Vinyl: SMALL FACES Ogdens LP UK RARE DEEP PINK ORIGINAL / 1st PRESS 1968 STEREO MINT- 1st ISSUE 1968 FOLD-OUT COVER WITH 5 HINGED CIRCLES

Once upon a time in the land of dreams,
Where the sky was silky soft,
And full of coloured dreams,
Deep inside a rainbow, lived Happiness Stan,
In a small Victoriana char-a-banc.

Evening will be here quite soon,
Stan can sit and watch the moon,
Watching as the white light,
Slowly makes the night bright,
Hours slipping by, while time stands still.

Think of black, and black will think for you,
It's colours Stan embraces, of the darkness that he knew,
For black has stolen half the moon away......

If tomorrow was today, It would yesterday, The sun is surely just a thought away, Where visions that men fail, To put to words to tale, And music that they try, but cannot play. You're right, it's just a dream, your company so kind, Hold very tightly please, and we shall blow our........

SMALL FACES: "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake" LP, RARE STEREO DEEP PINK ORIGINAL / 1st PRESSING 1968.
THIS IS THE RAREST ORIGINAL 8th JUNE, 1968 PRESSING, WHEN THE FINITE DETAILS ARE COMPREHENSIVELY
EXAMINED,'ORIGINAL' SIMPLY DOES NOT FIT, ONLY 'FIRST PRESSING' DOES. IT'S ABOUT TIME GENUINE 1968
PRESSINGS WERE PUT INTO THE CORRECT PRESSING SEQUENCE, AS AN 'ORIGINAL' SMALL FACES FAN
SINCE 1965, I ALWAYS HAD THE QUALIFICATIONS BUT UNTIL NOW, I COULD NOT LOCATE A NEAR MINT / MINT-
DEEP PINK LABEL "Ogdens" RECORD.
"Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" is a without question one of, if not the the greatest psychedelic album to emerge from the 1960's decade.
It has never been surpassed and has to be regarded as up there with the greatest albums of all time, for the incredible music and
the most unique cover design of all time. Only three years earlier, a premier Mod band playing hard and heavy r&b, were inspired
enough to have the vision and genius to create a dazzling work of art.

Released on the 6th June, to become a No.1 UK album that resided in the charts for 11 weeks, requiring multiple pressings, at that
very moment, Immediate were designing their labels, from lilac / grey label to a very deep pink colour. Such sweeping changes
required advance planning, especially to sustain a No.1 album. Before examining the labels within in the earliest stage of the
label's sweeping change of colour, one fact must be established concerning a certain Immediate single in the same summer of '68.

The Small Faces issued "The Universal" / "Donkey Rides, A Penny A Glass" on the 6th July, 1968, not a huge selling single either,
four weeks after "Ogdens," the Immediate single was available on the lilac / grey label and the new deep pink colour label. Here
I can introduce my own personal experience, because I was there in the 1968 record shops buying "The Universal" single just
after "The Universal." I had developed great fondness for the pink Island label right from the beginning of 1967, and I was
delighted to see the Immediate label appearing in almost the same pink colour. Immediate, via EMI's contacted pressings,
"The Universal" singles literally finishing off the lilac / grey labels and then instantly moved onto the new deep pink labels,
which took place in late June to very early July,1968. A few weeks earlier, the same scenario happened for the album labels
in late May to very early June, 1968. In theory only the "Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" records with lilac / grey label were the first
pressings in mostly Mono, but in reality the new design deep pink labels were also fixed onto exactly the same records and
it was seamless. Except.... we are discussing the Mono dominated 1960's and as every deep pink label pressing I have seen has
been exclusively in Stereo, a logical division was to use up the less Stereo lilac/ grey labels and move onto the new pink labels
for the stereo copies. The actual second pressing happened in the latter part of "Ogdens" residency in the UK and the labels
were a very pale pink label and with them, there was a completely different printed design that no longer resembled the first
pressings. Only the first pressings had unique printed text and design on the deep pink labels and lilac / grey labels alike.
This deep pink first pressing has a first edition round cover with five folded sections and once again, printed text, a first
edition plastic round inner sleeve, a first pressing maitrix and EMI stamping codes so low, this simply had to be a first pressing.
This is the differences between the first and second pressings labels, oh yes, as the singles in 1968 were all in Mono, there was no
need to alter the templates, so no pale pink Immediate label singles exist, by 1969 all Immediate albums and singles were issued on
the darker, deeper pink colour of this 1968 first pressing record. Both 1968 first pressing deep pink & lilac / grey labels, and
the pale second labels included the maitrix printed upside down or inverted, a common event for the 60's decade, any "Ogdens"
without that, will not be from 1968 or 1969. As it happens, Immediate self destructed in 1969 and were declared bankrupt due and
the label no longer functioned for many years. A just listed withdrawn Billy Nicholls album contains the background to Immediate
at that very time, the Small Faces played, sang and produced on "Would You Believe." The current description might be of interest
to understand why even the "Ogdens" album commercial success, still could not save Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label.
The Small Faces were never paid the royalties their chart topping records were owed and "Ogdens" is unique for more reasons
than just the incredible music and cover concepts.

