WILD MAN FISCHER An Evening With… Frank Zappa Produced.

	£		73
	$		96

Hi, I am Mike, now 51. Old enough to remember the golden era of original, high quality music, bands, artists.

Also records from the 1960s and 70s bought from the shops from new, I have been a music collector and enthusiast for over 37 years now. We all wish we could turn back the clock and buy those wonderful brand new records from the 60s and 70s, but alas, this is not possible; so I always try to offer the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. No vinyl/music lover really would choose to buy second-hand, but this is only way now to own these valuable, prized and elusive items now. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested reader – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee one hundred percent is exact colour matching for covers - this depends on the lighting at the time and that is out of my control, but I feel sure most items will be very close to the actual real item. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12 with Ittok Mk IV arm and Ortofon Samba Moving Coil cartridge (tracks at 1.8 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Moth vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too.

First-time, zero-rated bidders, who do not ask permission to bid, will be cancelled immediately and blocked – NO exceptions. For winning bidders who I consider excessively slow to make contact or submit payment, I will use my right to block future bids. If any bidder who wins in the final seconds is present to do so, surely they can at least email me to inform of intention and payment method? If swift or promp payment is a problem, please do not bid.

POSTING & PACKING: What You Get: I post all my UK items on FRIDAY every week, most will arrive Saturday to make signed-for delivery easier. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT mailers) with the record(s) REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with TWO massively thick stiffners for even extra protection and bubble wrap if deemed necessary. These stiffners are the thickest possible and custom supplied for ‘Oneadayrecords’ – these are NOT commercially available and you will not have seen thicker protection anywhere. The cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW heavy duty soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my Moth Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. Printed address labels are used as well as ‘Fragile’ tape for that extra professional touch for the packet. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but NOT surface mail abroad. I never make profit on posting and offer probably the cheapest and safest shipping possible. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends, with the total costs including ‘standard’ or ‘optional extra insurance’ P&P – ALL UK and Russian packets go out non-negotiable Recorded Delivery. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than 0.1 per percent based on over 3,500+ items sold in over 5 years of Ebay trading (I am now one of most established sellers via Ebay) and I consider that pretty exceptional.

PLEASE NOTE: I will now only send packets to Russia with Recorded Delivery at a cost of £7 per single LP. If this is unacceptable to Russian collectors, please do not bid. I only want my records to arrive safely and this gives packets a better chance to do so. Also ALL UK packets will be sent with either Recorded or Special Delivery as standard (both have to be signed for). All shipping costs and rules can be found after my description. If they are not acceptable, please do not bid.

Album Title: An Evening With Wild Man Fischer

Producer(s): Frank Zappa.

Engineer(s): Jerry Hensen.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: THE BASIC FISCHER: Merry Go Round; New Kind of Songs for Sale; I’m Not Shy Anymore; Are You from Clovis; The Madness and Ecstasy.

Side 2: LARRY’S SONGS, UNACCOMPANIED; Which Way Did the Freaks Go; I’m Working for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics; The Laves are Falling; 85 times; Cops and Robbers; Monkeys versus Donkeys; Start Life Over Again; The Mope; Life Brand New; Who did it Johnny?; Think of Me When Our Clothes Are Off; Taggy Lee; Rhonda; I looked Around You; Jennifer Jones.

Side 3: SOME HISTORICAL NOTES; The Taster (fancy version); The Story of the Taster; The Rocket Rock; The Rocket Rock Explanation and Dialog; Dream Girl; Dream Girl Explanation; Serrano Beach; Success Will Not Make Me Happy; Wild Man on the Strip Again.

Side 4: IN CONCLUSION; Why I am Normal; The Wild Man Fischer Story; Balling Isn’t Everything; Ugly Beautiful Girl; Larry and His Guitar; Circle (Larry’s first psychedelic hit); Larry Under Pressure.

Label/Format: Reprise - original UK tri-coloured format (please see label scan, they all appear practically the same).

Label Conditions: All four very clean and attractive with only light and quite faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Both records near immaculate and the best UK example I have ever seen with almost perfect sound.

Cat Number: RSLP 6332.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of these Records: 145 / 147 grams. [These days, many modern Audiophile reissues are pressed on super-heavyweight 180 gram vinyl. Only a small percentage of ‘vintage vinyl’ was ever pressed this heavy. Records pressed in the 1960s averaged around 140 to 150 grams. Records pressed in the 1970s were usually lighter and averaged more around 115 – 125 grams. Some records pressed around 1973 were very thin and light due an oil crisis and shortage around this time. Some records were even issued on recycled vinyl from this period and sounded poor with crackle and surface noise evident from the very first play. If any record I buy is deemed ‘recycled’, I will never offer it, I have a very simple test to detect these records if I suspect this to be the case other than audible imperfection. Some records from this period were even pressed on other materials the most notable was ‘Dynaflex’, used by RCA around this time. Although inferior to vinyl, this at least mostly sounded reasonably acceptable but pressings on this material were wafer thin and flimsy. Beyond the 70s, records often became thinner and lighter still but most played fine but were never quite the quality as from the ‘Golden Era’]. (This was based on ‘average’ weights for 20 records from these eras. Later pressings were usually lighter still).

