BUZZY LINHART Buzzy 1968 SITAR RUBBLE FREAKBEAT PSYCH LP w/ Eyes of Blue LISTEN

$

33

BUZZ LINHART "BUZZY" LP

ORIGINAL 1968 LP ON THE US PHILIPS label, STEREO PHS 600-291

COVER IN MINT shape, unipak in great shape, NO CUTOUT HOLE!

HAS RARE LYRIC INSERT!

VINYL plays VG++ to EXCELLENT

There’s a Buzz around this album, and a Buzz on it too.  It’s the first (and by far the best) album by Buzzy Linhart, from 1968 – simply titled Buzzy and not – by any means – to be confused with the much more common self-titled Buzzy album from 1972 on the Kama Sutra label.  If you’re into the ultimate in sitar raga headtrips, and smokin’ hot psych rock with a vintage English freakbeat crunch – then this Buzzy album on the Philips label is the one to own.  Backing band on Side 1 – the Eyes of Blue, of Crossroads of Time and Fields of Ardath fame).  Backing musicians on Side 2 – Big Jim Sullivan on sitar (who played with the Small Faces, the Kinks and Donovan, to name a few) and Keshav Sathe on tabla (whaddya mean you’ve never heard of Keshav Sathe?).  Say what you will, but this Buzz is connected. 

Oddly enough, this was the record-buying public’s first meeting with the Eyes of Blue – even though the band had already recorded tracks for its first album, Crossroads of Time, the session work they did here on Buzzy was actually released before their debut album.  And what a debut it is - the searing, white-hot psych rock they lay down behind Buzz’s cover of Tim Hardin’s “Yellow Cab” must’ve gotten psych freaks pretty excited for the prospect of the band’s LP, even though much of Crossroads ended up sounding more like Buzzy’s moodier, 9-minute doom-laden proto-prog mellotron-fueled monster “Willie Jean.”  Which answers the question, “What would it sound like if the Moody Blues covered “House of the Rising Sun” on mescaline?  9 minutes of moody, doom-laden proto-prog mellotron-fueled intensity is the answer, for those who missed it the first time.  And no, they do not sing “Willie Jean is not my lover”…

Of course, the main reason psych freaks seek out Buzzy’s debut album is for the 19-minute side-long sitar raga “Sing Joy,” and it’s easy to hear why.  It starts out with Buzzy, Big Jim and my pal Keshav sitting (probably in the lotus position) in the studio, jamming for minutes on end to something that sounds like the middle section in the Beatles “Within You Without You.”  It’s all very formless, hash-powered stuff - mystical s*&t, if you will - and you can all but see the rainbow colored smoke hovering lazily over the mixing board.  Then, about six minutes in, something kicks in and these part-time swamis start picking up some serious steam, falling into a very English blues groove, somewhere halfway between the Stones and the Orient Express.  Call it sitar boogie, or maybe raga and roll.

At 8 minutes, the hookah really starts kicking in, and Big Jim is practically wailing away on the sitar (if one can indeed “wail” on a sitar), and you can’t even see Keshav’s hands anymore on the tablas – it’s just a blur,  like he’s the Tasmanian Devil  backing Ravi Shankar.  At 11 minutes, Buzz reaches for his acoustic guitar and just starts RIPPING off these very punkish riffs, all whooping and diving and bendy note caterwauling, and suddenly “Sing Joy” is sounding a lot like the frenetic freakout ending of Led Zeppelin’s “Friends” – although Buzz and the boys haven’t even heard that song because it’s yet to be written or recorded.  And far be it for me to suggest that Page and Plant might’ve even considered stealing it without giving credit where it’s due.  That’s just not like them.

After this raga-clysmic tsunami of sound, there’s hardly anything left in the tank, so the boys wind down slowly like the day after an all-night rave – with a short, 3-minute hangover of sorts called, appropriately enough, “End Song.”  And as far as hangovers go, this one’s a pretty rough one for Buzz, who sings “I just sit here…and hope to die” over and over again amidst the drone of plucking electric guitar, booming tympanis, flying interstellar mellotron and crashing drums.  Talk about your severe mood swings – first “Sing Joy” and now “hope to die”?  This guy’s more volatile than Morrissey on Xanax.  Even Keshav Sathe’s dirty jokes can’t cheer this guy up.

But there’s little reason to be so glum when you hear the finished product.  With the mighty Eyes of Blue laying down some serious British prog psych sounds on one side, and Big Jim Sullivan and my man Keshav supplying the mystical magic carpet ride vibe on the other, Buzzy Linhart’s debut  album is everything a psychedelic album should be.  As former poet laureate and empirical physicist Bryan Ferry once said, “Oh whoa, catch that buzz.”  Well, this is one Buzz worth catching.

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.