RARE 1970 Hippie Psychedelic Garage Band FLEXI RECORD American University Book
$
65
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Description
THE AMERICAN.
Vol. V No. II
- WITH GARAGE-BAND STYLE FLEXI -
Michael W. Lafferty; Editor in Chief
[FIRST EDITION] Washington, DC: The American University Student Association, 1970. Softcover in blind-stamped embossed titled front wrapper and illustrated rear wrapper; housed in decorated slip. Quarto [measures approximately 11 x 8-3/8 inches]; 96 pages with black- and-white illustrations throughout.
Contents for this issue include, "Onan", a comic strip by "Cerphe"; "This Country Is Ugly and Wants to Die" by R. J. Walkinshaw; "Frank Harris Invades New York" by Bill Ryan; "The Virgin", a play by Fred Allender; and "The Tale of Diana Lee", by R. B. Manning.
With two inserts: - an untitled 33-1/3 rpm 7" inch flexi-disc recording in psychedelic-style illustrated sleeve (see below for a description including song list and "review" by a collector).
- a b/w reproduction of a drawing by Melegrito (or, Mele Grito?) dated (19)69. Drawing is folded twice for insertion in magazine (thus, as issued).
Has stamped number on front cover (probably as issued, ala Beatles White Album), minor shelf wear to slip, light soiling, etc., else about very good overall condition; no owner marking, NOT EX-LIBRARY.
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REVIEW:
"Now, here's what's really interesting, and the reason I bought this. Along with the year-book came a 33 rpm flexi-disc featuring three tracks. The credits are scant, but a couple of names overlap with the staff at the college magazine, so it's obviously a campus production. The appearance of the text 'The American' seals any doubts on its relationship to the slipcase and magazine, into which it was slipped when I found it. Although the two clearly belong together, there is no reference in the magazine to the flexi disc, from what I can see.
In any event, the flexi comes housed in a rather attractive monochrome art sleeve which is full of nicely drawn mushrooms, palm tree-size cannabis plants and some psychedelic patterns. The back cover is blank. The flexi disc itself is two-sided and credits 'Earth Matrix Ltd' as the (probably fictious) label. Side 1 has two shorter tracks, clocking in at a total of 6.5 minutes, while side 2 has one long track of almost exactly the same length, suggesting that this may have been a technical limit set for the flexi production.
Now, I wouldn't have bothered writing any of this if the music had turned out to be some generic, mediocre campus folk thing. Luckily it is not, although the second track on side 1 fails to breathe any particular life into the IRA folk hymn "The Patriot Game", the melody which Bobby Dylan borrowed for "With God On Our Side". Preceding it we get "Come Into My Garden" credited to Susan Manning, a risqué, or more precisely downright dirty little Judy Collins parody featuring various sexual invites from Ms Manning. I wonder how her friends reacted when they heard her gladly proclaiming that the visitor could well "enter through the rear gate". Let us hope her parents were kept unaware of this special class project of Susan's.
OK, so side 1 is student zeitgeist nonsense, but what it's really all about is the long track on side 2, the one that was said to sound like David Crosby. Well, in short, it does sound like David Crosby, his late '60s mood of flowing oceanic hippie psych mystique to be precise. I've uploaded a 75-second clip so you can get an idea about this number, which is titled "Gently All Around (Warmth)" and credited to one Wall Matthews with assistance (probably second guitar) by a Mac Walter. None of these names appear in The American magazine, or on the tracks on side 1. So the mystery is at its thickest just where the music is the best, a phenomena familiar to many veteran record collectors. There is a tempo shift with an intense acoustic guitar break before the Crosby ocean flow returns and the song ends. Due to this being a flexi the sound isn't all that great, but all in all this is one of the more interesting things I've found of late. In terms of obscurity few can top it..."
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