CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Trout Mask Replica RARER ORIG UK 1969 STRAIGHT nr EX LPs

	£		62
	$		82

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART and HIS MAGIC BAND

Album Title: Trout Mask Replica

Producer(s): Frank Zappa

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Frownland; The Dust Blows Forward ’n’ the Dust Blows Back; Dachau Blues; Ella Guru; Hair Pie:?Bake 1; Moonlight on Vermont.

Side 2: Pachuco Cadaver; Bill’s Corpse; Sweet Sweet Bulbs; Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish; China Pig; My Human Gets Me Blues; Dali’s Car.

Side 3: Hair Pie:?Bake 2; Pena; Well; When Big Joan Sets Up; Fallin’ Ditch; Sugar ’n’ Spikes; Ant Man Bee.

Side 4: Orange Claw Hammer; Wild Life; She’s to Much For My Mirror; Hobo Chang Ba; The Blimp; Steal Softly Thru Snow; Old Fart at Play; Veteran’s Day Poppy.

Catalogue Number: STS 1053

Label/Format/Information: Straight – all have matt gently, textured surfaces.

Label Conditions: All four clean, fresh and attractive with any of the quite few spindle marks being fine and faint.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Few vintage records are ever perfectly ‘flat’, so some slight or very gentle arm movement is normal. If any record I offer has more than that, I will mention it, and it can be assumed all I offer should track without issues, even on budget turntables.

Weight of Records: 143 / 154 grams. This one of the heaviest pressings I have held.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: First-pressed UK Straight originals are scarce and quite elusive. Only the more adventurous listener would have bought this album, or simply the curious, the Zappa link possibly helped it chart for a week in the UK at No 21. An album too advanced and weird for most, and even today it is still widely debated and causes divided opinion.

Matrix Nos: STS 1053 A1 / STS 1053 B1 / STS 1053 C1 / STS 1053 D1 [all punched, clear and pronounced] All four sides carry ‘A’ mother pressing codes.

The Magic Band: Bizarre by name – bizarre by nature: the Magic Band members were given outlandish names: Zoot Horn Rollo (Bill Harkleroad): glass finger guitar, flute; Antennae Jimmy Semens (Jeff Cotton):?Steel-appendage guitar, flesh guitar; Captain Beefheart (Don van Vliet): bass clarinet, tenor sax, soprano sax, simran horn, musette, vocals; The Mascara Snake (Victor Hayden): bass clarinet, vocal; Rockette Morton (Mark Boston): bass and narration; Drumbo (John French), Uncredited on the original album – drums, percussion. Frank Zappa produces and can be heard on dialogue. All songs written by Beefheart.

Uncredited Guests: Doug Moon – guitar on ‘China Pig’; Dick Kunc – speaking voice on ‘She’s Too Much for My Mirror’; Gary ‘Magic’ Marker – bass guitar on ‘Moonlight on Vermont’ and ‘Veteran’s Day Poppy; Frank Zappa – speaking voice on ‘Ella Guru’, ‘The Blimp’, and Pena’; Roy Estrada – bass guitar on ‘The Blimp’; Arthur Tripp III – drums & percussion on ‘The Blimp’; Don Preston – piano on ‘The Blimp’; Ian Underwood and Bunk Gardner – alto and tenor saxophones on ‘The Blimp’; Buzz Gardner – trumpet on ‘The Blimp’.

Artist & Album Info: I am always delighted to offer quite possibly the most brilliantly bizarre album ever made, light years ahead of anything else loosely within it’s field – that said there has never been another album, artist or band quite like Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band and Trout Mask Replica – this is true one-off. Both the original Straight records play well – a small few sporadic light clicks apart. The cover has wear as most invariably do, but this is still a worthy copy to offer, it simply isn’t for perfectionists.

“If there has been anything in the history of popular music which could be described as a work of art in a way that people who are involved in other areas of art would understand, then ‘Trout Mask Replica’ is probably that work” – BBC disc jockey John Peel.

