FIELDS s/t 1969 UNI KILLER ex Vejtables SOUL PSYCH O FUNK ACID LP w/ fuzz LISTEN

$

35

Are you one of those guys who (secretly) dug Arthur Lee’s Love AFTER Forever Changes – when he hung out with Jimi a lot and steered Love Mark 2 toward the heavier, funkier, acid-drenched guitar sound that marked the three Hendrix albums?  If so, you may wanna mark this one down too.  From 1969, the self-titled debut album by Fields, featuring the guitarist from the Vejtables (Richard Fortunato) even though the band was inexplicably named after the keyboardist, Graham Fields, who is to the band what the flugelhorn player was to Love.  I’m sorry, Graham, I mean, I’m super stoked you put together this fantastic band and all, but I just don’t HEAR you much on this album.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you, because Mr. Fortunato’s guitar rips and dives and carves huge Hendrixian chunks out of this supremely HEAVY and groovy platter.  Opener “Elysian Fields” is a gauntlet thrown down to Arthur and Jimi – like their “Everlasting First” collaboration, which this predates mind you, it’s a brilliant funk soul psych-o-delic jam, smothered in wild post-Vejtables fuzz guitar and wah wah up the wah zoo.  The soul sistah backup vocals are a nice touch, and lets you get a feel for what might’ve happened had Jimi and Arthur let a few girls sing backup once in a while.  Followup “Biding My Time” is equally stoned cold funky, and although it throws in a damned drum solo (because it was 1969, after all), it keeps it relatively short in Iron Butterfly terms, and gets out fast enough to give you a few more shots of psychedelic soul before you have to get up and flip the thing over for the monster deep dark guitar epic sidelong thing called “Love is the Word” that OWNS Side 2 and your brain for 20 minutes.  Fortunato’s guitar doesn’t let up for a SECOND, as he lets rip giant Jimi leads over a massive P-Funk backing track, while the soul sistahs return to keep things supremely funky.  And, don’t quote me on this, but I think…I think I just might have heard a keyboard in there.  Halfway through, the band chugs nicely and almost surreptitiously into some primal exotic Bombay Eastern vibe, and by the time the song finally shudders to an epic close, you’re about as high as a magic carpet, riding huge waves of paisley hookah smoke over the wide-eyed crowds below.  Jimi and Arthur are there too, looking up and taking notes, and wondering what it takes to get up there.  Well, boys, maybe if you could’ve stretched “Everlasting First” out for 20 minutes…

ORIGINAL 1969 LP on the UNI label.  Vinyl plays VG+ with light crackle.  Beautiful unipak cover in VG++ shape, holding together very well, light ringwear.  

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.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   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. 

 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.