TRIANGLE How Now Blue Cow 1969 RARE HEAVY FUZZ PSYCH LP

$

37

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

TRIANGLE "How Now Blue Cow"

Original 1969 white label pr0m0 LP on the AMARET label, STEREO ST5001

Cover:  VG+, corner creasing, spine wear, DJ stamp on back, top seam 1/2 split

Vinyl:  Light superficial scuffs, plays VG+ to VG++ 

I’d like to say this is one of the rarest Sixties psych albums on a major label, but can we really call the Amaret label a major?  I mean, when your biggest act is Crow (four friggin’ albums on the strength of one minor hit single? Geez!), you’re not exactly stealing new acts away from Capitol and Elektra, now are you?  Still, for every godawful Crow and Mrs. Miller album released by Amaret, they accidentally let loose a few great ones – like Fresh Air, Randy Johnson and this 1969 album by Triangle – and then decided that actually going out and promoting the good stuff just took time away from promoting Crow, which is what they really wanted to do.  Even when How Now Blue Cow got a rare five star review in the June 1969 issue of Rolling Stone.  The same month Neil Young got four and a half (for Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, I hope).  And the Kinks got even less for Village Green Preservation Society.  And yet today, which of the three records draws blank stares from even the most hardened of record collectors?  Yup.  This one.  Of course, no one – not even the band members themselves – remembers Crow, so maybe that helps ease the pain a bit.

Granted, I ain’t saying that How Now Blue Cow should be ranked up there with Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere or Village Green Preservation Society (it musta been a month where no one could keep an album title under two paragraphs long), but at least give the darn thing a proper reissue already.  Especially when this thing is MUCH harder to find than a dozen copies of any Mainstream label album, or the Common People or Gandalf on Capitol, or the Fallen Angels second album, or heck, a good Jethro Tull album even.  I’ve been searching for rare psych albums for decades, and lemme tell you, I’ve seen private label albums with runs of a few hundred at best pop up more often than this one.  Amaret didn’t just ignore this record.  They must’ve gone out and buried ‘em.

So is it any good, you ask?  Could the Triangle, on a good day, take on even the mighty Crow at some hash-fueled Battle of the Bands outside the Amaret offices on a rainy June weeknight in 1969?  Abso-freakin-lutely.  I can hear ‘em now blowing out speakers on the bluesy ballroom guitar psych of “Short Stuff,” practically an homage to English hard rock with its Cream-like sound and shrieking Deep Purple heavy metal thunder vocals.  Or blowing out windows and car alarms with the driving psych rock of “Magic Touch.”  Or blowing heads and minds with the heavy distorto blooz panning speaker synapse-fryer “Try Harder,” whose big lizard on crack guitar riff could squash the feeble “Evil Woman” hook like little fauns under the blood-stained feet of your favorite Toho Studios baddie.  They even cover some real blues oldies – 99 And A Half, Lucille and Rolling Stone (mebbe that’s why they gave ‘em FIVE stars!) – something the beloved Crow kids never even thought to do.  But then again, how could they even find the time – what with all that promotion going on?

I can’t put all the blame on Amaret, though.  On one of the six websites that even acknowledge this rare album, Triangle’s original singer and guitarist writes in to do a little “promotion” of his own for How Now Blue Cow.  He writes that the drummer went on to play with Ricky Nelson, and that the bass player went on to engineer and produce other artists’ songs, “including “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Leo Sayer hits (emphasis mine).”  Hmmm.  This promotion stuff is a tricky art.  Maybe you oughta just let the music speak for itself. 

 SOUND CLIP COMING SOON, PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER!

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. 

hear it!