Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti - 1st U.S. double Lp Pressing?

Hi Ben,

Here's the best description of an original U.K. 1st pressing of Physical Graffiti I have been able to find. If you're interested (and if you have the time), please compare it to yours so we might find out if the "muddy" sound you described is present on a 1st U.K. pressing, or if the possibility remains that the muddy sound is only on the later pressing(s):


Led Zeppelin: "Physical Graffiti". Double Lp Set. 1st UK, MARCH 1975.
Swan Song Label: SSK 89400.
Maitrix: SSK 89400 with A 1 / D 1 endings.

With two individual, 1st issue side opening inner sleeves, with window scenes to match the cover. Made from very thick cardboard.

1st issue fold-out card insert, with "PULLED CURTAINS" overprinted, plus the album title's lettering and the track details / credits.

The above are made and printed in the UK.
UK printed first issue cover, with 32 die-cut windows.

"The 1975 1st UK pressing only, came in a UK printed and manufactured cover and all inserts. To offset the hefty expense of producing this package, for all the following re-issues, it was far cheaper to import and use German printed covers and inserts. Then in the later 70's even the LP's were pressed in Germany. "Physical Graffiti" was a massive selling album, hitting the No.1 position here in England, and it remained high in the charts for 27 weeks, making many pressings necessary to meet the demand. To identify the 1st printed UK cover is very simply done, the back cover has the King's Road, London address of "Swan Song" under the logo, top centre. "Sleeve printed and made in England by Gothic Printers And Finishers Ltd" is found printed on the fold-out inner card. The side opening inner sleeves are the thick, heavy card type only in the original 1975 UK issues. The records for 1975 standards, are very heavy, the most telling of all though, is the labels very distinctive printing, unique to a UK 1st pressing only. The tracks have a much thicker, bolder type face than on any of the other UK / German labels. It's very obvious on the headings such as the album's title, the side's numbers, the 'Stereo' lettering and the catalogue numbers. The colours on the"Swan Song" artwork and logo are far more richly coloured as well."


I would post pics of the labels and cover, but I haven't figured out how to work pics into my posts yet...

 

Thanks Scott,

Your description matches what I have.

I will do a shoot out later today.

 

I have an original US promo copy of "Physical Graffiti", with the round orange promotional sticker and the track listing sticker on the front of the cover. The numbers are:

ST-SS-753309-B AT PR GRT
ST-SS-753310-B AT PR GRT F.T.
ST-SS-753311-B AT PR GRT F.T.
ST-SS-753312-D ATGP(George Piros written/scribbled initials) PR GRT

"Boogie With Stu" credits Mrs. Valens. These LPs sound wonderful to me, with a nice thumping, yet clear low end, and are pressed on a much heavier vinyl than I'm used to seeing from the mid '70's. The LPs are generally quiet, except for some light surface noise, only really noticeable on the beginning of "In The Light". If you can find them, I would highly recommend the US promo LPs of "Physical Graffiti".


Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

Shoot-out between my early US pressing (for matrix see post #16) and what turns out IS a first pressing UK (for matrix see post #18).

After having just listened to several tracks I'm gonna have to withdraw my earlier comment about the UK being muddy. Not muddy at all. I will say this... my recollection was based on an earlier shoot-out I did with yet another UK pressing I had that I sold a few years back. Obviously, not the same pressing I have now.

I would describe the US pressing the same way as Ed. "These LPs sound wonderful to me, with a nice thumping, yet clear low end, ... generally quiet, except for some light surface noise, only really noticeable on the beginning of "In The Light".

The first UK pressing is also clear and maybe a bit more powerful....the main difference I find is that the US is a bit silkier and smoother...easier on the ear if you will. To tell you the truth, I don't think I can say the US is better. Tone is very similar in both pressings. Both are winners IMO.

 

Thanks Ed, for taking the time to check the matrix numbers, and for the sound quality info too. Very much appreciated

 

That was fast Ben, great information too, thank you. It seems as though the early U.S. press is well regarded, and that's good news. Much easier for me to locate an early U.S. pressing here in the States than to try to find a top condition U.K. 1st pressing from across the pond...

I think the only thing left to discover at this point is how the sound of the early 1st U.S. pressing (either Ben's first U.S. pressing or Ed's U.S. promo 1st pressing) compares to the Classic Records reissue. Have either of you listened to the Classic Recs reissue recently?

 

I have the Classic Records.....I see another shoot out coming.

 

Scott,

You're quite welcome. It's nice to pass on some useful vinyl information, since I've learned so much from this forum myself as I begin getting back into collecting vinyl again.

I've never heard the Classic Records version of "Physical Graffiti" and I think that I'm more than satisfied with my US promo, unless I would ever find an early pressing with a quieter "In The Light", which might not be very easy to do, since I think that many US pressed LPs from the mid-70's were somewhat noisy;




Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

That would be great Ben, if you think your neighbors can handle another session of Led Zeppelin on a Saturday morning (you did turn it up nice and loud for them, right??? )

Seriously though, this is great information, I really appreciate everyone's contribution to this Thread.

When you get the opportunity, if you would post your shoot-out results between your U.S. first pressing and the Classic Recs reissue that would be great. While I'm hesitant to ever proclaim the "last word" on anything, I do think it would pretty much be the "icing on the cake" for this subject

Many thanks to all, and I look forward to any further posts regarding the Classic Recs reissue of Physical Graffiti (compared to the 1st U.S. pressing) at your convenience

 

I have a Canadian pressing of this. It's possible that the Canadian copy did sound better than the US version because that was often the case with WEA associate labels at the time. They would have likely been pressed by Columbia as with most of their LPs at the time. I'll have to give my copy a spin.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Chris, that would be great, the more info the better. I have read good things about the Canadian Led Zeppelin pressings in other Threads too.

