MARTHA VELEZ Fiends & Angels 1969 ORIGINAL PSYCH LP w/ Eric Clapton MINT LISTEN

$

50

MARTHA VELEZ "FIENDS & ANGELS" LP

ORIGINAL 1969 LP ON THE US SIRE LABEL, STEREO SES 97008

COVER in NEAR MINT shape, slight corner dings only

VINYL is super clean & shiny, plays MINT!  

(I think this may have been only played once or twice)

I'm dumbfounded by this one.  Here's a relatively unknown female blues singer whose debut album, FIENDS AND ANGELS, released in 1969, features as her backing band - are you ready for this? - Eric Clapton, Jim Capaldi, Jack Bruce, Mitch Mitchell, Paul Kossoff, Brian Auger and Christine McVie - and then (and this is the truly amazing part) she doesn't mention ANY OF THEM in her liner notes!  Not one!  Oh wait, she DOES mention brass arranger Terry Noonan and rhythm guitarist Rick Hayward.  I'm sure that'll get her six more store purchases, mostly by Noonans and Haywards.  I just don't get it.  A hot Latino blues belter with a penchant for Renaissance Faires and one killer backup band, and there's not a single mention of Clapton, Capaldi, Bruce etc. anywhere here.  Go figure.  Of course, this is the same woman who was invited by Jimi Hendrix to open for him at Woodstock (based on the strength of THIS very album, mind you) and she turned him DOWN!  Seriously.  Anyway, I get the strong impression, like a flaming mallet to the side of the head actually, that Martha's a far bigger fan of Janis Joplin than any of the also-rans she has in her backing band - her wailing, cooing and occasionally raspy blues vocals are strongly Joplinesque, especially on the sultry "Come Here Sweet Man."  And it seems like she might have even TRIED to get a job in Big Brother & the Holding Company at one time - the liner notes cryptically say "Big brother held a company meeting but did not attend" as one of her accomplishments.  How different things might have turned out had she attended.  Or, I don't know, mentioned that she had members of Cream, Traffic, Chicken Shack and the Jimi Hendrix Experience in her backup band?  Elsewhere, the funkified "Swamp Man" choogles like a CCR outtake, and supplies the album title:  "Fiends and angels know the swamp man."  Fiends and angels also know that a saucy little Latin minx with a voice like Janis and chain mail gauntlets like an extra from GAME OF THRONES should flaunt her famous friends once in a while.  Or maybe you're excited because David Grinstead engineered the overdubs?

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.