ROLLING STONES The Rolling Stones (Once upon a time, young man was working in a South London garage as an apprentice fitter, he was a budding guitarist and travelled up to London to audition for a new band which was forming. His friend, one Bill Perks, went with him for moral support, taking his guitar with him. The young man didn't get the job, but Bill did, soon ditching his surname for the name Wyman and The Rolling Stones took shape. A friend of the young man became a fan of the youngcombo and regularly went to their gigs in South London, waiting outside the venue where they would be recognised by the band, who would then signal the bouncers to let them in to the venue. It was at one of these concerts that he was able to get his copy of thier newly released album signed by the whole band. This then is that album, an astonishing relic from the history of Twentieth Century popular culture. The unlaminated reverse is fully autographed with five signatures, Mick, Charlie, Keith [signed as Keith Richard], Brian & Bill, all seemingly made in the same black felt-tip pen, which imbues a richness and clarity, often absent on ballpoint pen signatures. The signatures are nicely placed around the black 'The Rolling Stones' lettering and are in a beautifully unhurried hand, all pointing to the fact that this was done with a lot of care and attention, deserving of the connection the owner had with the band, rather than just a hurried backstage scribble. This is a one owner copy and has been stored in a cupboard for the past few decades. The sleeve itself is front laminated with no flipbacks and has I Need You Baby on the tracklisting [Mona on the label]. There are spots of discolouration on the reverse & a light yellowing, although nothing too severe. The front laminate shows creasing and laminate lift to the bottom corners, with a couple of chips to the opening edge and no seam splits. This was obviously an item which was cherished and well used by its previous owner. The vinyl is on the unboxed red mono label with 6271-2A/6272-5A matrices and has been played to the point where we would advise replacing it for audio purposes. The chances of us ever finding another item of this significance are as low as they go, this is quite literally a piece of history and would be the crowning jewel in any collection, possibly ending up in a museum one day LK4605).