LABEL PRESS DETAILS:

1st UK PRESSING,  on the Brunswick pressed 'deep-grooved' silver & black Brunswick label. This superb 1st UK mono pressing of their debut studio album dates from the first December 1965 release.

MATRIX NOs. ON RUN-OUT GROOVE 

side 1. MG - 10256 - 1 B

side 2. MG - 10257 - 1 B

-

MOTHER STAMPERS

Side 1. '' 1             B    '' ( Very rare pressing stampers )

Side 2. '' 1             B   2    '' 

TRACK LISTING

Side one

1. "Out in the Street" 2:31

2. "I Don't Mind" James Brown 2:36

3. "The Good's Gone" 4:02

4. "La-La-La-Lies" 2:17

5. "Much Too Much" 2:47

6. "My Generation" 3:18

Side two

7. "The Kids Are Alright" 3:04

8. "Please, Please, Please" James Brown, Johnny Terry 2:45

9. "It's Not True" 2:31

10. "I'm a Man" Bo Diddley 3:21

11. "A Legal Matter" 2:48

12. "The Ox" Townshend, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins 3:50

I'm going to start with a quick note about the rarity of original pressings of 'My Generation'. In my opinion, 'My Generation' is one of the hardest of all vinyls of the mid 60's to find with top audio, and in great all round condition. Clear playing 1st pressings were made, but they are unbelievably scarce today. It was of course a highly popular album, and it was by The Who, which meant that people played them to death and didn't necessarily take care of them. 

Finding a pressing that has a gleaming vinyl, that has Top clear Audio, and a cover not torn or highly scratched is now almost impossible. To find an original pressing with a great cover and great audio makes this an extreme rarity.

My Generation is the debut studio album by The Who, released on 3 December 1965 by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it was released on 25 April 1966 by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation, with a different cover and a slightly altered track listing. The album was made immediately after The Who got their first singles on the charts and critics often rate it as one of the best rock albums of all time.

In the spring of 1965, the album was started during The Who's early "Maximum R&B" period and features cover versions of the popular R&B songs "I Don't Mind" and "Please, Please, Please", both originally by James Brown, in addition to the R&B leanings of the tracks written by the band's guitarist Pete Townshend. Nine tracks were recorded, but several of them were rejected for Townshend originals made at new sessions that began in October.

In his 1967 column for Esquire, music critic Robert Christgau called My Generation "the hardest rock in history". In 1981, he included its American version in his "basic record library". Richie Unterberger hailed the album as "the hardest mod pop" ever recorded in a retrospective review for AllMusic: "At the time of its release, it also had the most ferociously powerful guitars and drums yet captured on a rock record."

Mark Kemp wrote of the record in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004): "With its ferocious blend of grungy distortion, rumbling bass and percussion, and brutish vocals, The Who Sings My Generation became the blueprint for much of the subsequent garage rock, heavy metal, and punk. In contrast to debut albums from The Rolling Stones (whose take on Southern American rock & soul was fairly earnest) and The Beatles (who spread the word of rock & roll through sweet harmonies and easily digestible melodies), My Generation positively shoved at the boundaries of popular music. Townshend's fiercely original guitar experiments here predate the innovations of his later American rival Jimi Hendrix."

ALBUM PLAYED FOR AUDIO GRADING:

Yes – brilliant! - This is an outstanding example of this rarest of vinyls. It plays with superb sound quality throughout with no obvious flaws and virtually no static to be found. This is an outstanding example! 

Original pressings of 'My Generation' often have a dull sound, with experimental recording and mastering techniques being employed in the making. There were a very small quantity of pressings that came out with bright, clear audio, and this little played 1st pressing is one of them! On top of that, this vinyl is in Near Mint condition, and the audio if flawless. 

This great record plays up to the visual grading and beyond. Strong, undistorted sound free of noise or repetitive static. Super strong bright audio with minimal distractions, the album plays right through with absolutely NO distortion, jumps or loud unwanted noises what so ever. 

Wonderful audio, NO sticks or jumps what so ever. The music jumps out, with definition and clarity, particularly on the percussion instruments, and vocals which come through with tremendous power. As with the bass guitar and drums, whilst the guitars come through crisp and clear. I'll give a detailed account below:

Beginning with 'Out in the Street', the music bursts in with amazing clear audio, no loud pops or clicks and nice clean run ins. There is barely any detectedle background static and no repeating tics.

Moving into the wonderful 'I Don't Mind', which demonstrates The Who's incredible dynamic layering, with notes and effects that are usually lost on most even relatively played vinyls. Here the audio sings out with amazing clarity. There are no light static tics between tracks or during the music, which plays with amazing clarity, and no background static. 

