Skull Snaps - S/T 1973 GSF Records lp RARE OG Deep Funk Soul Breaks 1st GRAIL

$

664

Welcome to our Summer 2026 "Classic / Golden" era Soul/Funk/Rare Groove lp Part 1 sale, we cover some early ground with a few pre-1967 releases, largely the vast majority are from 1968-1974, mostly concentrated in the early-mid 1970's,  no modern reissues! WE COMBINE SHIPPING! -(Just kindly wait till end of auction for invoice :)
We have so many, that Part 2 will be even more, bringing tons of rare "Golden Era Soul/Funk", coming soon!

60 lp's all originals , many have soundclips, which are from the actual record :)

This week features a really nice curated slab of rare funk, soul lp's from the "classic golden era" or as Thes One put it "Vietnam War Era", we have a handful pre-dating 1967, the vast majority being concentrated in the early 70's, beginning with a very nice OG 1st press of the legendary 1973 GSF Records lp "Skull Snaps", a minty Funkadelic legendary Psych-Funk original 1970 Westbound lp "Free Your Mind and Your A** Will Follow", Allen Toussaint's 1975 Conceptual Psychedelic Funk masterpiece rarity "Southern Nights" lp, the insanely rare Hawaiian Private Press 1970 lp by Gordon Broad (Heavy Soul/Funk!), an unknown South Korean Psych Funk lp on Jigu Records, the first 3 Sylvers lp's on Pride, yep "I, II, and III", James Brown "The Payback" original double lp, Jimmy Castor Bunch "It's Just Begun" - minty fresh, everything from New Birth, Ace Spectrum, White Heat, some badddd rare heavy open drum breaks, instrumental rare-groove style funk, CCM Funk / Psych Funk Rock "First Gear 1972 Myrrh lp" for example....Lorraine Ellison's original OG 1st press 1969 "Stay With Me" on Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records (not the 1971 version that is more common, and on thinner vinyl!!), we got heavy representatives on labels from ATCO, Hot Wax, Buddah, Cadet, Westbound, AVCO, All Platinum, RCA, Invictus, Gordy, Playboy, MCA, Atlantic, Pride MGM, Capitol, to Private Press world, and so much more :) 

ASSISTIVE NOTE:
To give the best  "map" for this sale, we'll have 21 leading off to give somewhat of a highlight of each area of items, then tending towards Chronological, than Stylistic in what we hope will be a nice ordering, the kind as fellow crate-diggers, we would be stoked to see.... If you want to view how we ordered it up, go to sort by "Ending Soonest", as listed newest will be the tail end & ending earliest is the beginning (if you filter by "ending soonest", you'll get the layout!), we hope this might help :)

**Note on grading: We have been proud to send thousands of records to delighted customers, but there is always room for improvement, we want to continually strive to be as accurate, honest, and detailed as possible. These records that have been collected and loved over the years, coming from a collector, one who listens to the records, enjoys the music, we are only growing more meticulous in our visual aspect of grading the vinyl, while also maintaining a balanced emphasis on the sound quality, utilizing sound clips (we do not manipulate them whatsoever, and we never will!), full front to back recent thorough listenings, and for the covers to use detailed photos, write detailed aspects for the grade, we want people to know exactly what they're getting, as collectors, lovers of music, we promise to always carry ourselves with integrity, we're in the business of delighting people, to treat others as the best experiences we've had as buyers, and all of our items are guaranteed. We won't stop growing, learning, and listening. A very special warm thank you to all our incredible return "customers", we really think of you all as fellow friends in vinyl, and if this is your first time bidding with us, we hope our "record" speaks for itself, ensuring a secure feeling to bid with confidence, thank you all, truly together we make this community one that spreads the love, sharing in this special thing of all of ours :) ***

* After this week's auction, (In no particular order) we have in the auction pipeline:
Classic Golden Era Soul Funk Part II, nearly 80+ lp's, top shelf stuff.....
2nd Modern Soul / Gospel / Boogie / AOR, Part "II"
More Deep Funk / Soul 45rpm 7", as well as AOR / Power Pop / Rock 45rpm 7"
A giant stash of rare Open Drum Breaks, emanating from a variety of groovy genres, the kind of lps both dope / under the radar sale!
A few more cooking, not to mention our exciting, anticipated:
Part 4 "Giant Jazz"; jazz funk, spiritual, fusion, synth jazz underground, etc. sale lp's

*^(Each are loaded with some of the rarest, high end stuff, plenty that haven't shown up in years, unknown mind-blowers, Grail Pieces, like always, all original editions!)
We'd be honored if you'd consider saving us as a favorite seller :)***

All soundclips used are unedited directly from the item up for sale :). See below for detailed grading!
***Everything is 100% guaranteed! We've sold over 1,500+ records in the past year alone, with 100% positive feedback, bid with confidence :)

Feel free to message any questions!

