CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & MAGIC BAND Shiny Beast PROMO +INNER Warner Bros 13148 EX+ LP

$

61

PHASE ONE of a large group of Vintage 60s & 70s PSYCH LPs in this Auction series.
from 50+ years collection of decades-long radio DJ, Record Store associate and dedicated Vinyl Collector. MORE (Phase 2 and Phase 3) to be listed in the coming weeks.
These AUCTIONS are Long Overdue! Medical issues got in the way over the last few months, but Back on track now with many Highly Sought obscure Rarities, Classic Cornerstone LPs and Faves finally here for you! My apologies to any and all loyal collectors and past buyers who have waited so long.  .
All Auctions in this series start at 99¢ opening bid!
...everybody should have a good chance at taking a few of these treasures home.
.
Mostly 1st PRESSINGS, including a number of PROMOs and UK Imports.
Many still in Shrink wrap, some Still Sealed. Most of these LPs are in strong VG+ to NM Condition.
Quite a few STERLING, MASTERDISK, ARTISAN and BELL SOUND Masters and MONARCH Pressings  in the mix!
Hard Psych, Acid Psych, Garage Psych, Folk Psych, Fuzz Psych, Hippie Psych, Guitar God Psych, Mod Psych, Mad Psych, Experimental Psych, Popsike, San Francisco Flower Power Psych, Texas Psych, UK Psych, Blues Psych, Private Psych, Stoner Psych, Punk Psych, Proto-Punk-Folk Psych, Dark Psych, Baroque Psych, Underground Psych, Prog Psych, Unknown Psych, Regional Psych ... and solid batches of multiple Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Love and The Grateful Dead in this 1st Phase. HAVE FUN!
SHIPPING at EXACT POSTAGE only COMBINED SHIPPING Discount available for multiple items bought TOGETHER in 1 PURCHASE. *SEE BELOW. - under SHIPPING - for how to easily combine items so eBay will  give combined Discount. If you PAY separately, I have to SHIP separately. IF you want the discount, Just use the eBay CART in Checkout to COMBINE all items for ONE payment.
SECURE, TOP LP Packing and Materials - 40+ years experience.

This listing is for:
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & His MAGIC BAND
SHINY BEAST (BAT-CHAIN PULLER)

WARNER BROS. Records BSK 3256
Original 1978 issue Stereo LP
FIRST PRESS • PROMO Orig. INNER included
VINYL is EX+
Super Clean, Full Gloss Vinyl is very close to Near Mint, with only a few faintest sleeve wisps visible, viewed under hard bright light. Labels are immaculate both sides.
.
COVER is EX+
Spanking Clean and snapping bright with no wear, creases, writing or soil. Near Mint but for a shallow indentation, l.r. corner. All edges straight, all corners sharp. Seams and spine 100% intact with no wear or splits. Spine titles are crisp, sharp and fully legible.


STRICT CONSERVATIVE GOLDMINE GRADING
NM / EX(VG++) / VG+ / VG


Rarer WEST COAST 1st PRESS Promotional variant

with original Custom (Lyrics/Photos/Van Vliet Illustration) inner sleeve
*Disc inside separate anti-static lined inner sleeve,
to protect both the Vinyl and the original inner.
Pressed by Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles   ✲
Recorded at The Automatt, San Francisco
Mastered at The Automatt by Phil Brown
Mixed at Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco
Produced for Shiny Beast Productions
℗, © 1978 Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Published by Singing Ink Music

Front and back Cover artwork by Don Van Vliet

Gold foil "Promotional Copy Not For Sale" stamp on front, u.r. corner. .
MATRIX NUMBERS SIDE ONE: BSK-1-3256-LW2      1    ✲
SIDE TWO: BSK-2-3256-LW3.     1    ✲ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vocals, Harmonica, Soprano Saxophone, Whistling –  Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart)
Guitar, Slide Guitar [Bottleneck Guitar], Accordion, Fretless Bass – Richard Redus
Guitar, Slide Guitar, Guitar [Spell Guitar] – Jeff Moris Tepper
Drums, Percussion – Robert Arthur Williams
Marimba, Percussion [Additional] – Art Tripp III
Synthesizer, Grand Piano, Electric Piano [Rhodes], Bass – Eric Drew Feldman
Trombone, Performer [Air Bass] – Bruce Fowler