THE FIRST PRESSING LABELS' IN LILAC/ GREY & DEEP PINK TRACK LISTING WERE PRINTED IN VERY
BOLD BLACK.
The pale pink second pressing in the winter of 1968, had very thin, non bold lettering

THE UK 8th JUNE,1968 FIRST PRESSINGS EXCLUSIVELY HAD THIS TEXT ON SIDE 1's TOP RIM;

"For Amazing Results, This Record Should Be Played At Full Volume."

Side 2 had the standard copyright rim text, it's interesting to note how the Small Faces innovated having that printed and in 1969,
John Lennon and the Rolling Stones saw and liked the idea and added that text to their records. The above rim text was also in
bold print, Side 2 had standard thickness lettering.

SIDE 1, FIRST PRESSINGS ONLY, WITH LILAC / GREY & DEEP PINK LABELS:
USING TOTALLY DIFFERENT SYMBOLS AND PUNCTUATION, FOR EXAMPLE THE ALBUM TITLE;
FIRST PRESSING: "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake" (deep pink label)
SECOND PRESS: "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake" (pale pink label)

The first pressing lilac / grey label & deep pink pink labels 'Side 1' & Track list are positioned under the LP title, with
"Small Faces" underneath the track listing. The track listing does not have the songwriting credits directly after individual
songs. They are printed above, far left or 9 & 10 o'clock, linked numerically outside brackets above the music publishing credit.
Opposite has the other items like 33 RPM, Stereo etc. are printed closely together in lines.
The second pressing pale pink labels, has the track list positioned further down,"Small Faces" is moved to the 3 & 1 o'clock
position with the LP title, 33 RPM, Stereo etc. but printed with large gaps between the lines and in totally different positions.
9 o'clock only has the music publishing credit and the track listing has the songwriting credits directly after the individual
songs and set inside brackets. There are many other differences but I have given the key printed design and positions that
created a radically difference to the visual appearance, not forgetting the very different pink colour!

SIDE 2, FIRST PRESSINGS ONLY, WITH LILAC / GREY & DEEP PINK LABELS:

A feature unique to the first pressings and therefore the lilac / grey label & deep pink pink label have that, Side 2 completely
omits....'Side 2' anywhere on the label, which would have been an error. Seen by the second pressings and all that followed
always having,'Side 2,' the pale pink second pressing has it located above the track listing under the spindle hole.

The first pressing lilac / grey label & deep pink pink labels 'Side 2' & Track list are positioned under "Happiness Stan," the
"Small Faces" artist credit, is once again underneath the track list in bold black printing. The second pressing pale pink
labels, has the track list positioned further down,"Small Faces" is yet again moved to the 3 & 1 o'clock position with the
"Happiness Stan" side title. The other items like 33 RPM, Stereo etc. were printed with large gaps between the lines and
printed in different positions.

The first pressings track listing does not have songwriting credits directly after individual songs but on Side 2, they are
printed underneath and inside brackets, linked by symbols to the titles.
The pale pink second pressing has the songwriting credits directly after the individual songs and placed inside brackets.

The main humorous credits written mostly by the band, on the first pressing lilac / grey label & deep pink pink labels, are at
9 o'clock. The pictures of the labels show this but I am making comparisons to the actual second pressing of "Ogden," that
has the same credits re-located to the bottom section at 12 o'clock. Any other difference is as detailed for Side 1 and I must
move onto the other first issue only items.

DEEP PINK COLOUR & BOLD BLACK PRINT IMMEDIATE LABEL: IMSP 012.
I will discuss this pressing of "Ogdens" further below, the first item to establish is always the validity of being a late 1960's
pressing, the labels have the 'IMSP 012' catalogue number printed on the right side of the spindle holes in bold black.
Like so many other British record companies, Immediate followed their initial 1966 original label design as set out by Phillips,
by having an inverted smaller thin catalogue number in brackets, printed directly above the bold one. Enabling DJ's or
record shops to see the catalogue number when records were on a turntable, without needing to straighten the label, the
'upside down' addition was discontinued before the end of 1969, so was the Immediate record company!

