ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS -  MUSIC BY PETER HOWELL & JOHN FERNANDO - 1969

	£		26
	$		34

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS - MUSIC BY PETER HOWELL & JOHN FERNANDO - 1969. Condition is "Used". Dispatched with Royal Mail 2nd Class "Signed For" Service 
From the sellers private collection Owned from new  An album for lovers of Jam To-morrow & vinyl collectors. 
ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS - MUSIC BY PETER HOWELL & JOHN FERNANDO- TENTH PLANET RECORDS TP 032.  Music from the DITCHLING PLAYERS Production 1969.  Composed by PETER HOWELL & played by Peter Howell & John Fernando.
This record was purchased from a mail order record company specializing in such rare re-issues, in late 1997.  It is No 834 of a Limited Edition of 1000 released by Tenth Planet Records, issued  in 1997. Which is indicated by a hand written No on the Album cover. 
Face A. Lits all of the tracks on the album under the headings  "This Side" & "That Side" Together with the Title & the Record Issue No  TP 032. Face B. of the Record has a series of progressively bigger black rings on  a white background with the smallest ring on the label parimiter . There are no other markings on the label on the B Side. 
Identification is as follows :-- Matrix/Runout (Etched)  Face A : TP 032 - A-1.  Face B : TP 032 -B-1.  
The record is graded betweem Mint (M) and Excellent (EX) Having been played only twice, in its 24 year old existance.  It has no visible suface marks or scuffs & plays with out issue. The label information is perfect & there is no hole distortion. It is in superb condition.   
The cover is graded  as near Excellent (EX) It is a laminated variant It is very clean & has no marks on the front face. The  rear face is equally as clean but has a very minor indentation on the lowar portion as shown The spine & side edges are in excellent condition as shown 
The inner Sleeve is perfect.
This is a unique recording was first issued in 1969 by the (then) future BBC Radiophonic Workshop member, Peter Howell & musical partner John Fernando. 
These tracks were created at Peters home studio for inclusion, as a musicical support & surround, for the  Sussex village of Ditchling Players producton, of the Lewis Carroll's novel  "Alice Through the Looking Glass."
The amalgam of music on the record, comprises of the varid collecton of instruments the duo could play. This assortment included Organ, Flageolot, Glockenspiel, Accoustic Electric & Bass Guitars, Mandolin, Piano, Autoharp, plus various assorted percussion instruments. In addition to this, the tapes were tweeked through various electronic means by Peter, including backward tapes, distorted sounds & vocals. The resultant sound canvas was a uniquely English hybrid of folk & pastorial psychedeila !   This was duly presented to the players at their rehersals  & received overwhelming positive responses.  Following the performances, the duo agreed to press a limited edition LP of the tracks, together with extracts of recorded dialogue from the play.  Thereby, creating a unique & individual souvenier for both partcipients & audience alike. The sleeve for this  unique album utalised an  illustration by Sir John Tennell,  who was the original Artist & Illustrator for the Lewis Carroll novels. The pressed 80 or so copies of the album quickly sold out . 
Amazed at the success of this record. Howell & Fernando continued to record together, creating  soft whimsical folk albums, under various group names between 1969 & 1973  :-  Ithaca, Agincourt, Friends & Tomorrow Comes Someday.  All, with a limited addition pressing of between 50  & 100 copies.  This creative partnership came to an abrupt halt  however, when Peter was offered a full time job at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop,  leaving no spare time for the partnership to continue. 
Nearly 30 years later, the intense interest by record buying enthusiasts for highly sought after rare 1960s / 1970s albums, initiated the re-release of this record, again, as with all the Howell & Fernando albums,  a Limited Edition (This time of 1000)  by the Surrey based Tenth Plant Records.   Observers elsewhere have compared this work as a more pastorial equivalent to the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" . Be that as it may. Alice certanly involkes the spirit of the "Psychedelic Age".  Albeit, from the perspective of Middle England not Middle Earth.