ALICE COOPER: Pretties For You LP ORG STRAIGHT WS 1840

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ALICE COOPER: Pretties For You LP ORG STRAIGHT WS 1840
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Description:

Pretties For You

Label : STRAIGHT WS 1840
Grade: EX( 3" seam, 1" wear at spine) / EX(+)(light scuffs)
Notes: Original gatefold cover

1969 first pressing collectible on the legendary "STRAIGHT" Records label to the garage psych classic -- first Alice Cooper....here's the story:

Back in 1969, Alice Cooper were a struggling band. Flat broke getting by only from stiffing every motel in Detroit. On to Los Angeles, 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 ghosttown. 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 naked, alarmed Zappa rushed out of bed and gave them the deal on the account THEY STOPPED PLAYING RIGHT THEN! The 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 charachter. It is the perfect example of something that sounds like trash until your band tries to play it. It takes some skill to keep it all together. It is a lot harder than it may seem. None of this music is orchestrated in notation, 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 literaly taking green amateurs and giving them a couple of hours in a studio and thats that. Aside from the multitude of musical detail on this album, admittingly hard to notice at first due to the rushed pace of recording (sloppiness) and the lack of studio polish (live in studio, few overdubs), there is some great songwriting. A lot of the ideas are quite off the wall, but there is a definate mixing of emotions within the songs, typical of a lot of the psych music. It is SUPOSSED to be that way! NOT a result of bad songwriting. This was recorded at a time when in Los Angeles about the hardest thing around was 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 emotional ambiguity. It's about putting some feeling in music rather than just playing what sounds "acceptable" to a beat. It is a testament to how records were sometimes made back then. Totally honest. This is what they 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 gibsons are never again given so much freedom. And those vocal harmonies are great! Alice REALLY sings in his REAL voice. It's like a pop album gone bad in some places. A times it sounds like Revolver era Beatles on bad acid! None of that nasal whining. But not all of this album is atonal disonant 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 the rehashed Elected. 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, but yet 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! Brilliant! Levity Ball souds 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 say, Killer, 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, Alice Cooper were not into drugs. They only drank alot. And the cover of the album was taken from an original painting Zappa had hanging in his living room. Also, there are no Cooperisms on here , no "sick things" such as necrophilia, mental illness, etc. so if you are in love with Alice the persona, get a scrapbook and enjoy the wallet size cut out pics from your original LP press of Billion Dollar Babies (great album packaging by the way), this has nothing to do with black leather. Alice has blond hair and is in a green mini dress in the back cover photo.

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RECORD GRADING

Cover / Vinyl

LPs are graded visually and conservatively under bright lights..

SS Still Sealed
M The record itself is in mint condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition.
M- Cover is nice and new looking with no ring wear. Near mint
EX+ Clean covers without ringwear or seamwear nice but not new. Vinyl will play perfect without skip
EX The cover might have slight wear and/or creasing. The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality
EX- Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.Cover may have medium overall wear or some ring wear. Vinyl has light visual marks. There may be light surface sound but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch
VG+ The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discolouration, seam splits , ringwear, cover wear. The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches - still plays well
VG Cover is well worn, usually with considerable ring wear. Overall wear.LPs should be able to play without skipping or repeating, more noisy sound during quiet passages.

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