WHITE LIGHTNING Old Hickory '77 RARE SITAR PSYCH LISTEN

$

31

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

MICHAEL MATHIS & WHITE LIGHTNING "Old Hickory and the Pirate"

Original 1977 LP on the HAKIM label, STEREO HR #1001

Cover:  EXCELLENT, DJ sticker on front

Vinyl: A few handling scuffs, plays VG+ to VG++ with some scattered pops 

If you haven’t picked up on this one yet, I’m not surprised.  This unknown sitar psych album by Michael Mathis and White Lightning doesn’t look very promising, at least from the cover.  That, coupled with the subject matter of Andrew Jackson and Roger Lafitte, makes this LP look like some narrated history of the War of 1812 put out by your local library.  And who comes to eBay to learn?  But here’s a quick course in Psych 101, and I don’t mean “psychology.”  There’s not one, not two, but three genuine sitar psych headswirlers lurking under this Encyclopedia Brittanica style sleeve.  The School of Rock is now in session…

Fuzz Acid and Flowers claims Old Hickory and the Pirate is from “circa 1972,” but the back of this album clearly says 1977, and that’s just bad research.  Whatever the case, don’t worry – there are no Tavares disco beats here.  As a matter of fact, it sounds like the songs on this album were recorded during completely different decades – this thing changes styles more often than Madonna changes ac cents.  For example, the oddly-titled “Discomboober” is such a crude piece of lo-fi frat rock, it simply had to be recorded sometime in 1965.  In a room full of empty beer cans with a Radio Shack mike.

But ignore the frat rock and country pop songs, which is easy to do, and concentrate instead on the handful of genuine sitar psych monsters, beginning with the appropriately titled “Third Eye.”  This one rides along on a floaty mystical Indian magic carpet, with constantly echoing sitar, equally echoed-out vocals and lots of trippy headphone-friendly sound effects.  And if these guys really were pirates, it sounds like they plundered George Harrison’s notebook first:

“When you learn to look inside,

What lies hidden cannot hide.

There’s an eye they call the third,

There’s a voice you’ve never heard.

Lots of things for you to find,

Hidden deep within your mind.”

Elsewhere, “Home of Us All” sounds like the Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” on steroids, riding a faster but similar sitar/tabla rhythm with an exciting break that sounds a bit like George’s “Within You Without You.”   There’s another cool Indian jam break in the middle of “Wasting Time,” which rides a mystical tabla and hand drum rhythm while a wah wah guitar twists and turns like a bellydancer in heat.  Not that I would know what that sounds like or anything.

But my favorite of the bunch has to be the killer “Mary on a Go Round,” a super catchy slice of chiming West Coast popsike that sounds like 1968 despite its disco-era birthdate.  There’s some great quivery liquid vibrato guitar here, and a chiming jangle pop Byrds vibe, with just a hint of sitar in the mix.  Not only is this a dead ringer for late 60’s Turtles or Cryan Shames, it probably would’ve been a big hit for either band.  But seeing as it was released during a year in which David Soul topped the pop charts, from an album that looked like a Time-Life coffee table book, its chances at the charts were slim from the start.  Unless there was a sudden late 70’s interest in Andrew Jackson (there wasn’t), Old Hickory and the Pirate was a monumental anachronism.  Which is just what us psych heads love to see. 

Decades later, through the magic of the mix tape, you can now lift the three or four amazing moments from this album and then put the record up in your bookcase somewhere so it looks like you really do care about American history.  And the next time someone asks you about Andrew Jackson’s role in the War of 1812, you can say “Well, I know he was called Old Hickory…and he enlisted the help of a pirate…and together, they played an awful lot of sitar music.”

 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.