Vinyl: DEEP PURPLE Fireball LP UK VERY 1st PRESS 1971 MINT LYRIC INSERT, UNPLAYED MINT G/FOLD COVER TEXTURED INSIDE & OUTSIDE~Gramophone & PEK

"FIREBALL" (Ritchie Blackmore / Ian Gillan / Roger Glover / Jon Lord / Ian Paice) The golden light about you, show, me where you're from, The magic in your eye bewitches all you gaze upon. You stand up on your hill and be-bop all around you, They wonder where you're from, oh, yeah, They wonder where I found you, Oh, my love it's a long way, Where you're from it's a long way, I tried to understand you, I tried to love you right, The way you smile and touch me, always sets my heart alight, Your lips are like a fire burning through my soul, And people ask me where you're from, They really wanna know, Oh, my soul it's a long way, Where you're from it's a long way. Magic woman wrecking up my soul, Things you tell me have never been told, Magic woman I don't know, Electric before me, I love you so, I love you so. You're racing like a fireball dancing like a ghost, You're Gemini and I don't know which one I like the most, My head is getting broken and my mind is getting bust, But now I'm coming with you, down the road of golden dust, Oh, my love it's a long way, Where you're from it's a long way.

DEEP PURPLE: "Fireball" LP. UK VERY FIRST PRESSING WITH 'Gramophone Co. Ltd.' ON THE LABEL RIM AT 10 O'CLOCK. COMPLETE WITH THE RARE VERY FIRST ISSUE ONLY, DOUBLE SIDED TEXTURED PURPLE & WHITE LYRIC INSERT....IN AMAZING MINT CONDITION! NOT FORGETTING A FIRST EDITION GATEFOLD COVER, UNIQUELY TEXTURED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE, THEN A LITTLE MATTER OF AN UNPLAYED, MINT VERY FIRST PRESSING RECORD! GREEN HARVEST LABEL: SHVL 793. . MAITRIX: SHVL 793 A - 2U / SHVL 793 B - 3U In my long term, genuine experience with "Fireball" I have never seen a lower maitrix than the above, an '- 2U' ending on Side 1 was a common enough starting point for EMI pressed records in the early 1970's and beyond. That side is cannot be challenged and unless I am physically shown anything lower than '- 3U' with every one of the many, many exclusive features unique to the UK very first pressings. Even the printing colour tones are far deeper and more vivid than the immediately following gatefold covers, I will detail everything as I get to them. I am so convinced '- 2U' / '- 3U' was indeed the very first pressing, I will state that as a fact, of course re-issues might have a lower Side 2, but I have never seen one either! UNIQUE TO FIRST PRESSINGS, SIDE 1 ONLY, HAS A VERY EARLY MASTERING LOGO THAT WOULD EVOLVE INTO FULL MESSAGES TO THE ARTISTS. THEY WERE BECOMING KEEN TO OF HAVE GEORGE PECKHAM'S SUBLIME VINYL MASTERING, SLIGHTLY LATER IN 1971, THE NEXT CONVERT WOULD INCLUDE TWO OF THE UK'S SOUND PERFECTIONISTS, JOHN LENNON AND JIMMY PAGE FOR "Imagine" & "Led Zeppelin llll" ALBUMS. George hand scribed this early logo to the right side of where he machine stamped the above maitrix, conveniently for my photo of that side, then compiled into a picture with Side 2's maitrix.