Track Listing
SIDE ONE
The Floppy Boot Stomp     3:51
Tropical Hot Dog Night    4:48
Ice Rose      3:27
Harry Irene    3:42
You Know You're A Man      3:13
Bat Chain Puller    5:26
SIDE TWO
When I See Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy 5:03
Owed T'Alex    4:04
Candle Mambo    3:23
Love Lies    5:00
Suction Prints    4:20
Apes-Ma    0:38
GREAT SOUND on this 1st PRESS PROMO issue incredibly well-preserved even after 47 Years!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vinyl inside anti-static lined inner sleeve
Album kept in a protective, poly outer-sleeve

Please see my other listings for more Captain Beefheart, more Rare Vintage Collectible PSYCH and related 
Vintage 1960s and 70s Rock LPs.
From the opening moment of "Floppy Boot Stomp”, it is clear that this was The Captain back in true, vintage form and an incarnation of the Magic Band which was once more truly worthy of the name. The band and Beefheart all come crashing straight in together on the first note and there is no turning back. The vocals are impassioned, like a preacher of fire and brimstone, narrating the tale of a farmer dancing to escape the devil burning his feet; a lyric that clearly betrays Don Van Vliet’s blues roots. The song ends with the band chanting "Floppy boot / stomped down / into the ground" into oblivion.

Next up is "Tropical Hot Dog Night”. The title is rhymed with the gleefully alliterative Lewis Carroll nonsense "Like two flamingos in a fruit fight”. The combination of Bruce Fowler's trombone with Artie Tripp's marimbas and a shuffling hi-hat gives an almost calypso, Mardi Gras feel, over which Don cheerfully confides that "I'm playing this music so the young girls will come out and meet the monster tonight". Don was perhaps eager to show the ladies his ‘Shiny Beast’?

"Ice Rose" is an instrumental track, a re-invention of the earlier "Big Black Baby Shoes" which was remaindered from the sessions which produced Mirror Man and Strictly Personal more than a decade earlier. The prominent trombone has the effect of making this track very reminiscent of Frank Zappa.

"Harry Irene" is a fine example of Don's more “not uncommercial", crooning side. This is a side of Captain Beefheart that is frequently overlooked because of the impact of his more outré material, however Don had frequently displayed a penchant for straightforward "pop" song structures before. Examples of this abound, from "Call On Me" on Safe As Milk (and particularly the unreleased slow version from those sessions) to "Too Much Time" on Clear Spot as well as any number of songs on the much-maligned Unconditionally Guaranteed album. This track also includes some fine examples of Don's characteristic mischievous word play: a favorite being the line "They sold wine like turpentine to painters" which simultaneously expresses both the quantity and the quality of the house white! Don croons like a renegade Sinatra and the music is a deliberately corny combination of ham-fisted piano with brushes on the snare and hi-hat. The song ends with Don whistling the refrain in a manner reminiscent of Otis Redding on "Dock of the Bay."

The lyric sheet insert that accompanied the album simply states that the lyrics to "You Know You're A Man" are "self explanatory" and much the same is true of the music. It is a pretty straightforward piece of fairly funky blues-rock, with Don really letting rip on the vocals over the top. In keeping with the new atmosphere of mutual respect in the band, each musician in turn gets his moment at a brief solo during the song.

The last track on the first side of the album is "Bat Chain Puller”. As well as being the title track of the unreleased album and the unofficial title of this one, this is the undoubted highlight of the album. Despite his ecological concerns, Don was always a great lover of cars and this song was apparently inspired by the sound of the wipers on his windscreen. Robert Williams and Eric Drew Feldman recreate this sound over which Don alternates between an almost whispered delivery and contrasting impassioned howls. Jagged barbs of guitar periodically illuminate the scene like flashes of lightning and the keyboard emulates sweeping sheets of rain. What is more, if the performance here is awesome then some of the live recordings from this period make this seem positively restrained by comparison!

The second side of the album opens with "When I See Mommy I Feel Like a Mummy”.  Don's mother was an important figure in his life and references to her appear in several of his lyrics. Like "Old 'Fart At Play" on Trout Mask Replica there are unmistakable Oedipal nuances to these words (about which, much ignorant nonsense has been written elsewhere, so I’ll spare you). The music is brooding and menacing and dominated by the strains of Fowler's mournful trombone. As the song reaches its climax, the band are all chanting "Mummy, mummy, mummy" in the background, like a ghostly chorus of clamouring infants.

Writing credits for the next song, "Owed T'Alex”, are shared with Herb Bermann, the poet / songwriter with whom Don had been closely associated during the late sixties. This seems to suggest that this is a very old song indeed, probably dating back to the Safe As Milk era. In this case it would appear likely that the Alex in question could well be former Magic Band guitarist Alex St. Claire. If so, it would not be the first time a member of the Magic Band had been immortalised in lyrical form: for example the song "Bill's Corpse" on Trout Mask Replica was about Zoot Horn Rollo. However the angular guitar lines and tumbling drum patterns are more reminiscent of later work, so perhaps this was the fruit of a later collaboration. Whatever the provenance of the song, the harmonica solo at the end is without doubt one of Beefheart’s finest.

