BIRTHA '72 HEAVY ROCK ALL-GIRL BAND FIRST PRESSING DUNHILL/ABC 'TRUE SOUND'

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'BIRTHA' 1972 HEAVY ROCK ALL-GIRL BAND ~ FIRST U.S. PRESSING ON DUNHILL RARE EARLY 'TRUE SOUND' PRESSING
BIRTHA  "BIRTHA" SELF-TITLED FIRST ALBUM 1970's ALL-GIRL HEAVY ROCK BAND OUT OF L.A. LABEL: DUNHILL / ABC  DSX 50127 RELEASED: 1972 RARE ORIGINAL FIRST 'TRUE SOUND' PRESSING ORIGINAL GATEFOLD JACKET w/ 'INVERTED GIRLS' PHOTO INSIDE RECORDED AT THE SOUND FACTORY ~ LOS ANGELES MASTERING: THE MASTERING LAB ~ HOLLYWOOD PRESSING: 'TRUE SOUND' MANUFACTURING CORPORATION ('TZM' in Matrix) ALBUM DESIGN: SCENIC OVERLOOK PRODUCER: GABRIEL MEKLER RECORD COMPANY: ABC/DUNHILL RECORDS MATRIX (SIDE A): (Etched) DSX 50127 A  T'Z'M MATRIX (SIDE B): (Etched) DSX 50127 B  TZM
CONDITION:  VINYL: VG++  JACKET: VG++ 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'BIRTHA' WERE: ROSEMARY ~ BASS & VOCALS LIVER ~ DRUMS, PERCUSSION, LEAD VOCALS SHELE ~ GUITARS & VOCALS SHERRY ~ KEYBOARDS & VOCALS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this beautiful, original, 'True Sound' First Pressing of Birth's fantastic 1972 debut album.
This is my original copy, purchased back in the mid 70's, that I've taken great care of for many years. 
This copy is complete with the 'classic' gatefold sleeve and famous picture, the original Dunhill inner sleeve, and is an original high quality, full analog 'True Sound' pressing.
This record is in excellent condition. See details on Condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Birtha' was an American all-female heavy rock band from Orange County Los Angeles formed in the late 60's, and active throughout the early 70's.
The band released two albums and four singles over their short existence.
This debut album is just fantastic. Classic early 70's heavy rock, fantastic vocals, tight playing. A terrific, hard rocking album from an early all-female band. This is one of those 'must have' albums for your vinyl collection if you like 70's classic rock.
Their spirited, heavy rock, guitar & keyboard sound caused people to compare them to their contemporaries; Deep Purple, Grand Funk, Steppenwolf, and Captain Beyond, to name a few.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1968, Birtha consisted of:
LIVER ~ (OLIVIA 'LIVER' FAVELA) ~ DRUMS, PERCUSSION, LEAD VOCALS SHELE ~ (MICHELLE 'SHELE' PINIZZOTTO)  ~ GUITARS & VOCALS ROSEMARY ~ (ROSEMARY ANN BUTLER) ~ BASS & VOCALS SHERRY ~ (SHERRY HAGLER) ~ KEYBOARDS & VOCALS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE HISTORY AND STORY OF 'BIRTHA'
Pinizzotto, Butler, and Hagler all grew up in Orange County, California, hung out together, and played in bands together during their years at Fullerton High School.
Pinizzotto and Butler formed the Fullerton all-girl band named 'The Ladybirds' in 1966, and then they formed another girl band, 'The Daisy Chain', with friends from Fullerton Union High.
'The Daisy Chain released one album, 'Straight or Lame', in 1967 on the small United International label.   After 'Daisy Chain' broke up, in 1968, Pinizzotto and Butler formed 'Birtha'. They were joined by drummer and lead vocalist Olivia "Liver" Favela in 1968.
The cute, photogenic, "Liver" Favela was active on the L.A. scene. She had a job as a dancer on 'American Bandstand' once it moved from Philly to L.A., and appeared as a contestant on 'The Dating Game', but her true love was drumming, singing, and rock & roll.
The quartet got together and started playing the club circuit up and down the West Coast. Each of the band members were masters of their instruments, as well as contributing strong vocals. Their tightness and friendship can be heard in their excellent harmonies.
