HAWKWIND ? clean 1970 Liberty UK gatefold ? acid space rock prog ? Pretty Things

$

38

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Informed by both the innocence of psychedelia and the pre-experience of punk, Hawkwind’s self-titled debut was unlike anything they would ever record again. For a start, the overall sound was an organic filigree moss veil, reinforced by the loud gatefold photo depicting this earliest incarnation jamming in front of an incomplete rendering of Stonehenge comprised of HIWATT amplifiers. This original lineup assembled by guitarist/vocalist Dave Brock with the very specific purpose of approximating a chemically induced, mind expansive odyssey in sound was: Nik Turner (sax, flute), John Harrison (bass), Huw Lloyd Langton (guitar), Terry Ollis (drums) and Dikmik (audio generator). On this album, Brock’s musical incapacities would in no way hold him back (his still-evolving electric style shored up by second guitarist Huw Lloyd Langton and ex-Pretty Things guitarist Dick Taylor, who co-produced the album with the group) although his rudimentary e-guitar scratchings are in complete contrast to his by far stronger acoustic style which was reinforced by years of busking.

“The Reason Is?” begins the odyssey with the ringing of cymbals and droning moans that set up “Be Yourself,” a dry though hard freak-out set against a simple, garagey “Syncopated Pandemonium” while all instruments play with democratically-determined sonic space as a bounty of air surrounds all. Nobody wants to take the lead until Dikmik starts throwing in highly disconcerting stabs of audio generator whooshes and the pace begins to climb ever upward, both guitarists scratching along as best they can under a post-“S.F. Sorrow” Dick Taylor guitar solo. They head back into the lyrics after more general grooving, and ends with a terrifying, blood-rushing squeal from the audio generator. But once into “Paranoia Part 1,” Hawkwind’s collective pulse and breathing starts again, quietly accelerating until the main guitar riff enters, a fusing of “Dazed And Confused” and “In The Court Of The Crimson King” in a bad trip “Bolero” manner. In fact, it continues to scale the walls of its own paranoid wall until it grinds to a gimmicky halt as though the turntable, along with the collective mind of the band, has just been blown to bits. “Paranoia Part 2” starts off side 2 calmly, although several hundred miles into further mind-tripping paranoia and general acid twistedness. Though far more becalmed than “Part 1,” a smothering and uneasy near-silence of hissing vocals appear and fall away as random bass plonks appear with all the driving force of a dripping faucet. A chant of “HIGHER!…HIGHER!…HIGHER…” starts up, Dikmik throwing in occasional echoed and smearing audio generator burps whenever the vibe suits, and then the riff from the previous section returns, corkscrewing through the whole thing and turning everything downward only to repeat upward again like an M.C. Escher staircase to nowhere. Further disembodied, wordless voices appear, surrounding the last downered chords as all dissolves into further breathing and whispering that creates an ecstatic moaner and a half. Pretty soon, however, the exhausted group body begins to re-animate into the instrumental “Seeing It As You Really Are” and the paranoia finally passes into reaffirming jamming with the two rhythm guitars referring to Dick Taylor’s soloing into a caduceus-like formation against further audio generator manipulations. They begin to appear with greater frequency, even when the jam practically grinds to a halt. There is a final build where they all just go for broke with speed, freaking out and just wind up screaming over beaten cymbals and unskillful yet willful guitar lines. “Mirror Of Illusion” closes the album with stereo-panned maracas, out of tune 12-string and John Harrison’s flat-footed yet faux-groovy bass playing in a similar sunshiney/outdoorsy groove as the opener of the LP, “Hurry On Sundown.” But for all the optimism, a vibe of post-trip, druggy unease works its way to the surface, as though all the previous revelations of colour have assembled into patterns of cleared confusion. Of course, a final Dikmik audio generator signature signs off the LP.

Unhindered by their lack of proficiency, Hawkwind created an album that was not a masterpiece for all its obvious flaws, but BECAUSE of them.

