MEET THE RESIDENTS 1ST PRESSING BEATLES AVANT GARDE

$

299

MEET THE RESIDENTS, ON RALPH RECORDS (RR0274) 1974. This is the first pressing of 1,000 and is very rare, Subtitled The First Album by North Louisiana's Phenomenal Pop Combo, Meet the Residents was released on April 1st, 1974, with a striking cover -- a defaced version of the cover of Meet the Beatles, the Beatles' first album from Capitol Records.
      The album had been recorded as a break from the huge Vileness Fats project. Like the band's first release, the 1972 single Santa Dog, this album was produced at home, creating sounds with tape effects and instruments -- which the band still didn't really know how to play. The Residents were not using synthesizers yet. Meet the Residents is more organised than Santa Dog, though, and demonstrated a little more skill with the instruments. The album was fairly close to the traditional album format: a series of songs, some seguéing into the next.

      The Residents put a lot of attention into the packaging as well as the music, though the defaced Beatles cover upset Capitol Records greatly. John Lennon proudly displayed his own copy at home. The cover also became the favourite piece of evidence for the old "The Beatles are the Residents" theory. In addition to the infamous cover art, the record included liner notes on N. Senada's Theory of Phonetic Organization and a promotion for the Vileness Fats film.

1050 disks were made, though 200 had to be scrapped. These barely sold, so the band made 4000 seven-minute 7" flexy-disk samplers which were included in an issue of the February '74 issue of the Canadian art magazine,File, along with a blurb advertising the album at $1.99 per copy. It still didn't sell -- people thought it was a joke. An ad in the May 17, 1974 issue of Friday, a college magazine from San Francisco, offered a free sample, but even so The Residents only sold 40 copies of Meet the Residents in the first year of its release.

      Later, as the band became better known, sales of this first album started to pick up. In 1977, The Residents re-worked the tapes, cutting about seven minutes from the playtime, and released a new version. This release had a new cover, to keep Capitol happy, which depicted four figures with non-human heads: three with prawn-heads, the fourth with a starfish. These were identified as George Crawfish, John Crawfish, and Paul McCrawfish and Ringo Starfish.

Liner Notes from the lp: 
The Residents began collecting interesting and unusual tapes in the early 60's in an effort to expand their awareness of the very nature of sound. The tapes came from everywhere... cassettes of soldiers in Vietnam singing songs with impromptu instrumentation... reels from second hand shops... sounds effects and bird call collections from garage sales... and, yes, even a few bootleg tapes of well known pop artists going avant-garde between takes which were purchased on the black market and stored in a local bank vault.
The Residents not only collected other peoples tapes, but gained widespread notoriety for their unusual recordings. The underground network carried their reputation across the oceans where it finally hit the ears of the then unknown Englishman, "Snakefinger" Lithman. Packing a few clothes, he flew directly to San Mateo, California where the Residents then had their sound studios, in hopes of studying tapes of early Cajun music the Residents were alleged to have recorded while in college in Louisiana. Snakefinger had also brought an aquaintance that he had met in the woods of Bavaria while on an expedition there for Britain. That friend was none other than the Mystreious N. Senada who had developed a complex musical system based upon phonetics.
For six months Snakefinger, N. Senada (who spoke very little english), and The Residents worked together recording and listening to tapes. A few lucky people were even able to catch impromptu performances by The Mysterious N. Senada and Snakefinger at several of San Francisco's folk and jazz clubs.
The Residents negotiated with Warner Bros. Records executive Hal Halverstadt over the rights to the Snakefinger/N. Senada/Residents tapes, but Warner Bros. hit by a slump in record sales, decided the audience appeal was too limited and at the last minute withdrew their offer.
Snakefinger returned to England to become a rock and roll star, and The Mysterious N. Senada, well he just disappeared one day. The Residents have ventured to guess that he has probably gone to the artic regions. He believes some musical link is hidden among the Eskimos of the frozen north.
The music on this album is not that of Snakefinger or of The Mysterious N. Senada. The Residents have taken the basic ideas of the phonetic organization but have applied the theories to a more western style of music. The translation does not always hold intact, though there is more than Enough example of this staggering new music style.
The instruments used on this record have been tuned to approximate Western culture harmonies and artistic freedom is assumed for the right to substitute normal instruments where necessary.
Listen closely to the record. Let the strangeness wear off through a couple of plays. Soon you too will whistle the merry tunes and wonder along with The Residents who that old man N. Senada really was.

