SPIRIT IN FLESH 1971 GREAT POWER POP PSYCH LP from Master of Puppets cult LISTEN

$

39

SPIRIT IN FLESH "SPIRIT IN FLESH" LP

ORIGINAL 1971 LP ON THE METROMEDIA LABEL, STEREO MD 1041

COVER IN EXCELLENT SHAPE, WOULD BE MINT IF NOT FOR A PIECE OF CLEAR TAPE ON BACK (FOR NO APPARENT REASON)

VINYL PLAYS EXCELLENT

Highly regarded and somewhat creepy commune rocker from Massachusetts hippie cult The Brotherhood of the Spirit, released in 1971 on the Metromedia label and led by commune leader Michael Metelica, who later went on the form influential heavy metal band Metelica.  Here he is way way back in 1971, fresh out of the Sixties and long before meeting up with internet bummer Lars Ulrich, leading his Spirit in Flesh band through upbeat gospel rockers like “The Blind Leading The Blind,” with Mike’s gruff soulful vocals and the Pearly Gates guitar of a man they called “Pod Leslie” (with a straight face too).  There’s plenty of soul sistah backing vocals too – oddly enough, there are only four backing vocalists listed on the cover, but they’re making a sound like Polyphonic Spree here.  There’s also a nice interstellar psych-o-delic spiral guitar wigout from Pod at the end of “The Jack Baker Song,” which I hear was originally titled “The Ginger Bruce Song.”  “Fine Line” offers up a nice sweaty bit of West Coast Fillmore ballroom rural boogie hoedown, and Michael sounds amazingly like Jim Morrison here when he screams.  And then there’s “Clear The Way,” which coulda been an honest-to-goodness Yellow Pills power pop masterpiece if only the power pop cognoscenti had bothered to look here, on obscure Jesus rock albums from the early Seventies, and they didn’t.  With its ringing guitars and killer pop hook, it’s a lost Big Star outtake stuck in a hippie commune toga.  And Sweet Baby Jesus, what a far cry from “Master of Puppets”!  Other band members, according to the back cover, include names like Tater Howes and Johnny America.  Spirit in Flesh is a true, as in literal, cult classic.  Because it’s from a cult.  You see what I did there?

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

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.  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. 

 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.