 

Ed,

Do you notice a difference between the Piros-cut side and the other three?

 

In the US pressings...two of Ed's and one of my sides has "F.T." in the matrix.

Anyone knows what (or who) is this?

 

EDIT: Sorry about the "name dropping" there everyone, that appeared rather unseemly after reading it. I've cleaned it up a bit...

I'll bet GP, BG, Porky, RL, SR or "ahem"...SH or KG would know who "F.T." was...all the mastering engineers know each other's work, don't they???

Is anyone who might know "lurking" around here today..?

 

Maybe Zal knows?

 

I don't know about Canadian originals, but the reissues had the channels reversed...

 

Classic Records Physical Graffiti shoot-out ....My pressing was pre-ordered, meaning it's one of the very first batch of the 180 gram pressings (not the current 200 gram version). Are they different? Probably not, but I don't know.

See post # 29 for part one of this shoot-out:

1. US early pressing (see post #16)
2. UK first pressing (see post #18)
3. Classic Records 180 grams

Knowing what I know now, if I had only one of these I'd probably would be happy and not bother seeking the others. However, they do sound different.

The US pressing sounds the most smooth, the UK sounds the most powerful (dynamic), and the Classic Records has the quietest vinyl. Those qualities should help you decide which you want to go for. The US and UK are definitely not easy to find in pristine condition. A simple phone call and $45 will get you the Classic.

Having said that, the US and UK pressings sound the most natural to me. The Classic Records has more top end which accentuates the tape hiss, the cymbals, and gives Robert Plant's vocals a slight brightness. The UK pressing has the most midrange of the three pressings. On the other hand, the UK has the noisiest (relatively) vinyl of the three. Again, I'm not saying the Classic Records is bright. I am saying it is brighter than the other two. I'm not saying the UK pressing is noisy, the vinyl is noisier than the other two.

In summary, I'm happy to have all three.

 

When Bernie G is cutting for Classic, for some reason, he goes for a brighter picture. Not sure why. Not sure if it's the monitors or his preference.....

Most everything I've heard under the Classic Recs inprint, Bernie cuts, and he cuts brighter than most. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. In the PG case, I don't mind it brighter to bring out some detail lost in other pressings... IMHO.

 

Exactly.

 

Just had a chance to spin the first side of the Canadian pressing. This was actually pressed by Quality Records and not Columbia. They did a minority of pressings for WEA back in the '70s. This is obvious from the "Q" on the label (as opposed to "C" for Columbia). It also have a "Q" in the run-out grooves. The cover has the old WEA address (1810 Birchmount Road, Scarborough, Ont.) on it and there is a small Maple leaf on the upper left corner of the back cover. I can't recall if they were putting this on pressings in 1975 or slightly after.

As far as the record goes... The vinyl is dead quiet. I always thought that this album was murky but, I haven't listened to it in some time. I think that my amp upgrade last year (from an A&R Cambridge A60 to a Linn Majik) has helped to clear up a bit of the dynamics and focus the soundstage a bit. I think that one of the problems that one might have in evaluating the overall sound of this album is that the tracks were recorded at different locations with different equipment over a fair amount of time. So, the sound might not be as cohesive as an album done in a single studio situation.

Anyway, I think this pressing sounds overall quite good, indeed. I don't have any other vinyl version to make a direct comparison. The only other version that I have is the recent mini-LP sleeve CD (manufactured in Germany) and I didn't give it a spin.

So, there ya go from Canuckville.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Keith,

The George Piros side is the noisiest, but probably the best sounding side. On "In The Light", whenever the whole band kicks in, after the mellow verses, the sound of the drums and bass is very overpowering, almost thunderous sounding. The other songs on Side 4 also sound excellent, but overall, both LPs do sound really good to me.



Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

I don't know for sure, Ben, but there was a Frank Tabino who was muchly in charge of Atlantic Studios for some time. I wasn't aware that he did any cutting, but, as I said, I really don't know.

I could ask Elliott Federman, who began employment at Atlantic around '74, and did do cutting after a time. He knew Frank (I did meet the fellow), and might have filled his position after some years..

Best wishes,

Zal

 

Thanks Zal.

BTW, I really enjoy reading your posts.

 

Hey Sckott

How's the hiss level with the enhanced highs?

Best wishes,

Zal

 

Very much so, Ben, and many thanks for taking all the time to compare the different pressings and for providing your findings.

Much of the time, this is the kind of information I search for all over the Forum, and in this case, it was all concentrated in this one Thread. As far as I'm concerned, that is fantastic

I am very interested in locating the "best" pressings of my favorite albums/performers, and this Forum is instrumental in helping me accomplish that task.

I realize of course that "best" is often subjective, and that the playback equipment and the condition of the vinyl are going to affect the results, but in many cases a consensus develops.

Even if that consensus is negative toward a particular pressing, that's very helpful too, because it eliminates that particular pressing from contention. That preserves capital, to be used on pressings with better prospects and higher potential...

I'm looking forward to doing some of my own "shoot-outs" soon, and posting the results here on the Forum.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in this Thread, this Forum rocks

Scott