Mercury Magic - s/t 1980 Private lp RARE OG Psych Prog AOR Acid Archives GRAIL

$

260

Welcome to our Spring 2026 Rock / Psych / Country / SSW / Electronic & Ambient sale, a curated selection featuring Psych Rock, Garage Rock, Metal, the funkier side of Rock with open drum breaks, Country Rock / Outlaw country, classic rock all originals, no reissues! WE COMBINE SHIPPING! :)
Approximately 115 lp's, all originals (no reissues!), many have soundclips, which are from the actual record!  **Note, all soundclips are checked and working, last auction's issue resolved :)

This week features a really nice curated slab of rare, original Rock / Country / AOR SSW oriented lps from rare private presses like the 1982 Damascus Road "I Am A Light" lp, the extremely rare top shelf tax scam grail Jason - S/T 1977 on Manilla, original classics like the first US 1971 Black Sabbath - "Paranoid", the incredible 1972 Kama Sutra Dust - "Hard Attack", a rare promo 1971 copy on Kapp of "Budgie" (the debut album!), a completely unknown rare SSW / Folk lp by John K. O'Brien "Disarming Charms" 1984 (from Portland, OR, only 50 were made!), Frank Zappa "Hot Rats" & "Waka/Jawaka", Neu! the 1978 Brain release x2 lp of their first two albums(!), Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon, The Eagles 1st press "Hotel California", Michael Sterns, Nik Pascal, Ananda Shankar, Michaels & Hack - "Back To Back" -(extremely rare 1977 private press Psych utilizing drum machines!), the rare as hen's teeth 1st press "Bandolero" 1970 psych grail, Captain Beyond, Terry Reid, Michael Garrison, Jordan De La Sierra, Edgar Froese, Craig Leon's rare 1982 private press lp "Visiting" follow up to "Nommos" Sandy Bull, Redbone "Wovoka" 1973 original 1st press lp and so much more :) 

**Note on grading: We have been proud to send thousands of records to delighted customers, but there is always room for improvement, we want to continually strive to be as accurate, honest, and detailed as possible. These records that have been collected and loved over the years, coming from a collector, one who listens to the records, enjoys the music, we are only growing more meticulous in our visual aspect of grading the vinyl, while also maintaining a balanced emphasis on the sound quality, utilizing sound clips (we do not manipulate them whatsoever, and we never will!), full front to back recent thorough listenings, and for the covers to use detailed photos, write detailed aspects for the grade, we want people to know exactly what they're getting, as collectors, lovers of music, we promise to always carry ourselves with integrity, we're in the business of delighting people, to treat others as the best experiences we've had as buyers, and all of our items are guaranteed. We won't stop growing, learning, and listening. A very special warm thank you to all our incredible return "customers", we really think of you all as fellow friends in vinyl, and if this is your first time bidding with us, we hope our "record" speaks for itself, ensuring a secure feeling to bid with confidence, thank you all, truly together we make this community one that spreads the love, sharing in this special thing of all of ours :) ***

* After this week's auction, (In no particular order) we have in the auction pipeline:
A major Modern soul/Gospel Boogie/AOR lp's
A "golden era" late 70's - early 70's funk/soul lp's
A Random Rap GFunk Indie R&B, Rare Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, New Jack Swing CD's & Tapes
A Part 4 "Giant Jazz" sale lp's
A funk/soul/boogie 7" 45rpm's
*^(Each are loaded with some of the rarest, high end stuff, plenty that haven't shown up in years, unknown mind-blowers, Grail Pieces, like always, all original editions!)
We'd be honored if you'd consider saving us as a favorite seller :)***

All soundclips used are unedited directly from the item up for sale :). See below for detailed grading!
***Everything is 100% guaranteed! We've sold over 1,500+ records in the past year alone, with 100% positive feedback, bid with confidence :)

Feel free to message any questions!

*Note: Any Item that does not have a soundclip, feel free to message us, and we can make one for you :)

**Note: for items with multiple players, the title of track is above each player; the player enables scrolling through!**

Soundclip info: A1 "Magic", B3 "Ghost Train", A6 "Childs Play", b3 begins at 1:28, a6 begins at 2:41  
Soundclip:  Update your internet browser to latest version in order to play audio clip.

Media Grade:  VG+ (labels on B-Side have light rub wear DNAP, slight sleeve scuffs, very high-gloss, plays fantastic front to back, conservative grade, peep the soundclips!)
Sleeve Grade:  VG+ (includes both original inserts *comic book fold-out, & coloring contest sheet*, light crease on back, structurally solid/intact, conservative grade, very nice copy, see photos!)
Year / Label / Catalogue #:   1980  /  Hughstone (private press one-off)  / 557 (1st press, stereo)  
Brief Comments: Insanely rare private press psych/prog AOR (a few Modern Soul AOR style cuts!) lp from California, only 6 copies have shown up to date, the last one being on Discogs over a year ago. Never reissued in any format, it's absurdly rare, to the point, that it doesn't even have clips on YouTube, it got a highly favorable review in the Acid Archives (also was acknowledged to be very rare), all original compositions, Jon Stone producer, 8 musicians (none of whom are credited on Discogs, presumably the original page creator wanted to keep it off, in hopes of contacting members, I don't know for certain, but it's possible), I did reach out to anyone involved, no extra copies to be found anywhere (one member had a sealed copy they sold over a decade ago), so this is a fascinating project, composer / comic book writer Kurt Hughes was the head of it, heavily influenced by "Heavy Metal Magazine" (great comics in those!), his concept for the comic which the album is based off of, is a young musician "Magic" reviewing his life. This was meant to serve as a soundtrack, a promotion, for Kurt Hughes nascent comic (along with illustrator, cover designer, Arlene Johnston), there was a connection to Eclipse magazine, as Kurt Hughes (under a pseudonym, slight reworking) got his comic in the Dean Mullaney "Comic Feature" magazine, then Mullaney shortly decamped for Eclipse (meant to act as a rival to Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated), Hughes was initially inspired by the Eclipse 1979 "Night Music", and from reaching out to the members I could find, Jon Stone was also involved with the comic, Hughes was also a gifted vocalist, guitar player, and they assembled the band of friends, with aspirations to a national mail order of the album, as the comic was published, but things did not go that way. 
Dean Mullaney (who had along with brother Jan, founded early electronica outfit "Hot Butter") allegedly was happy to take Stone's money, but wanted names, people he trusted, to get Eclipse off the ground, Hughes was kind of jerked around for a couple years, while the group disbanded, there would be no mail order, no epic series of "Mercury Magic", just Hughes doing uncredited moonlighting, and in a twist of fate, almost all the records, really a small "demo" like private press, where stored in the basements of Eclipse's office at the Guerneville, California location. But on February 15, 1986, the Russian River flooded, swamping the office up to the second floor, destroying the stock of the practically forgotten boxes of sealed "Mercury Magic" records. This is why it's so rare, only a few copies to band members, friends, personal copies survived. In fact, the coloring contest (this one includes a deadstock uncolored insert!) was never won, because there were no Mercury concerts (there's no return address, the directions state there would be a deposit box at every Mercury concert, which never materialized), I asked if I (or someone else) mailed it to a member, if that meant "win by default", which got a good chuckle, I was told it certainly would, but they never got to the point of actually making the "Mercury Shield Of The Medicine Wheel", although Kurt Hughes, and Jon Stone were both great people, well praised by the band, they were in essence making a gamble, with a vision, that wasn't out of the question, in fact given the popularity of Heavy Metal magazine, Eclipse, Comic Feature, Epic Illustrated, it actually seemed like a very prescient move, the band were compensated for their time out of Stone & Hughes own pockets, Hughes and Kim Burbridge as composers, acoustic guitar / strings respectively, Doug on lead & rhythm guitar and back-up vocals, Chuck on saxes & flutes, Sergio Patario on Conga, Percussion, & Timbales, Pete Graham on bass, Tony M on drums, Misk Di Marco on Piano (acoustic & Electric Fender Rhodes) as well as Moog Synthesizer. 
The comic sample, which is the other insert included, is fairly compelling, it gives just a glimpse, but it really makes one wish Hughes had been given the shot to make the full comic (sadly there is none, it's possible there are more panels, pre-write mock-ups, etc., but the exigent comic files were also destroyed in the Russian River flood unpublished, unseen by the public), Stone was a friend who, at least according to sources, came from money in Marin County, but not the kind of money to put say $1 million dollars down back then to do everything independently, while simultaneously competing with heavyweights. I personally like the Heavy Metal Magazine comics (I found a pile of old copies at a yard sale looking for records), I dig Alan Moore's graphic novels, and Nick Drsno, a current graphic novelist, is capturing American Pathology better than any current novelist (no magic, or heroes needed), I really do wish Kurt Hughes graphic novel (and based on the sample, we're talking early graphic novel more than comic) had been finished, published, insightful, with a powerful message....The real magic to heal a broken world, a broken people, is love, the most powerful magic, and not in a naïve, or sentimental way, but the deep courageous love to face unavoidable and yet unbearable realities.... 
Back to the music, the album! So, it's legitimately not going to turn up, I guess it makes sense, given the circumstances around it, the flood destroying the boxes of stock that were on the verge of forgotten anyways.... It's incredible how good this album is, the balance of Psych / Prog, AOR, all originals, with top musicianship, lyricism, it is immersive in the best way, the tracks are so good they are able to stand on their own away from the comic, (it wasn't until after listening, actually reading the inserts, sending out feelers, getting back story, that I even realized it was a de facto soundtrack to an unpublished, unfinished graphic novel!). The style isn't derivative, they aren't trying to mimic any other band, it's clear they have diverse influences, as one assumes of top musicians, they had complete freedom, great facilities, fantastic engineering, and a real chemistry.
Excellent copy of this majestic rarity! Peep the soundclips :)


*Tariffs aren't going to impact used vinyl records / music media, we wish they were never in place at all, so for international buyers, don't worry on that account!
For our record grading, we stand by the merits outlined in the scale below, anything VG or below will have a detailed explanation in brackets next to the grade.
For sleeves, we will mention anytime there is split, or defect not visible in the photos in brackets next to the grade, otherwise we refer to the photos for the merit of the grade. Of course any questions, concerns, are always welcome :) 
Our media grading scale is as follows: [*Quick note, our VPI is still in storage on the other side of the US, we do brush clean many  items carefully, but we have to prioritize, we won't leave anyone stranded with a filthy record, only "filthy" good! We don't factor dust particles into the grading]
NM = Essentially a pristine album, like new, rarely used.
EX = Under bright light if there is any scuffs or mark, which will be inaudible, most collectors and sellers would tend to consider it closer to NM, EX is also the grade others might call VG++ under the same level of conservative scrutiny.
VG+ = More then a small handful of scuffs, light marks, nothing feelable, will have high-gloss, a thoroughly enjoyable copy that may only have tiny moments of barely perceptible surface noise overpowered by the music. Our VG+ will satisfy the vast majority of collectors as a nice keeper copy, as collector's ourselves for nearly two decades, this grade is aimed to be a great keeper. Note if say the record has a light DNAP warp, but otherwise is NM, we will automatically put it to VG+ and detail that. Another scenario is if a copy plays at a solid EX, but visually is VG, the composite grade will be VG+, and detailed as such.
VG = More hairlines, more marks, maybe a few visible scratches, no more then two feelable scratches (which automatically lowers to VG-), there likely will be surface noise, but will play through, still being an enjoyable copy, the audio quality will satisfy most collector's (the golden rule: if it doesn't satisfy us, it won't be VG), if a record is otherwise EX, but has a slight momentary skip, where 99% of the record is EX, we will note that, and put it at VG. Usually will retain a nice gloss.
VG- = More Scratches than VG, surface noise will jump out more, it be overpowered for longer stretches, or compete with the music in places, it will likely play all the way through on most turntables, a copy that you can still get a decent play enjoyment from.
G+ = Lots of scratches, deeper ones, surface noise now mostly overpowers or competes with the music. It may skip in some places. We don't tend to sell G+ copies, unless the rarity is so great, and that will be precisely detailed.
Thrashed = Pretty much a "Theoretical Grade" for us, it be for all intents & purposes virtually unplayable, it would be for display purposes, or perhaps if you needed the cover but not the record. It's "theoretical" because so far we haven't sold or identified anything intended to sell at this bottom level.
Every item is guaranteed to YOUR satisfaction, no questions asked, 100% refund. We stand by our integrity, our goal is to make sure you are absolutely delighted with your purchase, to deliver a cherished album to your collection :). On the slightest chance of human error, if we make a mistake, we take accountability for that, we don't anyone to have a record they aren't happy with! Bid with confidence :)
If you have multiple items, please wait for us to combine shipping for you! We can combine up to 4 items for the standard shipping rate, and save you $ on additional items. We don't charge a single penny over what the shipping costs, so you are paying only the amount the postal service receives!
Default shipping is USPS media mail, USPS International mail. If you prefer a different carrier, or expedited shipping, please message us before payment, so we can set up the invoice for you :)
We have it set to 5 day shipping / handling time, as a just in case, typically about 98.7% of our orders are shipped out the day of payment (first day the post office is open), with the vast majority being the second day. We'll message on the extraordinary off-chance if doesn't go out on Tuesday (our auctions mostly ending on Saturdays, Sundays), with the reason and day it will go out, so far that's only happened once on a giant order, and all was well.
Thank you from EnfieldVinyl, a family business, and the auction venture of EnfieldRecords :)
Kindly,
-Alec :D
&
-Ellie :)