MARY-ANNE: Me again

February 18, 2013, 3:39 am

≪ Previous: Flashback in Classic Rock magazine

Issued in 1970, the haunting Me by Mary-Anne is one of the rarest and best British folk albums of its time. I have only ever seen two copies, and rather to my surprise have just realised that they're different. What I assume is the first has the matrix numbers PR JOY S 162 A and PR JOY S 162 B, and textured labels with four rings (below right). The second has the matrix numbers PR JOY S 162 A 2 and PR JOY S 162 B 2, and smooth labels with only one ring (below left). In all other respects (cover included) they are indistinguishable.

Pressing 1 has a subtly different mix, and includes completely different versions of two songs, The Gentleman Soldier and Candyman. Ironically, these are the only weak tracks on the album, their jaunty tone jarring with the prevailing air of restrained melancholy. The former runs 2:39 on Pressing 1 and 3:15 on Pressing 2, while the latter runs 1:45 on Pressing 1 and 3:08 on Pressing 2. In both cases, I consider the Pressing 1 takes to be superior. Not only are they shorter, but they're less theatrical. The Pressing 1 version of The Gentleman Soldier is pure guitar and voice, while Pressing 2 has a military drum, heavily mannered vocals and some obviously flubbed guitar. The Pressing 1 version of Candyman has flute and simple guitar backing, while Pressing 2 has ragtime guitar, bumptious kazoo and extra words (including unconvincing drug references). I can only assume that the longer versions appeared on Pressing 2 by accident - but of course we'll never know if that's the case, or how / why.

When I licensed the album for reissue on Sunbeam in 2006, President Records provided the master tape. Oddly, the 'wrong' versions of both The Gentleman Soldier and Candyman were on it, meaning that we had to drop in what I assumed to be the 'correct' versions from a vinyl copy. I included the 'wrong' versions as bonus tracks on the CD, little suspecting that they had in fact also been issued at the time. The only evidence for the album's existence that President possessed was the tape - they had no photographs, extra material or original LPs, and the label's boss could cast no light on the variant versions being on the tape.

If you're interested in Mary-Anne, I've already posted about her here. If you haven't come across her, here's the loveliest version of this lovely song I've yet heard.

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FLASHBACK #2 in Shindig

February 26, 2013, 4:02 am

≫ Next: FLASHBACK ISSUE #3

≪ Previous: MARY-ANNE: Me again

Thanks to Andy Morten for this warm review in the new issue of Shindig.

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FLASHBACK ISSUE #3

May 15, 2013, 3:00 am

≫ Next: DUNCAN BROWNE Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

≪ Previous: FLASHBACK #2 in Shindig

I'm delighted to announce that Flashback #3 will be available as of May 21st, and can be bought here.

Mighty Baby are on the cover, and the accompanying feature includes full interviews with all the members, as well as several other figures close to the band. Also included are a jukebox from Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips, a study by Richie Unterberger of the rock memoir industry, Patrick Lundborg on the mono v. stereo question, producer / Harvest boss Malcolm Jones on Syd Barrett and the making of The Madcap Laughs, 50 Overlooked Singer-Songwriter LPs, a history of the rare Top Pops newspaper, and in-depth features on the Common People, Tripsichord Music Box and more, as well as music / book reviews and plenty of rare / unseen images and vintage music paper reprints. Enjoy!

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DUNCAN BROWNE Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

October 9, 2013, 4:58 am

≫ Next: FLASHBACK Issue #4

≪ Previous: FLASHBACK ISSUE #3

Few hard facts are available about this interesting singer-songwriter, whose debut album, August 1968's Give Me Take You, is one of the rarest of the period. This gratifyingly detailed interview appeared in the first issue of the surpassingly obscure and short-lived British pop journal Strange Days in September 1970, and is reproduced here for the first time. Enjoy!

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FLASHBACK Issue #4

November 14, 2013, 2:08 am

≫ Next: THE ORANGE COUNTY THREE

≪ Previous: DUNCAN BROWNE Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

I'm delighted to announce that Flashback #4 will be available as of December 11th, and can be bought here. TREES are on the cover, and the accompanying feature includes full interviews with all the members, as well as several other figures close to the band. Also included are scoops on cult psych bands Mandrake Memorial, July, Fraction and Wilkinson Tri-Cycle, a powerful memoir by Beverley Martyn of her interrupted musical career and troubled marriage, a jukebox from witch-rockers Blood Ceremony, a personal tour through Peter Eden's many classic productions, part two of Patrick Lundborg's investigation into mono v. stereo mixes, a guide to 'proto-punk' records, 50 intriguing LPs in the notorious Exploito genre, a history of the rare Go newspaper, and in-depth music / book reviews, with rare / unseen images and vintage music paper reprints throughout. Enjoy!