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: This has always been very scarce, with only low sales. The UK version is, in my experience, much harder to find than the US version on Bizarre but neither are easy. A high percentage of buyers of this album would have been Zappa fans who were probably just curious at the time. This bizarre album had no commercial potential whatsoever and remains one of the most ‘Out There’ albums ever issued – probably even more difficult than the good Captain’s ‘Trout Mask Replica’.

Original Year of Release: 1969

Brief Artist & Album Info: I have listed this under ‘Rock – Alternative’, well this must rank as one of the most ‘Alternative’ albums ever issued. Without any doubt the most strange, bizarre and scary albums ever - this is all for real not acted. Larry ‘Wild Man’ Fischer was a busker in New York, he ‘sang’ original songs to his audience for a dime. He was a novelty, almost cult figure as a street performer in New York in the 1960s. Frank Zappa decided to make a record featuring Larry singing some of his own ‘tunes’ and tell his own story. A character right on the very edge, this double album is almost autobiographical, it’s disturbing, at times harrowing and very weird - even childlike. Zappa produces and his influence can be felt throughout, he can be heard directing on several passages. Backing, where present is performed by Art Tripp III on percussion but the real highlight of this album is the track ‘Circle’ which is fully backed by Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. ‘An Evening With’ includes performances of Larry busking for his dimes, dialogue about his mental state and childhood and growing up, some original songs and his influences and loves. This album is (in)famous, some thought in bad taste due to Larry’s mind state when recording, this is not an easy album to take in and many will find all too much, but for me its essential in any serious Zappa collection - only the GTO’s for me is more important as a Zappa related record. I found the whole experience quite compelling and it has moments of real humour, but some is dark and very strange. The final track is very unsettling as he remembers his bad times and clearly the man is on the very edge. Larry tries to play guitar and sing Stones, Beatles and Cream songs - Zappa is always there to try calm him when things get a little frantic and helps him get through. Many will know ‘Merry Go Round’, it has references in Zappa’s Lumpy Gravy album. Sometimes he would perform on stage with the Mothers, (see back cover), sometimes there was trouble, his performances were, like this album, unpredictable. If you dare to be different give this album a try, I promise you have not heard anything quite like it. It’s rare, its here, and things may not be quite the same again. Are you rollin’?, ARE YOU ROLLIN’?!!

This Cover’s Potential for Wear: Very High++: Rarely found devoid of heavy wear, damage or ugly ringwear. [Unlaminated covers are always the most vulnerable for rubbing, fading, sticker tears and ringwear, gatefolds are more prone still and the darker they are, the more this type of wear occurs and shows. Some sleeves have a textured finish or die-cut shaped edges or ‘windows’. These are even more delicate and the hardest to find in top condition. Fully laminated covers are more resistent to wear but often the laminate ages with dulling, creases and blistering. Many 60s covers have outer flipback construction, these are very vulnerable to damage]. (US covers are the most fragile of all, very rarely laminated and made with thick brittle card that rubs and ringwears badly. Seams and edges split easily). Please see format below to access this cover’s potential for wear and damage.

Cover Grade and Format: EX(-) and certainly one of the better ones I have seen. As controversial as the content, these are very difficult to find devoid of major wear, ringwear in particular is near impossible to avoid on both sides. A ‘very good’ example is worthy of more on this basis. An unlaminated gatefold format that was printed and made in England and includes the RSLP Cat. No. The US versions of this cover were much thicker card and even harder to find decent.

Cover Front: The elderly lady is Larry’s mother, I think is was a cut-out – Larry has a knife – he was institutionalised (twice). This is generally clean with really good colour with any rubbing modest. A record pressmark is evident but actually ringwear as largely been avoided, just one tiny ring arc on the colour areas near the right edge centre. Very little creasing at all and as the edge rubbing is white it has no real visual effect. The odd small edge burr and corner crease but overall, this difficult front will prove difficult to find much better.

Cover Back: Great artwork with Larry performing on stage with Zappa and the Mothers. Those red eyes are scary and this back is one of the better ones I have seen. As close to impossible to find with no ringwear as they get, the green ink is highly intolerant of the thick heavy Reprise records inside. I consider the ringwear on this back to only light, I have actually seen some almost wear through the card making for very ugly examples. This visible ring impression apart, the back is pretty much the same as the front and will again prove hard to find much better.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Apart from the odd corner crease there is little else to fault inside. Even ‘set-off’ has largely been avoided and that too is unusual. There are no ring marks either.

