Axis: Bold As Love - Original 1967 UK Track Record 13-track 1st Pressing Stereo LP

Rare original 1967 UK Track label 1st pressing 13-track Stereo LP - Jimi Henrix Experience' 2nd album - labelled "...the refinement of white noise into psychedelia..." and "...the finest Voodoo album that any rock group has produced to date." by Rolling Stones' Jim Miller*.

Vinyl has machine stamped matrix info:
Side 1: 613003 AV1, father, mother, stampers: 1 1 7
Side 2: 613003 BV1, father, mother, stampers: 1 1 1 2
Trail off Suggests that this copy is manufactured from the first set of acetates, the first of fathers and mothers and very early stampers - no 7 and 12 respectively for Side 1 & 2.

Vinyl is held in the original era specific, die cut and polylined company inner sleeve - accompanied by the very rare fold out illustrated lyric insert.

Vinyl and insert are placed in a fully laminated Ernest J. Day side-opening gatefold picture cover.

Condition: VG+ (Vinyl)/VG+(+) (Labels)/VG- (Lyric insert)/VG+ (Cover):

Vinyl: Very Good Plus, VG+:
Vinyl is still beautifully lustrous and displays a few light and not so light but altogether inaudible surface lines couple with some light and fine sleeve wear.

Labels: Close To Near Mint/Excellent - VG+(+):
Labels show signs of being played - both have an indeterminable degree of spindletraces of which the vast majority are placed within the centrehole.
None of the spindlemarks are deep - and they are only detected when vinyl is hold in the right angle under a light source.
The black and silver printing is clear and completely readable - colours are bright and there is no wear to the centre hole itself.
Labels are overall graded close to near mint/excellent.

Playgrading: Close To Near Mint/Excellent, VG+(+):
Vinyl plays - as usual - far better than it looks - straight and with only just a touch of occasional light crackling - no distortion. The sound is massive - vinyl displays great volume and dynamics - fine tone. A play grading would be in the close to near mint/excellent area.

Insert: Very Good, VG:
The fold-out lyric insert has a 15 cm mid-split, but otherwise clean and bright colours.
Seams and corners displays only the slightest signs of wear - with no rips, tears, pinholes, fading or writing - both front and back of insert has few very light brown stains - a decent insert - hard to find in any condition - graded VG.

Cover: Very Good Plus, VG+:
Front and back cover shows only lighter signs of handling and storage.

Cover has light laminate wrinkles from seams and spine - a single small and light one along back opening. Cover has a series of tiny to small spots of rubbing or creasing against top back cover - front and back cover has otherwise nice cover centres with only faint wear to laminate.

Inner spread is superb - rubberstamped data on the owner is found on top front panel, but inner spread has otherwise only a few light wrinkles on extension flips.

Seams are straight and intact with only a very few tiny points of rubbing - spine has a couple of cms thin mid-left edge spine-stripe of cover wear - otherwise a very nice spine and an opening with only hints of rubbing.

Cover has as such all in all a series of by far mostly marginal imperfections - as a hole a nice and very enjoyable cover - graded VG+.

Clean copies of this album are becoming increasingly hard to find, this is an above average copy for anyone into the great artwork and sound of the period... not a cheap copy, but far removed from the vast amounts that copies above excellent goes for.

Tracklisting:

Side 1:
1. EXP
2. Up From The Skies
3. Spanish Castle Magic
4. Wait Until Tomorrow
5. Ain't No Telling
6. Little Wing
7. If Six Was Nine

Side 2:
1. You've Got Me Floating
2. Castles Made Of Sand
3. She's So Fine (Noel Redding)
4. One Rainy Wish
5. Little Miss Lover
6. Bold As Love

All tracks written and composed by Jimi Hendrix except where noted

Recorded May - June, October 1967 at Olympic Studios, London

Credits:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience:
Vocals, Guitar - Jimi Hendrix
Bass guitar - Noel Redding
Drums - Mitch Mitchell

Additional Musicians:
Gary Leeds - foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"
Graham Nash - foot stamping on "If 6 Was 9"
Trevor Burton - backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"
Roy Wood - backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'"

Technical credits:
Chas Chandler - Production
Eddie Kramer - Chief Engineer
George Chkiantz, Andy Johns and Terry Brown - Engineers

Artwork:
David King & Roger Law - cover Illustration - painted heads based on a Karl Ferris group portrait
Paul Martin - Insert Design
Donald Silverstein - Inner Spread Photography

*Rolling Stones Review, Jim Miller, April 6, 1968