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THE ORANGE COUNTY THREE

December 20, 2013, 2:37 am

≫ Next: NICK DRAKE: 'a remarkable find'

≪ Previous: FLASHBACK Issue #4

Attempting to marry the sophistication of Playboy and Esquire to the countercultural appeal of the underground press, Cheetah only managed eight issues (October 1967 to May 1968). It was mocked by the cognoscenti at the time for striving too hard to be hip (worst of all 60s crimes!), but it stands up well. This largely owes to its music articles, such as Jules Siegel’s fabled ‘Goodbye Surfing, Hello God’ interview with Brian Wilson (October 1967) and an interview with Curt Boettcher about the occult (April 1968). In addition, its record reviews by Peter Winkler (including what seems to be the only contemporary assessment of Safe As Milk, which he loved) are among the most perceptive of the period.

The January 1968 issue included a triple portrait by Tom Nolan of the so-called 'Orange County Three' - Jackson Browne, Tim Buckley and Steve Noonan - who were considered to have equal promise at the vanguard of the emerging confessional singer-songwriter movement. Today, of course, they are respectively a star, a cult hero and a footnote. The article is often referred to, but hasn't been available online before, so here goes.

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NICK DRAKE: 'a remarkable find'

May 27, 2014, 5:29 am

≫ Next: DAVID BOWIE & BOB DJUKIC

≪ Previous: THE ORANGE COUNTY THREE

Very little Nick Drake memorabilia has ever surfaced - no signed LPs, no promo photos, no shop posters and no acetates. However, this month an eBay seller named Phil Jones - username pctc01 - listed what he described as 'a remarkable find': the first Drake acetate ever known to exist, let alone reach the market. By way of provenance, he stated that 'the disc was purchased along with a large collection of mid 1960's to 1973 Folk , Rock , Blues LP collection [sic]'.

While the details he offered were sketchy, he did reveal that it consisted of five tracks: Way To Blue, Three Hours, two that 'I do not recognize' and a brief instrumental that he described as 'a short 3/4 time signature [sic] with the sixth string dropped to D'. He went on to suggest that 'an approximate date for this disc is around 1968 / 1969. By the sound of the disc the tracks are early, but near complete... very clear one mic recording.'

Clearly used to time-wasters, he concluded his description by stating 'I would prefer to sell to a genuine collector, so any of the usual 'have you got a buy it now' emails from 'dealers' will be ignored. But genuine collectors are very welcome to email questions.' Regarding myself as such, I promptly sent him the following message: 'Hello, what a lovely looking item! I am a serious collector and have a couple of questions: 1) is it 100% definitely a 60s artefact and not a clever fake? 2) can you give any clues as to what the two non-5LL songs might be called? Many thanks.'

Answer came there none - and no one I know received an answer to similar enquiries. I emailed Nick's delightful sister Gabrielle to see if she remembered the disc. She didn't, and added: 'I cannot quite think of the circumstance that would lead Nick to go into a local Stratford on Avon recording studio, when he was quite proficient and used to recording himself on cassette. Is there any way of finding out who FA Burchell were and when they were in business? (I can find no mention of them on the internet.)'

Unfortunately, no such info was obtainable, and in the absence of detailed information, decent-quality images or soundclips from the seller, I did not bid. It ended up fetching £3211. Perhaps the lucky high bidder will share the music on it in due course. Certainly Nick's estate are extremely interested in it, and in any similar acetates that might turn up from the same source.

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DAVID BOWIE & BOB DJUKIC

June 19, 2014, 6:44 am

≫ Next: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT & THE CUTTING LATHE

≪ Previous: NICK DRAKE: 'a remarkable find'

Bob Djukic is one of the most experienced and successful sellers of rare vinyl on eBay, who - as he puts it - makes a 'good-faith effort to provide only genuine, authentic items'.

At the moment, however, he is stumped: he is selling what he believes to be 'THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.K. PRESSING' of David Bowie's Man Who Sold The World LP, and - as such - 'a legitimate, official release'. Unfortunately, as he points out, it has been counterfeited in its time. After what must have been extensive and scholarly research, drawing on his decades of experience in the rare vinyl business, he's billing his item as 'INSANELY RARE', but adding the caveat 'WE ATTEMPTED TO CONFIRM THE GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF THIS PRESSING, BUT WE ARE NOT 100% SURE.'