The band was managed by Shele Pinizzotto's brother, Michael.
At first, the all-female quartet was seen as a bit of a 'gimmick' band, along the lines of Frank Zappa's GTO's, but after hearing them play, fans realized that they had real skill and real chops.
Shele was a beautiful, outgoing, heavy set woman with a great voice and incredible guitar skills. Sort of a hip West Coast blend of Mama Cass and Leslie West of Mountain.
Shele had so much talent as a vocalist, and lead guitar player. On stage, the hip, heavy set, blonde lead guitarist contrasted perfectly with the cute, small, petite, brunette drummer and vocalist.
The combo of a right handed lead guitarist and a left handed Bass player made an excellent visual front lineup, reminiscent of the Beatles.
All of the band members were excellent musicians. They played their respective instruments very well, they could all sing, and they had lots of experience playing together, so they could 'read' each other well, and sang beautiful harmonies together.
They were a rocking 4 piece band, as tight and solid as any band on the L.A. club circuit at the time. Birtha’s look and writing spoke to female empowerment and they emerged on the West Coast scene with drive and confidence.
Over the next three years of playing together in the clubs, they got better and better, improving their sound and technical skills.
Birtha worked on improving their onstage presence, and by 1971 they started to write more of their own material, written from a hard rocking, female point of view, and focusing on the various member's individual strengths.
Eventually, they were heard by the keen ears of Gabriel Mekler, a songwriter, musician, A&R person and record producer for Dunhill Records.
Mekler was very active in the L.A. music scene and had helped launch Steppenwolf, who's sound defined 'Heavy Metal Thunder' at the time. He helped produce the early, heavier rock hits for Three Dog Night, produced many West Coast hits for lesser known bands, and even co-wrote songs for, and produced, Janis Joplin.
Mekler knew what the latest West Coast Heavy Rock sounds and trends were, and he heard them all in Birtha's music.
Their tight, powerful heavy rock sound is what first caught his ear; the fact that they were an attractive, all-girl band was just an added bonus.
The band were signed to Dunhill/ABC in early 1972 and set about writing and recording this fantastic self-titled debut.
Recorded at The Sound Factory ~ Los Angeles.
Gabriel Mekler was the album's Producer and oversaw the recording process.
The opening track "Free Spirit" was released as a single.
The album was released in a fantastic gatefold sleeve, featuring a beautiful vintage 'Rock-ola bubbler' Jukebox on the front and back covers.
The inner gatefold shows the band having fun at a local playground, hanging upside down on the equipment, showing their bellies. It has gone down in record collector history as one of the 'classic' inner gatefold shots.
After the album's release, Birtha jumped back on the road, continuing to tour across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, but now the band moved out of the clubs and onto larger stages. 
The Band toured extensively, opening shows for many of the big-name acts of the day.
Alice Cooper, always welcoming something rocking but 'different', had Birtha open shows for him.
Birtha also opened for the heavy rock band, Joe Walsh's James Gang as well as the incendiary Black Oak Arkansas.
Fleetwood Mac, pre-Buckingham Nicks, also had Birtha open for them.
In late 1972, Birtha did an extended tour of the UK, even appearing on the classic UK TV show, 'The Old Grey Whistle Test'.
While in the UK, they opened on a tour with The Kinks, whose promotional flyers and posters, jokingly, but truthfully, stated, "Birtha has balls".
When Birtha would return to the L.A. area, they were regulars at The Troubadour, The Whisky, and one of their favorite 'hometown clubs', 'The Sopwith Camel' down in Glendale.
Touring with the top bands of their era should have made Birtha more famous than they were, but, unfortunately, that never happened.
In 1973, Birtha released their second album, 'Can't Stop the Madness'.
The band continued touring and was on the road constantly, but Rock music, and musical tastes were changing. Audiences were getting smaller and the band was getting burned out. The band broke up in 1975 and all the members went their separate ways. They were still in their mid-20's and wanted to move on with their lives.
Michelle 'Shele' Pinizzotto stayed true to her love of music for many years, teaching voice, guitar and piano at her recording studio in the San Fernando Valley. She also directed a children’s choir in Canoga Park, CA.  
