MINETTE COME TO ME AT TEA-TIME LP WEIRD VERY RARE PSYCH

$

201

ARTIST: Minette
LP TITLE: Come To Me at Tea-Time
LABEL INFO: Collectors Choice Records (no number)
GRADE (COVER/RECORD): EXC/FAIR (see detailed notes below)

NOTES: The word "rare" is horribly overused by record sellers, but here is finally an album where rare is not an exaggeration. According to the 2006 Acid Archives book, there are 3 known copies of this 1968 record. I recently found this one out in the wild, so I guess that makes this known copy # 4 (seriously, there must be more than 4 copies in existence). This album is truly a weird artifact of 2 worlds you would not expect to collide: female impersonator lounge music meets psychedelic hippie issues, with multiple references to drugs and the Vietnam War.

The good news is the cover is in great shape with no splits and only minor shelf and spine wear - considering the black background on the front, it's amazing how clean this cover looks. The bad news is the record itself has many scratches and plays with considerable surface noise. It doesn't look totally trashed (no huge deep gouge scratches), but there are plenty of small thinner scratches spread around to cause consistent surface noise like a fireplace crackle. I didn't hear any skips, but to be honest I only listened to this once and stopped listening half way through Side 2. I have not attempted to clean it, so maybe you could slightly upgrade it, but I still wouldn't recommend buying this for a pleasant listening experience.

Despite the surface noise issues, I can still see the advanced real people or incredibly strange music collector excited to add this to their collection. Imagine impressing your collector friends by pulling it out at a party as you explain how few copies exist (just tell them you would rather not play it due to its rarity!). Plus the cover is real nice, so you can always snag it for the cover and hope a better condition record comes along.

A couple minor notes to add to the Acid Archives review. The review mentions that Minette is only accompanied by piano, but I did hear some electric guitar on a couple Side 1 tracks. The AA review also mentions that the vinyl is green when held up to the light, but this looks like a typical black vinyl record to me.

STRICT GRADING! GRADES I USE: NM, EXC, VG+, VG, VG-, G, FAIR, POOR. PLEASE NOTE THAT MY HIGHEST GRADE FOR AN UNSEALED RECORD IS NM (NEAR MINT) BUT PLEASE BID WITH CONFIDENCE ON THOSE I HAVE GRADED EXC, VG+ OR VG, AS I GRADE STRICTLY UNDER BRIGHT LIGHT.

CHECK MY OTHER AUCTIONS AND EBAY STORE FOR MORE RECORDS! UNLESS NOTED, ALL RECORDS ARE US PRESSINGS AND VISUALLY GRADED.