CHILDREN OF SUNSHINE DANDELIONS TRES & KITSY '71 KID PSYCH-FOLK CLASSIC LP

$

357

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And now, onto our auction:
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PLEASE NOTE: I am grading and shipping these records for David. If you have any questions about condition, shipping costs, etc., please contact me at eubiecat at gmail dot com – do not contact David! Thank you very much!

CHILDREN OF SUNSHINE
(TRES & KITSY)

DANDELIONS

KBK CUSTOM RECORDS (1971, edition of 300 copies)

This may be the single rarest--and coolest--record we've ever had the honor to offer! This private-press album showcases the endearing, moving and haunting talents of two pre-teen girls, TRES WILLIAMS and KITSY CHRISTNER. 10 and 11 years old at the time, both girls were into playing guitar and folk music.

Encouraged by their guitar teacher, Jim Curran, the girls composed several songs and recorded them in St. Louis, Missouri with bassist Wendy Katz and drummer Mike Kieffer. The album has since been discovered by music critics and fans, who laud its wonderfully innocent, slightly melancholy vibe.

Only 300 copies of this record exist. Most of the copies offered for sale are from a warehouse find. This particular copy has a special pedigree, in that it was personally handed to David Young, its owner since 1971, by Tres and Kitsy themselves. I asked David for his memories of how he acquired this wonderful disc, and he had this to say:

"I went to Webster College (now Webster University) in the St. Louis, Missouri suburb Webster Groves from 1969-71. For the work-study portion of my financial aid, I worked at the nearby elementary school The College School, a teaching facility where education undergrads introduced innovative models of instruction and activity. I helped some in the classroom, but mostly on the playground, where I got to become friendly with some of the kids, including Kitsy and Tres. It was toward the end of this time that they recorded their album, and I got it directly from them. I don't remember whether they gave it to me or if I ponied up the five dollars, but it's certainly provided its share of enjoyment over the years! I still have some snapshots of kids on the playground there, though none of these charming girls."

CONDITION:

SLEEVE: Printed textured paper, glued to generic white cardboard album sleeve, has some light occasional discoloration in small areas. Images are sharp and clean--very well printed offset work. Two office-supply tab stickers are applied to the upper left hand corner, as you can see in detail in images 3 and 4. One sticker covers a 5/8" horizontal cut into the sleeve. Perhaps these stickers will come off... I'm not taking the chance of removing them, but some expert might be able to get them off, if they bother you.

4.25" split to lower seam of generic white jacket. This does not affect the offset-printed areas in any way.

Offset printed portions are well affixed to cardboard sleeve. These areas have a little wear at their outer corners, and at the lip of the back sleeve, but are otherwise smooth and crisp.

The jacket is a solid VG/VG+ because of its visual flaws. If the two stickers can be removed, it will look even better.

VINYL: Disc needs a good deep cleaning to remove smudges, foreign matter to small surface areas, dust and paper sleeve detritus. There are a few light paper scuffs and discolorations to both sides. When cleaned, the value and grade of this disc will improve significantly. As you can hear, from the two complete sound samples, it plays very well, with some occasional pops and clicks. Record has been played perhaps four times. It just needs some TLC to restore it to its full beauty.

Side 1's label has "511" written in blue magic marker, as you can see in  pictures 5 and 6 above. Side 2's label is clean. Both labels are in otherwise great shape, with no wear to their surface or edges.

In its present state, I rate this disc a solid VG+.
Careful deep cleaning will only improve its condition.