Moondog - Original 1969 US Columbia Masterworks label 8-track LP

Rare original 1969 US Columbia Masterworks label 8-track LP - Marysville, Kansas, born composer, street musician, poet... inventor of several musical instruments' second self-titled album and first release since the late 1950ies.

'Moondog' is recorded with orchestra of over 40 musicians from the classical and jazz worlds - including flutist Hubert Laws and bassist Ron Carter - and displays the composer's quite compact orchestral side, comprising two short symphonic-styled works performed by small orchestras - and three symphonic works, one of which was dedicated to Benny Goodman and featured elements of swing - as well as two canons: a chaconne in memory of Charlie Parker and a three-part ballet suite originally written for Martha Graham ("Witch of Endor").

"...Moondog uses the expanded range of tonal colors and dynamics impressively. For someone who spent most of his career performing solo on a street corner in Manhattan, Moondog's arrangements on pieces like the jazz-canon's "Stamping Ground" are not only admirably complex, but also richly melodic. Although Moondog is often thought of as a mere exotica novelty, thanks to the composer's eccentricities, it is, in fact, one of the finest third stream jazz albums of its era."

Vinyl has the generic grey company labels with white rimprint including nid-lower Stereo text flanked by '360 Sound' and arrows. Labels has boxed camera eye logos to sides. A curved top-sticker has boxed camera eye logo and CBS text.

Vinyl has machine stamped matrix information:
Side 1: o XSM150716-1A p E3
Side 2: o XSM150717-1A p C1
suggesting this to be a 1st pressing manufactured from the first processing of the master, and that manufacturing metalparts - father, mother and stampers - were fabricated by Coustomatrix and that vinyl itself was pressed at Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman, New Jersey, USA.

This copy was manufactured for export to Europe and has CBS texted camera eye logo stickers covering every aspect of the Columbia company name - both on labels and on the the generic era specific company add-inner sleeve and fold-out unipak picture cover.

Condition: VG+(+) (Vinyl and Labels)/VG+ (Cover):
Vinyl is wonderfully lustrous - a couple of light, short and superficial marks in the beginning of Side 2 - hardly any sleeve inflicted wear add all - graded near mint.
Labels has a single faint, short, simple and superficial spindletrace - labels are extremely close to mint.

Cover has extremely nice front back and inner spread centers - a marginal dent to top spine and a mild bend to top seam area has inflicted a couple of more pronounced wrinkles from top in the top spine corner area - a couple of light and small ones from mid-spine as well.

Cover has otherwise only light degree of sun-discolouration in a thin line along spine - a little edge and corner rubbing - very slight denting to corners - all in all a simple very nice cover graded upper VG+.

Tracklisting:

Side 1:
1. Theme 2:34
2. Stamping Ground 2:36
3. Symphonique #3 (Ode to Venus) 5:48
4. Symphonique #6 (Good for Goodie) 2:44

Side 2:
5. Minisym #1: 5:42
i - Allegro
ii - Andante Adagio
iii - Vivace

6. Lament 1 (Bird's Lament) 1:41

7. Witch of Endor 6:27:
i - Dance
ii - Trio:
a Adagio (The Prophecy)
b Andante (The Battle)
c Agitato (Saul's Death')
iii - Dance (reprise)

8. Symphonique #1 (Portrait of a Monarch) 2:34

All compositions by Louis Hardin

Metalparts manufactured by Customatrix, USA
Vinyl pressed at Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman, New Jersey, USA
Cover printed by Shorewood Packaging, New York, NY, USA


Credits:
Moondog (Louis Hardin) - musical direction, conducting on "Minisym #1" (Andante Adagio only) & "Witch of Endor" (trio section), trimbas on "Witch of Endor" (dance section), unspecified instrumental performance on "Minisym #1" (possibly playing hüs)
George Duvivier, Ron Carter, Alfred Brown, Louis Hardin - Bass
Harold Bennet, Andrew Lolya - flutes
Harold Jones, Hubert Laws - piccolos
Henry Shuman, Irving Horowitz - cors anglais
Jimmy Abato, George Silfies, Phil Bodner - clarinets
Ernie Bright - bass clarinet
Jack Knitzer, Don Macourt, Ryohei Nakagawa, George Berg, Joyce Kelly - bassoons
Wally Kane - bassoon, baritone saxophone
Teddy Weiss, Mel Broiles, Alan Dean - trumpets
Joe Wilder - trumpet, flugelhorn
Danny Repole - bass trumpet
James Buffington, Richard Berg, Ray Alonge, Brooks Tillotson - French horns
Don Butterfield - tuba
Bill Stanley - tuba, tenor tuba
Bill Elton, John Swallow, Phil Giardina - tenor tuba
Tony Studd, Charles Small, Buddy Morrow - tenor trombone
Paul Faulise - bass trombone
Jack Jennings, Dave Carey, Elayne Jones, Bob Rosengarden - percussion
Paul Gershman, Aaron Rosand - violins
Emanuel Vardi, David Schwartz, Eugene Becker, Raoul Poliakin - violas
George Ricci, Charles McCracken - celli
Joe Tekula - contrabass cello
Raoul Poliakin, Eugene Becker - tenore
Marc Unger, John Draper, Pam Gross - Music copyists

Technical Credits:
James William Guercio - Production
Alfred Brown Poseidon Productions - Production
Arthur Kendy, Fred Plaut - Engineer

Artwork:
Ron Coro - Album Design
Don Hunstein - Cover Photography
Fred Lombardi - Inner Spread Photography
Columbia Records Photo Studio - Cover photo/Inner spread photography