ROBERT WYATT Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard 1975 UK VIRGIN 1st PRESS Nr MINT
£
40
$
53
£ 40
Sold For
Oct 27, 2014
Sold Date
Oct 17, 2014
Start Date
£ 20
Start price
4
Number Of Bids
Great Britain
Country Of Seller
eBay
Auctioned at
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Description
ROBERT WYATT Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard 1975 UK VIRGIN 1st PRESS Nr MINT
ROBERT WYATTRuth Is Stranger Than Richard
UK VIRGIN (V 2034) FIRST PRESSING (May 1975)
WITH BRIAN ENO & FRED FRITH
PRESSED WITH THE FIRST ISSUE VIRGIN LABELS
MATRIX: V 2034 A-2U / V 2034 B-2U
MOTHERS/STAMPERS: 1/G and 1/GA
THE LP IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL MATT SLEEVE WITH ARTWORK BY WYATT'S WIFE ALFREDA BENGE
COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL PLAIN WHITE INNER SLEEVE WITH UK PATENT NUMBER AND "MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN" PRINTED IN BLACK
Robert Wyatt vocals, piano, imitation electric piano, organ, drums
Brian Eno guitar, synthesizer, direct inject anti-jazz ray gun
Gary Windo bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Nisar Ahmad "George" Khan - tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
Mongezi Feza trumpet
Fred Frith piano
Bill MacCormick bass guitar
John Greaves bass guitar
Laurie Allan drums
The follow-up to Rock Bottom, for which Wyatt had written all of the music and lyrics, Ruth... consisted of Wyatt's adaptations and arrangements of other people's music (either friends - Phil Manzanera, Fred Frith, Mongezi Feza, former Wilde Flowers bandmate Brian Hopper - or influences - Charlie Haden) with Wyatt adding his own lyrics in much the same way as he'd done on Matching Mole's Little Red Record.
Apart from "Sonia", recorded for the aborted "Yesterday Man" single in October 1974 (again with Nick Mason as producer), Ruth was made at Virgin's Manor Studios with Wyatt himself handling production duties.
Much the album features Wyatt (on lead vocals and keyboards) backed by a "band" consisting of bassist Bill MacCormick, drummer Laurie Allan and saxophonists George Khan and Gary Windo, with Brian Eno adding his own idiosyncratic "anti-jazz" touch.
The album contains several pieces which recall the complexity and despair of Rock Bottom, but much of the record echoes the relaxed, almost silly feel of earlier Wyatt efforts such as The End of an Ear or his work with Matching Mole.
This becomes evident from the choice of title (a pun on "truth is stranger than fiction") onwards; the two sides of the original LP release were not labeled "Side A" and "Side B", but rather "Side Richard" and "Side Ruth"
The three "serious" pieces on Side Richard - the beautiful ballad "Solar Flares", "5 Black Notes And 1 White Note" (a funeral instrumental, supposedly a cover of Jacques Offenbach's Barcarolle, which degenerates into a series of noises somewhere between free jazz and electronic noise) and the piano-led Rock Bottom-esque Fred Frith collaboration "Muddy Mouth"—with a series of brief, nonsensical interludes featuring only sparse piano accompaniment and some very strange high-pitched yelping vocals under the collective title "Muddy Mouse".
The songs on Side Ruth all have more traditional structures; the rollicking "Soup Song" (derived from the Wilde Flowers song "Slow Walking Talk", of which Wyatt had recorded a version with Jimi Hendrix) has the air of a pub singalong.
The remaining songs are all covers or collaborations; the lengthy Mongezi Feza trumpet piece "Sonia", featuring a guest appearance by Feza himself (as do a number of other songs on the album) in the last year of his life, "Team Spirit" (written with Phil Manzanera, who would record the same song on his album Diamond Head under the title "Frontera") and a cover of "Song for Che" by Charlie Haden round off the album
Side Ruth
Soup Song (5:00)
Sonia (4:12)
Team Spirit (8:26)
Song For Che (3:36)
Side Richard
Muddy Mouse (a) (0:50)
Solar Flares (5:35)
Muddy Mouse (b) (0:50)
Five Black Notes And One White Note (4:58)
Muddy Mouse (c) / Muddy Mouth (6:11)
LABELS: NEAR MINT
Clean, bright, unmarked labels which carry less than a handful of light spindle traces
VINYL Visual: NEAR MINT
Unmarked in normal light with just harmless hairlines visible under bright light
VINYL Audio: NEAR MINT
Superb sound quality - crystal clear and bright and my play-check at volume found little to fault - nothing but a touch of low-level background on some of the quietest sections - nothing major - this copy plays beautifully throughout - always a big ask for this album with its many quiet sections
SLEEVE: EXCELLENT
Little edge or spine wear to speak of - just some age-related discolouration and ring back/front but good and solid and overall, a pretty fine example of this matt, white, untreated cover
POST & PACKING:
A PROTECTIVE POLY SLEEVE, NEW INNER SLEEVE WITH ANTI-STATIC LINER, QUALITY BOX (NOT ENVELOPE) MAILER AND AMPLE STIFFENERS ARE ALWAYS USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR RECORD ARRIVES SAFELY
UK: FREE (2nd Class Recorded Delivery)
UK: £9.00 (Royal Mail Special Delivery Next Day by 1pm)
EUROPE: Airmail: £14.00 (International Signed For delivery)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £17.00 (International Signed For delivery)
I will combine postage for items purchased within any 10 day period.
However, at the end of each 10 day period, all outstanding items will need to be paid for in full and will be posted to you.
Any items purchased after payment will be included in the next 10 period.
I am continually adding new items which may be of interest to you and it is impractical for me to allow payment to be postponed indefinitely in the expectation that you might wish to bid on future items. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Guarantee: The record is unconditionally guaranteed and I will offer a complete, no quibble refund upon return of the item should you not be pleased with it in any way I will email you when payment has been received to let you know when the item will be posted. Please leave feedback upon receipt of the item so that I know you have received it safely. Thanks 566 (GS 6.7.1 (566))
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