(from The Book Of Seth)

Artist: HAWKWIND

Title: HAWKWIND

Label: Liberty

Catalog Number: LBS 83348

Country: England

Dead Wax Numbers: LBS 83348 A-2U  //  LBS 83348B-2U  stamped  (M and 1 also stamped on both sides)

Weight: 140 grams

Cover Format: gatefold, wide spine, flat paper throughout, printed and made by E.J. Day Ltd.

Inner Sleeve: N/A

Cover Condition: VG (sharp, vivid and tight, moderate corner and edge wear but no splits, slight waviness, small sticker tears on front, nice & clean overall)

Vinyl Condition: VG+ (clean with nice gloss, no groove distortion, just some scattered faint hairlines and a light sleeve scuff-line but nothing significant, there is some light background crackle in a couple quiet spots but no clicks, pops or other distractions of any kind, a nice and solid play copy)

We clean every record on a VPI HW-17F using Audio Intelligent fluids.

Everything is strictly graded using the classic Goldmine Standards that we have been applying since 1983: 

M / M- / EX / VG+ / VG / VG- / G+ / G  (please see bottom of auction for specific grading information).

UNITED STATES MEDIA MAIL :  $4 for the first LP, 50 cents for each thereafter.  PRIORITY MAIL :  $8 for the first LP, $2 for each thereafter.

If you would like insurance (including Signature Confirmation) please add $1.65 for a package valued up to $50, $2.30 up to $100, $2.45 up to $200, $4.60 up to $300, and 90 cents for each $100 after that.

CANADA and MEXICO FIRST CLASS AIRMAIL :  $9 for the first LP, $3 each for the next three.  PRIORITY AIRMAIL :  $23 for the first LP, $2 for each thereafter.

THE REST OF THE WORLD - FIRST CLASS INTERNATIONAL AIRMAIL (2-4 weeks) :  $16 for the first LP, $6 more for the next three.  Registration is available for an additional $12.  PRIORITY AIRMAIL (5-14 days) :  $30 for the first LP, $5 for each thereafter.  Registration is also available for an additional $12.

DUE TO THE INABILITY TO TRACK FIRST CLASS MAIL, ALL INTERNATIONAL PACKAGES WORTH $200 OR MORE MUST BE SHIPPED PRIORITY AIRMAIL.  NO EXCEPTIONS!  PLEASE WAIT FOR YOUR INVOICE IF THIS APPLIES TO YOU.  THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING.

 For all locations, double LPs count as 2 records, triple sets count as 3 and so on.  We are always happy to combine shipping, but regardless of how many LPs you hope to acquire, please complete your payment no later than 7 days after your last winning auction ends (of course exceptions can always be made, please contact us anytime).  If you are combining items please wait for us to send our personal invoice with the combined shipping amount.

Each (non-sealed) record is removed from its cover before shipping, and both are inserted into a new 3 mm sleeve before they are secured, with bubble wrap if need be, in the highest-quality cruciform LP mailer.  No time or effort is spared to insure that your disc, cover and inner sleeve / inserts all arrive in exactly the same condition as they were listed.

We aim to ship every item within 24 hours of payment, but this is not a physical store and a lot of time is needed for procuring and preparing these scarce items, so we ask you to please understand if we take an extra day or two to ship your package every now and then.  We cannot be held accountable for lost or stolen items (please use Signature Confirmation if this is an issue), arrival times, or for anything shipped overseas without registration.  We use eBay shipping so you will have records and tracking numbers for everything, but we have no control whatsoever once the item is handed over the USPS counter unless you use registration, so if you choose to forgo this extra service please do not file a claim if your package takes forever or fails to be delivered.  We highly recommend registration to all customers in Eastern Europe, Italy, and France from our experiences over the past few years.

We will always work with you no matter what the circumstance.  We make ourselves readily available to all of our customers, and look forward to any and all questions or concerns you may have.  We have satisfied thousands of online customers alone over the years, so don’t let our new shop feedback presence influence your perception of us.