'The Good's Gone', can be a real test on this album due to its many layered sections, and here it sings out with virtually no static in the run ins and quiet areas. Great music with great clarity, and so hard to find with this type of sound. There is virtually no light, occasional surface sound and not a hint of distortion. I can confirm that there is not a hint of distortion anywhere on this great vinyl. 

There is silence between tracks and not a single light pop anywhere. 'La La La Lies' plays with clear sound, and the instrumental section layered again, sounds great. Superb clear bright sound, amazing. 

Leading back into 'Much Too Much', the vinyl again plays with super clear sound. No tics between tracks and no static. 

Then the epic, 'My Generation', and here it sounds amazing. Bright sound, you get a sense of the Who's incredible dynamism with this great audio performance. 

Side 2. bursts in with the incredible 'The Kids Are Alright', following clear run ins it sounds great, with bright, clear audio. There is no background static at the start, and any that is there is very slight and very far in the background. 

Again with 'Please Please Please', the audio is just superb, with barely any light static, and extremely clear vocal layering. 

'It's Not True' also sings out, with great clarity and no surface sound. This track is nearly always blighted with loud pops, clicks, buzzing crackle and distortion, but not here. All the way through every track plays with great definition. 

The complex arrangements in 'I'm a Man' and 'A Legal Matter' play so well, with astounding audio precision. A total lack of loud pops, clicks, interference, and certainly no distortion anywhere on this great pressing, makes this an incredible collectable pressing of this great record. 

Rounding off with 'The Ox', it play superbly, maintaining the high audio standard set by every other track on this lp. There isn't a single loud pop or click to be found, just super clear loud audio. The music jumps out, with definition and clarity, the vocals which come through with tremendous power. It's the same with the bass guitar and drums, whilst the guitars multi layers come through crisp and clear. The tonal quality make this a sensational pressing. With the clear and extra loud First cut engineering giving the audio a vibrant sound which cannot be beaten. A great all round example of this great vinyl, with amazing audio throughout! A great all round example of this classic vinyl. 

This is a great Audio pleasure and I would give the audio a grading of NEAR MINT to MINT. 

THE RECORD - VISUAL GRADING  

A lovely piece of HEAVY glossy vinyl. Deep clear grooves that can only be found on the original early pressings, this vinyl has been barely played. The record has great shine and show virtually no marks what so ever. It would be extremely hard to ever find a cleaner example, and one that plays which such flawless audio.

Graded at NEAR MINT to MINT.

VINYL TESTED FOR ANY SIGNS OF WARPING:

Yes, NONE visible what so ever when tested be sight and on a moving turntable.

LABELS 

Splendid deeply coloured attractive examples.  No wear around the hole areas, with all ink uneroded and fully intact. One tiny light spindle trace to be found on either side. The vinyl still fits tightly around the record spindle. 

Graded at NEAR MINT.

 

COVER 

The UK release featured a cover image of the band standing beside some oil drums and looking upward to the camera, with splashes of colour added by the red and blue stencilled letters of the title and a jacket patterned after the Union Flag thrown over John Entwistle's shoulders. Pete Townshend was wearing his school scarf. For the US, release this was replaced with a portrait of the band standing beneath Big Ben.

Being thin matt card, laminated on the front only, these covers rarely survived, usually having heavy ring wear and tears and a lot of yellowing to the background. Not this one! It has no tears or splits, again very hard to find. 

It has little rubbing to the edges of the spine, and very little corner wear. The spine even has clearly defined 'pinched' ends and all the text is complete and fully intact. There is some yellowing on the rear and a couple of light, very small creases on the spine. A great original first press example that would be very hard to better. 

Graded at EXCELLENT.

THE INNER

Comes with Original UK, Made in England Inner sleeve, in NEAR MINT CONDITION. No tears, splits or stains. This inner has remained inside the cover and looks like new. It would be hard to ever better. The vinyl will of course come in a replacement plain white inner to protect the original.

CLASSIC UK R&B / ROCK album by THE WHO

 

RARITY

It is getting harder and harder to find good examples of early UK pressings of MY GENERATION, and very hard if not almost impossible examples that are complete and intact. 

The cover is almost impossible to find without serious wear and even modestly worn examples are scarce! This is a stunning all round piece. With TOP AUDIO throughout! Superb! Finding a 1st pressing that does not have a ruined cover and vinyl is near impossible. I have never seen another 1st pressing with a vinyl like this. This is a great rarity.