G.F.FITZ-GERALD

                                                        "Mouseproof"

                                      (Very Rare Original 1970 UK First Press LP on UNI Records UNLS 115)

Original UK UNI Records 1st pressing vinyl LP (UNLS 115 - Stereo 33rpm) released in 1970.On offer here,from my own collection,is an original UK first issue of the elusive and extremely hard to find G.F.FITZ-GERALD album "Mouseproof" .This very sought after and incredibly hard to find UK stoned Psychedelic / Prog LP is near the top of many collectors 'wants' list!!

ULTRA RARE ORIGINAL UK ACID PSYCH ROCK LP - One of the most unconventional albums ever recorded ! This avant-garde psychedelic suite contains myriad elements of folk,jazz,rock,psych-freak out and electronica,but has a unique sound and atmosphere all of it's own.Recorded in 1970,but barely released (despite the enthusiastic support of John Peel),original copies with the rare lyric sheet insert are now virtually extinct!!  A monster psych/prog album of the highest order,with a deep late 60's UK underground vibe,by one of the foremost English late 60's guitarists, also featuring SAM GOPAL on tablas and percussion.The album comes housed in it's original GATEFOLD SLEEVE complete with the extremely rare lyric sheet INSERT!!  With sounds and eclectic influences ranging from avant-garde jazz,folk,psych,Beefheart,Hawkwind,Pink Fairies,Soft Machine,Deviants,Sam Gopal,Frank Zappa / Mothers Of Invention and the Canterbury scene this incredible LP is virtually impossible to find........a lost classic!! 

       Original 1970 UK 1st PRESS LP + INSERT of this AWESOME British stoned PSYCHEDELIC masterpiece! ~ Highly Recommended LP ~ Don't miss it!! 

G.F.Fitz-Gerald  - Vocals,Lead Guitar,Acoustic Guitars,Bass,Piano,Moog,Banjo,Percussion
Sam Gopal - Tablas
Judy Dyble - Vocals (Uncredited On Sleeve For Contractual Reasons)

lan Place - Vocals and Lead Guitar
Rod Herman - Lead Guitar
Brian Cole - Steel Guitar

Rick Kenton - Bass Guitar

Ian Andrews - Mellotron,Moog,Double Bass,Bass Guitar

Ted Tetlon - Drums

Tony Turnbull - Drums

Geoff Leigh - Alto,Tenor and Flute

Les Taylor,Roger Watson,Martin Rushent,Steve Moyce - Backing Vocals

Produced by Roger Watson and G.F.Fitz-Gerald

Country: England

Year Of Release: 1970

Label and Cat.Number: UNI UNLS 115

Matrix Numbers: 7-222-1 / 7-223-1 (Original 1st Press)

Tracklisting:

Side 1: 

1.April Affair

2.New Lodger

3.Country Mouse

4.It Takes More Than A lear Day To See It

5.May Four

6.(a)Ashes Of An Empire

6.(b)The End

Side 2:

1.Under And Over The Waterfall

2.Movement Lost In Twlight Stone

3.Political Machine

4.Opal Pyramid Drifting Over Time

Condition:

Cover: VG+ (Cover has some ringwear,light creases and staining near the open out edge.There is some rubbing on all the edges,also on the spine,mainly near the top and lower edge .There are no splits or writing. The non laminate Gatefold sleeve was printed & made by the E.J.Day Group,London and Bedford.......comes with the original Blue / White polylined inner sleeve)

Insert: Ex (Light wear with small stains near the top edge)

Labels: Ex (Some spindle lines with a tiny scuff on side 1 near the centre hole)

Vinyl: VG+ near EX (Plays excellently)  (Thick late 60's heavyweight vinyl with some wispy hairlines and two light surface scuff marks (tracks 1 & 10),these do not affect the playing at all ~ This GREAT LP is generally in fine condition and plays great throughout with only very occassional audible background sound,nothing too intrusive)

*All records are strictly graded under direct light to UK 'Record Collector' standards.I play every record I sell before listing and try my very best to describe any visual and audible faults (if any).Unless stated,all records lie 100% flat & play without any jumps,sticks or serious defects.All records sold are from my own 40+ year collection*

Notes: A very weird and unique sounding late 60's British Psychedelic 'cult' album that is higly sought after these days.This is an original copy of the extremely rare 'Mouseproof' lp by G.F.Fitz-Gerald, released in 1970 on the UNI record label (UNLS 115),comes complete with the rare lyric sheet insert!! Though anchored in melody and form, Mouseproof is fundamentally wildly experimental, and one of the more eccentric and unclassifiable recordings of its time,ranging from Psychedelic folk to way out experimental noise with progressive leanings. Highly interesting period piece. The album was recorded with help from Rod Herman (guitar), Alan Place (guitar), B.J. Cole (pedal steel guitar), Rik Kenton (bass, later in Roxy Music), Judy Dyble (Fairports,Trader Horne - Vocals),Ian Andrews (bass), Geoff Leigh (sax, he appears on avant-garde albums by Slap Happy, Henry Cow, Hatfield & The North, etc.), Tony Turnbull (drums).Influences of Frank Zappa,King Crimson,Captain Beefheart, Bonzo Dog Band, Soft Machine, etc. In addition to Gerry Fitzgerald, album features Sam Gopal and Lemmy (pre Hawkwind).

