Обсудим? Альбом Джона Леннона Roots` 1975

У кого есть эта версия альбома - как он вообще звучит? Пишут, что Леннон передал недозаписанные и недомикшированные пленки Морису Леви "для ознакомления".
И то, что на фото - оригинальная обложка винила, или пиратский вариант конверта?

John Lennon "Roots" Album

The story behind the offered album, “John Lennon – Roots” would make a splendid movie or mini-series. The tale begins in the fall of 1969 with the release of The Beatles final studio album, “Abbey Road.” In the opening line of John’s song “Come Together” he sings “Here comes old flat top, he comes groovin’ up slowly.” This particular line was so similar to the line sung by Chuck Berry in his song “You Can’t Catch Me,” that it resulted in two lawsuits and a countersuit before the copyright infringement could finally be settled. If not for the high profiled immigration case of “John Lennon vs. The United States of America” that was in progress at the time, the “Come Together” lawsuit would have evolved into a media circus. The man behind Big Seven, Inc., the copyright holder of “You Can’t Catch Me” was none other than the notorious Morris Levy. He was widely known to have close ties to organized crime, namely the Genovese Family, one of the five New York crime clans. His reputation in the record industry was cheating the artists signed to his label, Roulette Records, out of royalties. In Oct 1973 Lennon and Levy came to terms and settled the matter out of court. Lennon had agreed to record three of Big Seven’s songs on his next album. However, John’s planned oldies album ran into complications with Phil Spector absconding the tapes. The album was put on hold and John proceeded to record and release “Wall and Bridges.” Since this album was all original material, it did not include any of Big Seven’s titles. This infuriated Levy and he called for a meeting with Lennon. The meeting which resembled a mob “sit down” took place at Levy’s nightclub, Club Cavallero, on October 8, 1974. Lennon was accompanied by his girlfriend May Pang along with his attorney Harold Seider and a business partner. Levy brought his associate Phil Kahl. The birth of the “Roots” album took place at this meeting. Levy entertained the proposition of producing a full album and marketing and selling it through the television. John was intrigued, but cautioned Levy about Capitol’s contract. After a few more meetings Lennon, in a show of good faith, handed Levy a rough mix of the intended album. The 7 ½ ips reel was for listening purposes only. John would never hand over a 15 ips master tape. Levy, on the other hand, had the tracks and proceeded straight to production. The important fact here is that Levy deliberately ignored John’s warnings of contractual agreement for distribution between Apple, Capitol and EMI Records. He never obtained the rights for distribution. Levy released his version in early February 1975 thus forcing Capitol to rush-release the official John Lennon, Rock ‘N’ Roll. Capitol threatened a lawsuit against Adam VIII and production came to a stop. Adam VIII did manage to sell over 1200 copies at the reduced price of $4.98 each, which was $2.00 under market. The design of the album's sleeve was similar to that of the early Roulette Records releases with a portrait of John silhouetted against a bright yellow background. Instead of obtaining a current photo of John, Levy used a photo from the "Let It Be" sessions. The actual songs delighted fans who bought it because it included two songs that were not on the official release. “Angel Baby” and “Be My Baby” were exclusive to this album until the 1980’s release of “Menlove Avenue.” Due to the fact that Lennon did not issue “Angel Baby,” a Big Seven song, Levy brought a lawsuit against Lennon. This forced Apple, Capitol and EMI Records to file a countersuit against Levy for illegal distribution. After weeks of deliberation the case was settled and handed over to an appellate court. The final ruling in the case determined that John Lennon would be awarded $84,912 for loss of revenue and damage to his reputation, and Levy received a judgment in the amount of $6,795. As early as 1975 "Roots" became an instant collectible. Today, it remains one of the more difficult albums to find in any condition. The album offered is an original ADAM VIII pressing and is in Mint condition with no visible surface scratches. The sleeve is in Mint condition with no visible signs of wear. Interestingly, Morris Levy in every way did suffer a substantial loss but he did boldly print on the album's label and sleeve “Produced from master recordings owned by and with permission of John Lennon and Apple Records.”