MAITRIX: IMSP 012 - I Y / IMSP 012 - 2Y
The Phillips format legacy was continued by EMI , the sides were designated by the letters in front of letter 'Y' and this record
has the precise configuration of a very first pressing. The Mono first issues rose in great numbers, increased by adding further
digits after the letter 'L,' the Stereo second pressing on the 1968 pale pink label had to be much higher and an average maitrix
looks like this, 'IMSP 012 - I Y - 2 / IMSP 012 - 2 Y -2.' So this record was pressed at the very beginning of the Stereo pressings,
by now I should be bored with the comparisons, but this is "Ogdens" and nothing is too much trouble and the intricate details
have never been documented on this scale.

PRESSED BY EMI, THE STAMPING CODES: O 1 / T 2
I could just say, "I rest my case" now because with comparatively extremely low Stereo pressings, a first and second mother with
single letters for the pressing order per individual side. Not in isolation though, but in conjunction with the maitrix still at
the starting point. Only a few weeks ago, I proved the lilac / grey and the deep pink were pressed simultaneously, when selling
a pink label, July, 1968, "The Universal" single with almost identical first issue formats for an Immediate single.

FIRST ISSUE ROUND PLASTIC INNER SLEEVE, WITH A SQUARE TOP TO ENABLE TO 'CLOSE' IT.
All round actual plastic sleeves develop multiple creases, even square plastic inner's do and the best example ate the picture
discs such as "Sgt. Pepper" and "Abbey Road", which were not bought to play anyway.
THE INNER SLEEVE IS EXCELLENT CONDITION.

VERY FIRST EDITION FOLD OUT CIRCULAR COVER, WITH FIVE INTER-CONNECTED CIRCLES PRINTED ON BOTH SIDES,
APART FROM THE PLAIN WIT PAIR THAT HOLD THE RECORD. I MY PICTURES SHOW THE SEGMENTS OPENING IN
SEQUENCE FROM THE CLOSED COVER. . THE INTERNAL WHITE CIRCLE CONTAINS THE PRINTER'S CREDIT,
'Garrod & Lofthouse', WHO MADE ALL THE 1960's "Ogdens" COVERS.
ALSO CONFIRMING THE VERY FIRST EDITION, THE BACK COVER'S BOTTOM RIM HAS THIS PRINTED:

U.K. PATENT APPLICATION No. 21639 / 68
DESIGN APPLICATION No. 936818

The Patent Number was not granted yet, only applied for, to still have that text and the 'Design Aplication' demonstrates
this was positively printed before the album began the chart duration. Another method of conformation is looking at the front
gold colours on the lettering, first issues had a distinctive 'sparkly gold' effect, all re-issues had a 'flat' near light brown
colour substituted. Plus the vividness of all colours were very deeply toned, best seen by the blue colours on the front
banners with, "Brighter Selection" and "Celebrated."

The circular five sectioned cover was an award winning design by artist Peter Blake, the man who a year previously designed
the"Sgt. Pepper" cover. As beautiful as it is, a fold out circular cover had a heavyweight record placing pressure on tiny strips
of card that held the 5 sections together and acted as hinges. Most split apart in the late 60's alone with normal use, leaving
the record in a cover now unable to protect the vinyl, few have survived. This really is outstanding, if with absolutely minimal
standing in storage traits of a round cover! Apart from one out of five segment hinges, only one has a tiny pressure relieving
spit but very close to the edge, that settled in way back in 1968 and is just as strong as the other four circles, which still are
as perfectly strongly joined together as the day it was made. Even the plain white pair of reverse side circles only have the
least possible ageing after nearly 50 years, there's no fading at all to the fantastic artwork, inside and outside, the record was
only played three times. I am including removal faint spindle traces, so in reality not even three plays and then left unplayed,
then amazingly stored for nearly half a century. Some light ruffles and rubbing to the outside standing edges, but they come
with the design, near the back bottom standing is a very small rubbing line and I do mean small. A matt round cover with five
concentric circles had to have some degree of pressure from within on the five cardboard circles from the massively thick and
heavyweight record. In fact, the front cover looks like brand new, that is not an exaggeration, the brilliant artwork has ultra
bright and vivid colours. Including the Mono version, I personally have all four 1968 UK versions of "Ogdens" in the same top
condition, this is like describing them all, so I am in a unique position to state exactly what 'as close to perfect possible'