Bass player Rosemary Butler was the only member to continue her professional career in music. After Birtha, she became one of the top session and touring backup singers for many major artists. She worked with many West coast artists, from Bonnie Raitt to Jackson Browne, and many others. She also released her own album 'Rose' in 1983. Today, she continues working as a performer and vocal instructor.
After years of living a Rock'n'Roll life, drummer Olivia "Liver" Favela chose a quieter domestic life. She got married and settled down in the San Fernando Valley. She stayed very socially and politically active. Her daughter became a prominent L.A. Physician. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Birtha, and other early all-girl bands like Fanny, opened up possibilities for other All-female or female led bands and artists that came after them; The Runaways w/ Joan Jett, Suzi Quatro, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, The Go-Go's, The Bangles, and many more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 9 great Rocking songs on this album include:
Free Spirit Fine Talking Man Tuesday Feeling Lonely She Was Good To Me Work On A Dream Too Much Woman (For A Hen Pecked Man) Judgement Day Forgotten Soul
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unless you're a 'deep' collector with fine taste, I'm assuming that you're likely not very familiar with Birtha's music; most people aren't. Their music is fantastic, but they never got the promotion, recognition, or fame that they deserved.
Go check out the few clips available on U-Tube, especially the 'Old Grey Whistle' clip. 
Birtha were a bunch of confident, hip, fiercely talented women, playing heavy rock with vintage period instruments, dressed in cool, hippy bell-bottoms and flowing tops. What's not to like?
Once you've seen and heard them, you'll be amazed, and you'll come back and bid on this record.  It's a great 70's R'n'R record that deserves to be in any classic Rock vinyl collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Birtha's albums are hard to find, especially in nice condition. This one's a beauty; one of the best copies I've seen in 45 years of collecting vinyl.
When you think of 1970's record labels that consistently had excellent mastering, great sound quality, and pristine pressings, 'Dunhill' doesn't come to mind. Despite that, this record sounds absolutely amazing.
Dunhill/ABC were notorious for farming out their pressings to many different pressing plants, some better than others, but mostly not great.
This is the rare true First Pressing, pressed at ABC's best pressing plant, True Sound Mfg. Corp. in Hauppauge, NY. It has the unique 'T'Z'M' stamping in the deadwax. Quite rare, for a good reason.
This is by far the best sounding pressing. The dynamics and soundstage are fantastic. Pressings done at other plants sound good, but they are 'flat', compressed and not as 'punchy' as these rare early TSR pressings. This is the pressing you want.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the jacket, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl looks excellent. Clean and bright. Maybe a very tiny hairline, but no obvious dings, flaws or marks. It looks fantastic and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
The Deadwax is pretty minimal. Just the Dunhill/ABC matrix numbers and the 'TSM' markings for a 'True Sound' pressing.
I tried to take a picture of the 'TSM' mark but it's lightly etched and near impossible to photograph.
See the full Matrix marks above.
I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 50 years. A good deep cleaning will make it even better looking and better sounding than it already is. 
LABELS: This is pressed with the 'classic' early black "rainbow box" design. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still relatively sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks very nice for a 50 year old OG copy. 
Note that unlike most copies you see on Ebay, this copy does NOT have a BB-hole cut-out in the corner.
This fantastic album got no promotion when released, and depite being a great album, sold poorly. Today, clean original 'True Sound' pressings, without the BB-hole are quite rare are very sought after.
This thick gatefold jacket is also notorious for showing ringwear, dirt, scuffs and damage, but this copy is still quite nice. Clean and bright with minimal ringwear.
The black & white picture inside the gatefold is often scuffed and scratched, but this copy has a perfect inner gatefold. No splits, marks or damage. 
The artwork is bold and bright, the corners are relatively sharp, and the spine is straight. A nice survivor. Overall, I'll call the whole record VG++, but the vinyl is very clean. One of the best overall, non cut-out copies I've seen.
This record has it's original Dunhill inner sleeve, but has been polylined sleeved and stored properly for decades, and is still quite nice for an original pressing.
This copy is all original and a real gem. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. 
Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,500 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 25 years, so please bid with confidence!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN