UK 1970 LTD ED ORIG "BABA" PETE TOWNSHEND (WHO) RONNIE LANES (FACES) + pSyCh

$

105

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        ORIGINAL 1970 BRITISH FIRST PRESS    Loaded with Inserts + Original Artwork sketch

                                        

                   MEHER BABA

              HAPPY BIRTHDAY

                Pete Townshend

         

            

\                               UK -  Universal Spiritual League label

 

Feb 25 1970 RARE first printing with multi-pages inset the gatefold cover and includes all the various inserts as first released PLUS a very rare original Meher Baba ink pen sketch that is one-of-a-kind! The only known (original) artwork!
Happy Birthday is a collaboration album by Pete Townshend, The guitarist for The Who and friends including Ronnie Lane of the Small Faces, pressed and released in 1970 by Universal Spiritual League. The album was released in commemoration of Meher Baba's birthday on 25 February 1970 as the first in a series of tribute albums dedicated to Pete Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba.
Released ONLY in England, the original 1970 issued pressing was but a small limited pressing and copies are now very valuable and sought....
Pete Townshend reflects on one of Baba's most powerful and controversial statements: "Drugs are harmful mentally, spiritually and physically." Pete Townshend: "I repeat these words parrot fashion, not knowing honestly whether I would have said it myself had Baba not said it first. One thing I do know, the last acid trip I took (on a plane coming back from the Monterey Pop Festival) would have been my last whether I had heard the above from Baba or not. Acid had taken me apart but not put me back together again, and it is clutching another of Baba's statements about drugs that I justify what I did to my brain:
"For a few sincere seekers, the use of hallucinogenic drugs may have instilled in them a state of longing that has brought them into my contact, but further injection would not only be harmful, but have no purpose."
"Somebody asked me if Baba ever took acid. That's where I have to walk away. It's clear that they can't act on the unqualified words of a stranger in India when they don't even accept that he is really the Avatar. If they accepted he was the Avatar they wouldn't ask if he had tried acid. So they keep on keeping on, and I try to stay cool."
Assembled and produced by Pete Townshend, the album also includes contributions from poet Maud Kennedy, Small Faces Ronnie Lane, Alan Cohen, Ron Geesin, and Mike Da Costa. Meher Baba had passed in 1969, and the album, issued before Pete Townshends first solo, Who Came First, was released on the avatar's birthday, less than a year after his death. Pete Townshend sings Maud Kennedy's beautiful untitled poem to kick things off, accompanied only by a mandolin, an acoustic guitar, a piano, and an acoustic guitar, there is an innocence so uncharacteristic of his work, the listener gets startled by its optimism:" I am ready/to learn and to grown/I am alone with the truth/I am brave/what is there to fear/I am strong the dark supports me/I am patient/each moment of eternity/I am able to help whenever necessary." While its sentiment is simple, it is no more so than "See me/Feel me/Touch me/Heal me," from The Who's album Tommy. It's a beautiful way to begin an album of devotional material. Next up is the rowdier aspect of divine inspiration in Ronnie Lane's "Evolution." Lane digs in deep with a song reminiscent of the material he recorded with The Faces, such as "Debris." It's a crazy skiffle tune that could have been penned by Bob Dylan in a drunken moment. Its story offers a tale not so much of evolution, which is the song's logical tack, but one of transformation. The protagonist begins life as a stone that becomes a blacksmith named Dan. But in another life, he is a sword that cuts like hell and kills, before rusting unto dust. Again, this sword comes back as a daisy eaten by a goat that falls in a moat. It's relative, carries the same weight. Even as a grub living in mud that becomes a butterfly and then St. Luke. Ronnie Lane's humour and rough and raucous demeanor are infectious and the listener feels as if she were being treated to a song in a barroom rather than on a record of offerings to a spiritual master. Perhaps Meher Baba wouldn't have had it any other way. Ronnie Lane's track is followed by a small piece by Pete Townshend, with piano, harmonica, and strings, called "Day of Silence." It's a profound song, full of contemplative grace and sage wisdom about living everyday life. It's an invitation with a John Lennon-esque pop melody – complete with eight-bar bridge – to step back and observe and let it all go. The more esoteric aspect of the album begins here as Alan Cohen teaches from Meher Baba's biography with sitar accompaniment. Mike Kennedy jumps in with his own skiffle tune – Meher Baba must have liked skiffle – performed by Pete Townshend. His vocal and banjo accompaniment slips two guitars in the middle of the mix to flesh it out. Entitled "Mary Jane," you already know what it's about. It's one of the first anti-drug songs of the era. Alan Cohen speaks again about Meher Baba before Pete Townshend moves back into the album's mix more firmly in control than ever before. Performing "The Seeker", with a minimal accompaniment, but it's a demo version of the song with Pete Townshend singing with a grain in his voice that is both menacing and tired. And if it's not Keith Moon on drums, the cat's got me fooled. It's a great version, perhaps the definitive one. This is followed by Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine," performed by Pete Townshend. The reason it's included here is that it was Meher Baba's favourite pop song. Pete Townshend's reading is full of solemnity and the intention of performing the song straight. But he can't, and you have to give the man props for trying. His guitar playing is flawless, despite the swift key changes, and chording and time shifts. He's trying hard to feel the tine through Meher Baba's heart, but it doesn't quite come off. It's fascinating to hear someone fail so sincerely and know it; yet he carries on until the end of the end. Ron Geesin's neo-serialist tone poem, "With a Smile Up His Nose They Entered" follows as a bizarre inclusion here before Pete Townshend begins the close out with "The Love Man." Again, it's a demo with sweeping backing vocals, acoustic guitar, and a killer drum part – this time whoever it is, is very fine but it isn't Keith Moon. This is one of Pete Townshend's storied love songs, directed somewhere else but deep in from the guttersnipe child in his heart who finally reaches out to say hello to the "love man" who will enter his heart and transform him. It's a solid rock tune, as good as anything the man's written. A poem by Mike Da Costa officially ends the record, but Pete Townshend's song with the pedal steel break in the middle is where it really moves off the player. There's nothing else to day; the birthday gift is complete, perfect in and of itself. As an album Happy Birthday stands the 45-plus years of time very well.