PEK

The staggering sound George mastered for the first pressings of "Fireball," began an attachment with Deep Purple records and the simple 'PEK' logo would grow and prosper into very amusing variants, messages to artists would occupy over half of the run-out grooves, George Harrison's 1976 "Extra Texture" immediately comes to mind when George left "Apple" to form "Dark Horse." With my own ever growing details and info expanding on these pressing details, I must concentrate on them here and move on. EMI STAMPING CODES: LM 1 / MM 3 A huge selling album and this very first pressing has a first and third mother, with the previous comment..... EMI's BOXED LOGO AT 9 O'CLOCK ON "Harvest"LABELS, HAD BEEN DISCONTINUED JUST BEFORE "Fireball" WAS PRESSED, LITERALLY A MATTER OF DAYS. THE LABEL RIMS HAVE 'Gramophone Co. Ltd.' AND NOT 'EM Records Ltd.' TEXT FOUND ON THE COPIES PRESSED BETWEEN SEPTEMBER, 1971 AND MARCH, 1973. YOU CAN ALSO SEE HOW ANOTHER OTHER LABEL MAJOR TEXT FOR SEPTEMBER,1971 AND MARCH, 1973 LATER PRESSINGS. "Made In Gt. Britain"WAS ALSO STILL IN THE ORIGINAL 1960's POSITION, LOCATED AT 12 O'CLOCK AND PRINTED ABOVE THE THIN GREEN CIRCULAR BORDER SEPARATING THE CREDITS FROM THE THE OUTER RIM TEXT. AFTER MARCH, 1973"Made In Gt. Britain WAS MOVED FROM 6 O'CLOCK, TO APPROXIMATELY 4 O'CLOCK, BUT NOW TO THE END OF THE OUTER RIM TEXT. VERY FIRST ISSUE ONLY, DOUBLE SIDE "Fireball" LYRIC INSERT, MEASURING 11. 25" x 11. 25", PRINTED IN PURPLE ON A WHITE BACKGROUND. A TOP QUALITY INSERT, WITH THICK TEXTURED PAPER, SO THICK IT IS ALMOST LIKE CARDBOARD, EXPENSIVE TO MANUFACTURE AND RESTRICTED TO JUST SOME OF THE VERY FIRST EDITIONS. Only mistakenly assumed to be lost, but the very first ever Deep Purple insert in a album, was not inside all of the first issue gatefold covers, so a Mint, unused insert is a very rare item indeed. Nothing could prevent some degree of wear to the textured gatefold cover, not even an unplayed record was immune from that, but for the sheer age, I was amazed to see the white background was still the precise pure white of September, 1971. Not even a hint of ageing, handling or use, positively no stains, creases or greasy fingerprints etc. Please see my pictures where both sides are fully shown, I used a black background for the contrast, but I could have taken the pictures on the light neutral background, as the rest of the pictures without needing the contrast. THE LYRIC INSERT IS IN UNUSED, MINT CONDITION. ORIGINAL 1971 EMI INNER SLEEVE, THE 1960's TYPE WAS STILL IN USE IN USE, PLAIN WHITE WITH CURVED CORNERS AND A SHAPED TOP OPENING ON THE FRONT. THE BOTTOM RIM OF THE FRONT HAS THE PATENT NUMBER AND "Made In Great Britain" PRINTED IN BLACK INK. Unused, unsplit and unworn with a record impression and a few related light creases, a touch of natural ageing after 46 years. THE INNER SLEEVE IS IN UNUSED, NEAR MINT CONDITION. "Garrod & Lofthouse" PRINTED GATEFOLD COVER, WITH THICK TEXTURING OUTSIDE AND AS MENTIONED, ALSO ON THE INSIDE. THE PRINTING HAD REALLY VIVID AND DEEP COLOUR TONES, THE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING COVERS HAD PALER COLOUR TONES AND THE INSIDE PANELS POSITIVELY HAD A FLAT AND SMOOTH TOP SURFACE. INSIDE THE GATEFOLD THE DATE CODE FOR THE FIRST PRESSING COVER'S PRINTING: '7109' = 'September, 1971.' I can only give an honest and personal opinion about the materials and design of covers like this. I wish the above never happened to any cover, after personally experiencing how poorly "Fireball", Roy Harper's "Stormcock" and Pink Floyd's "Meddle," those 1971 gatefold covers had exactly the same problems. After the deluxe lamination of "In Rock," it was a step backwards to introduce a raised or embossed, textured matt surface, especially when "Fireball"and "Stormcock" had such a dark background. The raised matt areas instantly rubbed from being assembled, packaged, distributed to record shops, who now had to handle and stack them....before we bought them brand new. This has some of that rubbing but minalised by never being used to access and replace the record. The design itself weakened the overall structure and they developed a flimsy appearance, EMI's 1971 records were massively thick and heavyweight, the mistake was at least realised and the design was quietly dispensed, just to add to the wear problems, the first edition covers had the same texturing / embossed surface. The inside artwork replicated a black & white version of the outside artwork, supplemented by five individual Deep Purple musician pictures in live action, this has inside has survived exceptionally well. Why give a cover such a delicate textured top surface without stiff, strong, heavy duty cardboard? This cover has the unavoidable record impression and related tiny paper edge lines, some rubbing to those raise areas in contact with the record impression, but as minimal as it possibly gets after 46 years To justify that comment, the also embossed spine is outstanding and virtually perfect, the white titles etc. are completely clear of rubbing and ageing, a couple of those edge lines and a few gentle ripples, but that would apply to any spine from any decade. A solid and strong spine means the cover itself has not turned into a frail weak state, but still sturdy and way, way, way above the average condition, which this certainly is. The edges. corners etc. have that 'as minimal rubbing as it gets' as well as the two outside panels, the colours of the outside artwork are still as first seen in September, 1971. Taking pictures with dark background is never ideal for details, but not the artwork colours, they can be seen in the pictures and hopefully how sturdy the overall condition actually is, you need look further than the incredible Mint condition of the lyric insert for how the design and materials are 100% responsible for any negative comments, plus of course the natural standing in storage for all those years. Mint does not exist for this first edition "Fireball" gatefold cover and nothing can alter the unused status I now have grade, when the whole principal of grading any item, hinges on 'use', which this did not have; THE COVER IS IN EXCELLENT +++ CONDITION. THE IMMACULATE, AS NEW LABELS DO NOT HAVE ANY SPINDLE ALIGNMENTS, THE RECORD IS ALSO LITERALLY AS NEW. WITH THAT 'JUST PRESSED' BEAUTIFUL GLOSSY SHINE AND WITHOUT ANY SCRATCHES OR MARKS. I ALWAYS FEEL OBLIGED TO A ADD A REMINDER ALL RECORDS WERE HANDLED AT THE PRESSING PLANTS AND RECORD SHOPS, ANY FEATHER LIGHT, NEAR INVISIBLE TRACES ARE CERTAINLY NOT VISUALLY OBVIOUS. THE HEAVYWEIGHT VERY FIRST PRESSED RECORD IS IN UNPLAYED, MINT CONDITION.

