SIR HENRY & BUTLERS H2O 1968 RARE FREAKBEAT PSYCH HEAR

$

67

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

SIR HENRY AND THE BUTLERS "H2O"

Original 1968 LP on the Danish EMI PARLOPHONE label, STEREO/MONO MOCK 1010

Cover:  VG+, small sticker and residue on back, 4" spine split

Vinyl:  SUPER CLEAN vinyl, plays beautifully, EXCELLENT to NEAR MINT!

Remember when the Turtles dropped acid and recorded stuff like “The Owl”?  Or the squeaky clean Cowsills downed a couple magic brownies and came out with 11 By 11?  Heck, even Chubby Checker smoked a fatty out on Route 66 and released a mind-blowing Hendrix-lovin’ fuzzed-out psychedelic bomb of an album.  Though admittedly, he was a little late in getting there.   But the point is – it happened to ALL of ‘em, eventually.  And no matter how clean and pure you think your teen pop idols are, somewhere down the road, they’ve all gone out with Mary Jane eventually.

Sir Henry and his Butlers were Denmark’s version of the squeaky clean beat pop band, the kind of boys you’d bring home to Moder.  But they too found their inner Walruses around 1968 and cranked out this little-known, incredibly-rare, and completely acid-fried album H2O.  Okay, so it ain’t CQ or Agemo’s Trip to Mother Earth, but for the Danish equivalent of, say, Paul Revere and the Raiders, this is some pretty mindblowing stuff.  They’ve clearly been listening to some heavyweight British psych bands, like the Move, the Pretty Things, Tomorrow and the Small Faces.  In between hits on the hookah, of course.

Something’s rockin’ in the state of Denmark, that’s for sure, and it’s the bendy twisted freakbeat monster “Everybody Knows a Place,” which gets its power from a well-established rhythm section, and its heady edge from all those brand new minor keys.  The oddly-titled “Pimp” is not a blaxploitation funk jam like it should be, but rather a psychedelic country jaunt in the same vein as Ringo’s “Don’t Pass Me By.”  And “Cosmorama,” whose title sounds like an outtake from the first Roxy Music album, is actually a pretty twisted take on movie music, like the theme to some love scene where everyone’s naked and covered in daffodils and grease paint.  And rolling blunts with Mama Cowsill.

So enamored were Sir Henry and His Butlers with the British psych scene, quite a few tracks here wouldn’t sound out of place on Rubble.  “Teddy Bear” in particular is quintessential toytown popsike – with its nursery rhyme melody, little boy lyrics and double-tracked trippy lead vocals.  It’s in the same playroom that gave us Syd Barrett’s “Bike,” and like that song, there’s also something oddly unsettling about it.   And that marching band that shows up at the tail end of “Mrs. Brown’s Friend” seems awfully indebted to a few lads from Liverpool who once dressed up in the uniforms of the Ontario Provincial Police.

But the real mind-fryer here, for sure, is “Poor Bobby,” with its heavy, grinding Chocolate Soup rhythm and knife-scraping freakbeat guitar licks.  It sounds an awful lot like the Move, if they had been raised on meatballs and Carlsberg beer.  Elsewhere, the sweeping epic popsike of “Do It Again” will likely have soft pop fans in their own private Danish seventh heaven, no doubt rubbing shoulders with some blond-haired girls in milkmaid outfits.

Needless to say, Sir Henry and His Butler’s little foray into British acid psych probably confused a lot of their loyal Scandinavian Tiger Beat-lovin’ fans.  It probably also sold like Vanilla Ice’s comeback album, because H2O is by far the rarest of their albums to find.  Because hey, sometimes it’s a little unsettling when your teen idols get a little freaky.  But if you can’t share some chronic with Susan Jacks, then this has got to be the next best thing.

 HEAR IT!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS REQUIRE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, WHICH IS AN EXTRA 75 CENTS.  Air mail shipping to Canada starts at $10 US, each additional record $2 shipping.  Air mail shipping everywhere else in the world starts at $16 US, with each additional record only $3 shipping.  ALL FOREIGN ORDERS REQUIRE CERTIFICATE OF SHIPMENT, WHICH IS AN EXTRA $1.10.  I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

And finally, I include delivery confirmation on all shipments inside the US.  This is my proof of shipment, and also helps us to track your package if it doesn’t arrive when it should.  I will email you within 2 days of shipment and give you the confirmation number at that time.  Insurance is always optional, but for larger orders, it’s highly recommended.   I DO NOW REQUIRE THAT ALL FOREIGN BUYERS PAY AN ADDITIONAL $1.10 FOR PROOF OF SHIPMENT.  IT'S A NOMINAL FEE AND THE CHEAPEST WAY FOR ME TO PROVE THAT I ACTUALLY SHIPPED YOUR PACKAGE AND DIDN'T JUST POCKET YOUR MONEY AND SKIP TOWN.  For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.