Of course, were he to list it as a '1980s COUNTERFEIT' it would reach perhaps $50 - that is, if eBay even allowed the auction to proceed. But if the high bidder thinks it's original... well, that sum could easily reach $2000 - and that's not money Bob'll be returning if it does indeed turn out to be fake ('No returns, refunds or exchanges on this item').

Several people have emailed him, and - being the open, even-handed kind of dealer that he is - the correspondence can be seen at the foot of the listing. Oddly, he tells one correspondent that he has 'no point of reference' as to whether or not this copy is original, though when he sold one in 2011 (as visible on popsike.com) he raised no doubts as to its being authentic, stating: 'THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.K. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING'.

Posted below is the link to his current auction, and the label for the copy he's selling. Below that is the label to a copy whose authenticity is in no doubt (right down to the well-known 'Tonny Visconti' spelling error that the first batch of UK originals carried, and 'P 1971' test to the left of the label - on Bob's copy it apparently says 'R 1971', in keeping with a blunder on counterfeit copies, though a blemish seems to be making the downstroke of the R look like a P). Either way, it occurs to me that a dealer who's 'NOT 100% SURE' as to whether he's selling a counterfeit or an original of a major rarity can't be expected to know his stuff elsewhere. What do you think?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVID-BOWIE-MAN-WHO-SOLD-WORLD-ULTRA-RARE-ORIG-UK-LP-WITHDRAWN-DRAG-COVER-/161335258312?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item259054acc8

UPDATE: The auction has now ended, and Bob raked in an impressive $328.99 for his LP. Despite a blizzard of comments both via eBay and elsewhere online, he stoutly maintained until the end that 'I reserve my judgment on the authenticity of this item'. He substantiated his position by adding that 'Minor variations in color, shade, hue, texture and overall appearance of the covers are not only NOT an aberration in the record-making business, they are absolutely a NORM.' Under further questioning, he would only offer the following: 'I would prefer to neither speculate, nor comment. The item is sold as-is, no guarantees offered or implied.' Quite what evidence he was awaiting whilst he reserved his judgment is impossible to say. In any case, the inescapable conclusion is that any halfway serious dealer who can't tell a counterfeit copy of this album from an original is a joke - and, indeed, this listing has made Bob a laughing stock.

SECOND UPDATE: the Thin White Djuke has relisted the LP because - in his inimitable words - 'THE PREVIOUS WINNING BIDDER ACTED IN PATENTLY BAD FAITH AND WITH PREMEDITATED INTENTION OF SABOTAGING THE OUTCOME OF THIS SELLER'S PREVIOUS AUCTION'. Because he always acts in good faith, he adds that 'COUNTERFEIT COPIES OF THIS ALBUM ALLEGEDLY EXIST', and that 'IN A HIGHLY UNLIKELY CASE THIS ITEM IS NOT GENUINE, IT COULD STILL HOLD GREAT VALUE FOR THE BOWIE COLLECTOR AS A VERY FINE AND HIGHLY DETAILED AND ELABORATE REPLICA.' He also makes it clear that he will not stand for any further abuse of the sort he received last time around. Unlike selling potentially fake copies of his albums and calling them 'INSANELY RARE', Bob is quite clear that this sort of behaviour 'BRINGS GREAT DISCREDIT TO ANY BOWIE FAN'. Cheers!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVID-BOWIE-MAN-WHO-SOLD-WORLD-ULTRA-RARE-ORIG-UK-LP-WITHDRAWN-DRAG-COVER/161348373626?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D23772%26meid%3D7892484198372988303%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D10164%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D351104272352&rt=nc#ht_15130wt_610

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THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT & THE CUTTING LATHE

July 3, 2015, 12:56 am

≫ Next: THE BEATLES: an exciting new discovery!

≪ Previous: DAVID BOWIE & BOB DJUKIC

On April 16th of this year, an eBay seller named vinyl-network (based in Leicestershire) sold what he described as a BSR DR33M RECORD CUTTER / CUTTING LATHE & TURNTABLE DISC RECORDER, adding that it was a 'STUDIO QUALITY DISC CUTTER IN WORKING ORDER'.

Here's his description:

Being a thorough sort of chap, he assured interested bidders 'I have tested the lathe and have cut onto acetate disc to test whether it cut OK. Everything works perfectly.'

