D.R. HOOKER  "The Truth" original 1972 independent release - new, unopened

$

2,500

D.R. HOOKER - THE TRUTH 1972

* NEW, ORIGINAL ISSUE, UNOPENED & SEALED IN ORIGINAL SHRINK-WRAP

The Truth, a very rare psych acid-rock album, was recorded in 1972 in New Haven, Connecticut by singer/songwriter/guitarist D.R. Hooker and a group of Danbury, Connecticut musicians. This privately pressed, independent release classic has been called the ultimate U.S. acid rock album.  Heavy rock, acid rock, and folk all blended with D.R.’s allegorical lyrics that allude to strong religious beliefs. The cover image is of D.R. in full Jesus regalia.

Please note: The LP offered here for sale is from D.R.'s original 1972 independent release. The album has since been reissued on LP and CD. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THE REISSUES; ITS THE ORIGINAL RELEASE, UNOPENED AND IN THE ORIGINAL SHRINK-WRAP.  Its for collectors only. There is some slight yellowing and a small minor scuff. These are on the shrink-wrap, not the LP jacket. Otherwise it’s in mint condition - never opened, never played.  The image in my photo here is slightly blurry because the image on the LP is not very sharp. If you just want the music, there are several reissue copies, LP and CD, for sale on Ebay.  The selling price here reflects that this is a very rare collectors' item.

Brief background: I’m a musician.  I played keyboards in D.R.'s band in the mid ‘70s. At the time, he was living in Danbury, Connecticut with his mother, his father having passed some years earlier.  Donald gave me 2 copies of this privately pressed LP. One was to learn the songs for the live band - long since lost - and this one, which was never opened; it’s still sealed in the original shrink-wrap. To keep it's 'new, mint' status, I have not opened it.  The band photo I included is from 1972.  I'm 2nd from the left, D.R. is on my left.  (That was my "hippie" period.  I lost the beard and shaved my head in 1979, so you'll have to take my word that's it's me.)

* Shipping:  This is a rare,non-replaceable collector's item; so shipping to the Continental United States only.  Likely it'll ship USPS Priority Mail, fully insured.  The actual cost depends on where its shipping to.  Fixed price listed here is $35.  It will likely be more; I'll cover the additional charges. 

Side 1

1. The Sea
2. Fall In Love
3. A Stranger's Smile
4. Weather Girl
5. This Thing

Side 2

1. Forge Your Own Chains
2. I'm Leaving You
3. The Truth
4. The Bible
5. Falling Asleep

Some more recent press:

"It's a miracle any copies of this privately pressed album survived - but be thankful it did, for here is an individual vision. Some people worry about when we'll run out of oil. A rather smaller proportion of us worry about when we'll run out of discoverable, deep-end thrills like this. There is just no way in the world items like Donald Hooker's 40-year-old privately pressed LP should even exist as a thing - it more than likely only ran to about 99 copies in its original format, so how the hell did even one of those survive to create these new digital and analogue versions decades later?  Connecticut-based Hooker - a tall, slim hippy with a history of substance abuse - was much given to wearing the sort of austere robe he sports on the sleeve, a fairly outré move even then. In early 1972 he hired a gang of local scene musicians to flesh out his wonderful songs and after a few brief rehearsals the band began recording. As soon as they were done they split; some never even heard the finished album, and what a treat they missed. Hooker's arrangements are truly beautiful; a simple, swinging pop song like Weather Girl exists somewhere between the Doors and Curtis Mayfield, whereas The Bible ('If they're knocking the Bible, be sure they are bent/Just see and you'll understand the book is heaven sent') has the propulsive drive of a pained George Harrison ballad crushed up against some of Neil Young's free form, string-banging joy. Then there's The Sea, with its rolling religious allegories and the remarkable Free which marries a growling hard rock throb to a vampirically groovy synth line. Hooker's masterpiece is Forge Your Own Chains, which is part conga-led, lounge-funk soul and part, questing psychedelic dream.  To think this entirely individual worldview would have once languished, unloved, in a series of under-the-racks cutout bins. And how much more magic like this is there out there?"
Rob Fitzpatrick, "The 101 strangest records on Spotify: DR Hooker -- The Truth," The Guardian, April 24, 2013

"The Truth is one of the big private press classics,reissued enough times that most people should know it by now. Covers all the bases in an impressive manner, the songwriting, his awesome voice, the elaborate psych-rock soundscape, even the lyrics are excellent. The thematic range is truly mind-boggling, going from ambivalent drug songs into pastoral hymns and ending up in full-blown Jesus praise. A good LP to play for non-collector friends, although it is not without detractors among mainstream psych heads, who probably can't handle the ego-mania and lounge moves that are part of what makes these 1970s albums so great."
Patrick Lundborg/Acid Archives