ZODIAC COSMIC SOUNDS ELEKTRA PSYCH LP ULTRA-RARE ORIGINAL '67 MONO TEST PRESSING

$

53

WE CURRENTLY HAVE   MORE THAN 600   LISTED ITEMS

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·       CYRUS FARYAR WITH THE CREAM OF THE CROP OF THE WEST-COAST SESSION PLAYERS FROM PHIL SPECTOR'S 'WRECKING CREW' ORCHESTRA (HAL BLAINE, EMIL RICHARDS, MIKE MELVOIN, BUD SHANK AND OTHERS) – ZODIAC:  COSMIC SOUNDS – ORIGINAL 1967 ELEKTRA RECORDS MONO LP EKL-4009

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·        INSANELY RARE ORIGINAL 1967 ELEKTRA (MONARCH PRESSING PLANT, LOS ANGELES) TEST PRESSING – PROBABLY THE ONLY COPY THAT WILL EVER BE OFFERED ON EBAY

·       VERY RARE WEST COAST PRESSING (MONARCH PRESSING PLANT, LOS ANGELES)

·       VERY RARE MONO PRESSING, MANY TIMES RARER THAN STEREO

·       ORIGINAL "SMALL" GENERIC WHITE TEST PRESSING LABEL WITH ONLY THE NAME OF THE PRESSING PLANT, CATALOG NUMBER AND FORMAT (MONO) AND NO OTHER DETAILS OR SPECIFICS.

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. TEST PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       THIS TEST PRESSING COMES IN ITS GENERIC, PLAIN, WHITE COVER.

·       CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·       THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·       MONO version of this album has NEVER been available on legitimate Compact Disc or in any other digital format.

·       This album is currently out of print and unavailable on Compact Disc, or in any other format.

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds (also known, less correctly, as either The Zodiac by Cosmic Sounds, or Cosmic Sounds by The Zodiac - the sleevenotes were unclear) was a collaborative concept album on the theme of the signs of the Zodiac. It was issued by Elektra Records in May 1967 and featured early use of the Moog synthesizer by Paul Beaver, with music written by Mort Garson, words by Jacques Wilson, and narration by Cyrus Faryar. It has been variously described as "a wonderful period piece" and "apt to inspire more giggle fits than stoned, pull-the-shades-down reveries"

The idea began in 1967 with Jac Holzman, the head of Elektra Records, which had just gained major success with The Doors' debut album. Holzman had the initial concept for the album, and hired Alex Hassilev, a member of The Limeliters, to produce it. Hassilev in turn brought in Mort Garson, with whom he had just formed a production company, to write the music. Hassilev and Garson had planned to do a series of concepts following Cosmic Sounds. Garson wrote music for one of the other intended albums, The Sea, but Rod McKuen, who was supposed to have been on the project, left and did his own version with Anita Kerr. Hassilev temporarily left the project to produce The Dusk 'Till Dawn Orchestra's Sea Drift album, which incorporated part of The Sea's intended theme.

Garson brought together a mixture of musicians, most of whom were not credited on the album sleeve. Musician and electronic instrument collector Paul Beaver, who had done music effects for films, was chosen to perform the MOOG on the album since he was one of the few people on the West Coast who knew how to set up and use the synthesizer at the time. Beaver and Moog went to the California Audio Engineering Society convention in 1967 to showcase the Moog Synthesizer for the first time on the West Coast. Emil Richards, who had worked with such musicians as Frank Zappa, Marvin Gaye and Henry Mancini, was chosen to provide an assortment of percussive instrumental surprises throughout the album. Bassist Carol Kaye and drummer Hal Blaine, both top on-demand session musicians, were The Zodiac's rhythm section. Bud Shank, a top flute performer, and keyboardist Mike Melvoin were also used. Jacques Wilson wrote the album's narration, and folk singer Cyrus Faryar was chosen (suggested by Hassilev) to narrate over the album's exotic instrumentation.

The album was released in May 1967. The sleeve, by artist Abe Gurvin and art director William S. Harvey (who had worked together at Nonesuch Records), featured a florid psychedelic design. On the back, in large purple letters, were written the instructions: "Must be played in the dark".