Track listing 

1. Boots (1:30)
2. Numb Erone (1:07)
3. Guylum Bardot (1:19)
4. Breath and Length (1:44)
5. Consuelo's Departure (1:55)
6. Smelly Tongues (1:44)
7. Rest Aria (5:41)
8. Skratz (1:43)
9. Spotted Pinto Bean (5:37)
10. Infant Tango (6:01)
11. Seasoned Greetings (5:13)
12. N-Er-Gee (Crisis Blues) (10:06)

Line-up 

- James Aaron / bass, guitar
- James Whitaker / piano
- Wool / vocals
- The Residents / everything else

COVER: Very good+++ kept safe in a thick plastic bag and placed in a bank vault for the last 32 years!!!!!

VINYL: Very good+++ shines and looks great, almost spotless!!!!

SOUND: Very good+++ as good as it can get considering the cheap and cramped music forced into a limited record space.

Please note that I had to make some shipping changes below. 

BIDDING REQUIREMENTS:

Please wait for me to send you an invoice after the auction so I can make sure all the details for shipping are correct, I will try to get your item(s) mailed out to you the next day following your payment but on occasion it may take me a day or two at the most, if your sending a money order or well concealed U.S. dollars, please let me know so I can have an idea what's going on.
This is not a business, it is not a record store, even though I have far more rare records than any store could imagine, they are all mine, which I have collected since 1960, I collected records like some people collect baseball cards, but now find myself surrounded by thousands of records, and they must all go!!!!!
 
SHIPPING INFO:
I ship USPS.   US -- $6 for the 1st LP (Priority) insurance included, $1 for each additional item, 

Canada is $8.00, rest of world $12.00, $2.00 for each additional item, I ship Global Priority where possible. Poland, South East Asia, Japan, Australia: $10.00 Air Letter Post or $16.00 Global Priority, $2.00 each additional item. Air Letter Post can take 3 to 4 weeks deliver to South East Asia region, and as much as 2 weeks Global Priority.

Please contact me if you have any questions, I prefer Paypal but will except Bidpay and money orders in U.S. Dollars, please contact me within 3 days of auction end, must recieve payment within 14 days of purchase, item ships when payment recieved. If your paying with Paypal, I will expect payment no later than 4 days from auction end, if your paying by money order, I need to know no later than 3 days of auction end that your sending money order, and will expect payment to arrive no later than 14 days of auction end, I think that's pretty fair, and unfortunately, I will have to file a non-paying bidder if these conditions are not met, If you have a problem or any questions please contact me and I'll see what I can do.

Please note shipping costs, I use Priority and Global Priority for the simple reason that the faster the item gets to you, the less risk of loss or damage to the item, there are countries that do not except Global Priority and I will adjust the price accordingly, if you really want to save a few dollars on shipping, I will do this for you, but please just be aware of the risks involved, if you have any questions, please ask before bidding.

Feedback:

If you are not satisfied for some reason please contact us prior to leaving feedback so we can fix the problem.
We do want to make you happy, and love giving as well as getting positive feedback, all records are checked under a bright light and played before putting them up for auction, I won't sell it unless it meets my high standards!

Grading Definitions:

Mint (M): Absolutely perfect in every way - never played, possibly sealed. (Mint grading used sparingly if at all)
Near Mint (NM or M-): Near Mint is the highest grade listed in all Goldmine guides. Many dealers won't give a grade higher than this, implying (perhaps correctly) that no record is ever truly perfect. The record shows no obvious signs of wear. Lp should look new, just purchased. No creases, folds, seam splits or visual defects.

Very Good Plus (VG +): Very Good Plus will show signs that it was played, and otherwise handled by a previous owner who took good care of it. Record surfaces may show slight signs of wear and may have scuffs or light scratches that don't affect one's listening experience. (Slight warps that do not affect the sound are OK) NOTE: None of my records are warped!!!!!

Very Good (VG): Many of the defects found in VG + will be more pronounced on a VG disc. Surface noise will be evident upon playing, especially in soft passages and during intros and fades, but will not overpower the music otherwise. Groove wear will start to be noticeable, as with light scratches that will affect the sound. This is the lowest price grade used by Goldmine listings, no need to go any lower than Very Good (VG) I won't sell it if it's not at least Very Good!

Please remember, these are records and not cds, and even a mint copy of a record will have a minimal amount of surface noise, the more +++ after very good, the closer the record is to near mint, I don't think any record is mint unless it is still sealed, and even in that case, there are some manufacturers who have poor quality vinyl, I'll try to indicate this when I can, I won't try to rip you off, I will do my very best to give you an accurate description, and will do my very best to assist you in any way I can, I want you to have a pleasant experience and that is my main goal, so have fun, and please, ask me any questions you may have before you bid, I'll try to give you all the info I can! - THE DROOGSTER

BOOKMARK MY EBAY SITE, I'M SELLING A LIFETIME OF COLLECTED LPS, MOST HARD TO FIND AND VERY RARE, I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER, EVERYTHING MUST GO, LOW MINIMUM BID, NO RESERVE!