*Note: Any Item that does not have a soundclip, feel free to message us, and we can make one for you :) 

**Note: for items with multiple players, the title of track is above each player; the player enables scrolling through!**


Soundclip info: A5 "It's A New Day", B2 "I Turn My Back On Love" -(The 2nd open drum break!), A3 "Didn't I Do It To You",  B4 "Trespassin' ",  b2 begins at 0:51, a3 begins at 1:29, b4 begins at 1:56    
Soundclip:  Update your internet browser to latest version in order to play audio clip.

Media Grade:  EX (extremely nice copy, faintest dust, dream player from front to back, conservative grading, peep the soundclips!)
Sleeve Grade:  VG-VG+ (a tough grade, on one hand it's structurally solid, crisp gatefold inlay, on the other hand light ringwear, corner bending, conservatively a VG copy, but we personally have been contented with VG+, along with others, so on a strict scale, a sharp VG, we hope that helps to give the most honest assessment, and yes we love this album, we want to be as candid as possible, see photos!)
Year / Label / Catalogue #:   1973  /  GSF Records  / GSF-S-1011 (1st press, stereo, hard to make out, but on lower spine reads GSF "0598" - the price code, on labels entire tracklist is printed below center hole, the production credits "George Kerr, Bert Keyes" etc. is located upper left on labels from tracklist, label catalogue is to the upper right "GSF S-1011 A / B", matrix runouts are GSF - S - 1011A/B - machine stamped; very very first pressing, *Hype sticker looks to have fallen off sometime ago) 