actually is. Just the manufacturing, boxing and the distribution of the album had to have some effect on round thin edges,
I honestly state when 'Mint does not and cannot exist, due to the design and materials used', well, 'Ogdens' is at the top of that
particular list. Even the 1968 record shops complained about how the wheel like covers tended to 'roll off shelve's and in
America, they introduced die-cut centre square maroon covers to hold the circular covers, as used for picture discs a decade
later, yes, I even have the USA original and the "Mad John" USA only Immediate single, ingeniously edited as well! Incidentally,
the original owner did exactly as I did with my treasured original in 1968, found an old cover to keep the record in and never
attempted the precision balancing job removing, and replacing the record involved. This has the original circular clear plastic
inner sleeve but they were never practical for holding or storing the record, I naturally place any "Ogdens" record in a plain
new sleeve and then put that into a plain white card cover, placed behind the circular cover it not only makes the colours stand
out and supports the "Ogdens" cover, it's also far easier to access the LP for playing. That is how this record is stored and will
be packaged and shipped, with the plastic outer sleeves I also supply, how it arrives is how I strongly recommend keeping it.
Grading a first edition "Ogden" cover is off the scale for difficult, because Mint does not exist, so the bar has to be lowered or
this becomes a farce. The light rubbing and ruffles on the standing edges belong there and I should not be associating this
with an 'Excellent' cover, because even deluxe laminated covers of this vintage, will have more storage wear, but it has to be....
THE COVER IS IN AN ABSOLUTE MINIMAL OF EXCELLENT+++ / NEAR MINT CONDITION.

The labels are immaculate, no stains at all and as I said earlier, even three faint spindle traces include removal, but even a three
times played record and as I seem to be endlessly writing, records were handled at various stages before even being bought.
Add in the difficulty of fitting the record inside a round sleeve and the same in reverse for accessing it, you first had record
plant / factory handling, next came the record shop stage and then the one previous owner. Any ultra faint, feather light
fingertip handling traces, amount to nothing visually obvious and literally near invisible. The record also has the deeply
glossy sheen of Mint vinyl, but for 1968 this is a truly beautiful looking and stunning sounding record. Like my own copies
and every single original or decades later re-issues, I have ever heard, Side 2's narration only sections with Stanley Unwin
speaking lovely Cockney prose, there is some surface static during them. I must stress how minimal it is, but I will only tell
the exact truth about an album I regard as a true psychedelic masterpiece, one of the few that actually qualify for such praise.
This was 49 years ago and the spoken prose and dialogue only have softly played acoustic instruments like a harp behind the
voice, realistically this is about the vinyl first issues /originals, now being the one and only source for original 1968 mixes in
Mono and Stereo. By that I mean the superb psychedelic sensory 1960's stereo panning effects and the true sound of "Ogdens"
as mastered in Abbey Road and pressed by EMI at their plant. All you hear today on vinyl and CD's is NOT Master Tape sourced,
but a dubbed version, not even remotely close to the real thing, I personally know that to be a fact and as ever, I will include
why in the up coming description. As far as the music is concerned, this is a staggering sounding "Ogdens" and if that was not
the case, you would not be reading this!
THE RECORD WAS ONLY PLAYED THREE TIMES, BEAUTIFUL LOOKING AND SOUNDING, IN MINT- CONDITION.

SIDE 1 (THIS SIDE HAS "Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake" AS THE TITLE)
"Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane / Ian McLagan / Kenney Jones)
"Afterglow (Of Your Love)" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)
"Long Agos And Worlds Apart" (Ian McLagan)
"Rene" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)
"Song Of A Baker" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)
"Lazy Sunday" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)

SIDE 2 (THIS SIDE HAS A TITLE ON THE 1968 LABELS: "Happiness Stan")
"Happiness Stan" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)
"Rollin' Over" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)
"The Hungry Intruder" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane / Ian McLagan)
"The Journey" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane / Ian McLagan / Kenney Jones)
"Mad John" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane)
"Happy Days Toy Town" (Steve Marriott / Ronnie Lane / Ian McLagan)

Steve Marriott - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards & harmonica
Ronnie Lane - bass, guitars & and vocals
Ian McLagan - keyboards & vocals
Kenney Jones - drums & percussion

