black woman laughing at the end of the bar
Piano player
Brunette woman next to the jukebox
‘A’ SLEEVE
The front of sleeve A is shown from the fat guy at the door. The back is the black woman laughing. Brunette by the jukebox is the only watcher not visible in this combination.
‘B’ SLEEVE
The front of sleeve B is shown from Blondie’s viewpoint, the back is from the piano player’s. All 6 watchers can be seen in this combination.
‘C’ SLEEVE
The front of sleeve C is now the barman’s perspective (we are moving clockwise around the bar…), and the back is Brunette by the jukebox. Only 3 watchers are visible in this combination.
‘D’ SLEEVE
The front of sleeve D is from black woman laughing, the back is from fat guy at the door (which should therefore look the same as the front of sleeve A…). Again, as per sleeve A, Brunette by the jukebox cannot be seen.
‘E’ SLEEVE
The front of sleeve E is now from the piano player’s view, whilst the back is from Blondie’s viewpoint (so in theory the same as the front of sleeve B…). All 6 watchers are visible.
‘F’ SLEEVE
The front of F has now moved round to Brunette by the jukebox and the back has once again come round to being the barman’s view (which should be the same as the front of C…). Just 3 watchers in this combination.
A fascinating concept! There are some slight ‘continuity errors’ if we were being ultra picky; e.g. in the C front cover, the letter is already alight, whilst the back of F, the letter is unburned and still has the cigaretter lighter just below it about to set fire to it, and a few of the watchers’ poses are slightly different when you compare…but I suppose it proves that none of the shots were re-used and that a separate image was taken for all 12 fronts and backs.
Check out the different label styles for the 1st press and then the reissue:
The 1st press label uses a more condensed font, includes track timings and has the words ‘Made in UK’ whereas the reissue label from c.1979 has a different font, no track timings and the words ‘Manufactured in the UK’. Click here to see all the details and matrix variations for Led Zeppelin ‘Presence’.
There are different versions of ‘The Song Remains The Same’ too so you can use the same guidelines to spot the differences between reissues and 1st pressings. The ‘Manufactured in the UK’ label style seems to have been used first on Bad Company’s ‘Desolation Angels’ in 1979 (SSK 59408). Anything prior to this should have the ‘Made in UK’ label style for a first pressing.
NB. SSK89402 ‘The Song Remains The Same’ 1976 first pressing label style is different again and doesn’t carry any country of manufacture information. Click here to see the original and reissue labels.
Finally got round to updating the Swan Song label section with all albums released on this iconic yet very selective label. Only 5 non-Zeppelin artists were released on this label in its 9 year history. Founded in 1974 and closed in 1983 (only occasionally re-issuing original recordings), just 19 albums were issued. See all the details on labels and sleeves by clicking each album sleeve here to go to the relevant page:
Several updates and additions have been made to the B&C Records pages, see below for links through to relevant updates:
Lots more to collect and update yet, though, so keep checking back for further updates soon!
Very hard to find original from 1970 on B&C Records, Hannibal were managed and produced by the same team as early Black Sabbath (Jim Simpson and Rodger Bain), were signed to the same publishing company (Essex Music International) and even had the album sleeve photographed and designed by Marcus Keef!
Shame they didn’t enjoy the same early success as Sabbath…
Here’s a nice example of one of the last records to be produced on the Mooncrest label, CREST 27 in 1975. Hard to find in good condition and escalating in value now. Copies on Vertigo exist too but these are European issues. The UK 1st pressing is on Mooncrest. See all the sleeve and inner sleeve pics here:
Originally titled ‘In A Garden Of Eden’ it was renamed to the more unusual sounding ‘In-A Gadda-Da-Vida’ purely because of the way the singer sang the lyrics! A psych classic. This is the original stereo 1st UK pressing on the iconic ‘red/plum’ Atlantic labels. See the album sleeve details here.
Rare Record Collector 