Two months later, on June 25th, he sold what he described as 'CAPTAIN MARRYAT RARE 1974 UK Original *MONO MIX* THOR ACETATE PROG PSYCH FOLK'. This listing was subtitled 'Incredibly Rare! Unreleased MONO Mix?? - Scottish Prog'. Here's a photo of that item:

His description reiterated that the acetate was 'extremely rare', and posited that 'in 1974 most mono pressings were or had been phased out by this point however this was probably mixed by request from the band'.

He could easily have had this conjecture confirmed by contacting some band members. Keyboardist Allan Bryce, who's readily available on Facebook and elsewhere, states: "As far as I know there were no originals that looked like this. It's the first time I have seen this. It's a fake." Bassist Tom Hendry, meanwhile, has this to offer: "It states in the details that the mono mix must have been requested by the band. I know that none of us did that. Definitely looks like a bootleg!"

Nonetheless, jet-propelled by his claims for its collectability and vintage status, it fetched the remarkable sum of £2249. It's little surprise to see that 'Seller does not offer returns' on this or the other acetates by super-collectible artists he has been selling recently.

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THE BEATLES: an exciting new discovery!

October 19, 2015, 2:02 am

≫ Next: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and the release of Safe As Milk

≪ Previous: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT & THE CUTTING LATHE

As many of you will know, at the end of 1970 the moribund Official Beatles Fan Club sent its members an LP entitled From Then To You, compiling the light-hearted 'Christmas message' flexidiscs they'd received from the band every Christmas between 1963 and 1969. Though it was pressed by Lyntone (who'd also made the flexis) instead of EMI, it was on the Apple label. The earlier messages tend towards sub-Goons / Stanley Unwin jollity, while the later ones have tentative studio effects and musical content. All are irritating on repeated listens, but worth a spin for serious fans. The sleeve reproduces the front covers of all seven discs, but offers no background info. A pressing size isn’t known, but as it was never commercially available, it’s extremely rare by the standards of their other official releases, changing hands for up to £1000 in perfect condition.

Last week an eBay seller named 933gone, based in Macclesfield, UK, listed what he called a 'MEGA RARE' copy of the album, with completely different labels to the Apple release. According to him, 'APPLE DECIDED TO CHANGE LABEL FROM LYNTONE TO APPLE. HOWEVER THE LYNTONE LP WAS PRESSED IN A VERY SHORT RUN AND IS, CONSEQUENTLY, EVEN RARER THAN THE APPLE LABEL VERSION. LYNTONE LABELED RECORD WAS GIVEN AWAY TO THE FAN CLUB STAFF, THE APPLE LABELED LPs GIVEN TO FAN CLUB MEMBERS.'

This will of course come as a startling revelation to long-term Beatles collectors. Intrigued, I emailed him to request evidence for the claim. Clearly a busy man, he disregarded that part of my message, but did have time to tell me: 'This is not a bootleg - bootleg versions have brown/beige label - this one is white label... Please look at the popsike site. There you will find the exact same record and label at £220 or 298 EUROS - its not described as a fake. I am an honest bayer - not a dealer.'

So there we have it - a fascinating artefact for serious Beatles collectors to fight over. No wonder it has already attracted a £200 bid! (PS He has also yet to reply to my contention that the American version of this that he's selling is a blatant counterfeit.)

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CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and the release of Safe As Milk

September 2, 2016, 3:19 am

≫ Next: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and the Safe As Milk identity parade

≪ Previous: THE BEATLES: an exciting new discovery!

Readers of this blog will of course need no introduction to Captain Beefheart's first album. This post concerns its release date; the one most commonly given is September 1967, but I suspect this is up to three months out. Here's some evidence.

1) this advert appeared in Billboard on June 24th

2) this double-spread appeared in World Countdown in June

3) John Lennon posed for this photo at home in Surrey on June 29th (though the stickers, one of which came with each copy of the LP, could easily have been given to him separately by his pal Derek Taylor, who was managing Beefheart's publicity at the time)

4) This collage appeared in World Countdown in July

5) This advert appeared in World Countdown in August (and makes the unlikely claim that 20,000 copies had already changed hands)

6) In Billboard of August 19th, the LP was tipped as a ‘National Breakout,’ indicating albums that 'have been reported getting strong sales action by dealers in major markets’:

For what it's worth, World Countdown ran yet another full-page ad for it the following month:

7) Finally, on January 11th 1969, the UK music weekly Record Mirror ran an intriguing letter from Michael Ashwell of One Stop Records in London:

The letter makes it clear that John Peel had received a 'review copy' in late July 1967, which - allowing for transatlantic shipping - confirms a release date of mid-July at the latest.

The earliest reviews I have seen for the album, incidentally, date from November 1967, which is puzzling.

