Gene Rains Group - Far Across The Sea 1961 Decca lp OG Mono RARE Jazz Exotica

$

64

Welcome to our Summer 2026 Mini lp Sale "World, Rock, Country, Electronic, Space-Age", focusing on the more funky, jazzy, soul, Psych, Rare Groove side of African, Latin, Pacific Islands, Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Greek, Middle Eastern, East Asian rarities, along with rare Space-Age (Exotica, Bachelor Pad, etc.), early Moog, Electronic tripped out rares, a tiny curated selection of rare Rock, Country, no modern! WE COMBINE SHIPPING! -(Just kindly wait till end of auction for invoice :)
**Brief Note: We sincerely apologize for the accidental premature rollout of a handful of lp's that are going to be apart of our larger end of Summer big Gospel / Modern Soul Boogie / AOR sale, to anyone who was a watcher, or one of the bidders during that 24 hour time lapse, we truly apologize, they will be for sale, sometime later this month in the proper auction, an accidental date mix-up occurred in "scheduled" listings, and we take full responsibility, if you were one of the watchers, bidders, living in the US, we will offer free shipping for up to the first 3 lp's, if you are international, we will work something one to one to make up for it, probably the most embarrassing accident to occur for us, as fellow lovers of vinyl, we want to sincerely apologize, let you know they will be up for real (Along with many many many other tasty delights!), and seek to correct our errors, make amends, to do our best, by you, our genuine fellow friend in this beautiful community of music lovers :) End of Brief Note**



Approximately 55 records all original LP's, many have soundclips, which are from the actual record :)



This week features a really nice curated slab of rare lp's representing in the spirit of Daft Punk "Around The World" ;), the emphasis being on Rare Groove, Jazz, Funk, Soul, Psych side of things, from the hauntingly beautiful rare as hen's teeth original Gene Rains Group "Far Across The Sea" 1961 Decca lp, one of the best fusions of Pacific Island & Modal Jazz, Augustus Pablo 1978 Message "East Of The Nile River" Jamaican press lp - one of the dopest Reggae albums! Sidiku Buarai's (Ghana) most funktacular instrumental Afrobeat rare "Buarari" 1975 RCA lp, the Space-Age mixture of Jazz, Funk, Ska, Calypso on the rare 1966 Carlos Malcolm specter lp "Sounds Of The Caribbean", the Bhangra Electro UK only rare by Kala Preet "Shava Shava" 1986 lp on Arishma, Willy Chirino's most funky, hard to find, Puerto Rican only "Chirino" 1975 GEMA lp, the rare Ernest Rangelin quasi-tax scam Islands Rare Groove Jazz-Funk private press "Rising Tide" 1981 lp, Omar Khorshid's brilliant rare Lebanese "Belly Dance From Lebanon" record 1977, rare Taiwanese Psych / Funk / Soul by Gao Yi Tai, The Wynners, Sam Hui, the Japanese only Isao Tomita Electronic rare groove 1974 jazz-funk OST "Catastrophe 1999", the 1977 Private Press Psych / AOR grail "Feather", Gary Stewart 1975 "Out Of Hand" RCA OG Outlaw Country gem, early Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Reggae, the dopest soul-funk steel band rare "Sapodilla Punch" Steel Soul 1969 Philips lp, Steve Dodge 1980 s/t ultra rare private press with superb Guy Clarke cover of Rita Ballou, and so much more :) 

ASSISTIVE NOTE:
To give the best  "map" for this sale, we'll have 5 leading off  then we go into Africa / Afrobeat, a couple various World, to Latin, Islands, Reggae, Eastern Europe, Greek, Middle Eastern on to East Asia, then into Electronic, Space-Age (Exotica, Bachelor Pad, Cheesecake), finally ending with Country, and Rock, *If you want to view how we ordered it up, go to sort by "Ending Soonest", as listed newest will be the tail end & ending earliest is the beginning (if you filter by "ending soonest", you'll get the layout!), we hope this might help :)

