SUN RA ARKESTRA w/JOHN GILMORE BATMAN & ROBIN MEGA-RARE ORIG'66 TIFTON STEREO LP

$

76

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·      SUN RA ARKESTRA (FEATURING JOHN GILMORE) AND THE BLUES PROJECT (FEATURING AL KOOPER) –  BATMAN AND ROBIN: THE SENSATIONAL GUITARS OF DAN AND DALE  - ORIGINAL 1966 TIFTON RECORDS STEREO LP S-78002

·      ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·      ORIGINAL TURQUOISE TIFTON LABEL WITH SILVERY-YELLOW PRINT

·      EXTREMELY RARE ORIGINAL STEREO PRESSING, MANY TIMES RARER THAN MONO

·      THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·      ORIGINAL, THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

·      THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

·      CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·      THE RECORD HAS A JULY 1966 (7/66) DATE STAMP HAND-ETCHED IN THE TRAIL-OFF VINYL (DEAD WAX)

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you'll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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In 1966, a toy company in Newark, New Jersey released a children's record called Batman and Robin to cash in on the popular Adam West TV series of the same name. The music on the LP was credited to "The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale," but in fact the band was one of the greatest uncredited session combos of all time, including the core of Sun Ra's Arkestra and Al Kooper's Blues Project. To keep the music licensing fees to a minimum, all the tracks were based on public domain items like Chopin's Polonaise Op. 53, the horn theme from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and the love theme from Romeo and Juliet, and generic rock riffs. It's all instrumental, with the exception of Robin's Theme, featuring an uncredited vocalist.

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No joke -- this album is a little glimpse of heaven. This reviewer has imagined the latter as having (among many things) its own version of Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, circa 1964-1965, with Fred Neil, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Ochs, Gene Clark, the Serendipity Singers, Art & Paul, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and a hundred other acts playing every night, any night; the music on this album makes me think of something like I'd probably hear if I walked in on a Blues Project rehearsal in that celestial sphere. It is the Blues Project (possibly without Al Kooper, who says he didn't make the session, regardless of what the CD and our ears say), with Sun Ra on the Hammond B-3 organ, John Gilmore and Marshall Allen on tenor and alto, respectively, Pat Patrick on bass, and Jimmy Owens and Tom McIntosh on trumpet and trombone. And apart from the first track and the packaging (which probably cost more, for the licensing of the Batman images, than the session did), none of it has anything to do with Batman or comic books. The story is this -- sometime in 1966, producer Tom Wilson persuaded (probably with the offer of some quick bucks) Sun Ra and members of his band, and the members of the Blues Project, to lay down 35 minutes of music for a Batman and Robin album credited to "The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale." It was a quickie exploitation effort sponsored by some toy company in New Jersey (where these sessions were cut) intended to sell some dance music for discotheques and parties by cashing in on the craze surrounding the Batman television program. The album, showing the Caped Crusader and his partner swinging down on bat-ropes, has been a denizen of dollar-record bins and nostalgia shows for decades, and just happens to feature some of the hottest musicians in New York City; beyond Sun Ra and his band, there's Danny Kalb, Andy Kulberg, Steve Katz, and Roy Blumenfeld, who at that time was one of the best bands working in the city. Most of side one is attributed to Sun Ra and his band, though Kalb and Katz seem to be all over the place, assuming they're the only guitarists (and it sounds like them), while side two is attributed principally to the Blues Project -- certainly "The Joker Is Wild" is the Blues Project, and if Al Kooper wasn't at these sessions, then Sun Ra turned down considerably on this cut. "Batman and Robin Over the Roofs" features Jimmy Owens prominently, along with Sun Ra and the two guitarists, in the longest jam on this record (which, as a statement of quality, is also one of the best cuts). No, Batman and Robin doesn't match the importance of the Blues Project's own official recordings, or anything that Sun Ra was doing officially, but what a chance to hear these guys kicking back for a half-hour's anonymous blues jamming. Everything here, apart from the Neal Hefti "Batman Theme" is public domain blues built on some familiar material (including Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Bach), one cut, appropriately entitled "The Riddler's Retreat," quotes riffs and phrases from a half-dozen Beatles songs, and another, "The Bat Cave," that's this group's answer to "Green Onions" (and a good answer, too). Along with Sun Ra, who dominates every passage he plays on, Steve Katz and Danny Kalb are the stars here, romping and stomping over everything as they weave around each other, while Gilmore, Allen, and Owens occasionally stepping to the fore, Blumenfeld makes his percussion sound downright tuneful in a few spots, and some anonymous female singers throw out a lyric or two on a pair of cuts, just as a distraction. Andy Kulberg and Pat Patrick alternate the bass chores, and at times they're practically playing additional lead instruments. It's all almost too good to be true, catching the Blues Project when they were still playing together happily -- maybe this isn't the jam they would have wanted preserved 35-plus years later, but neither is it embarrassing, and fans of either Sun Ra or the Blues Project might well want this record just for the sheer strangeness of it. Italy's Universe records has reissued Batman and Robin in gorgeous sound, re-creating the original cover art and making it into a gatefold, with some irrelevant '70s-era Batman panels printed inside. Note: Some of these same tracks, or others out of the same session, were repackaged as horror film-focused albums, which are less well known and have yet to show up on CD.

