PUFF 1968 MGM Alan Lorber BOSSTOWN TRIPPY PSYCH LP HEAR

$

30

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

PUFF "Same"

Original 1968 LP on the MGM label, STEREO SE-4622

COVER:  VG+, ringwear, previous owner "MOOSE" used a labelmaker to put his name on the front cover and one side of the label (could probably be removed, but it's MOOSE!)

VINYL:  Plays VG++

Some albums from the sixties, you can pick up and still not be sure what’s inside – is it folk, is it rock, is it an album of madrigals played on the pan flute?  Who knows?  These guys, on the other hand, have no poker face whatsoever – the front and back covers are clearly the products of graphic designers on hallucinogenics, showing the band clowning around among stuffed animals like a Magical Mystery Tour for the FurryCon set.  A quick scan of the back cover also reveals the name Alan Lorber, the man responsible for the psychedelic Bosstown sound – and if that STILL doesn’t convince you, the band’s name is PUFF, forgodsake!  Even Peter, Paul and Mary had trouble covering THAT one up.  Of course, the members of Puff aren’t out to disassociate themselves from anything you might expect of them – contrarily, they fully embrace all that.  And so, if there’s a lingering air of stoned psychedelic haze floating just above your turntable while this platter’s spinning, you have been duly warned – thanks in part to Alan Lorber’s dense layer of trippy production tricks – so thick it’s rumored you can actually smell patchouli in the room.  For instance, “Rainy Day” is pure bouncy sunshine pop at heart, every bit as catchy as a Cowsills or Spanky and Our Gang song – but wait, come back!  Here, at the one and a half minute mark, the song quickly shifts into an unexpected psychedelic polka, with lyrics about going to the zoo and giving bananas to the monkeys.  And before your brain can even START to process that, we shift again into a whimsical little homage to those scratchy old 78 rpms your grandmother keeps in the attic, a la the Monkees “Magnolia Simms”.  Likewise, the floaty “Vacuum” is soft pop delicateness at its finest – but eschews the “Cherish” route for something closer to “My World Fell Down” (that’s Curt Boettcher and Sagittarius, kids).  And when the stoned vocals sing “My words may die in a vacuum of dead air,” they actually DO – the sound of the vocals fades into a maelstrom of faroff sound effects and production trickery, thereby creating the aural illusion of an actual vacuum WITHIN the song, and blowing your mind too.  If you’ve ever gotten high and just laid in a field somewhere watching the clouds go by, then good for you, and say hello to mom for me.  But if you haven’t, then you can experience the same sensation just by putting the needle down on Side 2, Track 4, “I Sure Do Need You”, all six and a half minutes of sheer cosmic bliss.  This is very nearly transcendental stuff, the kind of floaty late night vibe you got the first time you listened to the Gandalf album late at night with the lights out.  Dancing flutes flutter overhead like Sid and Marty Krofft butterflies, while a repetitive bassline marks out the time in steady, slow motions.  The vocals are echoed to the breaking point, so fragile and ethereal a song is this, it may not even still be there when you get back.  Puff, indeed.  You’ll hear the same thick layer of stoned fog hovering over the soft pop majesty of “Changes”, a beautiful melody trapped within a veil of ether, miles thick.  This time, there are faroff distorted vocals that you can’t quite make out (like the backing vocals in the Beatles “Blue Jay Way”), and the eerie sound of something that MAY be calliope music buzzing and moaning even further off, or maybe something far more sinister.  Suffice to say, Puff has some incredible songs here, but they don’t make getting to them all that easy.  Still, with a little…er…PUFF of yer own, this could be one magical trip for sure.

UPDATE:  SORRY, I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).

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.  ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS REQUIRE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, WHICH IS AN EXTRA 75 CENTS.  Air mail shipping to Canada starts at $10 US, each additional record $2 shipping.  Air mail shipping everywhere else in the world starts at $16 US, with each additional record only $3 shipping.  ALL FOREIGN ORDERS REQUIRE CERTIFICATE OF SHIPMENT, WHICH IS AN EXTRA $1.10.  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. 

And finally, I include delivery confirmation on all shipments inside the US.  This is my proof of shipment, and also helps us to track your package if it doesn’t arrive when it should.  I will email you within 2 days of shipment and give you the confirmation number at that time.  Insurance is always optional, but for larger orders, it’s highly recommended.   I DO NOW REQUIRE THAT ALL FOREIGN BUYERS PAY AN ADDITIONAL $1.10 FOR PROOF OF SHIPMENT.  IT'S A NOMINAL FEE AND THE CHEAPEST WAY FOR ME TO PROVE THAT I ACTUALLY SHIPPED YOUR PACKAGE AND DIDN'T JUST POCKET YOUR MONEY AND SKIP TOWN.  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.