Produced by Frank Zappa this extravaganza (arguably) features the best ever Magic Band and actually charted in the UK at 21, but did not enter the American chars at all. This is an album of myth and legend – Don van Vliet, Frank Zappa and The Magic Band entered a rented house, which acted as a studio with a few song ideas and what came out was nothing short of remarkable, even up to this day. A blend of twisted rock, delta blues and free-form jazz hardly even begins to describe the content. Up until then, van Vliet has never been given the freedom of expression he wanted. His old school-friend Frank Zappa was soon to put that right. As the producer on his Straight label, he let him perform his music and ideas exactly the way he wanted, and no stone was left unturned. Guitars thrash, barely in tune and off-key – all quite deliberate – saxes and winds wail, blowing notes that hardly even exist and Beefheart’s vocals rarely sounded more focused or full-on, allegedly he sung in a different room altogether. Musically this is as challenging as ‘rock’ music ever gets and van Vliet’s lyrical genius and crazed disjointed tunes (arguably) never quite sounded this wonderful again. Amongst the playful mayhem there is catchiness and beauty. For those prepared to listen and give it a try, it’s possibly one of the most rewarding musical experiences you can ever imagine. Matt Groening, creator of ‘The Simpsons’ explained in a TV Beefheart documentary some time ago, about his experience of this album, which exactly replicated my own (and I guess others too). He bought this album simply because it was produced by Zappa and thought ‘it must have something going for it’. First play: what the earth was that all about?, ‘the band aren’t even trying’. Undaunted, second play: Still very difficult, but a chink of light. Third Play: things are becoming a little clearer. After around six plays, the genius of Trout Mask Replica kicks-in and gets embedded into the mind. The stereo imagery and wildness is incredible, remember, this is how Zappa wanted this album to sound as well and nothing beats the vinyl experience. To conclude this preamble about this landmark, groundbreaking issue by mentioning the late John Peel. It’s now been some time since his untimely death, but his memory will never fade. I know for certain this album had a special place in his own collection – he adored van Vliet and his music and Trout Mask Replica in particular, is documented as his favourite album of all time. He often featured tracks on his radio shows. And even though the Captain had long since left the music business, they remained great friends.

“I thought it was the worst thing I’d ever heard. I said to myself, they’re not even trying! It was just a sloppy cacophony. Then I listened to it a couple more times, because I couldn’t believe Frank Zappa could do this to me – and because a double album cost a lot of money. About the third time, I realised they were doing it on purpose; they meant it to sound exactly this way. About the sixth or seventh time, it clicked in, and I thought it was the greatest album I’d ever heard” – Cartoonist and writer Matt Groening (The Simpsons).

It’s been a long matter of debate between collectors and music critics about this album – 28 songs of genius or the greatest musical joke of all time? Well I cannot end the debate – it’s simply a matter of opinion, but for me it’s the former. I adore this album (and like Groening, it took me several plays to fully appreciate it). If anyone says they enjoyed this album on first play, I will simply refuse to believe it, it would be near impossible. Pop music is often instantly likeable, and, equally, often instantly disposable too – sometimes just too easy to like a record on first play and get bored with it very quickly. But Trout Mask Replica is NOT pop music, it’s challenging, inventive, daring and difficult, but ultimately rewarding and original – you cannot be bored with this. Complex and very difficult to even play – this Magic Band were very talented musicians and special mention has to be made on John French’s drumming which often holds the entire piece together. An album of legendary status – it even pops up periodically in newspapers and magazines for reassessment and debate – and how many albums ever do that from artists that many still are unfamiliar with? It always features high in most lists of all-time greats, and so it should, but that statistic is made even more remarkable given the fact it’s so weird and light years out of the mainstream. When an album like this can actually still claim a full page re-review in an English Sunday Newspaper some 45 years after issue, that has to tell it’s own story. Rock music has it’s eccentrics and strange characters, often manufactured for fashion or publicity. But van Vliet was genuinely weird, a unique and bizarre character. Most listeners would run a mile or simply switch off on hearing ‘Pena’, ‘Ella Guru’ or ‘Hair Pie’ and most of the other songs come to that, but they are wrong and you are right. Also one of Zappa’s finest productions, this earliest cut proves that. This UK Straight original encaptures all the fine details, all the weirdness and sounds that make this masterpiece so special. Not all records sound the same – only the earliest pressings offer that real X-Factor in fidelity the audiophile listeners demand – even with the odd sporadic contact sound here-and-there. In 2011, the album was even added to the United States National Recording Registry – a massive achievement of recognition for such a piece – “Fast ’n bulbous, got me”!

Cover Grade and Format: VERY GOOD(–): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by the E. J. Day Group. It has the Straight logo and original Cat. No., so beware of Reprise substitutions that look practically the same bar the new number and imprint. Also included are the original plain inner sleeves.

Cover Front: Firstly, this cover rarely escapes often heavy wear, it was made with thin card and with some copies (as this) having heavy thick record inside around 50 years, wear is difficult to avoid. Clearly this cover has been enjoyed and likely displayed as it has a single pin-hole near the top each top corner. This has general wear as the grading suggests, but being honest, I have seen far worse. A hint of fading on the left, some light ring wear (that rarely avoided, and this is actually quite light compared to some), but few creases, a little near the top right corner. Most of any other rubbing near the corner and edges, the famous graphic still quite impressive as-seen with no sticker issues.

