ROY HARPER Ghengis Smith CBS Orange MONO Mint

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52

ROY HARPER

Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith

CBS BPG 63184 UK Orange Label MONO Original 1st pressing

Matrix numbers: 63184 A1 & B1

Track Listing: Freak Street / You Don’t Need Money / Ageing Raver / In A Beautiful Rambling Mess / All You Need Is / What You Have / Circle / Highgate Cemetery / Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith

People seem to have strong views about Roy Harper and, even if they like his music, equally strong views about the relative merits of his many albums. I have to confess at once, therefore, that I am a fan of his earlier work, even if the debut album leaves me a bit cold. It was on this, his second LP released in 1967, that he really started to hit his stride as both a singer and a songwriter, conjuring that magical mixture of gentle humour, biting satire and stoned beauty that he would carry onto the subsequent Folkjokeopus, Flat Baroque & Berserk and Stormcock LPs. Since he passed through 3 labels and 4 years in the process it is hardly surprising that the sound of one man and guitar changed in the process, but you would be hard pressed to fault the Shel Talmy production on ‘Ghengis’ (Talmy, of course, also produced The Who and The Kinks).

The orchestration – especially on opener ‘Freak Street’ (made to rhyme with Greek Street) – is sublime, even if it sounds a little too polite for the song writing at times (Keith Mansfield arranged many 60’s TV themes).

Anyway, if you know the album then you hardly need me to tell you anything about it, if you don’t – well then here’s you chance to find out! I imagine that the cover caused something of a furore when it came out, but like the title it is something of a classic if it’s era. I have no idea why all the subsequent reissues have replaced it with a far more clinical shot. Then there’s the rather cool and moody shot of Roy on the back cover – no doubt the good folk at CBS fought long and hard to have that on the front – and lost. The liner notes by Bert Jansch are hilarious, ending: “Reap in the harvest of Heaven, stand flowered in petals of silver, and dressed in song you shall hear music and dance naked on the grass.” Exactly...

Condition: 

I hate using generic grading but this time I will make an exception. It’s basically M- for the cover, M- for the disc (my highest grading yet).

Cover: The cover has almost invisible creasing on the front laminate very close to the edges – i.e. no big creases and nothing that can be seen without close inspection under bright light. The back cover has only the faintest trace of ring wear with no writing of any kind. Most importantly, the edges are all razor sharp (almost no wear at the open edge). There is no browning, which is quite common to these sleeves.

Record: The record and mono labels look perfect – there is no spindle wear – and it plays beautifully with no background noise on my Thorens deck. Basically this record looks like it has been played perhaps a handful of times.

At the end of the day this is a rare album – certainly a lot scarcer than all apart from his first – and even rarer in a MONO pressing. You will not be disappointed!

As I say below, I try to describe as accurately as I can rather than using a bland grading. Finally I guarantee everything I sell. If you don't like it send it back. But you will like it, I promise.

I should also be adding further auctions during the week, so please keep looking!

Payment & Shipping: Paypal is the preferred method of payment, but I will accept cash in £, $ or Euros and cheques within the UK. I will ship anywhere. Most of the records I buy come from overseas and in over 500 transactions I have never had a record broken or lost. All records are well packed in stiff cardboard packets. UK shipping is about £2.00 for an LP, £1.00 for a 45. Air shipping beyond Europe is about £6.00 per LP, £3.00 per 45. Europe in between. Obviously it will cost less per record for multiple items and more if you want insurance. 

My guarantee: I hate vague descriptions and misleading gradings as much as anyone else - hence I will try and avoid gratuitous use of the word ‘psych’ as well as EXCESSIVE CAPITALS and exclamation marks!!! Because I only sell records when I have duplicates, these are all records I still enjoy. The aim is not to make a profit but to put money towards buying more records. Of course, grading is always subjective, so I will attempt to describe what every record actually looks and sounds like. I hope that my feedback (100% as a seller) speaks for itself - every record I sell is guaranteed.

About me: I have been collecting records since my mid-teens and buying and selling on ebay for over 5 years. I also write for magazines like MOJO, Uncut and Ptolemaic Terrascope. In particular I have written articles and sleeve notes for bands like The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Euphoria (on Capitol) and Rodriguez (Sussex). If anyone wants information on any of these bands then feel free to get in touch.