Recorded 1968 At Olympic Studios, London.
Sound Engineer - Glyn Johns ( Or as Steve Marriott described it on the labels, " On the nobs."
Produced By Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane
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The 60's psychedelic era was still burning very brightly in the summer of 1968, the LP that embodied every element and more was
"Ogdens Nut Gone Flake," this was really a 1967 album because it took a whole year to complete. The songs were written between
1967 and 1968 and while touring, particularly during the ill advised pairing of the The Who and the Small Faces in Australia, even
the plane flight involved riotous drunkenness. Mixing Steve Marriott with Keith Moon resulted in Australian armed forces storming
their hotel room, after management complaints, Steve and Keith had thrown most of the furniture out the window into the swimming
pool on the ground floor! Andrew Oldham doubled up as their new manager and founder / owner of the record company they joined
in 1967 after leaving Decca, they were given as much studio time as it took to record "Ogdens." Money was not Oldham's strong
point, in spite of all the top selling Small Faces Immediate singles and of course "Ogdens" making No.1, by 1969 Andrew Oldham
had to accept Immediate going bust and ceasing to exist. After Don Arden and Decca ripped them off, now they were left unpaid by
the amazing success they experienced at Immediate, but they had a great time and the creative juices produced some of the world's
most stunning records. With the music mostly written, the lyrics were taking a while, so Andrew Oldham sent them on boat trips
up the River Thames to aid writing and it worked perfectly, naturally enough upsetting all the other boat owners and river users,
but they found exactly the inspiration needed. The idea was born floating around, a fantasy story or theme that revolved around
a quest or journey to discover where the missing half of the moon was. The album encompassed every single innovation from the
psychedelic period, fantastic sound effects and phasing weaved magical sounds and the music was indeed inspired, they also had
Glynn Johns as a sound the engineer and he more than played a huge roll in the fantastic sound the album became legendary for.
"Ogdens" was so inspired it would leave Steve Marriott feeling there was nothing they could do to top the album, by the end of
1968 during a concert, Steve just walked off the stage and it was all over for one of the finest and most remarkable bands of all
time. Back in the 'happy days toytown of earlier 1968,' three months went into the mixing and editing and at one point it looked
like the album would not be ready in time to coincide with Andrew Oldham's most outrageous publicity stunt since managing the
Rolling Stones. The Small Faces were experiencing the artistic freedom without needing to meet Decca's schedules and it was in
1967 that they fully embraced psychedelia when they left Decca, from the moment they walked through the door to Immediate.
Andrew Oldham threw off the shackles Decca restricted them with, offering unlimited studio time, and did they take it! Their first
Immediate single, "Here Comes The Nice" was a celebration of psychedelic music but with such unveiled drugs references, it was
a miracle the record escaped being banned from radio and TV. The Marriott / Lane record production was a long proven success at
Decca, now they really found their creative juices and set about making some of the very greatest records of all time. Not just
the incredible Immediate singles that followed, "Itchycoo Park" and "Tin Soldier" were also a foretaste of their next two albums.
Their stunning and highly revered 1967 first LP on Immediate, "The Small Faces," included one of the greatest psychedelic tracks
ever recorded,"Green Circles". With an astonishing innovative use of phasing effects, that track in particular had promised even
greater things to come. The late 1960's was an extraordinary time for new exciting innovative music, multi-coloured psychedelic
sounds were not confined to a record's grooves. "Sgt. Pepper" blazed the trail for the possibilities of album's cover artwork,
all that was now needed was a vivid imagination and an obliging record company to pay the costs. The Small Faces developed a
serious rift with their management, particularly Don Arden, and left the restrictive confines Decca imposed. They were drawn to
Oldham's Immediate label to drop back from the endless touring and spend their time creating records that reflected fascinations
with psychedelic sounds. Since 1966 they had been very heavily influenced by the acid freely circulating and found a sympathetic
like minded attitude from Oldham, even so, the incredible "Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" exceeded anyone's expectations. The music was
seeped in superb psychedelic sounds/studio effects, music hit the very greatest peaks of inspiration in this era, the Small Faces
also generated fun and the sheer joy of laughing at not just the world, but at themselves. You cannot listen to this magnificent
album without finding yourself happy and smiling! The mind expanding drugs of the 60's very strong influence on the LP, is found
on one of the fold-out cover's circular segments, with the"Suss" cigarette rolling papers!