Top Edges: Light patchy rubs visible on the back green edge.

Bottom Edges: Moderate, slightly wooly rubbing on these mainly white edges, so again, visibility is less critical.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Reasonably sharp with a little mild burring only. Records are stored within these edges.

Spine and Text: Against the odds, this spine is in terrific shape and one of the few I have seen with practically all text present and with little wear. Solid, thick, straight, uncompressed and square, both right edges meet up perfectly together and parallel. The white is only mildly darkened with age and I really can consider this spine exceptional in context… .

Corners: All corner tips have rubbed in relation to the edges but real actual wear is pretty modest with just a little creasing on a couple.

Cover Summary: A very solid all round example of this very fragile, scarce and wear-prone cover, one that will prove quite difficult to find significantly better. With the main faces and spine in fine shape, it should please many collectors but clearly not the perfectionists.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EX++ with nothing more than one or two fine hairlines on each side that have NO sound. Beautiful clean playing surfaces and clearly this has not been played many times (surprised?). A fantastic visual copy that is super clean, shiny, intense black and heavily pressed. This title was rarely purchased by hi-fi connoisseurs and the majority are seen in very poor conditions – I can honestly say, this pair are exceptional. Visually super records that should please most-all collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes – ALL OF IT. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippetts or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: Both records play above their high visual grading with practically nothing to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is very high with a good dynamic range and very detailed sound. For once, largely devoid of surface sounds – a light trace was noted on the first track on side four – and no pops or clicks were noted and this is an exceptional clean pressing for a very difficult album. With dialogue and sparse backing, this has few hiding places for blemishes but this plays very well indeed with barely anything unwanted (unless you find the content unlistenable). Even with moments of near silence this record plays incredibly well, the UK Reprise pressing excels here and this is now my definitive listen-to anywhere copy. I have never seen an official CD issue of this album and for commercial reasons, it is now very unlikely to appear. Both records are cleanly pressed and avoided any needle abuse from its early days, few copies will match or outperform this rare UK pressing significantly. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading these exeptional records – I may buck the trend somewhat, but I actually like this album, its importance within a Zappa collection cannot be overstated. This set will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended, a better sounding copy I have yet to find and I doubt if I ever will.

End Piece: A genuine one-off album, they simply do not make them like this anymore. If you want different, Larry Fischer was certainly that. With no CD version available (to my knowledge), this is likely to be the only way to experience the early Fischer sound. He made a few records for Rhino, but this debut remains elusive. He is still very much with us and performed again in 2006. I conclude this advert by quoting Frank Zappa from the cover’s inner: ‘Please listen to this album several times before you decide whether or not you like it or what Wild Man Fischer is all about, he has something to say to you, even though you might not want to hear it.’ – You have been warned.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: I will cancel ALL first-time bidders with no feedbacks or excessive negatives who do not ask me if its OK to bid first – NO EXCEPTIONS.

Please Note: I will now offer any item to the runner-up after the mandatory Ebay 3 days if no contact is made by the winning bidder unless prior notice of any delay is given beforehand. The same applies if no payment is received within the mandatory 7 days so any bidder who has just lost out can still email me to reserve the item as priority second chance – it’s always worth asking.

SHIPPING COSTS & OPTIONS:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (First Class Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4 (OPTIONAL).

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA (NOT RUSSIA, see below) (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £5.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £9 (OPTIONAL).

Posting & Packing: RUSSIA (Recorded Only, if this is unacceptable, please do not bid):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ only £7) = £9 (OPTIONAL extra insurance as above).

Posting & Packing: OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. US; Australia; Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet Standard with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) = £8.

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with included Insurance to Item’s ‘Sold’ Value, £500* Maximum) = £13 (OPTIONAL).

* If Rules allow for that country.

PLEASE NOTE: I always get a Royal Mail ‘Proof-of-Posting’ receipt for ALL packets that are sent out and I am happy to prove this to any customer who wishes to see it via email.

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders.

The customer can choose their method of shipping with the exception of second class or surface mail overseas – these I will NOT use. The winner bidder chooses his/her posting method and if uninsured is chosen, its their decision and they have to stick with it, I can accept no responsibility if an item is lost in the post. I can only try to claim at standard levels if no enhancement is chosen (£35).

Potential Bidders: Please do not bid if you have negative feedback unless checking first, I will cancel any bids I feel are timewasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund minus the Posting and All Ebay costs as long as the item detail has been read and understood. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT neccessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.