PHLUPH 1968 ORIG VERVE ACID PSYCH LP Doors Pink Floyd BOSSTOWN SOUND LISTEN

$

32

PHLUPH "PHLUPH" LP

ORIGINAL 1968 LP ON THE US VERVE LABEL, STEREO V6/5054

COVER IN VG++ SHAPE, SMALL CUTOUT HOLE

VINYL LOOKS UNPLAYED, SHINY, NO MARKS, PLAYS EXCELLENT/NEAR MINT!

What’s green and lives in a cutout bin?  The PHLUPH album!  Well, at least that’s what I’ve heard – they tell me that back in the day (and by that, I mean before my time) this album practically languished in every cutout bin in America – Lester Bangs once called it a bargain bin classic.  Well, if THAT were true, someone fix me up a time machine so I could go back to the 70’s and buy up every Phluph album I can find from Woolworths at 88 cents, because nowadays, this album commands a heftier price and, dare I say it, some well-deserved RESPECT, finally.  By the time I was old enough to scour cutout bins, all they had were dozens of Elton John’s “A Single Man” and the soundtrack to “They Call It An Accident,” neither of which is worth much today. 

PHLUPH is worth something, however, because it’s actually a really GOOD psych rock album – and the more you collect these obscurities, the more you come to realize just HOW good it is.  It’s good primarily because it mixes the sound of the Doors (and a bit of Fever Tree) with a little late 60’s Pink Floyd, in particular the organ sound of Richard Wright.  Actually, Phluph is REALLY hooked on the organ sound – which is what draws most of the Doors comparisons, since the vocalist sounds NOTHING like Jim Morrison (thank you).  Phluph is the sound of the Doors if they were in a better mood, especially on leadoff track “Doctor Mind”, which could have been a big hit if it weren’t so DRENCHED in that organ sound. 

“Death of a Nation” sounds like it was plucked straight from “The Soft Parade,” while “Love Eyes” sounds like Bob Dylan sitting in with the Syd-era Pink Floyd, and there does appear to be a little bit of a Dylan fixation hiding among these Doors outtakes.  Things get a bit trippier as the album progresses – the frantic “Ellyptical Machine” is aptly titled, riding on a jazzy and very elliptical rhythm, spiked with backwards cymbal sounds and more of those frantic shopping mall organ outlet solos.  While the person who titled “Lovely Lady” obviously wasn’t listening to the music – with its disorienting stutter-step organ melody and freakish calliope break, it should have been retitled “Lovely Drunken Circus Clown,” although even I’ll admit that’s not nearly as catchy. 

The lyrics of “Lovely Lady” have nothing to do with lovely ladies at all, instead concentrating on such deep thoughts as “Growing closeness proves an ancient truth” and “Distance losing sets your table and in it grows the match that you will strike.”  Jon Anderson, are you listening?  Are you behind this, somehow?  Simply put, this is total psychedelia, steeped in the Doors and stuffed with more organ than John Holmes’ co-stars.  That oozing green cover is a perfect indication of the sounds inside.  You won’t find THIS in the cutout bins any longer.     

HEAR IT!

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.  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.