m'marmalade: yes, all the wing label lps i've seen (& handled) from around then° have that chalky feel - i think it was "french chalk" powder, and it was used to stop the albums' un-as you say-laminated, colour-printed (?paper-glued-onto-the-fairly-thick (by yuk-of-gb'n'norn-ironian standards) card/"pasteboard"?) front-&-backs sticking to the immediately propinquant album covers. . .°°
° - by the time they reissued the spencer davis group first album on wing, they'd moved to a more ordinary-for-the-yuk-of-gb'n'norn-ironian lp jacket of fairly thin card printed on what would become front, spine & back before getting folded, and flaps glued from front top & bottom to the outside of the back
(sometimes such yuk-of-gb'n'norn-ironian card sleeves' fronts & backs were printed separately, and so used three flaps; but yr hmbl srppnt.'s not attempted to prioritise these, and certainly cannot remember for certain which construction philips yuk's printers used on this period wing label album sleeves - if, indeed, they used only one construction design.)
At least with Decca, they often give you a nice dated, poly-lined inner sleeve!
(and now that I think of it, I think I have a Springfields compilation somewhere in the loft to be entered, worth comparing P. dates I Think - And I notice that the album this is a re-issue of is entered on site... is it worth linking?)
MM. your British records(LPs or 45rpm singles/EPs) have had release dates on them since 1958, initially stated as "Recording First Published....." on all labels up to 1964 and on PYE issues into 1965...., then the circled P and the year after it. Oh how I wish we had that in Australia! Year-dates didn't start appearing on Aussie issues until about 1971 is some cases, 1972 in others, and not at all on some other labels still. Another thing I really admire about British records is how the publishing credits are shown, just the company name in ordinary fonts, no trademarks. You've seen Australian LPs EPs and singles pre-1969, no doubt, with those oh-so-wretchedly-ugly publishing company trademarks, about as welcome as a slice of pork or ham at a Jewish Bahmitzvah* celebration(*guessing at spelling there, no offence intended). All-in-all the British labels were far superior in their layout and detail than our Australian labels.
All those would help, but I suspect that it's a legal requirement to show the original date (I'm not an expert on copyright law, btw - or any other law, for that matter), and a new (P) date would usually only appear on a reissue with, say, a previously unissued recording, and a new (C) date would appear for any new artwork, photos or notes (although I have sometimes seen incorrect later (P) dates on reissues that don't have either unissued recordings or new packaging). Sometimes you can get an idea of a reissue's era from the record company name and/or address given on the sleeve (as this says "Philips Records", it would have to be pre-1971, when the company became Phonogram Ltd.), the label design used, or even the actual label brand - Wing was primarily used by Philips (and Mercury in the USA) for lower-priced reissues, and i knew that the group was originally on Philips, so Wing was an immediate clue that this wasn't an original issue, plus I was already pretty familiar with the group's and Dusty's careers. Of course, nobody can know everything, so there would be plenty of entries here that I would have to take at face value. Like many things, this knowledge is gained with time and experience.
Always annoys me that they don't put the date of the particular issue on albums, along with the patent date (or even when a later press of a later issue is made, as on the few occasions when a copyright is added for such a purpose, it can be a re-issue, pressed later than any dates shown).
They should have: Patent date, Copyright date, and actual object made date in my opinion.
That's an excellent book that really does a good job of documenting Dusty's recording sessions, putting dates to most of what she recorded and released as well as giving some priceless insights into how she worked in the studio... she was pretty tough on herself, especially later on where she literally would sing one word at a time and the producers would be going crazy not understanding why she just couldn't do complete takes. Just insane - she was one of the greatest singers ever, yet she never believed she was. A curious lady was Dusty and the book an absolute must for all Dusty fans since it just focuses on what truly matters - her music and not her troublesome private life.
Better still theres a fair amount of Springfields stuff in nice true stereo too, and not the dreaded fake stereo one might expect from Philips material from that era. A pity that master takes of some of her singles don't exist in stereo... Philips kept the alternate takes in stereo but not always the masters.
According to Paul Howes' book THE COMPLETE DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, this is a 1965 reissue of the 1962 album KINDA FOLKSY (Philips BBL 7551 mono, SBBL 674 stereo). It was reissued again in 1969 on Fontana SFL 13098, stereo.
I've not heard the album in it's original context but have heard all the songs on compilations. Dusty was just starting to get into her stride and was obvious why she had to go solo to fully let rip but there is a lovely cheeriness and innocence about The Springfields music that ensures it remains enjoyable.
The card sleeve has a very chalky feel to it, like high quality cartridge paper, but without the lamination, I doubt there are many, if any, surviving in mint condition.
...In fact, my one has a few breaks along the edges, and one big lump taken on one side.