Side one
 

"Content" (words by Maud Kennedy) Pete Townshend   

"Evolution" (words and music by Ronnie Lane) Pete Townshend with Ronnie Lane   

"Day of Silence" (words and music by Townshend) Pete Townshend   

"Alan Cohen Speaks" (Sitar accompaniment by Vytas Serelis) Meher Baba's Universal Players   

"Mary Jane" (words by Michael Westlake, music by Townshend) Pete Townshend   

"Alan Cohen Speaks" (words by Meher Baba) Meher Baba's Universal Players   

"The Seeker" (version, words and music by Townshend) Pete Townshend  

Side two

 "Begin the Beguine" (words and music by Cole Porter) Pete Townshend   

"With a Smile Up His Nose They Entered" (music by Ron Geesin) Ron Geesin   

"The Love Man" (words and music by Pete Townshend) Townshend   

"Meditation" (words by Mike Da Costa)
Mike Da Costa

 

 

CONDITION: The cover: rated "EX" (excellent) Very fragile THICK gatefold loaded with multi photo pages and includes ALL the original inserts + the one-of-a-kind original ink sketch...there is a little bit of discoloration (age?) around edges, but nothing significant and overall easily a collection keeper....Still retains fresh original appearance, no delete marks, no split seams, no bends, and no writing  ... RARE collection worthy item ...

The vinyl: Clean and glossy over both sides, rated: M- TOP COPY expect play grade to be with very enjoyable audio...NO distracting surface problems ... both labels are clean

                

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

 

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

 

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record

  NOTE: All Items backed by  money back guarantee! IF you have a problem PLEASE let us solve for you BEFORE leaving ANY negative feedback. Thanks!   GRADING SCALE: M, M-, EX, VG++,VG+, VG, VG- M    Completely clean, no marks M-   Carefully used, looks clean, plays clean, shiny gloss, no marks EX   Faint scuff or superficial mark, near M-, high gloss, plays clean VG++ Glossy with minimal scuffing or light mark playing very nice, clean VG+ a bit more scuff or markls still plays well with very minimal surface at worse VG   more marks/scratches only minor, nothing deep, no loud clicks or pops         this grade is abused by many, VG here does not mean "trashed" VG-  surface noise present, will not have skips or jumps     ALL PAYMENTS SHOULD BE MADE WITHIN 5 DAYS Of AUCTIONS END   BIDDERS PLEASE = Do Not Bid If You Are Not Serious About  Following Through The Transaction!   ALL ITEMS GUARANTEED FOR WINNING BID - LESS SHIPPING!