Cover Back: Just look at the Magic Band, possibly the weirdest group in the history of rock? This back has fared quite well in terms of rubbing and wear with most again confined to the sides. A few light marks, mostly near the top area seen more under light. A fine tear on the left I repaired to stop it catching or getting bigger, this shows little. The inside had similar tears on the same areas, again I repaired them to best advantage.

Cover Inner Gatefold: The two fine repaired tears and mild wear near the top edges apart, this inside has little else to fault and still looks quite impressive as-seen.

Top Edges: Both straight and flush, but with quite heavy rubbing with no ink remaining. However, no splits or repairs, this rubbing mostly seen viewed end-on.

Bottom Edges: Moderate rubbing, again unsplit and straight.

Right Edges, and Type: Patchy thickening, mostly on the front. Records entered on these edges that are guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced.

Spine and Text: Quite solid, straight with some compression and tilt, but folded square so the edges are flush and neat. A little faded with some moderate, if slightly patchy rubbing mostly near the bottom fold. A small fine surface semi-split near the top corner. The majority of the text is present and still reasonably strong, but the spine is a little tatty looking being honest.

Corners: Moderate (spine) and more heavy rubbing on the right corners, fair shape retained, but no heavy knocks.

Cover Summary: Clearly not for cover purists or more discerning collectors, this does show its considerable age, especially around the edges. This has clearly worn more than I would normally consider offering, but originals of this are becoming very difficult to find in any condition, let alone excellent or better. It took me some time to find a top copy for my own Beefheart collection. As the records appear lightly used and still play very well, I still felt obliged to offer this set. Stating the obvious: you cannot play a cover and this is still a reasonable original.

The Inner Sleeves: NEAR EXCELLENT: one has darkened near the edges, the other with little to fault. Plain white unlined solid inners with any creasing light and all edges intact with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(–): near excellent. A fine visual pair with any surface marks mostly fine, some quite wispy and light as seen under bright light. Hardly any penetrating stylus scratches – the odd tiny one – and this set plays very well indeed overall. The surfaces retaining respectable shine and both records are heavily pressed. Viewed in average room light, little even register. I feel these have not been played many times and my play-grade proved enjoyable. The cover may have wear, but the records have little and visually they remain impressive enough to please many collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: “It’s the Blimp Frank, It’s the Blimp!!!” This original UK Straight pair play even above their visual grading with little to fault. Straight Records often proved variable in pressing quality, but these have no issues in terms of crackle, unwanted pressing sounds or tracking issues*. These play with very clean sound that’s strong and distortion-free, all frequencies are sharp and clear – two of the vocal only songs are deliberately low-fi and basic – intentional of course. Generally, sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Musically as complex and difficult as music gets, the skill of this Magic Band is so often understated (and misunderstood) – how many other bands could actually play this material? This could have only be achieved with a special focus and understanding of van Vliet’s mind and music. They played his mind-twisting tunes just the way he wanted. Special mention must go to John French, the unsung musical talent within the Beefheart-Magic Band legend. Few others understood van Vliet’s music better, he beat the skins to keep the pace and rhythm of the mayhem perfectly, and his brilliant percussion is evident throughout these compositions. Obscure fractured guitar riffs blend with crazed wailing saxes and winds that rasp and tear at the speaker-cloth – when the Captain bellows nothing holds back. His backing vocals on ‘Pena’ are little short of scary. Few albums have divided opinion like this, a difficult set in all respects with some very quiet passages and bizarre dialogue, so the odd sporadic click or two is very difficult to avoid and a small few are present here-and-there. This often purchased by certain types and few were hi-fi buffs or audiophiles, more often seen trashed. Hearing this set again (and I have heard this album many times), is still an amazing experience, I never tire hearing a worthy vinyl copy and this failed to disappoint with little of any note spoilt my pleasure. Records are still the definitive way to experience this mind-bending album, still for me the most ‘Out There’ album of all time. Produced by Zappa – he gave Beefheart poetic licence to make music just as he wanted without any constraints or worries about commercial potential – that was what Straight and Bizarre Records were all about – most deemed ‘loss-leaders’, but this, against the odds did quite well in the UK, but largely flopped in the United States. The combination of the two brilliant original minds blend to invent this groundbreaking classic. These records could prove difficult to find much better, they are fast becoming elusive. Open your mind and “Just dig it”.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same – just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.