The Ventures "Walk Don't Run"

 

Super rare 1st run jacket art with a deleted black & white photo of the band on the back instead of the regular issue "outline" art that Venture collectors are familiar with.

Here's the short story...

 

In 1960, when The Ventures first released "Walk Don't Run" as a 45 single, Dolton/Liberty Records (of Seattle, WA.) had little idea how quickly this single would become a success, and when it did, they had The Ventures cut enough tracks for this full-length, 33 rpm, debut record. In the standard industry promotional strategy used at the time, they rushed The Ventures on the road to tour. 

As vinyl was being stamped for this debut LP, the cover art team realized that they only had black & white promo pics of the group to choose for jacket art. So they picked the black & white picture of The Ventures you see on the back of this listing. Knowing they didn't have a color photo of the group for the cover slick, and the group was out on the road touring, they arranged to hire a model and use some of the stockroom workers as stand-ins for the cover shoot.

When vinyl and printed jackets were pulled together and first issues were readied for shipping, and The Ventures still on tour, the Liberty people began to realize that there might be some confusion with their record customers as to who The Ventures really were primarily because this was their first LP- no one had seen The Ventures. Marketing worried that customers might think The Ventures were the people on the cover instead of the boys in the black & white photo on the back. The jacket art group decided to solve this potential dilemma by creating a tracing of the black & white picture and use it as artwork instead of the photo. In this way, customers would not be able to see who the Ventures really were and not be confused. The jackets with the black & white photo on the back would be deleted and not used. The "outline" artwork of the band is what we always see on the back of "Walk Don't Run". I have included a photo (#3) of the approved and released jacket art for the LP. 

Over the years, record collectors discovered the existence of the rare "first run" jacket that has the actual photo of the group on the back. Apparently a few had leaked out into the hands of buyers.

(For reference, on pages: 52, 53 of "Walk Don't Run" by Del Halterman he writes about the launch of this debut LP and speaks about this change to the jacket.)

A very serious Venture collector whom I talked to recently said that he has been hunting for these elusive "first run" (deleted) jackets for years and has only found a few. He also said that no one really knows how many leaked out., or how many have survived. 
I recently found one of these in a suite of Venture LP's that I picked from a Venture collector 20 years ago. I had no idea myself that such a deleted jacket existed until recently when a Venture collector pointed it out to me. (My thanks to Tom B., a real gentleman and self-proclaimed "Venture fanatic since 1960".)

 

Condition

The jacket is in very good (VG++) condition with its face slick and back paste not showing much wear. The edges are great with just a very tiny bit of wear at the very tips of the jacket. The spine is perfect. There is a light crease across part of the back, top-right. There are also some staple holes in the top right corner. It was common practice in the late 1950's and early 1960's to staple the retsil sticker to the jacket. Please review my photos as I have uploaded pics of every view.

The inner sleeve is in excellent condition. The original Liberty printed inner sleeve is included and it is in (VG++) condition with just some of the expected age-related (58 years) yellowing. The record is in a new MOFI anti-static and anti-scratch master sleeve to keep it clean and protect it. Please review my photos.

The LP is in fantastic NM-/NM- playing condition. I have listened to many copies of "Walk Don't Run" over the years and this is the best copy I have listened to. Most of these records were loved to death. This record was pressed using the 2nd label version with the "6920 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles 28 California" address. It is a light blue-green "Dolphin" label. A few very rare and equally elusive copies use the Seattle, WA. address that is considered by collectors to be the 1st label variant. The runout matrix has the following numbers indicating a first release/ED 1 and first stamping. The "H" designated Columbia's Hollywood, Calif. pressing plant:

Side 1: "BLP-2003-A (Side 1) H III"

Side 2: "BLP-2003-B (Side 2) H H I"

 

The Lp was manually cleaned by me using a carefully researched, archival-quality detergent and lab-grade rinse water- nothing harsh. I grade my records visually and through play-grading. Sometimes there is a big difference. I always assign my grade for how a record sounds versus what it looks like. 

 

Notes:

 

Label: Dolton BLP-2003

Fromat: 1 x LP MONO

Country: US Pressing

Year Released: 1960

 

Visual and Play Grade:

 

Side 1. NM- Very clean with a good gloss and most of its factory rainbow luster. One noticeable hazy scuff line and a few very light and hard to see sleeve hairlines. One light spindle mark around the center hole indicating light play and careful handling. The sonics are strong and clean like a good mono recording should be. Plays clear and mostly quiet with a slight bit of very low-level running noise in spots. This low-level noise is only noticeable on my system between track changes. 

Side 2. NM- Very clean with a good gloss and most of its factory rainbow luster. Four light scuff lines and a few very light and hard to see sleeve hairlines. One light spindle mark around the center hole indicating light play and careful handling. The sonics are strong and clean like a good mono recording should be. Plays clear and mostly quiet with a slight bit of very low-level running noise in spots. Once again, this low-level noise is only noticeable on my system between track changes. 

 

Shipping:

Domestic and international shipping is free. I will send fully insured and by Registered mail. The album will be inside a new 2 mil. outers sleeve. The record and inner sleeve will be placed between the jacket and outer sleeve to prevent splits during shipping. I use a pro-quality 200# mailer with padding and stiffeners.  

 

Buy with confidence:

This is only my second Audiogon listing but I have 1500+ listings and a 100%, Top-Rated seller rating on eBay. I have been buying and selling records and audio on eBay as "20th Century Redux" and "VoiceofVinyl" since 1998. 

If you have any questions- please ask. 

 

Thank you.