MORSE CODE TRANSMISSION - S/T 71 DEBUT FRENCH CANADIAN PSYCH ROCK w/PROGNESS LP

$

30

MORSE CODE TRANSMISSION – Morse Code Transmission. Return To Analog TRA-054. Canadian release. SEALED NEW VINYL RECORD ALBUM. Originally issued in 1971. This edition issued in 2017. Limited pressing of 500 copies. Original cover art. Comes in a clear outer mylar sleeve with resealable flap and hype sticker, as shipped by the label. This item will ship as received. NOTE:  The hype sticker states this is a numbered edition, but nothing appears on either side of the jacket, so no guarantee except the press run of 500. French Canadian progressive rock/psych mix; their debut album. MEMBERS:  Christian Simard (lead vocals, keyboards), Michel Vallee (bass), Jocelyn Julien (electic guitar), and Raymond Roy (drums) with Peter Schenkman (solo cello), Al Cherney (Cajun fiddle), and Michel Vallee (vocals, track 10).

 

TRACKS:  

 

SIDE 1: 

 

01)    Souvenirs Of Our Days (2:24)

02)    It’s Never Ever Easy To Do (3:50)

03)    Time (1:31)

04)    Oh Lord (2:55)

05)    Hunting & Laughing (2:00)

06)    The Friend (1:07)

 

SIDE 2: 

 

07)    Story-Book Life (2:58)

08)    Fire Sign (2:03)

09)    Freedom Train (3:34)

10)    Today I’m Alive (2:23)

11)    One To One (2:50)

12)    Two Friends (1:45)

 

DESCRIPTION:  Quebec's Morse Code Transmission had its roots in 1967 as Les Maitres, which was founded by Vallee and Roy. They became quite popular playing cover tunes in both French (Robert Charlebois, Claude Leveillee) and English (Bee Gees, Tom Jones, Peter And Gordon). They recorded three unsuccessful singles before changing their name to Morse Code Transmission in the early '70's after signing a recording contract with RCA Records. Their self-titled debut, featured phonetically learned songs in English by the likes of Stan Rogers, Bill Misener, and others. Issued in 1971, they gained some success with the single Oh Lord, which was taken from the debut album. The band performed and recorded intermittently throughout the 1970's and 1980's and even managed a few gigs into the '90's before finally calling it quits in October 1990. As with many of Quebec's early wave of rock artists, Morse Code Transmission sang in English, despite many of the other local groups finally daring French. Of course Morse Code Transmission would evolve into Morse Code after the release of their second album and switch to singing in French (Canadian) for their later albums Marche Des Hommes and Procreation; also with a much more developed album friendly progressive sound. But at the start of the 70s and for their debut album the songs were shorter which was hoped to get them more radio play. Stylistically though they introduced a progressive element with psych embellishments into their rock music; which made their music stand out from the pack. The classic line-up was already together, but were a long way from the progressive epics of the mid- 70's. Indeed behind the Western movie decorum of the cover art, we have a dozen tracks, none over the 4-minute mark, only two tracks are over 3 minutes, which obviously didn’t allow much room to explore the themes. Well don't be too disappointed, you can already hear that these guys have a little "je-ne-sais-quoi" that will make them happen later on, but you'll have to be lenient on the English lyrics and singing, even if not catastrophic, but definitely clumsy at times. The result here is a melting pot of rather interesting psych rock tracks, some boring folkish jigs, some tedious over-arranged ballads, but thankfully the psych rock outweighs the other two. Indeed, one can detect in the opening two tracks, Souvenirs Of Our Days and It's Never Easy To Do, many hints of what musically the group would become, particularly on the latter (and album’s longest) of the two tracks, where one could sense early cross-town rivals Mahogany Rush. The fact that this band survived to record a second album which greatly expanded on the progressive side of their sound (three tracks exceed 8-minutes in length) and containing all original compositions makes their debut album all the more interesting. Influences here include early Genesis, Barclay James Harvest, and The Moody Blues, amongst others. Despite its obvious flaws it is well worth your further investigation, along with their second album, II. 

THIS ITEM IS NEW AND UNPLAYED. Used items will include condition details for the cover, disc, inserts, etc.

 

NOTE TO POTENTIAL BUYERS:  If the jacket or disc (unless sealed) is punched, marked, or cut in any manner, denoting a promotional/review copy, I will state that as part of the item description. Also if an issue is a "music club" edition, that will be noted in the item description. (The below information last updated 7/09/23)

 

If you have any questions or if you have additional information, especially corrections, to the description, please e-mail me. I particularly enjoy when an artist, band member, or someone who has personal background knowledge of a particular album/artist and offers their insight/information of that recording, which I will include with the description for future listings of that release. As a collector of many years, part of the hobby side for me is to learn about the background of the artists and music that I collect. Hopefully, sharing some of this information in my descriptions will help educate and enhance your listening experience.     

All LPs are removed from their jackets and placed outside of the jacket for shipping. If an album comes sealed (and will be noted as such in the above description), it will be shipped whole unless you request that I open it up to place the disc outside of the jacket for shipping. Both jacket and disc are placed inside of an outer plastic sleeve before packing for shipping. I use professional corrugated record mailers with inside packing.

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TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS:

 

SS or SLD:  Still Sealed or Sealed (or some variation of sealed depending on how many characters I have left in the title line). This item is new and unplayed. Also appears in the listing description as Sealed LP or Factory Sealed LP.

 

NEW LP:  This item is new and unplayed, but was received from a supplier without being shrink wrapped or cellophane wrapped; more common on imports but also many of the smaller independent US labels do not seal their LPs. These items are placed inside of a clear poly outer sleeve upon their receipt by me

 

GFC:  Gate fold cover.

 

LTD EDT:  Limited, as in limited edition. If I know the press run number it will be included in the above description.

 

#'D:  Numbered edition. I will include the number of this item if it is visible to me.

 

CV:  Colored vinyl.

 

S/T:  Self-titled.

 

RE:  Reissue

 

OOP:  Out Of Print.

 

MIX:  This sometimes appears in my title line and refers to a group's/artist's music having a mix of styles such a rock track with jazz then followed by a straight rock track followed by a psych rock track, etc., as opposed to a blues album with the album's tracks having predominantly one style.

 

MULTIPLE ITEM PURCHASERS: 

 

A shipping discount will be applied to all multiple item purchases. My automatically generated invoices do not apply discounted shipping (I’m kinda old school). Shipping discounts are automatically applied by two methods:

 

1)   Complete your purchase via the shopping cart and request an invoice total,         

The shipping amount will reflect the discount price for you to make your payment. This method seems to pose some difficulty in navigating to the request invoice link

 

2)   Purchase and pay the full individual shipping amount and I will automatically refund the shipping discount to you once processed for shipping. (This seems to be the preferred method of my customers)

 

US customers whose purchase includes CD(s) along with LP(s) will be shipped in a single package via media mail. Purchases of 3 or more CDs or a box-set will ship via media mail.

 

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Buyer pays for POSTAGE & HANDLING:

 

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