"Candle Mambo" has a similar feel to "Tropical Hot Dog Night" possibly recorded at the same time. Artie's marimbas are once again very much in evidence and combine with the trombone to give a sultry almost Latin feel. The tune itself is upbeat and refreshingly simple and there is an irresistibly romantic feel as Don sings in his most seductive voice "When I'm dancing with my love, the shadows flicker up above, up above the shadows do the Candle Mambo”.

By comparison, "Love Lies" changes the proportions of the ingredients in this rich musical gumbo to produce a wailing lament for lost love as Don sings plaintively from the depths of a shattered heart as the "Street lights flutter like fireflies" and the guitar flickers with them.

"Suction Prints" is far more like the Captain Beefheart of Lick My Decals Off, Baby: a punchy instrumental which allows the band to really let rip over a driving drum beat, which breaks off into some classic Magic Band musical diversions before returning to the central theme. This is the track that really gives Robert Williams a chance to shine: the drum patterns are truly inspired, unorthodox and executed with just the right combination of feeling and precision.

The final track of the album is the poem "Apes-Ma”. Don has been recorded as explaining that this epigram concerns a female gorilla in a local zoo that he visited so regularly she came to recognize him. Apparently Don loved this ape "like a mother" and she was the love of his life - until he met his wife Jan. Mankind is just another creature, descended from the apes (so "Ape is Ma"). However we consume a disproportionate portion of the world's resources ("You're eating too much....") and pollute the planet ("... and going to the bathroom too much....") because we are so overpopulated ("Your cage isn't getting any bigger, Apes Ma").
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From an utterly vast and deep record collection, from my life-long best friend
who was a DJ at the Radio Station I co-founded in the 1970's - and who worked for me at my California record store in the '70s and '80s.
Sadly he has now finally left this mortal coil, bequeathing me his deep Vinyl Mine.
.
Several thousand records (mostly LP's, but also hundreds of 45's), several hundred collectible and Rare, Out of Print CDs and Box Sets, plus posters and other memorabilia will all eventually be listed.

Truly a great (and enormous) collection! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You deserve and will receive FAST SHIPPING and CAREFUL, SECURE PACKING.
My LP packing is considered to be among the very best on eBay!

All records packed (with vinyl inside inner sleeve, behind cover for open LPs) with bubble-wrap around all sides  - sandwiched between full 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" stiff corrugated flats - and shipped in strong LP mailer boxes, for best protection in the mail.
...Orders shipped out on FIRST PAID / FIRST SHIPPED Basis.
a later payment may add an extra day to posting if I receive more payments in a single given day than I can securely pack & ship w/in 24 Hours. I will NEVER skimp on TOP LP packing.
SHIPPING USA: Media Mail: EXACT POSTAGE Cost  additional LPs *PAID TOGETHER*, shipped in same package, at EXACT POSTAGE by additional WEIGHT. Priority Mail: EXACT POSTAGE Cost  additional LPs *PAID TOGETHER*, shipped in same package, at EXACT POSTAGE by additional WEIGHT. . for COMBINED Shipping Discount:
Place all items in the eBay CART - and then make 1 SINGLE PAYMENT for all items.
*(to accommodate eBay payment / shipping set-up). It can only See/Apply COMBINED DISCOUNT if you purchase all items in ONE Payment.

ALL OTHER COUNTRIES
I Charge EXACT POSTAGE only, Worldwide.
FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL or PRIORITY INTERNATIONAL - Your Choice.

* I reserve the right to cancel any bids by any international bidders with poor or very low feedback.

OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS:
for all packages below $100.00
You are set up here with 2 choices
The standard LOWEST rate that the US Postal system allows (First Class International),
or the FASTER, but higher rate, which includes Full Tracking (Priority International).

.

All packages above 4 Lbs (5-6 or more LPs) can NOT ship by the low 1ST CLASS International rate.
Those must go by higher (but faster) PRIORITY INTERNATIONAL RATE with FULL TRACKING.
These are US Postal System rules, not mine.

ALL ITEMS OR COMBINED PACKAGES OF $100.00 OR OVER, SHIPPED OVERSEAS
must ship FULLY INSURED by PRIORITY MAIL INTERNATIONAL for FULL TRACKING.