SIDE 1 "Fireball" "No No No" "Demon's Eye" "Anyone's Daughter" SIDE 2 "The Mule" "Fools" "No One Came" DEEP PURPLE (Mark 2) Ian Gillan - lead vocals Ritchie Blackmore - lead guitar Jon Lord - keyboards & Hammond organ Roger Glover - bass Ian Paice - drums All Songs Written By Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice. Recorded September, 1970 - June, 1971 At De Lane Lea Studios, Olympic Studios, & The Hermitage. Engineered BY Martin Birch, Lou Austin & Alan O'Duffy Mastered By George Peckham Produced By Deep Purple

We are into our 16th year of ebay trading, I have listed just about every UK Deep Purple album, one has eluded me due to the poor state of the covers, the heavily / worn out scratched records of the "Fireball" first pressings...until today. Now, had this been a low selling, non charting album, that would be expected, but the UK September, 1971 first issues hit No.1 and proceeded to reside in the charts for 25 weeks. Taking the constant immediately following originals being pressed in great numbers up to the March of 1972. Even after that, the true greatness of "Fireball" and an ultimate heavy rock masterpiece beyond compare, EMI continued pressing the album, yet I could not find any of that vast volume for 16 years! Enough of pressing details, I had to say that to explain I decided not to play the record myself, I know the sonic properties George Peckham embedded into the deep grooves of EMI's finest vinyl, the sound will 'blow your socks off.' To my fellow vinyl lovers of the very heavy or progressive persuasion, living abroad requiring translation, that last English expression might not make sense when translated, it refers to the staggering impact of Deep Purple at their most potent....well, at least equally as potent as the "Deep Purple In Rock" album. How could they possibly follow a masterpiece of heavy rock album like "In Rock"? Deep Purple / Mark II were more than capable of that and even surpass "In Rock, the unchanged line-up set about that in the Autumn of the same 1970 "In Rock" introduced a new brand of staggering red hot rock. They were in no hurry and "Fireball" was an appropriate title, they were 'on fire' and the new songs were nothing less than as inspired as the band's performances. I'm not sure if everyone is aware that the UK version was altered for Japan, America and Canada, "Demon's Eye" was substituted for "Strange Kind of Woman," in Britain it was released as a successful single and it reached No.8. Right from the mechanical sounds that began the album, Deep Purple exploded with real venom on the title track,"Fireball" flattened the listener with a hammer like blow, the trademark Jon Lord organ was in genius mode and the sheer power of the mastering set the audio standards EMI handled with ease. It was not all serious and heavy, a wonderful Ian Gillan performance of "Anyone's Daughter" was very funny, meanwhile Ritchie Blackmore produced searing blues guitar to give the track an even more earthy feel and sound, Cream did the same during their most intensive psychedelic music. Not playing the record is very restrictive, one of my most loved tracks is the extra length "Fools," here the band stretched their individual and collective talent to such an extent, you felt Deep Purple were heading into progressive music! Elements of that was there on the fantastic "No One Came," did the band ever play better than this? If Mark 2 was going to push their boundaries to the limit, the resulting ending of the album left you breathless with only one thing to do, turn the record over and be blown away all over again! Why the records are in such a terrible state today, 1971 was rather a long time ago now and if you also loved through that really exciting period in the 1970's, Deep Purple were just inspired out of their skins in 1970 and 1971. The perfect way to finish a description I waited 16 years to write.... the saying, 'less is more' comes to mind. {Roy}

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