Beatles-Rel. 2LP “A Realistic Drug Education LP” 1971 Counter Culture-Produced

$

89

(Note:  If you win multiple items in a week’s listings, please wait for the end of all of the auctions for me to invoice you, so that you can take advantage of my combined shipping offer.  Thanks!)

READ THIS! These records are NOT sold for perfect sound quality. They’re sold for their scarcity and VISUAL grading. They’ve been in storage for a decade, and they WILL play with surface noise that can be addressed with D4 or a VPI cleaning.  I can’t test-play at the minute. Please don’t bid if this is a problem for you.

Beatles-Rel. 2LP “A Realistic Drug Education Album” 1971 Counter Culture-Produced!

For those unfamiliar, the Do It Now Foundation was a hippie organization in the late 60’s, early 70’s, who had launched a massive campaign to get kids off of street drugs and psychedelics.  Most collectors are well-aware of the very common compilation, “Do It Now,” which includes The Beatles’ “Nowhere Man.”  That LP was distributed nationally when it was picked up by Ronco, for those of us old enough to remember their budget line mail order compilations from TV.

But prior to Ronco stepping in, the Do It Now Foundation was a small volunteer group, putting out their own promo materials, and sending them free of charge to radio stations who had requested their packages.  Unfortunately, very, very few did, making for these extremely rare collector’s items not even known about by most collectors.

The material on this double album is fascinating.  It’s an in-depth report, impressively compiled for one year.  It includes strange interviews, everyone “from police chiefs to street freaks,” as self-described in the intro.  There are bizarre sound collages of aspirin and cough medicine commercials of the time, superimposed over drug addicts, talking about why they started using, and they become indistinguishable.  There’s a great one that starts side 3, which interweaves the opening of a soap opera with headache pills and two or three actual broadcasts of the death of Jimi Hendrix from 1971, and two of the reports get his age wrong.  These sound collages are every bit as good as anything that Negativland released 20 years later.

The album includes entire songs per side.  Side 1 includes, “Artificial Energy,” by The Byrds.  Side 2 includes Hoyt Axton’s original version of “The Pusher,” later famously covered by Steppenwolf.  Side 3 includes a track I’ve never heard, but it’s a live acoustic party song, much in the spirit of Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”  The track isn’t on the Ronco release.  And Side 4 includes two tracks.  One is a “groovy” piece of psychedelia called, “The Long Road” by Genesis (no, not that Genesis), and the other is Canned Heat’s “Amphetamine Annie.”

The truly weird drug stories are worth the price of admission.  And so are the testimonies of going into deep freeze from trying to go cold turkey.  One woman describes it as her muscles needing constant movement in the dead of night that makes her want to run for miles, but it isn’t enough when she stops.  It keeps going when she’s ready to collapse from exhaustion.  Another guy says that drugs are like your body’s arrows that get reversed in the most perverse and pleasant way.  But when you try to stop, your God becomes your toilet to which you kneel and pray for mercy while the internal bodily arrows right themselves in the most violent ways that make you throw up for hours. 

This is an incredibly effective report that was even endorsed by Frank Zappa.

Included with this kit is the original Do It Now Foundation’s LP, “First Vibration.”  The song selections are almost completely different than the Ronco LP, which eliminated most of these selections in favor of ones that would help Ronco sell more copies.  They also had nothing to do with the Do It Now Foundation’s mission statement.

**This is the only copy I’ve ever seen of this kit. **

Vinyl--- NM/NM.  NM/NM.  All four sides shine like brand new.  However, as this is a private press, there are manufacturer’s defects.

Plates--- All four sides have hand-etched catalogue numbers, 302A/302B/302C/302D, preceded by the words, “Do It Now.”

Cover--- VG.  Structurally solid cover, front, back and inside gatefold have moderate to heavy foxing and some dirtwear.  Multiple light stamps that read, “Live Tag.”  Whatever that means.  NO SPLIT SEAMS.

Sticker--- VG+.

Stapled Insert--- VG.  5-page stapled insert has an order form and background information on the Do It Now Foundation.  Interestingly, in its recommended programming for more suggested songs, it includes The Velvet Underground’s “Heroin.”  Great call.

Labels--- NM/EX.  NM/NM.  Side 2 label has light spindle marks.  The other three look snow white brand new.

Inner Sleeves--- VG+. Generic white inner sleeves with die-cut hole for the labels to show is present.  Some yellowing, one small tear at the top of one sleeve.  NO SPLIT SEAMS.

Generic inner sleeves will be provided, so as not to damage your original inner sleeves en route.

First Vibration LP is in VG+ condition, both cover and record.  Consigned pressing by RCA.

If your Counter-culture/Beatles collector thinks they have an impressive collection, I will guarantee you they don’t have this.  In 50 years of collecting, I’ve never seen another one of these.

It will be the very copy included in the Second Edition of my “Demystifying the Beatles” books on flash drive, on sale through the Christmas season.

As these records have been in storage for many years, they will play back with crackling and tics, however; a good moisturizing and cleaning with either D4 Discwasher or a VPI machine always clears them up.  Thanks!)

Note:  All LP’s ship outside of their album covers in order not to damage the covers during shipment.

CAUTION!  There has been a startling increase in bidders canceling their bids.  A word to the wise, I have started blocking any and all bidders who retract their bids regardless of the reason.

Please don’t bid unless you’re willing to honor your amount, okay? Thanks!

(Please note:  Regarding play-testing, my Technics turntable has somehow seized.  The tone arm is stuck in the up position, and I can’t get it to fully return to its cradle.  Is there anyone out there, who can tell me if this is an easy fix?  Thanks!) 

**Check out my other auctions for more hard-to-find vinyl!

Shipping is $5.38 for Media Mail for up to 3 single or double albums, excluding boxed sets within the U.S.  $5.38 covers shipping for up to 5 singles within the U.S., and within the same auction week.

Winners in all other countries will be charged actual shipping to their locations, so please wait to be invoiced.  You will be quoted for the cheapest shipping to your country that the US post office can afford me.  Please let me know if you would prefer to pay for a faster means of shipping, but do NOT ask me to declare packages as gifts, or any other means of defrauding the postal services.  Much appreciated.

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