One last thought: on the inner sleeve that came with the LP, a jolly chap in a sombrero can be seen holding a copy of Sgt. Pepper, which was released at the start of June - so if Safe As Milk did come out the same month, the artwork must have been turned around pretty fast.

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CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and the Safe As Milk identity parade

September 2, 2016, 4:08 am

≫ Next: DIMAGRAPHY AND THE ART OF ORGANOLEPTIC EVALUATION

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Safe As Milk was released in the US in the summer of 1967. Original copies came with an inner sleeve that depicted a number of the band's cronies:

Musicians aside, I can identify the following:

Label boss Bob Krasnow

Producer Richard Perry

DJ Tom Donahue

Avalon manager Chet Helms

Los Angeles DJ Bobby Dale

Engineer Hank Cicalo

Mrs. Sandy Krasnow and their children

Producer Richard Perry's younger brother, Fred

An unnamed receptionist at the Kama Sutra / Buddha office in Los Angeles

The others are a mystery. Any ideas?

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DIMAGRAPHY AND THE ART OF ORGANOLEPTIC EVALUATION

March 14, 2017, 2:29 am

≫ Next: ESSRA MOHAWK: 'a lot of different kinds of music'

≪ Previous: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and the Safe As Milk identity parade

One of the most important lessons a record collector can learn is that you never know what might turn up - even things you might think couldn't possibly exist.

Until last year an eBay seller based in the US named 'marc_arel11' was selling sealed copies of classic 60s and 70s LPs, with previously unseen promo or 'hype' stickers on the sleeves. When that account suddenly went idle, a new one emerged, using the handle 'dimagraphy', and is still going strong. This seller appears to be named Dmitry Demchenko, and the listings say he's based in Garden Grove, California. Are his LPs from a record industry source, a radio station, or a reviewer? Or is he simply very lucky at sourcing such treasures? No one knows. But the truly amazing thing about his listings is that many of the stickers - which are almost all in remarkable, as-new condition - have also never been seen before, even by old-school collectors.

In February of this year he raked in an impressive $2,154.00 for an original August 1966 paste-over copy of the Beatles' Yesterday & Today LP. It boasted a sticker that not only referred to the sleeve as a 'butcher cover' - therefore being the first documented use of the term - but also described it as '2nd state' (again, the first documented use of the term).

Here's the beautiful vintage sticker found on that copy:

You can click HEREfor the auction listing.

On and on it goes - all in lovely condition, mostly previously unknown to hardcore collectors. For example, who knew that Master Of Reality (HERE) ever came with a hype sticker?

Or that the shrink on US first pressings of Led Zeppelin II came with track listing stickers in two different colours? All the ones previously known were pink, with sharp corners (as seen on the right here), but Dmitry's copy (on the left) is black, with rounded corners - and in wonderfully clean condition:

You can see that listing, which netted him an enviable $1313 - by clicking HERE.

His greatest coup so far has surely been to find an original, sealed promo copy of the Rolling Stones' 1967 Their Satanic Majesties Request LP, bearing a promo sticker for Polygram records - a European company to which they were not signed, and which did not exist until 1972.

Here's the beautiful vintage sticker on that one:

and HERE is the original listing, which unsurprisingly hauled in a whopping $1009.

Cynics might cry foul, but Dmitry offers this assurance: 'BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE AND ORGANOLEPTIC EVALUATION ALL OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE ISSUE LEAVE NO DOUBTS THAT IT IS THE ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING.'

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ESSRA MOHAWK: 'a lot of different kinds of music'

April 21, 2017, 7:16 am

≫ Next: DIMAGRAPHY & THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

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Primordial Lovers is an intense, impassioned, personal and otherworldly record, about which little is known, so thought I'd post some odds and ends here.

Sandra Elayne Hurvitz was born in Philadelphia on April 23rd 1948. Her recording career began with a pop 45 (The Boy With The Way / The Memory Of Your Voice), released on Liberty under the name Jamie Carter in August 1965.

It sold poorly, and by 1967 she was in New York, where she came into Frank Zappa's orbit. He renamed her 'Uncle Meat', they had a romance, and she played with the Mothers during their famed residency at the Garrick Theatre in Greenwich Village.

Her first album was made that year for Zappa's production company, Bizarre. Recorded under his auspices, but in fact (rather basically) produced by Ian Underwood, it appeared on Verve under the name Sandy Hurvitz, in December 1968.