I had been a fanatical Small Faces collector from their debut 1965 single, like so many of the earlier 60's r&b groups it was such
an exciting time to be following the Small Faces amazing progression from "Watcha Gonna Do 'Bout It" through to 1969. I still
have the original music paper with the just mentioned outrageous Andrew Olham "Lord's Prayer" promo for "Ogdens," after seeing
that, I was daily visiting my local record shop and nagging them about taking delivery of "Ogdens". I still have that first bought,
rather battered and totally worn out mono record, I did preserve the cover perfectly though and that's currently just above me on
the wall in a frame. The record is still to precious to part with, now alongside needed original Stereo and Mono replacement's,
compulsive collecting also meant I had to have the next two Stereo pressings in 1968s, little did I know at the time just how
precious my trio of stereo records were.

From being a collector replacing and supplementing my loved 60's records, I ended up becoming a professional record seller and
that was when I encountered the shocking truth about the fate of the Master Tapes for "Ogdens". It would have been around 1988
while trading at a record fair in London, when an executive from Castle Records, who had bought the rights to the Immediate label,
was looking through my extensive Small Faces album section. He asked if I had an original "Ogdens" to sell him, but only if in
perfect playing condition and without any sound imperfections, he handed me his business card and explained Castle wanted the
original vinyl in stereo to press a CD from. I told him I was not surprised, having bought the first CD of "Ogdens" in 1986 and
the sound was just appalling, I believed they had not used the Master's and now his presence at the fair and the unusual request
confirmed my worry they had destroyed the Master Tapes. He admitted their first CD was awful, they had dubbed the CD because
the Masters could not be found, with the messy ending of Immediate and Oldham's drug induced stupor, it was inevitable for the
Immediate catalogue to encounter problems. He asked if I had my own copies in perfect order, I replied "Of course" and he really
tried to persuade me to sell my own records, I would not even consider it and refused but he was still very persistent and took my
phone number. The next day he phoned and offered me a massive price for my quartet of stereo and mono records, I told him no
sum of money would buy my treasured "Ogdens", instead he offered me literally thousands of CD's I could sell at fairs,...you can
guess my reply to that offer. The point of this story is every "Ogdens" CD today has been re-mastered from that first terrible
1986 mess! If you want to hear the incredible true sound, 1968 vinyl has become in effect, the only surviving Master Tape, so if
I get a bit irritated about discussing natural surface sound / static during spoken narrations on Side 2, please make allowances
because I normally accept such nonsense about records. That could be removed with today's technology....but to my ears it always
has and always will belong there, now for some pressing info.

Facts & figures are essential here to understand why three labels exist for the stereo album, it was was released 8th June,1968,
the mono LP was only issued on the grey / lilac colour Immediate label, the Stereo LP was also issued simultaneously on the the
grey / lilac labels and the much discussed two totally different pink Immediate label. For a massive selling No.1 LP, variations
are always possible but long chart duration's often run into label re-designing and the late 1960's was literally full of changes,
the advent of stereo only, was evident and one format would change everything. "Ogdens" did not have a separate Mono & Stereo
cover, Led Zeppelin were not the first to release an album without a catalogue number on the cover in 1971, "Led Zeppelin 4" but
the Small Faces did in 1968. Immediate had begun the process of re-designing the label colours for singles and albums for the
first time since 1966. When originally Phillips pressed Immediate's records, you would assume with all the Rolling Stones and
Marianne Faithful Oldham connections, Decca would have been the logical company for an independent label without a pressing
plant. EMI took over in 1967, they still kept Phillips' maitrix configuration but now it gets complicated! The Immediate singles
in 1967 did have the "Sold In UK" text but the Immediate albums did not, EMI's coded stamping codes were common to the 7" and
12" formats and if you look at the maitrix, Phillips' legacy was still there. That was fully covered in a rather long introduction, if
only to establish a mistaken belief needed to be challenged and proven to be wrong, that has been well and truly done now.

