FATHER YOD Ya Ho Wa 13 KOHOUTEK Psych LP Sealed RARE NR

$

255

Up for auction is:

FATHER YOD AND THE SPIRIT OF '76

"Kohoutek"

Higher Key Records 3301 (Stereo)

• Ultra Rare Private Press LP!
• First Higher Key Album from Cult Figure Father Yod (Ya Ho Wa 13)!
• Estimated Only 500-1000 Produced!
• Still Sealed in Manufacturer's Original Shrink Wrap after 34 Years!
• Rarely Offered on Ebay, Especially in this Sealed Mint Condition!
• Offered here with a low opening bid and NO RESERVE!
• Most Likely the Finest Example of this LP You Will Ever See!

1973

Background Information on Ya Ho Wa 13 and Higher Key Records:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Most of the albums were small-press runs, with only 500 to 1000 copies made under the Higher Key Records imprint."

Founded in 1969 in the Los Angeles area, Ya Ho Wa 13, otherwise known Yahowha 13, is now regarded as one of the best American psychedelic bands. Fronted by Father Yod, spiritual leader of the religious cult/commune, The Source Family, the band recorded 9 LPs and demonstrated their extreme psychedelic sound with tribal drums and distorted guitars, all completely unrehearsed and unedited.

Band Beginnings

Members of The Source Family, a communal religious group living in the Hollywood Hills in the early 1970s, decided to fuse their musical talents and spirituality by forming an improvisational, psychedelic music group. They began to make LPs in 1973, all of which were recorded after hours of meditation at 3-6 AM in a soundproofed garage that served as the musicians’ studio in the family's communal residence. All of the records with Father Yod’s participation were completely improvised, with no rehearsals or overdubs. Most of the albums were small-press runs, with only 500 to 1000 copies made under the Higher Key Records imprint. They were sold to the general public in Father Yod’s wildly popular vegetarian Source Restaurant for $1 each. Though only 9 LPs were produced and released, it is rumored that more than 65 albums were recorded by the group and have since been destroyed.

The band changed members occasionally, morphing into various incarnations from Father Yod & The Spirit of ’76 to YaHoWa 13 to The Savage Sons of YaHoWa, Yodship, and Fire Water Air, but the key players were always the same (Djin Aquarian on guitar, Octavious Aquarian on drums, Sunflower Aquarian on bass, and occasionally Sky Saxon of the Seeds).

Discography

Father Yod and the Spirit of ‘76

Kohoutek (1973)

Contraction (1974)

Expansion (1974)

All or Nothing at All – Father Yod & The Spirit of ‘76’s fourth album, released just before Father Yod changed his name to YaHoWa, thus morphing the band into YaHoWa 13. [Father Yod] does not participate on All or Nothing at All, unlike the previous three albums released under this incarnation wherein his chanting and singing vocals are prominent.]

YaHoWa 13

YaHoWa 13 (1974) Savage Sons of YaHoWa 13 (1974)

Penetration: An Aquarian Symphony (1974)

I’m Gonna Take You Home (1974)

To the Principles, For the Children (1974) -- By the end of 1974, the Source Family had tried to move to Hawaii but were met with hostility, forcing them to temporarily relocate to Northern California before eventually returning. This album was recorded during that time and the tension is apparent. This album has been described as “a more personalized painfully vulnerable” collection of songs.

Operetta (1975) -- the long-lost final opus of YaHoWa with YaHoWha’s participation, recently released by Swordfish Records. This LP was recorded in the spring of 1975, just after YaHoWha’s spontaneous visit to the East, which culminated in his initiation in the Great Pyramid of Egypt on Easter Sunday. This LP represents the first recording YaHoWha made after his “resurrection” in the Great Pyramid, and is also his last full collaboration with the band.

 Grading:

All records are graded visually unless otherwise noted.  I try to grade conservatively, using Goldmine guidelines, in order to give the buyer the benefit of any doubt.  I try to list all significant defects.  To aid in the description, I take photos of all items at the time of listing.  Please email me with any questions. 

* A further note about my grading:  I rarely grade a previously owned record NM.  I do not use this grade unless the record is virtually flawless.  After NM, my highest grade is E, followed by VG+.  I do not use NM-, E-, VG++, or VG+++ or other so-called in-between grades.  VG+ should be very acceptable to most collectors.  I will only list a VG record if it is extremely rare and hard-to-find.

Cover: NEAR MINT!

Still sealed in manufacturer's original shrink wrap; shrink wrap is tight and completely intact with only a tiny tear (less than 1") along the bottom edge which is practically invisible; jacket is flat and clean and has only the slightest of corner bumps; no other visible imperfections; overall: stunning!

Vinyl: MINT!

Still sealed and unplayed

Labels: MINT!

Still sealed and unplayed

Shipping and handling

US: $5.00 (Media Mail) or $8.00 (Priority Mail); each additional LP add $2.00

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Canada: $8.00 (Airmail); each additional LP add $3.00

Europe, Japan, Asia, Australia, Latin America: $15.00 (Airmail); each additional LP add $7.00

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* A further note about my grading:  I rarely grade a previously owned record NM.  I do not use this grade unless the record is virtually flawless.  After NM, my highest grade is E, followed by VG+.  I do not use NM-, E-, VG++, or VG+++ or other so-called in-between grades.  VG+ should be very acceptable to most collectors.  I will only list a VG record if it is extremely rare and hard-to-find.

Guarantee: All records are unconditionally guaranteed.  I am a collector first, and make every effort to grade my records fairly and accurately.  Sometimes honest differences of opinion may arise.  If for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact me before leaving negative feedback.  I will gladly refund your entire purchase price, including shipping, or make some other mutually satisfactory arrangement.  To activate this guarantee, you must notify me within one week of receipt of record and return the record to me in the same condition as received within two weeks.  Thanks.

The following excerpt from an article in the publication "Blastitude" is presented for background information purposes only, and is not part of this auction.  To read the complete article, please go to:

http://www.blastitude.com/13/ETERNITY/father_yod.htm

For photos of the actual sealed album currently up for auction, please scroll down.

Yahowha "God and Hair" (Japan, Captain Trip)
by Byron Coley

Amongst hardcore collectors of psychedelic whatsis, Father Yod and the Savage Sons of Ya Ho Wa 13 are considered to be the apex of high.  During their lifespan (1973-75) they released nine albums and three singles of legendary weirdness and rarity.  Indeed, the fact that few people are familiar with the bulk of their recorded work has lent it an air of mystery that is virtually unequalled inside the genre....

The story of Father Yod begins sometime in 1969.  Tom Baker was a middle aged follower of the Yogi Bhajan, a kundali yoga master and health food prophet who came to the U.S. on the heels of the Maharishi.  Mr. Baker became disenchanted when Mr. Bhajan declared that he was not god, so Mr. Baker decided to assume the mantle.  He soon gathered a group of acolytes named "The Source" and opened a health food restaurant in the Laurel Canyon section of Hollywood called The Aware Inn.

Dubbing himself Father Yod (later changed to Yahowha), Mr. Baker espoused a philosophy based on kindness to animals, a fruit heavy diet, the wearing of cotton clothes, and sex without orgasm.  Apocryphal stories about the Source's practices abound, the most persistent of which has to do with the idea that the group felt that the similarity of spelling between "god" and "dog" was no accident.  Anyway, amongst the faithful who toiled in The Aware Inn were a number of musicians. Yod enlisted their talents and tapes began rolling.

They recorded their first group of albums as Father Yod and the Spirit of '76.... The first three albums, "Kohoutek", "Contraction" and "Expansion" are of a piece.  Mr. Yod's vocals are reminscent of those 'incredibly strange' LPs which were cut when a former Vegas lounge singer got dosed with acid and decided that hipster-mysticism was the shortest path to hippie cooze.  The music on these albums is somewhat generic, but still pleasant, low-key west coast spazz psych.  Flute pops up here and there.  Odd female back-up vocals appear in the mist the way they did on mid-period Jandek LPs....