Sandy's Album Is Here At Last is quirky and openly emotional, with uninhibited vocals and piano-led songs that change tempo and mood frequently. Its title refers to the label's long delay in releasing it, and the finished product supposedly appeared in shops without her being informed. It was barely reviewed, and sold next to nothing. She didn't record for Verve again.

Around this time, the vice-president of Warner Brothers Records, Mo Ostin, saw her performing at Steve Paul's Scene in Manhattan, and signed her up to their Reprise label. Her second LP was recorded and mixed in Los Angeles that year. Almost all the sessions took place at Elektra, where her producer and husband Barry Friedman (aka Frazier Mohawk) worked.

Beautifully recorded and featuring a small army of sympathetic session players, including Lee Underwood, Dallas Taylor, Doug Hastings and Jerry Penrod, Primordial Lovers is a deep, even psychedelic experience that gently unfolds over multiple plays.

For some strange reason, a handful of advance copies were sent out in a red sleeve in early 1970. (The music and running order on these is identical to the commercial release.)

Primordial Lovers was released in the US and Canada in April 1970 (no foreign pressings are known to exist), in a striking gatefold sleeve designed by Ed Thrasher, showing the Mohawks' entwined bodies.

Also included was a plump little lyric booklet:

Here's the press release and accompanying photo that were sent out to radio stations and reviewers:

The only advert I've seen was shared with several other Reprise releases, and crassly drew attention to the 'erotic packaging', as well as wrongly stating it was her 'debut':

Few reviews appeared, and those that did tended to emphasise her superficial similarities to Laura Nyro. Oddly, as far as I am aware, no mainstream music magazines covered the LP.

Here's what Entertainment World wrote in their May 8th issue:

High Fidelity magazine had this to say in August:

Here's a five-star review in Down Beat of November 12th (review by Mike Bourne):

And, finally, here's a typically sniffy assessment from the American Record Guide's December issue:

No single was extracted, though mono and stereo versions of Spiral were sent to radio stations along with the LP. (It has been suggested that Spiral was also issued with a track called Image Of You on the B-side, but I have never seen a copy.)

Despite having cost a small fortune to record and manufacture, the LP was clobbered by poor distribution and promo, and sold poorly, as did a non-LP 45, Jabberwock Song / It's Up To Me, which appeared in May:

That, unfortunately, was that; a silence of five years was to ensue before her next recordings appeared.

As a final note, it has been claimed by Mojo and numerous others that Rolling Stone hailed Primordial Lovers as 'one of the 25 best albums ever made' upon its release. In fact, they didn't review the album at all. However, in 1977 a RS writer referred to it in passing as one of his personal best 25 albums of all time, something that is now quoted out of context whenever the album is mentioned, as if it were the result of a critics’ poll.

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DIMAGRAPHY & THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

February 13, 2018, 2:02 am

≫ Next: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO: the early US reviews

≪ Previous: ESSRA MOHAWK: 'a lot of different kinds of music'

Dmitry Demchenko is a familiar name to many record collectors and readers of this blog, because he has an unequalled ability to find copies of rare albums that come with rare promo stickers, which he then sells on eBay for enviable sums.

One of the most sought-after albums in the world is the original US white label promo of The Velvet Underground & Nico.

Click HERE to see a copy that was sold on eBay in December 2017 for $750, with the name 'CARLSON' written on the label (thereby diminishing its value and collector appeal).

Here are some images of that copy:

And click HERE to see a copy Dmitry sold on eBay a month later for just over $2000, with an 'ORIGINAL RECTANGULAR "D.J. SAMPLES PROMOTIONAL COPIES" WHITE STICKER' on the label (thereby enhancing its value and collector appeal).

Here are some images of Dmitry's copy:

Both auctions clearly show an original copy - indeed, the labels in each are identical down to the same microscopic details.

As is so often the case with items sold by 'Dimagraphy', serious collectors worldwide are curious about the sticker in his listing.

Has anyone seen another WLP of this album with that sticker on the label?

The only other example I can find online was sold on eBay in April 2017... by lucky old Dmitry! You can see that one HERE.

Looking forward to your feedback!

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THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO: the early US reviews

March 1, 2018, 5:16 am

≫ Next: XXXRECORDS and a spot of Confusion

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On Thursday, December 1st 1966, the Philadelphia Inquirer's New York correspondent, Leonard Lyons, reported that 'Andy Warhol just made his first Velvet Underground recording for MGM' (adding the odd statement 'He used his banana theme for the label's decor'). In fact, most of the album had been recorded that April and May, with Sunday Morning being added in November.