Edinburgh guitarist Gerry Fitz-Gerald’s lone album, originally released in the UK on UNI in 1970, was named after the “heavy and psychedelic” band he formed three years earlier. The band disbanded before Fitz-Gerald got around to recording this challenging work, but he is nevertheless ably abetted by the current cream of late 60's psychedelic musicians, including Sam Gopal on tabla, future Roxy Music bassist, Rick Kenton, pedal steel virtuoso B.J. Cole, Jeff Leigh (no stranger to avant garde expressionism via his future work with Henry Cow, Gong and Kevin Ayers) on sax and flute, and uncredited vocals from Fairport Convention’s original vocalist Judy Dyble (who, by extension, can also be considered one of King Crimson’s original vocalists via her work with the seminal Giles, Giles & Fripp combo).

Quirky, jazzy opener “April Affair” recalls the early Traffic albums, but is perhaps mostly influenced by the first two Soft Machine albums, a band Mouseproof opened for on several occasions. Fitz-Gerald confesses that “too many drugs, no doubt” may have contributed to the abrupt ending of “Country Mouse,” which features a chorus of passers-by “dragged into the studio to sing the chorus, “Stoned? I never was so high!” The track itself is a fun fallabout with the party atmosphere of Arlo Guthrie highjacking Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” Unfortunately, it will take you longer to read the title “It Takes More Than A Clear Day To See It” than it does for Fitz-Gerald and company to play it, as the 36-second fragment (as well as the 64-second “The Lodger” before it) seems like a curious mistake – as if someone forgot to tell the tape operator to turn off his equipment.

The tearful rumination of the controversial “May Four” cost Fitz-Gerald a US release, as Uni refused to release the album because he wouldn’t change the politically-charged lyrics about the Kent State massacre (strange how the same content didn’t keep Neil Young’s “Ohio” off the shelves. I think the label may have felt they didn’t have a commercially viable product and cut their losses before even giving it a chance to find an audience.) The proggy, avant jazz suite “Ashes of An Empire/The End” is about “me whining about the state of the country” and features some operatic vocals from Miss Dyble. It’s certainly a challenging listen that Soft Machine and Gong fans may have an easier time getting their heads around.

Side two of this original album begins with the Crimsonesque “Under and Over the Waterfall,” with an opening riff that predates “Larks Tongues’ in Aspic” by a full two years, although it is doubtful Fripp would have heard this admittedly obscure release. Fans of Delia Derbyshire, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and David Vorhaus’ White Noise will be intrigued by the electronic noodlings of “A Movement Lost In Twilight Stone” and “Political Machine” sounds like Frank Zappa conducting the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band through dress rehearsals of the new Residents’s magnum opus. But it’s the 8-minute, Terry Riley-esque minimalist groove of “Opal Pyramid Drifting Over Time” that may bring the adventurous listener back for repeat listens. Over a jazzy, freeform, rolling drum backing, Fitz-Gerald intertwines whining Moog excursions with extended, bended guitar notes and mindbending laser light beams bouncing off your eardrums, simulating everything from comets bursting in air to supernovas imploding in an empty universe.

'Friends',the legendary British underground newspaper,had this to say about the "Mouseproof" album when it was originally released ; "Many years ago, no doubt in the dead of night, some intrepid freak climbed fly-like up the walls of the defunct International Film Theatre in Westbourne Grove and pasted up a poster which read "Mouseproof Is Music".Many times did I gaze fixidly from the top of a number 15 bus at the mysterious cat wearing shades, peering through the bars in the poster. And now the mystery is perceived; "Mouseproof" is an album by ace alchemist and cat-handler Gerry Fitzgerald, featuring some very notable little riffs by such famed performers as Lady June Campbell-Cramer on Etheopian Nose Harmonium and Cochise guitarist,Brian Cole,on Electric Hair slide and coal scuttle. Overall effect of the album is like crashing a car into a ditch on acid and then finding that you're unhurt, except for a broken finger nail, and that needed cutting anyway". 

Legendary and SUPER RARE original UK PSYCHEDELIC album - First pressing with lyric insert - This would be a major addition to any collection of late 60's British psych / prog rock ~ Don't miss out on this seminal UK psychedelic LP!!

*Please check out my other original Folk / Progressive / Psychedelic / Beat / Rock / Blues LP's currently listed on eBay ~ I can combine shipping multiple items to help save on shipping costs*

Thank you very much for dropping by! And......good luck! 

Packing Procedures: All items are securely and well packed in top quality material to avoid any unnecessary damage during transit . I aim to dispatch within 48 hours of receiving payment . It is recommended that you choose the option for recorded delivery (within UK) or registered delivery (for Europe and Rest of the World) for higher value items . I cannot be held responsible for items lost or damaged that are not shipped by recorded / registered mail . I obtain a certificate of posting for every item sent .

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UK - £3.65 First Class Recorded Delivery 

Europe - £4 Air Mail

USA / Canada - £6 Air Mail

Australia / Japan / ROW - £7 Air Mail

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UK POSTAGE COSTS

7" = £1.50      LP = £3.00      CD = £1.50     

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INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE COSTS

EUROPE              

7" = £2.50      LP = £4.00      CD = £2.00  

USA / CANADA             

7" = £3.00      LP = £6.00      CD = £2.50 

JAPAN / AUSTRALIA / ROW

7" = £3.50      LP = £7.00      CD = £3.00  

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