SHEL SILVERSTEIN -Inside Folk.w/ the Unicorn 1962 LP NM

$

37

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Shel Silverstein -"Inside Folk Songs" in mono on Atlantic 8072. One of the most important albums by one of the most important artists of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. Contains his original version of The Unicorn Song. FROM 1962.

Record Grade: Near Mint

Cover Grade: Mint-

Labels: Red and purple, black fan logo

About the Album: by David Szatmary A hilarious collection of folk songs by the gravel-voiced humorist.

Tracks

• 1 Bury Me in My Shades Silverstein
• 2 Have Another Espresso Silverstein
• 3 Bananas Silverstein
• 4 Liz Silverstein
• 5 You're Always Welcome at Our House Silverstein
• 6 Civil War Song Silverstein
• 7 Boa Constrictor Silverstein
• 8 25 Minutes to Go Silverstein
• 9 Folk Singer's Blues Silverstein
• 10 Beans Taste Fine Silverstein
• 11 Slitheree-Dee Silverstein
• 12 It Does Not Pay to Be Hip Silverstein
• 13 Blue Eyes Silverstein
• 14 I'm Standing Outside of Your Shelter Silverstein
• 15 The Wreck of the Old 49 Silverstein
• 16 Never Bite Married Woman on the Thigh Silverstein
• 17 Unicorn Silverstein

  About the Artist: by Bruce Eder

  Shel Silverstein was one of those rare "multi-threat" artists — composer, singer, cartoonist, illustrator, author — with popular successes in all of those areas. Born in Chicago in 1932, Shelby Silverstein first attracted notice during his army service, in Japan and Korea, when he became a cartoonist for the U.S. Army publication Stars & Stripes. After returning to civilian life, he made a part of his living selling hot dogs at Chicago's two ballparks, and, according to a 1961 publisher's biography, set a record for the number of hot dogs sold at Thursday night games. He also began drawing cartoons for magazines such as Look, Sports Illustrated, and This Week, but it was when he joined Playboy magazine in mid-'50s that his name started getting known nationally. The magazine was then on the cutting edge of popular culture, and Silverstein's cartoons, which appeared in every issue from 1957 through the mid-'70s, with their satirical and provocative content, were some of the sharpest work in there. During the late '50s, Silverstein also began exploring other areas of creativity, including writing and music. He recorded an LP, Hairy Jazz, for Elektra Records, which featured two original songs as well as his interpretations, as a singer, of a brace of jazz standards. It was the first of a dozen albums that Silverstein would cut in the course of an active career of more than two decades in music, cutting across all genres — his next album, Inside Folk Songs, was a sharply comedic look at the early-'60s folk-music boom and all of its attendant absurdities, which included the original version of "The Unicorn Song," and he followed that up with a trio of LPs for Chess Records' progressive label, Cadet Records. During this period, apart from his work as a magazine illustrator, Silverstein was busy as an author — his cartoons appeared in book form, including Now Here's My Plan (Simon & Schuster) and Grab Your Socks (Ballantine), and he wrote a successful children's book, The Lion Book. Additionally, he appeared regularly on radio as a musician and actor on The Jean Shephard Show and as a regular with Roger Price on television. He also performed, as a singer and banjo player, as part of Papa Bue's Danish Viking New Orleans Jazz Band and as a solo act. Amid his literary successes, which included Uncle Shelby ABZ Book, Uncle Shelby's Zoo, and Giraffe and a Half, all of which were aimed at children, Silverstein also established himself as a songwriter. A pair of his compositions, "The First Battalion" and "You're Wasting Your Time Trying to Make Me Settle Down," were recorded by Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp, during the early '60s, but "The Unicorn Song," from his own Inside Folk Music album, quickly achieved a life of its own when the Irish Rovers turned it into a huge international hit. The Brothers Four also found success recording Silverstein's "25 Minutes to Go," but it was in 1967, when Johnny Cash enjoyed massive success with his version of Silverstein's "A Boy Named Sue," that he achieved stardom as a songwriter. RCA Records subsequently issued an album of Silverstein's music using that song as the title track. Silverstein's most important album from this period, however, and his most successful was Freakin' at the Freakers Ball, released in 1973, in which he turned his jaundiced, satirical eyes toward the counterculture, hippies, and radicals of all stripes. A year before that, however, he saw a new round of success begin as a songwriter with &Sylvia's Mother," an over-the-top romantic lament that reached number five on the charts and turned its artists, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, into stars; the group, who played on Freakin' at the Freaker's Ball, subsequently hit even bigger with the satiric "The Cover of the Rolling Stone," also written by Silverstein, and the group was the major vehicle for Silverstein's music for the rest of the 1970s. His song "Don't Give a Dose to the One You Love Most," from Freakin' at the Freakers Ball, was later adopted as a theme in different anti-venereal disease campaigns. Even as he was celebrated in sophisticated musical circles for his satirical and adult-oriented songs, however, Silverstein was a best-selling author of children's books, including Falling Up (1996), The Missing Piece (1982), Where the Sidewalk Ends (1981), A Light in the Attic (1981), and most enduring of all, The Giving Tree (1964), which has remained in print almost continuously for close to 40 years. He also wrote a play, Wild Life, that had its off-Broadway debut in 1983 to rave reviews, and he earned an Oscar nomination as a songwriter for "I'm Checking Out," which he write for the 1990 Mike Nichols film Postcards From the Edge. His songs were also used in such movies as Ned Kelly, Coal Miner's Daughter, Hearts of Fire, and Things Change. The world lost a unique and talented artist when Shel Silverstein died of a heart attack at his home in Key West in May 1999.