If I write without any control it will end up as the longest description ever written on ebay, so I need to keep the text concise
and try my best to concentrate on the sound rather than background info to the individual tracks. Side 1 starts from virtually
silent run-in grooves, I will not waste time over faint static, then an explosion of extremely powerful sound, the instrumental
"Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" begins with phased keyboards and in particular, the most astonishing sounds ever heard from drums.
Glyn Johns created sensational sound for Kenney's inspired drumming, they move, well, more float from speaker to speaker in a
mesmerising fashion while in the middle of those amazing rolls. Ronnie Lane's bass on the album rarely gets mentioned but the
original 1968 stereo mix is far more revealing for Ronnie's finest hour as a bass guitarist. The stereo panning is a work of art,
creating waves of sound by those incredible movements between the speakers, it's not true the incredible phasing effects are not
heard on the stereo LP, that belongs to the dubbed re-issues and those disgusting sounding CD's they seem to re-master every six
months. Is there another record seller who criticised an executive of the latest record company owner of the Immediate catalogue?
Not out of egotistic reasons, just a genuine passion for music of such importance, the very reason why I become a record seller
when CD's threaten to end vinyl, I found Mint copies and my customers were delighted and then onto the Internet and....ebay!
The record has masses of in-built volume, the superb psychedelic phasing effects are in stunning audio clarity, without surface
sound. The original 1968 Stereo mix that only exists on original 1968 vinyl, is simply awesome. For example, during the brilliant
Kenney Jones drum break, starting in the right channel and as Kenney still plays, it drifts across to the left speaker. The sound
quality is just incredible! So much for controlling the amount of text, finishing into a purely silent gap, which means the intro
to "Afterglow" is perfectly clean, featuring Steve's acoustic guitar panned entirely on the left, the handclaps are from the right
speaker. Steve's brilliant and impassioned lead vocal begins on the right, before starting on the journey across the speakers,
The sound is that of a Mint record, sheer perfection and follows the same pattern of every original pressing in top condition,
so I will move along, even if this is a long loved track. The three months spent over the editing are heard at the end, unlike
the clumsy edit on the single, this has an overlapped beginning into "Long Ago And World's Apart", that demonstrates how the
Master Tapes were unavailable as early as March, 1969 when the single was belatedly released. The LP mix was the source
for the single and that alone caused the crude edit on the single, most record companies would have kept the original version
but Immediate were 'coming apart at the seams' as early as 1969. A wonderful smooth transition into this incredible track,
packed with amazing studio effects, all in astonishing stereo panning, the CD's and vinyl re-issues are pathetic in comparison
to the real thing. Fantastic sound on Mac's organ, the ending with Steve ad-libbing the vocals has a faded in reprise, typical
of a Marriott / Lane production in this era. The record remains silent before and during the beginning of the great "Rene", she
actually lived in London's East End and this was written with the Who in Australia, can you imagine the drunken sing a-long on
the chorus? 'Rene Tungate's' house was frequented by a teenage Steve and friends, a superb song with the Small Faces strong
sense of fun, but it also develops into a superb blues jam with Marriott's harmonica and guitar let loose. They really got into
the track and this would have been the direction they were heading towards, a heavier blues sound once psychedelia settled
down. The first Stereo mix has multiple variations to the mono LP's version, with completely different background yelps and
whoops etc. I cannot help a few snippets but back to the basic's, an extremely powerful track and the sheer volume heard here
is unaffected by the normal heavy plays, so perfect audio clarity on every second of the glorious "Rene," the impact of this
wonderful sounding record is at it's fullest here, as you recover from that, the equally stunning sounding "Song of A Baker".
Ronnie sings a definitive lead vocal, aided by some excellent Marriott backing vocals and Steve's guitar solo kicks in mean and
hard directly after a moment of silence. The record does indeed remain silent, not a crackle to be heard as Steve plays his black
Gibson with a real flourish of inspiration. The ending is the full power of the Small Faces, with Mac's keyboards at full pelt
and that very forceful drumming style of Kenney ramming the rhythm home. This was the band at their very best and after the
intensiveness of "Song of A Baker" you encounter the sheer exuberance of "Lazy Sunday". I'm sure nobody needs me to describe
this classic and much loved track, so I will just add the sound quality is absolute perfection and if you think you have heard this
by listening to a non 60's sources in Mono or Stereo, you have not! There is an ambiance and sensory sound in a unique Stereo
mix that oozes psychedelia, a whole side of "Ogdens" without a hint of any needle noise and even more to the point, virtually no
surface sound.