According to music critic Richie Unterberger:

    "Divided into 12 separate tracks, one for each astrological sign, it appeared just as both psychedelic rock and astrology itself were coming into vogue in the youthful counterculture. In some respects it was similar to other instrumental psychsploitation albums of the time, with a spacy yet tight groove that could have fit into the soundtrack of 1966 Sunset Strip documentaries, played in large measure by seasoned Los Angeles session musicians. In other respects, it was futuristic, embellished by some of the first Moog synthesizer ever heard on a commercial recording, an assortment of exotic percussive instruments, and sitar. The arrangements were further decorated by haunting harpsichord and organ, along with standard mid-1960s Los Angeles rock guitar licks. For those who took the astrology as seriously as the music, there was the dramatic reading of narrator Cyrus Faryar, musing upon aspects of each astrological sign in a rich, deep voice without a hint of irony"

Garson collaborated with Wilson in 1968 on another concept album, The Wozard of Iz, on that occasion with producer Bernie Krause. Paul Beaver later collaborated with Krause on several albums. Garson later recorded several further LPs on individual zodiac signs, and became best known for composing music for National Geographic programming, though he did not, as sometimes repeated, compose its theme song.

In the liner notes for the 1997 Moody Blues compilation The Best of the Moody Blues, Justin Hayward named this album as an influence on the band's development going into Days of Future Passed.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Jacques Wilson

    "Aries - The Fire-Fighter" – 3:17

    "Taurus - The Voluptuary" – 3:38

    "Gemini - The Cool Eye" – 2:50

    "Cancer - The Moon Child" – 3:27

    "Leo - The Lord Of Lights" – 2:30

    "Virgo - The Perpetual Perfectionist" – 3:05

    "Libra - The Flower Child" – 3:28

    "Scorpio - The Passionate Hero" – 2:51

    "Sagittarius - The Versatile Daredevil" – 2:06

    "Capricorn - The Uncapricious Climber" – 3:30

    "Aquarius - The Lover Of Life" – 3:45

    "Pisces - The Peace Piper" – 3:19

Personnel

    Cyrus Faryar – narration

    Paul Beaver – Moog and other electronic instruments

    Emil Richards – exotic percussion

    Bud Shank – bass flute

    Hal Blaine – drums

    Carol Kaye – bass guitar

    Mike Melvoin – keyboards

    Produced by Alex Hassilev

    Music written by Mort Garson

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Amazing !!! An unbelievable piece: What we have here is an unheard-of TEST PRESSING of the LEGENDARY West Coast Psych recording!!. While many test pressings often have alternate or demo- versions of known, later released songs, and while it is possible that this particular test pressing contains demo or alternate versions of some of the tracks, please don’t take our word that it does: unfortunately, we are not familiar with the entire album (we know only a few songs) and we regret  we cannot provide any competent information on how different this TEST PRESSING may be from the official release. Please contact us if you have any questions. The generic white test pressing labels are entirely blank and without any details except for standard technical and legal disclaimer.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS TEST PRESSING APPARENTLY NEVER HAD A CUSTOM COVER;  THE ALBUM WILL BE SHIPPED IN A PLAIN, GENERIC [WHITE] CARDBOARD COVER. TEST PRESSINGS ARE RARELY – IF EVER – FOUND IN CUSTOM (STOCK) COVERS.

For additional historical or discography information on this album, including track listing ►click here

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·                               CONDITION:

·                               RECORD

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)          WE GRADE THE VINYL  AS  (WEAK) NEAR MINT. Some VERY LIGHT AND SUPERFICIAL abrasions – mostly sleeve scuffs -  are (barely) visible, but are probably inaudible,  and do not affect visual integrity or beauty of the vinyl. The original luster is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)          The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)           Mono pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more  preferable to its stereo counterpart. We think that the mix is more natural, humane, "organic" and that the mixes are somewhat different than on the stereo version. We estimate that stereo copies of this album outnumber mono pressings by a ratio of at least 10:1.

(d)          Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

(e)           COVER : This reference pressing comes without any custom jacket, and will be shipped in a plain, generic, white cardboard cover, not separately graded, but in very nice condition, overall.

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer THREE postage rates for both Domestic and International Mail: Media Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for domestic, and First Class, Priority International Mail, and Express International Mail for international orders. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND that you pay for USPS International Priority Mail OR International Express mail when making a payment in order to obtain tracking information, which is NOT available for First Class International shipments.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from country to country. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates ►click here. While you can be rest assured that ►our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note that damage, loss or theft in transit is always possible, and in the case of some countries even PROBABLE. To discuss this potential problem and ensure flawless delivery, please contact us thru eBay BEFORE placing a bid.

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