Trout Mask Replica - Original 1969 US Straight/Bizarre Label 1st pressing 2LP Set - Incl. Insert

Rare original 1969 US Straight/Bizarre label 28-track vinyl 2LP - Beefhearts 3rd - his fragmented avant-electric blues-psychedelia masterpiece produced by Frank zappa.

This is the US 1st pressing issue with the generic reddish pink company labels with black, white and orance nuances of "Straight" frpm top to bottom label.

Cover has the "STS 1053" catalogue number - this is repeated on the labels: "2 STS 1053".

Labels have 'Straight' & 'Bizarre' address along lower label rim.

Vinyls are auto-coupled discs - Side 1 & 4 and Side 2 & 3 - labels reflects this.

Vinyls has hand etched/machine stamped matrix info - any combination of 'A' or 'A1' are machine stamped:
Side 1: o 2-STS-1053-1 "P" A1
Side 4: 2-STS-1053-2 o "P" 1 A
Side 2: o 2-STS-1053-3 "P" A 1
Side 3: o 2-STS-1053-4 P 1 A
suggesting that this copy was pressed from metalparts from Columbias Customatrix by Columbia Records Pitman Pressing Plant, New Jersey.

Vinyls are housed in black 'Straight' liners with 'Bizarre' address and are accompanied by rare 3-panel/6-page illustrated lyric insert - which, when opened out, has a photo of a school-age Vliet on the left page, center page sketches by Vliet's cousin Victor Hayden (aka The Mascara Snake), and a 'Manta Ray' poem on right-hand page. Lyrics are on the 3 reverse pages.

Vinyls and insert are housed in a unlaminated gatefold sleeve designed by Cal Schenkel.

Condition: 2 x VG++ (Vinyl and Labels)/VG++ (Cover):

Vinyls are sublimely lustrous:
Side 1 is mint
Side 2 is extremely close to mint - a single sleeve infliceted mark
Side 3 is mint
Side 4 is close to mint and has a single superficial scuff is the first track - which is first seen when the vinyl is held in the right angle - hardly any sleeve inflicted wear.

Labels are mint and vinyl is overall graded near mint.

Fold out insert has hardly any signs of handlig - graded near mint.

Front cover has faint - next to no - ring wear.

Cover has firm and intact seams with no wear to top or bottom seams - spine has a touch of sun discolouration, opening edges are razorsharo without any signs of rubbing.

Inner spread is perfect.

Corners has marginal dents paired with a touch of rubbing - less to top opening corner compared to the others. Cover is overall superb - only faint and marginal imperfections - graded close to near perfect. This album just never shows up anymore in any condition - let alone this nice.

Tracklisting:

Side 1:
1 Frownland 1:39
2 The Dust Blows Forward 'N The Dust Blows Back 2:04
3 Dachau Blues 2:21
4 Ella Guru 2:23
5 Hair Pie: Bake 1 4:57
6 Moonlight On Vermont 3:55

Side 2:
1 Pachuco Cadaver 4:37
2 Bill's Corpse 1:47
3 Sweet Sweet Bulbs 2:17
4 Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish 2:25
5 China Pig 3:56
6 My Human Gets Me Blues 2:42
7 Dali's Car 1:25

Side 3:
1 Hair Pie: Bake 2 2:23
2 Pena 2:31
3 Well 2:05
4 When Big Joan Sets Up 5:19
5 Fallin' Ditch 2:03
6 Sugar 'N Spikes 2:29
7Ant Man Bee 3:55

Side 4:
1 Orange Claw Hammer 3:35
2 Wild Life 3:07
3 She's Too Much For My Mirror 1:42
4 Hobo Chang Ba 2:01
5 The Blimp (Mousetrap Replica) 2:04
6 Steal Softly Thru Snow 2:13
7 Old Fart At Play 1:54
8 Veteran's Day Poppy 4:30

"Veteran's Day Poppy" and "Moonlight On Vermont" are recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders, 6650 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California 90028 .
Songs are otherwise recorded at Whitney Recording Studios, 1516 W. Glenoaks Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91201, and at The Magic Band House or The House, 4295 Ensenada Drive, Woodland Hills, CA 91364.

Fathers, Mothers and stampers manufactured by Customatrix.
Vinyls are pressed by Columbia Records Pitman Pressing Plant, New Jersey

Credits:

Captain Beefheart / Don Van Vliet - Vocals, Tenor & Soprano Saxophone (Ant Man Bee), Musette & Simran Horn (Neon Meate Dream Of A Octafish)
Antennae Jimmy Semens / Jeff Cotton - Slide Guitar [Steel Appendage Guitar], Lead Vocals (Pena), Flesh Horn (Ella Guru), Narrator (The Blimp (Mousetrap Replica))
Zoot Horn Rollo b/w William Earl Harkleroad - Slide Guitar [Glass Finger Guitar], Flute
Rockette Morton / Mark Boston - Bass Guitar, Narrator
The Mascara Snake / Victor Hayden (Don Van Vliet's cousin) - Bass Clarinet, Vocals
John French - Drums [Uncredited], Translation [Music Score, Uncredited]
Doug Moon - Guitar (China Pig)
Gary "Magic" Marker/ Gary Alfred Marker - Bass Guitar (Moonlight On Vermont)

Additional Musicians:
Frank Zappa - Voice (Intro) (The Blimp (Mousetrap Replica))

Frank Zappa - Production
Dick Kunc - Engineer, Technician [Electronic Modification Of Equipment]

Artwork:
Cal Schenkel - Design, Cover Photography
Ed Caraeff - Inner Spread & Back Cover Photography

"Trout Mask Replica is Captain Beefheart's masterpiece, a fascinating, stunningly imaginative work that still sounds like little else in the rock & roll canon. Given total creative control by producer and friend Frank Zappa, Beefheart and his Magic Band rehearsed the material for this 28-song double album for over a year, wedding minimalistic R&B, blues, and garage rock to free jazz and avant-garde experimentalism. Atonal, sometimes singsong melodies| jagged, intricately constructed dual-guitar parts| stuttering, complicated rhythmic interaction -- all of these elements float out seemingly at random, often without completely interlocking, while Beefheart groans his surrealist poetry in a throaty Howlin' Wolf growl. The disjointedness is perhaps partly unintentional -- reportedly, Beefheart's refusal to wear headphones while recording his vocals caused him to sing in time with studio reverberations, not the actual backing tracks -- but by all accounts, the music and arrangements were carefully scripted by the Captain (aided by John "Drumbo" French), which makes the results even more remarkable. As one might expect from music so complex and, to many ears, inaccessible, the influence of Trout Mask Replica was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless future experiments in rock surrealism, especially during the punk/new wave era." Steve Huey, Allmusic Review