We visually grade all records using the classic Goldmine Standard, to which we have added EX (as have many others), but we do not use any other variant from the classic scale.  No NM- or EX+ (which are both EX), EX- VG+++ or Near Excellent (which are all VG+), or any such other nebulous grades here!  We feel that nearly every collector will be more than pleased with anything listed EX or above in our auctions; they will all be top-shelf, archive quality items which will play M- throughout.  A VG+ record will truly satisfy all but the most critical curator.  On the very rare occasion we actually grade an opened LP as straight MINT, we can guarantee you’ll never find a nicer copy anywhere!

We will play-grade any LP if there is any reason to do so; any questionable mark, scuff or noteworthy artifact of any kind will be sampled to determine its true significance (which may obviously impact the grade).  We will also gladly play-grade anything upon request; if you are curious about the actual pressing characteristics or any have other questions about its actual performance please feel free to ask.

MINT :  Absolutely perfect.

This record looks like it has just left the plant, with no flaws whatsoever.  It appears unhandled and unplayed, with no marks of any sort.  Usually only sealed or (sometimes) unplayed LPs will warrant this grade.

The cover does not appear to have had a record inside it; there is no wear or distraction of any kind.

 M- : Virtually flawless, top copy.

The record is virtually identical to the moment it was opened, but may have a few faint paper, packaging or pressing scuffs which will produce no sound whatsoever and are very hard to see without critical inspection.  It was very carefully handled and played, likely only once or twice.

The cover is as close to perfect as can be expected given its age.  There may be minor impressions due to the outer edge of the vinyl (no ring wear), the lightest possible corner bumps, or a few tiny laminate creases (mainly on imports), but no wear or whitening of any kind whatsoever.

EX : A beautiful specimen, which will please most critical collectors and not need to be upgraded.

The record has no scratches or significant blemishes, and will play M- throughout.  It retains 100% of the gloss, sheen and luster, but may have a handful of faint superficial scuffs, hairlines or light spindle marks which will not produce any sound whatsoever.

The cover is nearly perfect.  There may be the absolute faintest suggestion of ring wear or possibly a light touch of dulling on the corners (nothing wrinkled or obtrusive in any way), but no notable seam or spine wear, writing or sign of tape anywhere.

 VG+ : Plays perfectly nearly all of the time, with only a few minor distractions.

The record still retains nearly all of the gloss, sheen and luster, but there may be a handful of inaudible superficial marks or scuffs, a mild scattering of light hairlines (which would only be faintly audible between tracks or in some very quiet passages), or a few stray marks which may mildly sound for a few revolutions. Each flaw is very minor, barely noticeable to the naked eye, and will not detract from the enjoyment in any way.

The cover is still very clean and crisp, but may look slightly more aged and have a few minor flaws such as small unobtrusive writing, minor wear to the seams and spine (no splits), slightly worn corners, very light ring wear or minor creasing.  No flaw is at all distracting in and of itself.

 VG : A nice play copy, which will perform without much significant distraction.

The record appears well played, but still has the majority of the luster.  It will not have been abused, though there will be some audible sound defects which will not overpower the dynamics of the music, such as mild surface noise in the quietest sections, a handful of stray isolated pops and clicks (which are brief and occasional), or possibly some very mild groove wear; still no skips, repeats, or anything deep or seriously pronounced.  It will play through quite nicely most of the time, with very minimal distraction.

The cover looks somewhat used and shows some mild wear.  There may be some minor seam splitting, ring wear (which still doesn’t overwhelm the cover), discreet writing (not large magic marker), or mild yellowing due to air contaminants. It is still nice, just a few notable flaws away from VG+.

We will never sell anything less than VG, so the rest of the scale is unnecessary.  And for what it’s worth, we absolutely detest groove wear, so we will almost never list anything lacking the overwhelming majority of the luster, sheen and gloss.  Anything of significance will always be noted.

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING!