ALICE COOPER- PRETTIES FOR YOU 1969 VINYL 1ST PRESS HARD ROCK PSYCH GLAM VG+/EX+
$
125
$ 125
Sold For
Aug 30, 2026
Sold Date
Aug 11, 2026
Start Date
1
Number Of Bids
USA
Country Of Seller
eBay
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Description
"ALICE COOPER- PRETTIES FOR YOU"
1969 Straight STS 1051 label
The condition of the gatefold cover is VG+ with minor foxing (see photos), no cut-outs, seam splits or writing. The condition of the disc is EX+, very close to my top M- grade, and it plays great! Includes the original Straight Records inner sleeve.
THE 1969 ORANGE first printing The way-out sounds -- first Alice Cooper album a great garage psych classic.... and here's the story: Back in 1969, Alice Cooper were a struggling band. Flat broke getting by only from cheating paying their bills at every motel in Detroit and on to Los Angeles, and things were no better. Frank Zappa met up with Alice Cooper at a party where it was learned Mr. Z. had started his own record label , Bizarre/Straight. Alice wanted to record an album. When Frank witnessed the band on stage, he noticed that each time they played, they would send the audience away in a fit. To the point of a ghost-town. The stage show at this time was so offensive and disgusting it made the later Alice Cooper stage extravaganza seem mild. No big budget theatrics, instead the likes of a transvestite crying "nobody likes me" and then having a temper tantrum like a 2 year old, lying on his back repeating 4 letter f- words until every single audience member had enough. Zappa saw SOMETHING, we can only imagine what, in this. Zappa offered them a tryout for a record deal, and to his surprise one morning, they snuck into his basement studio and began playing-- loud. A a naked alarmed Zappa rushed out of bed and gave them a deal on account THEY STOPPED PLAYING RIGHT THEN! The contract/budget was microscopic and the scheduling was rushed. The band DID NOT have any say in the production. One of the things Zappa found interesting was that he realized he would have a challenge trying to transcribe much of their music on paper. It was full of odd time signatures, on a dime changes, sputters, and things that gave it character. It is the perfect example of something that sounds like brain-salad until your band tries to play it. It takes some skill to keep it all together being a lot harder than it may seem. None of the music is orchestrated in arrangements, moreover none of it was developed over time in a studio and none of it was played with real enthusiasm to a crowd on stage. It is literally taking green-amateurs and giving them a couple of hours in a studio and that's that. Aside from the multitude of musical detail on this album, admitting hard to notice at first due to the rushed pace of recording and the lack of studio polish (live in studio, few overdubs-great!), there is some great songwriting. A lot of the ideas are quite off the wall, but there is a definite mixing of emotions within the songs, typical of a lot of psych music. It is SUPPOSED to be that way! NOT a result of bad songwriting. This was recorded at a time when in Los Angeles about the heaviest bands around were 'Spirit' or 'Amboy Dukes.' Maybe the likes of Zeppelin coming through on the radio. Or Cream. That's about it."Pretties" is just oozing with that lovely "am I happy or sad?" , manic-depressive, so-on-dope- I'm confused mixed up with emotional ambiguity. It's about putting some feeling in music rather than just playing what sounds "acceptable" to a beat. It is a testament in how records were sometimes made back then. Totally honest. This is what the Alice Cooper's were all about. Not a money making, picture posing machine they later became. They took risks. Neal Smith never again assaulted his drums like this. Those twin Gibson guitars were never again given so much freedom. And those vocal harmonies wow!- great! Alice REALLY sings in his REAL voice. It's like a rock album gone good and bad in some places. A times it sounds like Revolver era Beatles on bad acid! None of Alice's nasal whining voice. But not all of this album is atonal dissonant weirdness. There are a few beautiful songs too. "Apple Bush" with the help of George Martin could have been home on Sgt. Pepper. "Reflected" is actually better than their rehashed "Elected" from their later album. And "Living" is such a toe tapper. It sounds like the Beatles. It does. A fantastic song, a hundred times better than "I'm 18." And really cool are "No Longer Umpire" and "BB on Mars" (great titles by the way), these are go happy and almost giddy sounding, and yet interestingly disturbing. A technique Alice Cooper would touch on later in songs like 'Dead Babies' or 'I love the Dead', only this is much stranger. Twisted! Brilliance! "Levity Ball" sounds like a live recording with a hand held tape recorder -- yet this is one of the most underappreciated classic albums from the U.S. underground scene. We can't always have sparkling production, motivated producers, or even seasoned musicians when making an album. It is the substance and the effort that makes it. Not to be judged comparably to "Killer" Lp, but rather as some great material that was unlike anything else at the time in true garage rock fashion. Stay away if you must have that studio polish or if some timing issues ruin your day. If you appreciate the avant-garde or late 60's experimentalism, this one is a must.
By the way, the Alice Cooper band were not into drugs. They only drank alot. Alice has blond hair and is in a green mini dress on the back cover photo !
RARE 1969 VINYL FIRST PRESSING IN NICE KEEPER CONDITION!
COMBINED SHIPPING RECOMMENDED! INTERNATIONAL: $5 PER ADDITIONAL LP'S UP TO 4 POUNDS & DOMESTIC: IS $1 PER ADDITIONAL LP'S
ALL LP'S SHIPPED IN A PROFESSIONAL LP MAILER WITH STIFF INSERTS
THANK YOU & GOOD LUCK!
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