**Note on grading: We have been proud to send thousands of records to delighted customers, but there is always room for improvement, we want to continually strive to be as accurate, honest, and detailed as possible. These records that have been collected and loved over the years, coming from a collector, one who listens to the records, enjoys the music, we are only growing more meticulous in our visual aspect of grading the vinyl, while also maintaining a balanced emphasis on the sound quality, utilizing sound clips (we do not manipulate them whatsoever, and we never will!), full front to back recent thorough listenings, and for the covers to use detailed photos, write detailed aspects for the grade, we want people to know exactly what they're getting, as collectors, lovers of music, we promise to always carry ourselves with integrity, we're in the business of delighting people, to treat others as the best experiences we've had as buyers, and all of our items are guaranteed. We won't stop growing, learning, and listening. A very special warm thank you to all our incredible return "customers", we really think of you all as fellow friends in vinyl, and if this is your first time bidding with us, we hope our "record" speaks for itself, ensuring a secure feeling to bid with confidence, thank you all, truly together we make this community one that spreads the love, sharing in this special thing of all of ours :) ***

* After this week's auction, (In no particular order) we have in the auction pipeline:
Classic "Golden Age" late 60's-early 70's Funk / Soul / Rare Groove
2nd Modern Soul / Gospel / Boogie / AOR, Part "II"
More Deep Funk / Soul; as well as AOR / Power Pop / Rock,  45rpm's 7"
A few more cooking, not to mention our exciting, anticipated:
Part 4 "Giant Jazz"; jazz funk, spiritual, fusion, electronic, sale lp's

*^(Each are loaded with some of the rarest, high end stuff, plenty that haven't shown up in years, unknown mind-blowers, Grail Pieces, like always, all original editions!)
We'd be honored if you'd consider saving us as a favorite seller :)***

All soundclips used are unedited directly from the item up for sale :). See below for detailed grading!
***Everything is 100% guaranteed! We've sold over 1,500+ records in the past year alone, with 100% positive feedback, bid with confidence :)

Feel free to message any questions!

*Note: Any Item that does not have a soundclip, feel free to message us, and we can make one for you :) 

**Note: for items with multiple players, the title of track is above each player; the player enables scrolling through!**


Soundclip info: B3 "Caravan" -(Classic Juan Tizol Latin Jazz cover!), A5 "Strange Cargo", A5 begins at 1:18 
Soundclip:  Update your internet browser to latest version in order to play audio clip.