Side 2 has near silent run-in grooves, just faint static, as Stanley Unwin makes his first brief appearance, the harp accompanies
him has the notes in crystal clear audio, but there is a little static/surface sound and I am convinced it was there on the Master's
but in 1968, static was nor even an issue. Then into the psychedelic section on the album,"Happiness Stan", featuring a wonderful
piece of music with amazing sound effects, enhanced by the staggering Stereo natural static but it sounds just right to me
after 49 years of hearing the same. I do not even feel it warrants mentioning, my volume is excessively high and consciously
listening out for surface sound is not how I normally enjoy "Ogdens", thanks to ebay things that would not normally register as
any more than natural record playing sound are highlighted like they do not belong there, but that was not the reality in 1968.
Then from a completely silent link, the intro to the ultra powerful "Rollin' Over" erupts with massive power and perfect audio
clarity. This is the pure r&b / blues fuelled, hard rocking sound of the Small Faces, Steve Marriotts' vocals are just awesome!
His guitar sound is straight from the earlier Decca years, as on say the lung splitting "E To D." The sound quality is superb for
such colossal power and volume, there is no distortion at all. A track to shake the walls with, providing the neighbours are out!
Then a flute accompanies Stanley's narration, Ronnie lane's dad was named Stan and that was just a coincidence, Stanley Unwin
was a well known comedian in the 60's and he fitted the part perfectly. As tedious as it is, I will once again include some static
or surface sound during the next short section narration but there is no surface sound at all when "The Hungry Intruder" tells the
story of the very hungry fly, sung by Ronnie while Steve sings the faster part and the spoken section. I will emphasise how there
was no surface sound when Steve was speaking so this strongly suggests two different tapes being mixed, the narration and the
music were of course recorded separately. What an incredible production this is, with staggering Stereo effects,then Stan returns
to continue the story of the fly's tale, once again the two recordings differ as far as static/ surface sound is concerned, I really
feel I have highlighted this more than enough to concentrate on the fantastic music on Side 2. The psychedelic sounds of the LP's
most innovative recording,"The Journey" is surely much more exciting than Stanley Unwin! An incredible track, the Stereo mix
perfectly simulates 'movement', the acid related sound effects were so skilfully panned by Glyn Johns to give a maximum effect.
The purity of this record's audio is staggering! This is how "Ogdens" was supposed to blow you away when you played it in 1968,
today in 2017, it has not aged at all, genius does not age it becomes imitated, the Small Faces were indeed one of the world's
most unique bands. This album was their peak of creativity and enjoying hearing does bring back a touch of sadness because the
the inevitable split would begin in only a few months time, "Ogdens" was a product of the 60's decade and perhaps they were not
meant to continue into the 70's, at least The Faces and Humble Pie lit up the next decade. Stanley next recounts a worrying tale
about the missing part of the moon, yes, surface sound is heard, then with a total contrast, an absolutely perfectly clean intro
for the beautiful melody of "Mad John". The clarity of Steve's acoustic guitar on the intro is astonishingly clear and the stereo
panning is magnificent when the harpsichord and piano etc. join his stunning vocal. Still my all time favourite Steve Marriott
vocals, I do have quite a long list of those! This is the finest playing "Mad John" I've heard outside of my own stereo album, I
almost wish I was still hunting for a stereo replacement! A really gentle folk music song and the audio here cannot be improved
just listened to and enjoyed. The song continues to plays quietly behind Stan's narration, I have had enough mentioning surface
sound, then it's pure Small Faces magic and the seriousness of "Mad John" evaporates with the opening line, comparing life to
being 'a bowl of cereal,' "Life is just a bowl of All Bran". "Happy Days Towntown" is a really happy sing along, with whistles,
blowing and yells, as they sing the jolly refrain that ends this wonderful album. "Deep Joy" indeed! I cannot recommend this
record enough for the staggering sound quality and also how playing "Ogdens" makes you feel like you are, 'sitting in a rainbow!

R & M RECORDS.
My lifetime's love of music and records began at a very young age, the arrival of the Beatles and the 1960's decade
in general had a very profound effect. It was only natural to bring all my first hand experience of collecting vinyl
into becoming a professional record seller. Nearly thirty years ago we entered into the wonderful atmosphere
of record fairs with the highest possible standards set. When the Internet became the world's new market place for
vinyl, in 2001 it was time to join ebay. Those standards were rigidly adhered to as they will always continue to be,
the basics of honesty and integrity were very much part of the era the music I love originated in, so here is our friendly
and very efficient service we are proud to provide;

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I USE GOOD OLD COMMON SENSE AS WELL AS A GLOBALLY ACCEPTED GRADING TERMINOLOGY
FROM THE U.K. "RECORD COLLECTOR PRICE GUIDE" BOOK.
THERE IT CLEARLY STATES "Sound Quality" AFFECTS EVERY GRADING LEVEL AND THAT IS THE ONE
AND ONLY POSSIBLE WAY TO ACCURATELY GRADE RECORDS. i.e. COMBINING A STRICT VISUAL
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