(REVIEW REPRINTED COURTESY OF BRUCE EDER, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

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·      CONDITION:

·      THE RECORD

 (IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we  grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

(a)         WE GRADE THE VINYL  AS  (WEAK) NEAR MINT. Some VERY LIGHT AND SUPERFICIAL abrasions – mostly sleeve scuffs -  are (barely) visible, but are probably inaudible,  and do not affect visual integrity or beauty of the vinyl. The original luster is very much intact, and the vinyl shines and sparkles almost like new.

(b)          The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(c)          Stereo  pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more preferable to its mono  counterpart. The mix is more graphic, the sound resolution more precise, and the channel separation (which does not exist on mono version) adds a whole new dimension to the music. Also, the stereo mixes are (by definition) somewhat different than on the mono version. We estimate that mono copies of this album outnumber stereo copies  by a ratio of at least 10:1.

(d)         The record comes in its original, custom, inner sleeve, which is UNIQUE to this album.

(e)         Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·                          THE COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT EXCELLENT OR VERY GOOD+++.

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-       Cover has some light ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as  1 (front side) and 3 (back side)

-       Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the top seam    (nothing significant)

-       Minor shelf wear noted on the top and bottom seams (nothing significant)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer three postage rates for domestic orders: USPS Media Mail, USPS Priority Mail and USPS Express Mail and three rates for international shipments:  USPS First Class, USPS Priority International Mail, and USPS Express International Mail (in a small number of cases, we will, at our discretion and for purely technical reasons, substitute First Class Mail with eBay's Global Shipping, which is fundamentally the same service at about the same cost). INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates, please click on " Shipping, returns, and payments" tab in the header of our listing.

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CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

(A) All orders valued at $50.00 or more will be shipped fully insured against loss, damage or theft by ShipCover, eBay's contracted insurer, at our expense (B) Yes, we do combine items into a single shipment; in order to enable this feature, the winning bidders should WAIT until their last item of interest ends and ONLY THEN make a payment. Doing otherwise will result in multiple shipments to the same customer and forfeiture of multiple shipping charges already paid. (C) Because we do not play-grade our items, we do not know how the purchased item will play on the buyer's equipment. We can only make reasonable inference on the record's playing condition based on its visual appearance. (D) This seller will NOT cancel erroneous, frivolous and prank bids. The bidders can do so on their own, by visiting eBay's Site Map, then clicking on Bid Retractions link. (E) This seller does not specifically grade or describe certain items, such as: shrink (cellophane) wrap and accompanying extras (inserts, booklets, etc.); however, the presence of these items WILL be noted and accompanied by the gallery photo(s). (F) Please do not submit any bids on our items if you have insufficient user history. (G) Other than in very rare justified cases, failure to pay for the item you won amounts to a fraud and will result in a permanent ban on bidding on our future listings. (H) We will NEVER deliberately, knowingly or willingly provide a false, deceitful or misleading information.

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OUR REFUND POLICY :

WE OFFER UNCONDITIONAL MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE (POSTAGE INCLUDED) WITHIN 30 DAYS FROM THE RECEIPT OF THE MERCHANDISE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED; STILL SEALED ITEMS MUST BE RETURNED SEALED IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A REFUND.   NO EXCEPTIONS!

FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, the text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. (5) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner; please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (6) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and - unless seriously molested - is generally a flexible, pragmatic and agreeable person.

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