Media Grade:  VG+ (conservative grade, has light sleeve scuffs, non-feelable scratches, plays like a dream, my personal copy for nearly a decade, keeper quality audio, peep the soundclips!) 
Sleeve Grade:  VG+ (Contains original Decca company inner sleeve. Extremely conservative grade, much more solid "EX", there is a "Z" in ink on back cover upper right hand corner area under Catalogue #, the faintest of faint discoloration back cover upper left hand side, almost imperceptible.....A top copy, see photos!)
Year / Label / Catalogue #:   1961  /  Decca  / DL 4164 (1st press, Mono, Deep Groove) 
Brief Comments: The Gene Rains Group cut three of the best Jazz-oriented Pacific Islands / Tropics / Exotica lp's ever released, all three on the Decca label beginning with "Lotus Land" in 1960, this one here being the sophomore release in 1961, and the final 1962 "Rains In The Tropics", (not counting the compilation on Vocalion). Both this lp "Far Across The Sea", and "Rain In The Tropics" have the same lineup, Gene Rains on vibes, Allen Watanabe on drums, Archie Grant on bass, and Byron L. Peterson on piano; (Paul Conrad on Lotus Land departed recording his own Exotica Islands grail lp "Exotic Paradise" 1960 on Mahalo Records.), Byron Peterson brought more of a jazz touch, he has a later album from the early 1970's on Hoctor that's a jazz-funk grail. 
Out of all three, the first "Lotus Land" is the relatively most common (still a hard find), "Rains In The Tropics" has been probably the most expensive - it's also the only one to have a reissue, 2018 CD on Captain High Records label. This one, "Far Across The Sea" is probably the rarest, it hardly ever shows up, it's also perhaps the most honest synthesis of Islands style, with a hybrid of vibraphone led modal soul jazz (there's no arranging credits, but it's almost certain that Byron Peterson is arranging the majority of the tracks on this one), they had studied up using Folkways lp's on Burmese, and Polynesian music, along with the Hawaiian, Pacific Islands tunes they grew up with, also venturing into TV & film score covers for the album (Theme From "Exodus", Lionel Newman's "Adventures In Paradise", "Love Theme From Suzie Wong", the Rodgers-Hammerstein musical composition "You Are Beautiful" from Flower Drum Song), Peterson had met jazz legend Yusef Lateef when he was starting out during a brief stint in NYC in the late 50's, and sent him a copy of his first recorded (credited) album, now Lateef had a deep interest in World Music, likewise with Peterson, but the idea of utilizing a film score as a vehicle (Lateef's 1962 "Eastern Sounds", with Love Theme From Spartacus in a very modal eastern feel) it's possible there was influence......
In 1959 the Gene Rains Group was discovered by Alfred Apaka, the legendary Hawaiian artist, who was so blown over, he got them signed to Decca (the label he was one), they also got a standing gig at the legendary Hawaiian Village Hotel in Waikiki, where Apaka was Director of Talent. Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, and others were regular performers there, both were stunned by Gene Rains Group, with only 4 people getting that big of a sound, an authentic sound, fusion of the best cool jazz, and Islands percussion. 
The reason "Far Across The Sea" is so hard to find, is in part due to Decca, after having been impressed by "Lotus Land", they were disappointed in "Far Across The Sea", it wasn't "Exotic" i.e. over the top for them, nor was it "traditional", Decca didn't know what to do, other than utilize a fairly generic photo on the cover (compare to the other two lp's, with bold, meant to engage cover designs), and have it quietly disappear, Lotus Land still in print, was the first you'd flip through, and if it hadn't been for Alfred Apaka being a big deal at Decca, they wouldn't have gotten a chance at a 3rd release. Apaka for his part had been thrilled with both lp's, and basically told Gene & Co. to go for a compromise, he'd even help promote it. Well, "Rains In The Tropics" came out in 1962, but was overshadowed, lost in the shuffle of Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman, Martin Denny, and a dozen others, not to mention the burgeoning Rock N' Roll scene, the successful efforts of Jazz landing into College-Educated Bachelor pad's across the country, it had the second most pressings after Lotus Land (Far Across the Sea, on the back of "Rains In The Tropics" has a white bar overlay for the top text, whereas the other lp's don't, including Lotus Land, because Far Across The Sea only had back copies, it wasn't still in print), and "Far Across The Sea" had the least copies printed, sadly due to it's more generic cover, it tended to be the one tossed, overlooked, the most.
I've had all three, I personally didn't think I'd sell this one, I think "Far Across The Sea" is my favorite, because it's the one I have played the most by far, I enjoyed Lotus Land, and of course "Rain In The Tropics" has that overwhelming top sound, but eventually it's charms, at least for me personally plateaued to a nice now and again play, but Far Across The Sea got better with every play, from the track sequence (brilliant), the more slight deft touch, there's an intimacy to it, on it's face seemingly ironic, but in fact coming from a dimension, mood, of distance, it's the feeling of adventure, but also the very human feeling of pining for one's beloved back home, far across the sea, it's not sad or melancholy, or saccharine, it's a truly well done balance, of something that becomes an entire experience each time, yet never quite the same! It has an authenticity to it, not just in the devotion to wanting to sincerely fuse, blend different styles of the world, jazz, but also an emotional intimacy, you start literally A1 "Far Across The Sea", and end up in order "Caravan" - the journey, "Theme From Exodus" - the ending of thee journey", "You Are Beautiful" - seeing in the horizon your beloved's face, to "Birds of Paradise", for Paradise was all along both far across the sea, and home to one's beloved. It's entirely instrumental (some "calls"), but that's the mood I feel, it reminds me of the Odyssey or a dozen other variations of tales from the same theme, but more modern, down to earth, prior to Post-Modernity.....
This is one of the most moving albums I've ever had the pleasure of having, it's been thoroughly loved, and as hard as it may be, it's time for it go to a new home, for someone to have those enchanting experiences, pleasure of it's musical powers :)
Soundclips are mainly just to show the quality, it's difficult to remove any one track, like picking a chapter excerpt, that being said, take a look into this absolute gem of an lp, and peep the soundclips :)