The LP was evidently ready for release in January 1967; on the 14th of that month, the weekly trade magazine Cash Box covered MGM's 'gala convention and product presentation' in Acapulco, where 'distributors were treated to tropical sun and swimming, and were also shown the new line of album products for the first quarter of 1967'. According to the piece, 'the second album from the Mothers Of Invention and a new Andy Warhol / Velvet Underground & Nico LP were received well'.

The album was advertised in Cash Box of January 28th, and went on to appear in various other places with the dumb tagline 'SO FAR "UNDERGROUND," YOU GET THE BENDS!' I think it's safe to assume that the band didn't have any input there.

Review copies seem to have been sent out in February. The first coverage I've seen appeared in the Tampa Bay Times (of all places) on Monday 27th. Its unrigorous author was named Chick Ober:

Next up was the Honolulu Advertiser, on Wednesday, March 1st. Its author, Wayne Harada, was one of the most consistently perceptive and open-minded pop critics of the time:

Also in Hawaii was this skimpy piece in the Honoloulu Star-Bulletin of Saturday, March 4th, by Dave Donelly (who covered the first West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band LP the same day):

On March 4th, Cash Box had this to say; as ever, their remarks were aimed at dealers and not consumers:

The same applies to Billboard, whose 'review' also appeared on March 4th:

It was back to Florida for this snide item, penned by the less-than hip Vance Johnston, which ran in the the Tampa Tribune of Sunday, March 5th:

On Friday, 10th March, this snippet appeared in the Oil City Derrick in Pennsylvania. It was part of a syndicated column by Jeanne Harrison entitled 'Platter Patter' (so might have appeared elsewhere earlier), and lazily lumps the LP together with new releases by Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Mathis:

A couple of weeks later, on Saturday 18th, and rather closer to the band's stamping ground, came this vapid dismissal by Don Lass of New Jersey's Asbury Park Evening Press. As well as dismissing their music, he confesses to having peeled the banana, like 99% of people who acquired the LP at the time:

The following day came an anonymous pundit's glib thoughts in the Pensacola News-Journal, back in Florida:

The April issue of the San Francisco underground rag Electric Frog offered this unsigned nonsense:

April 13th brought the opinion of New York's influential Village Voice, which was surprisingly equivocal, and presumably upset the band:

In the May 1967 issue of High Fidelity (on sale in April), Morgan Ames was typically conservative and reactionary:

The same month, an unnamed writer in the American Record Guide (which, I believe, was sent out to public libraries and other institutions) was much more thoughtful, delivering the most sensitive review the album received at the time:

The June 1967 issue of Jazz magazine (later Jazz & Pop) ran this:

Timothy Jacobs had this to say in the July edition of the Boston underground magazine Vibrations:

And then, on Saturday, July 15th, Fred Hulett of the Courier-Post in Camden, New Jersey, weighed in. His remarks typify the response of many critics at the time; already suspicious of Andy Warhol, they were only too happy to assume the VU was nothing more than his latest hype:

The September issue of the superb teeny magazine Hullabaloo (on sale two months earlier, as per its schedule) offered this assessment:

On September 28th, Bob Watkins covered the LP in the WSC Acorn (published out of Weber State College in Utah):

Finally, in the October issue of Crawdaddy! (by then being published out of New York), Sandy Pearlman reflected thus:

I hope this post will debunk the ubiquitous myth that the album was barely reviewed at the time of release. If you have other early US reviews, please send them along, and I'll gladly add them.

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XXXRECORDS and a spot of Confusion

May 8, 2018, 6:50 am

≫ Next: THE MOVE by Michael English

≪ Previous: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO: the early US reviews

Having devised their instantly recognisable sound at rehearsals, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their live debut as Cream on July 29th 1966, and gigged prolifically thereafter. One early performance was at the London club Klooks Kleek on November 15th 1966 (shortly after the release of their debut 45, and shortly before the release of their debut album).

Someone recorded the show, which consisted of Lawdy Mama, Sleepy Time Time, Crossroads, Stepping Out, Sweet Wine, Meet Me In The Bottom and N.S.U.. Sometime thereafter, the recording was pressed onto vinyl, with no label or artwork, but the matrix codes ‘CJG LP 1A’ and ‘CJG LP 1B’ stamped into the respective run-outs.

