RELATIVELY CLEAN RIVERS LP Orig CA Rural PSYCH Folk NM

$

687

 Relatively Clean Rivers S/T LP on Pacific Is 17601 (1976)

Vinyl: NM
Sleeve: NM (with insert)

Being a record head myself, this is a tough, tough record to let go of.  Definitely one of my favorites.  I was fortunate enough to purchase this record from a collector a few years ago while living in Los Angeles.  I played it once right when I bought it,  and then again for this sale.  I kept it as a showpiece, and it looks and sounds virtually unplayed.  This was a private press/release from composer and musician Phil Pearlman, and word is that it was limited to 500 copies.  A rare, deep, and beautiful record.  Highly touted as a seminal West Coast Psych / Rural Rock piece.  It is truly one that lives up to the hype.  All proceeds go to my family's summer vacation!

Please send me any questions that you may have.  Looking to send it to a good home.  Bid with confidence. 

FREE priority shipping within the continental USA (insurance included).  $14.00 + insurance (depends on selling price) worldwide.

REVIEWS:

From therisingstorm.net (there's also a soundclip on the site):  This album comes out of the mind of Phil Pearlman. Pearlman is a veteran of the American 60’s rock scene, being the brains behind such epic psych albums Beat of the Earth and the great Electronic Hole. Relatively Clean Rivers’ only album was released in 1975/76 though it sounds straight out of 1969. This album is extremely rare and has proven to be quite a controversial privately financed release.Some feel this album is the second coming, with strong apocalyptic acid visions and wonderful musicianship. Others feel that it’s a solid rural rock record with strands of late period psychedelia.

It’s really a quiet, flowing rural record that has many unsettling, strange moments. At first listen Hello Sunshine immediately stands out amongst the crowd. This song is pretty great, sounding like a stoned underground version of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Everything comes off very natural and the music never sounds forced or dishonest. Much of the record is predominately acoustic, though Journey Through The Valley has some strong electric guitar acid leads. Other tunes like the effects laden Babylon are very spacey and almost veer towards progressive rock. The album closes with the reflective A Thousand Years. It’s another strong composition with some eastern influenced acoustic guitar playing, lyrics with bizarre religious overtones and backward cymbals.

From the recordgeek blogspot: Recorded in 1975, this is a west coast psych tour de force that combines elements of vintage Grateful Dead with folk psych and BTL rural rock (in fact, an album like this very clearly illustrates the difference between rural rock and country rock, as it's very clearly Americana-influenced but really has no country reference points. That's one reason the term BTL is useful, it's an umbrella that encompasses both). Phil Pearlman is the singer and songwriter, and plays the lion's share of the instruments. In the '60s he had been behind the legendary psych freakout masters Beat of the Earth, but he started this project sometime in the early '70s. A very California record, this is full of lots of wide open spaces, jangly acoustic-guitar folk-rock tapestries, twangy, reverbed, Garcia-like electric leads, reedy vocal harmonies, and extended songs that achieve a stoned, dreamy feel. Go for the bootleg reissue, as you'll have to mortgage your home to buy an original copy of this self-release. I've read that only 500 copies were originally made and Pearlman "distributed" many of those just by discreetly depositing them around college campuses and record stores unannounced.

Search keywords: psyc psych psyche psychedelic prog progressive rural CA California Phil Pearlman The Beat Of The Earth Wildfire Phil & The Flakes 100% Unknown Fibers private goat goats folk west coast 60s


GRADING

• Near Mint (NM or M-)   A nearly perfect record. Many dealers won't give a grade higher than this implying (perhaps correctly)that no record is ever truly perfect.
  The record should show no obvious signs of wear. A 45 RPM or EP sleeve should have no more than the most minor defects, such as almost invisible ring wear or other signs of slight handling.
  An LP cover should have no creases, folds, seam splits or other noticeable similar defects. No cut-out holes, either. And of course, the same should be true of any other inserts, such as posters, lyric sleeves and the like.
  Near Mint is the highest price listed in all Goldmine price guides. Anything that exceeds this grade, in the opinion of both buyer and seller, is worth significantly more than the highest Goldmine book value.
  
• Very Good Plus (VG+)   A Very Good Plus record will show some signs that it was played and otherwise handled by a previous owner who took good care of it.
  Record surfaces may show some signs of wear and may have slight scuffs or very light scratches that don't affect one's listening experiences. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are "OK".
  The label may have some ring wear or discoloration, but it should be barely noticeable. The center hole will not have been misshapen by repeated play.
  Picture sleeves and LP inner sleeves will have some slight wear, lightly turned up corners, or a slight seam split. An LP cover may have slight signs of wear also and may be marred by a cut-out hole, indentation or corner indicating it was taken out of print and sold at a discount.
  In general, if not for a couple things wrong with it, this would be Near Mint. All but the most mint-crazy collectors will find a Very Good Plus record highly acceptable.
  
• Very Good (VG)    Many of the defects found in a VG+ record will be more pronounced in a VG disc. Surface noise will be evident upon playing, especially in soft passages and during a song's intro and fade, but will not overpower the music otherwise. Groove wear will start to be noticeable, as with light scratches (deep enough to feel with a fingernail) that will affect the sound.
  Labels may be marred by writing, or have tape or stickers (or their residue) attached. The same will be true of picture sleeves or LP covers. However, it will not have all of these problems at the same time, only two or three of them.
  Goldmine price guides with more than one price will list Very Good as the lowest price. This, not the Near Mint price, should be your guide when determining how much a record is worth, as that is the price a dealer will normally pay you for a Near Mint record.