Brief Comments: One of the most iconic, legendary funk/soul albums, tattooed in every crate diggers skull, containing perhaps one of the most recognizable hardest open drum breaks ever put to wax, on "It's A New Day" (A5), [and deep diggers, there's a second dope deep funk drum break on B2 "I Turn My Back On Love", Large Professor used it for "Just Hangin' Out" on Main Source, DJ Shadow on Entropy!], originally these guys were called The Diplomats, releasing a lengthy strength of 45 releases spanning 1963-1970 (check out the later ones on Dynamo for some heavy funk flavors!), they came from Maryland, Newark NJ, and NYC where they ultimately stayed......Al Gee, radio DJ of the time would encourage them, as they transitioned to the name "Soul Three" for live performances, which down below you'll see how they ended up with the distinctly unique band moniker.... They did a tribute to Al Gee, in form of a killer psych funk instrumental, a 45 only cut on Grill Records in 1975 "Al's Razor Blade", worth checking out, it's somehow rare, but not yet expensive, get that now, well it's possible!! Anyhow.... 
Check this quote from Sam Culley, bass guitarist (thanks to WaxPoetics!) :
" The Skull Snaps name came from our live performances. We were a very dynamic, three-man group that sounded like ten people because of our vocal power and our playing ability. We all played more than one instrument and sang. When people saw us they said, “You guys do more than just blow our minds, you snap our skulls.” So when we were trying to come up with a name, we just flipped it to the Skull Snaps. 
Sometimes the club owners would get upset when they saw us setting up, since we were only three pieces. This was the era of Kool and the Gang and bands like that, big horn sections and all, and we would be up there with just the three of us. Once they heard us play, though, they were shocked."
*^That's how they got the name, these three dudes got a sound so big, so powerful, even beyond mind-blowing y'all, it was Skull Snapping!
George Bragg, drummer, ran all the mic's through an Echoplex, next to the drums, to sustain vocal parts, so Ervin Waters could catch a breath during live performances, and now a main reason why "It's A New Day" is soooo thick, so heavy of a drum break; first ever used on the Stezo track "It's My Turn" 1989, produced by legendary Paul C. (who introduced it to Large Professor - the first to uncover the second open drum break, which to this day only 4 people have sampled "I Turn My Back On Love", because you need the lp for it!), who introduced it to Pete Rock, and separately Pharcyde, Cypress Hill thanks to a few copies making it to LA),  
Quoted from WaxPoetics "The LA-2A leveling amplifier, manufactured by Universal Audio (current market price around $4000), is one of the most revered pieces of gear in the world of audio engineering. It is this piece of equipment that contributed heavily to the intense nature of the drum break on “It’s a New Day,” pumping the kick and snare to their maximum levels. The Pultec EQP equalizer has a similarly exalted status, its hardware noted for imparting a certain warm quality to any signal that passes through it." Same article, quote from session Engineer Ed Stasium "I may have had at most three mics on the drums. Maybe an Altec “Saltshaker” 633 and an 87 on the kick. We ran everything through a Teletronix LA-2A. When I bought it for the studio, it was one of the last ones of their production line. I remember going into Manhattan to get it and the guy at the store telling me, “This is the last one we have and they’re not making it anymore.” I think it cost $600. We also used a Pultec EQP." Stasium had a closet converted to a Reverb Chamber, concreate slabs, - "I ran the output of the board to a speaker in that room and miked that. That was how we got reverb. We painted it with epoxy to make it bright." 
Of course George Bragg, drummer extraordinaire, is the foundational man behind the iconic break, basically to convert the technological-studio speak, the reason drum breaks don't sound like "It's A New Day", is the way the mic's were set up on the drum kit, inside the reverb chamber, running it through a Teletronix LA-2A leveling amp (basically a Neumann U-47 Mic of leveling amplifiers) combinded with the Pultec EQP (another exalted piece of analogue studio gear, an equalizer with an especially "warm" sound), recording it at "the red" as Primo might say, the highest maximum volume, with Bragg literally not missing a beat - According to the members, the entire lp was recorded in one afternoon!
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Now, musically, near everyone knows it for "It's A New Day", the Northern Soul crowd was big into "I'm Your Pimp", and "My Hang Up Is You" as far back as the 70's, but what about the rest of the lp? It's a mind-blower, skull snapper, and at first when I got this, I was worried, that it might just be a 1-3 tracker, I've heard that trepidation before. Now, no brag, not even low-key, but for reference, I got OG's of Carl "Sherlock" Holmes "Soulful Investigation", Magnum "Fully Loaded", Mike James Kirkland "Hang On In There", if you saw from last summer, you know the amount of top end front to back heavy hitters I did have....Skull Snaps - S/T (self-titled) 1973 GSF Records lp, is a stone cold 9.95/10 (I've only given 10/10 to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", few, even grails ever get past 9.71/10 on my scale), Didn't I Do It To You, All Of Sudden are two incredible sweet soul tracks, "Trespassing" is a composition by early Ohio Players member Dutch Robinson, first recorded by "The Chosen Few - Taking All The Love I Can" 1971 grail on Maple Records (Stang, All Platinum, NJ umbrella label!), and heads might know that "It's A New Day" is a composition by Ineffie Woods originally titled "Hey, What's That You Say" recorded by Ohio funk group Wood, Brass, and Steel on their 1973 Astroscope 45rpm only 7", and then in 1974 on Brother to Brother's NJ-based "Turbo Records" debut lp (the WBS version and Brother To Brother are similar in instrumentation), but the Skull Snaps version is very different, instead of the clarion call horn at the beginning (9th Wonder used the Brother To Brother opening horn on the Nas "Ether" remix!), we get the clarion wail of the heaviest drums, definitionally & quintessentially boom-bap, there's other instrumentation changes, lyrics changes, when the bridge comes in, the version of "Trespassing" is also different, more deep funk oriented, thick sound (The Chosen Few version is dope on it's own of course!). George Kerr produced it (we got his incredible 1970 all platinum lp up for those interested!), on GSF which had Lloyd Price as Executive Producer on several releases, including his own 1972 lp on GSF "To The Roots & Back", one of the funkiest records you didn't know (yeah we got that as well in here!).
Best believe this is one of the hardest to let go of (no getting a 45 of "It's A New Day", is not the same, not after having the LP, because there is no weak track....), I kinda feel like Mr. Bones in the inlay, all Shakespeare contemplating a la Hamlet style there! 
One of the hardest to find, GSF was not immune to financial problems (closing it's doors in 1975, it's last lp released was Sound Experience in December 1973, with 1974 seeing a small string of 45rpm releases), in part the oil embargo crisis is why it's tough to find Sir Joe Quarterman, Coldwater Stone, The Classic Example (all from 1973), Sound Experience came at the tail end, and got slightly more pressed as a result. Skull Snaps seemed to have the lp nearly immediately deleted from catalogue, sold to France, Venezuelan distributors (a way of dumping an lp off the books, being able to break even), the 45's, especially "I'm Your Pimp" had more pressing runs, selling decent enough in the US, and really well in the UK (the sweet soul delight "Didn't I Do It To You" didn't chart, and is the most scarce 45 as a result, killer one, getting play in Lowrider Rola circles). 
The legacy of Skull Snaps, is timeless, interwoven into the DNA of Hip-Hop, various Electronic music genres, it's ubiquity is such, that everyone you know, has heard it (even if just in a commercial for example), It's A New Day indeed..... An lp, that true originals are not really leaving collections, it's one of the best, even seeing a decent copy online at any price is getting to a point where soon enough, copies, nice copies won't show up, but once in a great while, (I've bought two copies on Discogs before, both times, not the sellers fault, they were cool on return, ended up being late 90's reissues, I saw the only other original at a record show in G+ condition for $400, someone paid $250 in cash towards the end of the last day apparently). 
The true 1st press, OG 1973 Gatefold lp, the Grail that whoever survives the Skull Snaps to tell the tale, will say... Hey, Hey, It's A New Day!!! :D
Peep the soundclips :)