  MY GRADING SYSTEMS: I’ve been told that I grade conservatively. My NM (near mint) is my highest grade for opened records (which would also include unplayed records). It’s a 9 or 10 on a 1-10 scale. M- would be equivalent to an 8; VG++ to a 7; VG+ to a 6; VG to a 5; VG- to a 4; G to a 3; F to a 2 and P to a 1. The same scale applies when I grade covers (jackets). Significant defects are specifically noted and taken into consideration in the grade.

  GRADING DESCRIPTIONS

  
  RECORDS:
  • GRADING Grading is based on the following criteria
  • Sealed = store stock new
  • Near Mint = like new or near new with only one or two small insignificant defects, a 9 or better on a 1-10 scale
  • Mint- = extremely nice. Would be Near Mint, except for a couple of light hairlines or scuffs, which do not affect play
  • VG++ = still a very nice record with all or nearly all of its original gloss but may have a few more light, surface marks, hairlines, needle tracks or the like which should not materially effect play
  • VG+ = a nice, but used record that may have a series of light scuffs or scratches. It probably plays with a few pops, but has no serious problems.
  • VG = a well-used record that still should sound OK when played, but may have moderate surface noise, pops, etc.
  • VG- = a very well-worn record that plays through without skipping, but will do until a better copy comes along.
  • Good = not actually good at all but probably will play through but with much in the way of surface noise, pops, crackles, etc. Still, will have no cracks, chips or the like
  • Fair = you’re getting this record just to own but not to play
  • Poor = the sky’s the limit, generally I will discard a record this bad (and sell the cover, jacket or sleeve alone) unless the label holds some particular interest

    VISUAL GRADING: All records are visually graded only unless I state that they are play-graded. Some labels such as RCA, Capitol, Colpix, Atlantic, MGM were pressed on better quality vinyl and will sound better than a record which visually appears the same on labels such as Crown, Score or Design. Recording techniques also varied. The sound on live albums may be far inferior to studio recordings. There may also be defects in the pressing which are invisible. The point is that an album on RCA graded VG+ may sound far better than an album on Crown graded Near Mint. I have no problem issuing a refund if you are dissatisfied with the sound on a record as long as it’s requested as per my stated return policy below. But please don’t be shocked if a record visually graded Near Mint doesn’t sound state of the art. If I base my grade on a PLAY GRADE, I will state this specifically in my grading section.

    COVERS: There are really too many possible defects regarding covers to be as specific in my definitions as I had been with my record grades. But please keep in mind these general grading guidelines:

    • I will give greater weight to the condition of the front cover than back cover when assigning an overall grade
    • No cover with a cut out hole or saw mark will be graded Near Mint even if it is still in factory shrink and there is no other wear
    • I will not reduce the grade of a cover for stickers which are glued to the jacket by the record company (eg. Contains the hit song Expressway to Your Heart); but will reduce the grade for stickers glued on the cover by stores, previous owners, etc.
    • If I write that a cover has a bb hole, I’m talking about a small cut out hole
    • A saw mark is a narrow cut in the perimeter of the cover, could be anywhere and vary in length from 1/2” to 2” at the most.
    • The overall grade takes into consideration any stated defects. For example, if I grade a cover VG+ and then state it has 6” top and bottom seam splits - I’ve already reduced the grade because of the seam splits. If the seams weren’t split, the cover would be graded higher such as VG++ or Mint-.

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