Tear Gas - Piggy Go Getter - Rare/Vinyl/Prog Rock/1970/US/Paramount

$

30

? The Mad Platter presents:

An extremely hard to come by collection recently purchased, and listed for your buying pleasure.

Check my other listings for more rarities.

All respectable offers will be reviewed and considered.

Tear Gas - Piggy Go Getter

Stereo PAS-5029

1970 - 1st US Pressing on Paramount Records.

Warning! Please read:

Any and all bidders! Records are an impulse buy. I do my best to grade accordingly, and with that being said; my NM might be your VG+, which makes record grading subjective. By bidding on this item, you as the bidder/potential buyer are accepting that possibility. You are also accepting that I will not discount a record once received because you believe it to be graded wrong. I do not accept returns unless you file a case with Ebay. Too many buyers in the past have looked for anything and everything to acquire a discount. This will not be tolerated. In bidding, you have accepted my terms. Thank you.

This LP is by no means ultra scarce, but it is rarely seen in top notch condition.

As a result, it has become an item on many collectors grail list.

If you're a fan of Sir Lord Baltimore, Armageddon, Blue Cheer, Bang, Clear Light, Bloodrock, Captain Beyond, or Bull Angus; than this is for you.

Once again, this is not a re-pressing, its the first edition pressed on thick quality vinyl.

Vinyl: VG+ to EX, just very light paper scuffs. Light surface marks on both sides only seen under bright light. I play grade this at EX. There are absolutely no deep scratches that will affect play.

Cover: VG, would have been a bit higher if it hadn’t been for the warpage in both the openings as seen in the pictures. Back cover has staining that can be seen in the photos. The inside cover comic strip is bright and legible. There is also a blue stamp on the cover that says “give a way”, which I’d imagine was a prize to a lucky customer of the time. Small saw cut out bottom right. Looks pretty nice for being 48 years old.

Labels: EX

Top collectors copy here, it’s definitely a keeper. This would make a great addition to any prog rock collectors shelf.

This will be shipped in a quality static free inner sleeve & brand new outer sleeve.

I ship media mail, but will send as you like, at your expense. 

Additional insurance is also your responsibility. 

Communicate with me and I will do as you like.

USA buyers only, too many issues shipping overseas.

History on the band and it’s release:

A Glasgow, Scotland progressive band formed in the late '60's, Tear Gas initially comprised Eddie Campbell (Keyboards), Zal Clemenson (Guitar), Chris Glen (Bass, vocals), Gilson Lavis (drums), and Andy Mulvey (vocals). Mulvey had originally sung with local beat grouip The Poets. After changing from their original name, Mustard, they chose Tear Gas as a variation of the same theme. Mulvey was soon replaced by keyboard player and vocalist David Batchalor and Lavis (wholater played with Squeeze)by Richard Monroe from Ritchie Blackmore's Mandrake Root. It was this lineup that recorded their 1970 debut: "Piggy Go Getter", an album typical of the time with it's long guitar and keyboard passages. However, they were more playful than some - "We were a really loud band, in fact we used to open with Jethro Tull's 'Love Story' which started out very softly and the crowd would drift towards the front. Then we'd turn the volume up and blow everyone out of the hall!" After a couple more lineup changes, the group recorded material for a second album for a release on Regal Zonophone Records, but was met with a lackluster response from the critics. Despite regular touring in an effort to establish themselves, it wasn't until they teamed up with Alex Harvey in August 1972 to become The Sensational Alex Harvey Band that they saw any real success.

Here's a review I found:

This is another of the ones I had picked up earlier on in my obscurity quest. Formerly known as Mustard, this Scottish quintet’s debut with the interesting cover of two authority figures (piggies?) tossing, most likely, tear gas into a cloud of the same can seem like a long journey to the listener. To me, side one is the weak preamble to the potency of side two, like the background information in a film that is finally divulged in order for the meat to be thrown to the hungry, though some describe it as both hard and progressive. In actuality, the sound slowly nudges to the former and possesses only smidges of the latter. At least it gets somewhere.

Okay, let’s pick these flashes of goodness from the sky until at least side two. “Lost Awakening”, the lp’s opener, is like an electric CS&N number with harmonized vocals only in the chorus. Some decently flung solos close the track. Not bad. A similar, acoustic-laden gait ambles over to “Your Woman’s Gone and Left You”, a song that really needs to be given a hotfoot or something. In and out of melancholy is “Night Girl”, which means it’s in and out of vigor as well for a literally down the middle track, though still isn’t saving the day. More meandering takes place in the chorus-heavy, stillborn “Nothing in This World Can Change Your Mind”, but then “Living for Today” pretends to be the harbinger of the future, centered on a strong, intriguing riff that kind of deflates to a rather fruity chorus. Low and behold, side two. “Big House” is a piano-led foot-tapper with a somewhat insipid forefront harmony they could easily lose, but it’s worth sitting through to shift “Mirrors of Sorrow” into audible range. Simultaneously dirge-like and bouncy, the obscure rhythm shares momentum with full-scale backing vocals, a breaking chorus, off-the-beam drum work and some memorial driving hooks that easily propel this to the top of the totem. While not as boisterous, “Look, What Else is Happening” is still almost as lively as the first four tracks combined. Drummer Willie Munro finally wakes up and gets his licks in, as does guitarist Zal Cleminson and keyboardist Eddie Campbell. “I’m Fallin’ Far Behind” persists in the feverish pace with another original main riff that ducks and moves like a basketball player angling for a shot. Discordant and lethal is the riffage of “Witches Come Today” that grudgingly steps aside for a more prescribed, softer chorus. Now I just have to ask, was side two so difficult to concoct that side one couldn’t match it?

Tear Gas no doubt have what it takes to create stirring, vibrant hard rock with progression not too far off. Perhaps mixing up the songs a bit would’ve kept the teeter-totter a bit more level. Maybe they thought whoever gets through side one will totally be enthralled by side two. Maybe they thought those first few songs could really stand on their own merit. Perhaps side two of their self-titled sophomore lp is as exciting as a barnacle and side one rips. Who knows what they thought.