It can be seen on Discogs here:

https://www.discogs.com/Cream-Cream-Live-At-Klooks-Kleek/release/9057397

Though Discogs has disallowed sales of bootlegs, copies of it occasionally surface on eBay; one fetched 50 GBP there on February 13th 2018, and can be seen here:

https://www.popsike.com/php/detaildatar.php?itemnr=312061541415

On April 9th 2018, the well-known UK record dealer Graham Cross - aka xxxrecords - sold an intriguing album on eBay, which fetched 576 GBP. It was, he wrote, the work of a band called ‘Confusion’, and can be seen here:

https://www.popsike.com/php/detaildatar.php?itemnr=263593811689

No band of that name was previously known to have been operating in the UK at the time. As if that weren’t enticing enough for collectors, he added that the disc was an ‘UNKNOWN PRIVATE PRESSING’ containing ‘AWESOME PSYCH BLUES’, and was ‘ONE OF THE RAREST LPs ON THE VERY SOUGHT AFTER DEROY LABEL’, and ‘A ROUGH LIVE RECORDING WHICH CLEARLY THE BAND MUST HAVE GOT MADE’.

Cross confidently dated his discovery to 1966, and suggested that it had been pressed by Island Records, as well as Deroy. The only hard clue as to manufacture was that ‘MACHINE STAMPED ON EACH SIDE IS 'CJG 1 LP A'& CJG 1 LP B'.

Knowing of the Cream bootleg, you might assume that he was mistaken, and had somehow failed to identify one of the most famous bands in rock history as the performers in question – but you would be wrong. ‘CONFUSINGLY (THOUGH HE OBVIOUSLY ISNT PLAYING ON THIS LP!) THERE ARE REFERENCES MADE ON THE LP TO ERIC CLAPTON BY THE BAND, AND THERE ARE 2 OR 3 CREAM COVERS, AS WELL AS A FEW OTHER TRACKS I CANNOT IDENTIFY!!!!’ continued his listing.

For the time being, the identity of Confusion must remain a mystery; only one other copy of their album is known to exist. It was sold on eBay in July 2012 for 636 GBP (also by Graham Cross) and can be seen here:

https://www.popsike.com/php/detaildatar.php?itemnr=260632671535

Were you a member of Confusion? Do you know someone who was? Do you have a copy of this lost recording by them? If so, please drop me a line!

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THE MOVE by Michael English

December 11, 2018, 8:52 am

≫ Next: GALACTIC RAMBLE - revised and expanded edition

≪ Previous: XXXRECORDS and a spot of Confusion

Between December 1968 and May 1969, the British teen monthly Rave published a fantasy comic strip featuring the Move, by the great Michael English (half of the Hapshash & The Coloured Coat design duo). I'm not sure if it's been seen since, so here it is in full.

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GALACTIC RAMBLE - revised and expanded edition

March 8, 2019, 12:54 am

≫ Next: LEWIS BEACH MARVIN III AND MOONFIRE

≪ Previous: THE MOVE by Michael English

Ten years after the first edition of Galactic Ramble came and went, I'm delighted to say that a revised and hugely expanded second edition is now exclusively available HERE as a limited hardback costing £100 (plus p&p).

It completely supersedes the first edition, being more than twice as long (well over a million words) and containing a massive amount of new information and imagery.

They will not not be reprinted; when they're gone, they're gone!

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LEWIS BEACH MARVIN III AND MOONFIRE

May 20, 2019, 1:08 pm

≫ Next: RICK HOPPER - CAMBRIDGE, AUTUMN 1967

≪ Previous: GALACTIC RAMBLE - revised and expanded edition

Needless to say, 1960s California was full of weird and wonderful individuals. One such was the late Lewis Beach Marvin III.

Wealthy and well-connected, he was espousing hippie values (in particular vegetarianism) well ahead of the curve, and as of 1957 he occupied a peculiar temple / menagerie / home named Moonfire (the moon apparently being a symbol of death and fire of life) high up in Tuna Canyon, where he hosted numerous 'happenings' as of the mid-60s.

In 1966 he published a manifesto called Moonfire: Ancient Life & Death Symbols, which outlined his passionately held 'live and let live' philosophy.

He was featured in the Mondo Hollywood documentary (from which the image above is taken) the following year, and made a documentary himself in 1968, entitled Moonfire, which was released that June; he screened it inside a tent on Sunset Boulevard, with the Common People performing before and after.

He was a familiar figure at rock festivals, protest marches and other counter-cultural gatherings in the late 60s, typically holding a placard bearing slogans such as 'LOVE YOUR ANIMAL FRIENDS, DON'T EAT THEM' (that one was at Woodstock); he also handed a lamb to Jim Morrison backstage in Miami in 1969 (there's a well-known photo of Morrison holding it).

He was intermittently covered in the local media, but little is known of him as of the mid-70s.

Here's what I have found.