MARKS LEBZELTER 1968 RARE ACID DRENCHED PSYCH LP HEAR

$

28

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

MARKS-LEBZELTER "Rock And Other Four Letter Words"

Original 1968 LP on the COLUMBIA label, STEREO MS7193

Cover:  NEAR MINT, small cut corner, really crisp gatefold

Vinyl:  SUPER CLEAN, plays NEAR MINT (no discernable noise)

“OK folks, I just found a record called Rock and Other Four Letter Words by J Marks and Shipen Lebzelter, and it has completely blown my mind!  Where did this come from?  It say it’s from 1968 and it’s on Columbia records, but the internet gives me little info – what is the story with these guys??  Were they actual musicians, producers, marketing folks, what’s the deal??”

That’s a quote from one thoroughly confused online blogger who was (and still may be) desperately trying to find who was responsible for this completely unhinged but strangely brilliant little record.  And that record is Marks & Lebzelter’s Rock and Other Four Letter Words.  That’s a bit misleading, since “rock” is not one of the four letter words that came to MY mind when I first heard it – more like “head” and “trip”, followed by “acid,” “hash” and “LSD” (okay, so I was never good at math). 

This is, first and foremost, a headphone experience.  It’s not so much music as much as it is a continual barrage of sonic stimuli and electronic mayhem, like crossing the Beatles “Revolution 9” with the Silver Apples and the soundtrack to the Monkees Head.  And that’s one of our four letter words again.  So anyone looking for something to replace their Harpers Bizarre albums should move on right now.  The album begins with a bunch of random interview snippets, including such luminaries as Pete Townshend, Brian Wilson and approximately half of Jefferson Airplane, all discussing four-letter words.  Relax, Tipper, these four-letter words are words like zero, kiss, mama and papa – these were the peace and love Sixties after all.  This is immediately followed by the band belching out a primal blast of heavy acid rock mayhem, simply for no reason other than they can.

Next up is “Essence of Its Own,” not a track you want to play alone at night.  It’s genuine horror movie music like the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Eraserhead or something off the White Noise Electronic Storm album.  Not an easy listen.  Yet it’s right about here, things begin to get really weird.  “In the Middle of Nothing” sounds like an unused title for a 1970 Pink Floyd live jam, and that’s kinda fitting really, since it’s structurally similar to “Saucerful of Secrets.”  Only instead of guitar pyrotechnics and organ shrieks, Messrs Marks and Lebzelter throw in some man-on-the-street musique concrete.  Which is fancy French talk for human belches, racial slurs and the insane ramblings of lunatics and manic depressives.  Hendrix might’ve sang about ‘em, but he didn’t invite ‘em in to the studio to record. 

“Baked Beans” begins with a man repeating the phrase “it’s the same baked beans, it’s the same baked beans” over and over, slowly building into intensity until, by the end, a massive gospel church choir is now shaking the rafters of a Harlem chapel with a full-fledged powerful psalm to the holy power of Boston’s finest canned export.  Where was Heinz’s regional marketing director?  Over in London working out a deal with Roger Daltrey?  But even this failed legume jingle is a pretty lighthearted romp compared to what follows – the militant and downright frightening “We’re Through” is a horrific anti-establishment mantra set to the insistent plodding tempo of Napoleon XIV’s “They’re Coming to Take Me Away Ha Ha.”  Hey boys and girls!  Join in the fun as dozens of blank-eyed Stepford wives and husbands chant lines like “They lied, they lied, and want us to lie, to fight for their liberty, to vote for their hypocrisies and hate all their enemies, and like all their luxuries.  They lied, this is their world, not ours!”  And as you pump a hundred bucks worth of gas into your car, marvel at just how true those sentiments still are today.

Respite comes quickly, and thankfully, with a few short but powerful fuzz rockers – “Today”, all 1:26 of it, a four-letter word you don’t hear much of on this album – and that’s an honest-to-goodness, melody-given song.  Marks and Lebzelter supply the synths and moogs, the band kicks up a short but sweet sweat with some great whirling dervish organ, backwards calliope music and some ripping fuzz, one of my favorite four-letter words (at least one that I can print in a family setting like this).  Then comes “Trouble,” a clever James Bond rip that rides on another bed of slicing and dicing fuzz guitar, big booming tympanis and a bevy of young dolly birds on backing vocals.  On Her Majesty’s Secret Acid Trip.  And that’s two more four-letter words to add to our growing list.  Man, these guys weren’t kidding.

Like the overexcited and somewhat confused blogger said, Rock and Other Four Letter Words brings to mind three of those words right off the bat – it’ll “blow your mind.”  Better yet, put down the dictionary, shut out the lights, and settle back for a real cosmic head trip the likes of which you haven’t heard since the days of Lothar and the Hand People (you do remember Lothar and the Hand People, don’t you?).  And if you get outbid at the last second like I always seem to do, well then you can supply your own four letter word.

 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.