*Tariffs aren't going to impact used vinyl records / music media, we wish they were never in place at all, so for international buyers, don't worry on that account!
For our record grading, we stand by the merits outlined in the scale below, anything VG or below will have a detailed explanation in brackets next to the grade.
For sleeves, we will mention anytime there is split, or defect not visible in the photos in brackets next to the grade, otherwise we refer to the photos for the merit of the grade. Of course any questions, concerns, are always welcome :) 
Our media grading scale is as follows: [*Quick note, our VPI is still in storage on the other side of the US, we do brush clean many  items carefully, but we have to prioritize, we won't leave anyone stranded with a filthy record, only "filthy" good! We don't factor dust particles into the grading]
NM = Essentially a pristine album, like new, rarely used.
EX = Under bright light if there is any scuffs or mark, which will be inaudible, most collectors and sellers would tend to consider it closer to NM, EX is also the grade others might call VG++ under the same level of conservative scrutiny.
VG+ = More then a small handful of scuffs, light marks, nothing feelable, will have high-gloss, a thoroughly enjoyable copy that may only have tiny moments of barely perceptible surface noise overpowered by the music. Our VG+ will satisfy the vast majority of collectors as a nice keeper copy, as collector's ourselves for nearly two decades, this grade is aimed to be a great keeper. Note if say the record has a light DNAP warp, but otherwise is NM, we will automatically put it to VG+ and detail that. Another scenario is if a copy plays at a solid EX, but visually is VG, the composite grade will be VG+, and detailed as such.
VG = More hairlines, more marks, maybe a few visible scratches, no more then two feelable scratches (which automatically lowers to VG-), there likely will be surface noise, but will play through, still being an enjoyable copy, the audio quality will satisfy most collector's (the golden rule: if it doesn't satisfy us, it won't be VG), if a record is otherwise EX, but has a slight momentary skip, where 99% of the record is EX, we will note that, and put it at VG. Usually will retain a nice gloss.
VG- = More Scratches than VG, surface noise will jump out more, it be overpowered for longer stretches, or compete with the music in places, it will likely play all the way through on most turntables, a copy that you can still get a decent play enjoyment from.
G+ = Lots of scratches, deeper ones, surface noise now mostly overpowers or competes with the music. It may skip in some places. We don't tend to sell G+ copies, unless the rarity is so great, and that will be precisely detailed.
Thrashed = Pretty much a "Theoretical Grade" for us, it be for all intents & purposes virtually unplayable, it would be for display purposes, or perhaps if you needed the cover but not the record. It's "theoretical" because so far we haven't sold or identified anything intended to sell at this bottom level.
Every item is guaranteed to YOUR satisfaction, no questions asked, 100% refund. We stand by our integrity, our goal is to make sure you are absolutely delighted with your purchase, to deliver a cherished album to your collection :). On the slightest chance of human error, if we make a mistake, we take accountability for that, we don't anyone to have a record they aren't happy with! Bid with confidence :)
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Thank you from EnfieldVinyl, a family business, and the auction venture of EnfieldRecords :)
Kindly,
-Alec :D
&
-Ellie :)