*Tariffs aren't going to impact used vinyl records / music media, we wish they were never in place at all, so for international buyers, don't worry on that account! **Note ^That is in regard to EXTRA ordinary tariffs for political reasons, if you are an international buyer we urge you to contact us prior to shipping for clarity!

For our record grading, we stand by the merits outlined in the scale below, anything VG or below will have a detailed explanation in brackets next to the grade.
For sleeves, we will mention anytime there is split, or defect not visible in the photos in brackets next to the grade, otherwise we refer to the photos for the merit of the grade. Of course any questions, concerns, are always welcome :) 
Our media grading scale is as follows: [*Quick note, our VPI is still in storage on the other side of the US, we do brush clean many  items carefully, but we have to prioritize, we won't leave anyone stranded with a filthy record, only "filthy" good! We don't factor dust particles into the grading]
NM = Essentially a pristine album, like new, rarely used.
EX = Under bright light if there is any scuffs or mark, which will be inaudible, most collectors and sellers would tend to consider it closer to NM, EX is also the grade others might call VG++ under the same level of conservative scrutiny.
VG+ = More then a small handful of scuffs, light marks, nothing feelable, will have high-gloss, a thoroughly enjoyable copy that may only have tiny moments of barely perceptible surface noise overpowered by the music. Our VG+ will satisfy the vast majority of collectors as a nice keeper copy, as collector's ourselves for nearly two decades, this grade is aimed to be a great keeper. Note if say the record has a light DNAP warp, but otherwise is NM, we will automatically put it to VG+ and detail that. Another scenario is if a copy plays at a solid EX, but visually is VG, the composite grade will be VG+, and detailed as such.
VG = More hairlines, more marks, maybe a few visible scratches, no more then two feelable scratches (which automatically lowers to VG-), there likely will be surface noise, but will play through, still being an enjoyable copy, the audio quality will satisfy most collector's (the golden rule: if it doesn't satisfy us, it won't be VG), if a record is otherwise EX, but has a slight momentary skip, where 99% of the record is EX, we will note that, and put it at VG. Usually will retain a nice gloss.
VG- = More Scratches than VG, surface noise will jump out more, it be overpowered for longer stretches, or compete with the music in places, it will likely play all the way through on most turntables, a copy that you can still get a decent play enjoyment from.
G+ = Lots of scratches, deeper ones, surface noise now mostly overpowers or competes with the music. It may skip in some places. We don't tend to sell G+ copies, unless the rarity is so great, and that will be precisely detailed.
Thrashed = Pretty much a "Theoretical Grade" for us, it be for all intents & purposes virtually unplayable, it would be for display purposes, or perhaps if you needed the cover but not the record. It's "theoretical" because so far we haven't sold or identified anything intended to sell at this bottom level.
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Thank you from EnfieldVinyl, a family business, and the auction venture of EnfieldRecords :)
Kindly,
-Alec :D
&
-Ellie :)