ANT TRIP CEREMONY rare psych jazz rock LP 24 Hours orig

$

510

Here is an original copy of the mega rare private-pressing psych vinyl LP album “24 HOURS” by the group ANT TRIP CEREMONY on the CRC label from 1968.  Group consisted of students from Oberlin College in Ohio – only 300 copies of this LP were pressed and sold around campus.

Personnel are as follows:   Steve DeTray – lead guitar; George Galt – guitar, vocals, harmonica, bass; Roger Goodman – vocals; Gary Rosen – bass, guitar, vocals; Mark Stein – lead guitar, flute, bass; and Jeff Williams – drums.

A blend of folk, blues, and eastern psychedelia, this album was recorded in two sessions, the first in February 1968 and the second some months later. Band was originally formed by Steve DeTray while a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, in late 1967-early 1968.  The name Ant Trip Ceremony was suggested by a local English professor who had seen the term in a novel.  The phrase was a description of modern human society and Detray thought it an appropriate name for his band. Gary Rosen, George Galt, and Mark Stein had been playing together in a blues band.  The band mainly played gigs at Oberlin and were noted for long improvisatory jams. Steve DeTray was only present for the first session as he left the College in the spring of 1968.

This is the first time I have seen this LP.  Based on my research, I am convinced it is an authentic first pressing.  The vinyl is black (unlike reissues which have dark blue vinyl).  The album is pressed on medium thick vinyl, with deep groove on the blue label.  It has the matrix numbers “CRC-2129A” and “CRC-2129-B” lightly etched in the trailoff vinyl on both sides, along with "STEREO."  The jacket is constructed of heavy cardboard with gray inside, obviously sixties or earlier construction.  The printing on the jacket is highly professional, very original-looking and high quality, not at all bootleggish.  On reverse of jacket the frame lines are clearly visible around the sides of the jacket.  The quality of the fidelity is very high, especially for an amateurish recording, not at all like a bootleg or counterfeit.    

Jacket is in very nice condition.  Has a few very slight, small spots/stains near upper right corner on white, and slight bumps at two corners, otherwise excellent.  No splits, writing, only the slightest traces of ring wear and surface wear are starting to appear, and white is beginning to shift toward “off-white” due to age.  Jacket overall has a very nice appearance and I think will be most satisfactory to all collectors.  Labels are clean and pristine.

Vinyl has nearly full gloss, but appears to have been stored under less than optimum conditions.  When I found it, it did not have an inner sleeve, which as collectors know can produce surface noise.  While there are no obvious scratches, the album has some soft tics in most tracks, in a couple places I found them to be distracting.  For this reason I would grade the vinyl as VG and on that basis I think the winning bidder will be very pleased.  The fidelity is very strong, indicative of an album which has had very few playings.  Given the rarity of the album and the fact that it plays through without any loud clicks, pops, or skips, I think it will probably be acceptable for many, but not all, collectors. 

As with all my albums, your satisfaction is guaranteed, if not happy for any reason, simply return in same condition within 30 days for a full refund of purchase price and one-way postage.  

Side One:

• Locomotive Lamp (Rosen, 3:50)
• What’s The Matter Now (Galt/Lee, 2:45)
• Violets of Dawn (Anderson, 4:34)
• Riverdawn (Galt, 3:38)
• Outskirts (Lyne/Evans, 1:39)
• Little Baby (Dixon, 3:03)

Side Two:

• Get Out of My Life (Toussaint, 3:05)
• Four in the Morning (Remaille, 4:30)
• Sometimes I Wonder (Lance, 3:53)
• Pale Shades of Gray (Steve DeTray-Jo DeTray-Goodman, 4:30)
• Elaborations (DeTray, 7:20)

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I received additional information from a helpful eBay member, thisoneness, who helped confirm my belief that this is one of the very small number of original copies in existence.  He wrote as follows:

CORRECTION:  Upon listening to the album in more depth, I need to revise the description to say that in addition to the soft tics, there are several places where there are small scratches which produce a series of clicks.  One of the tracks where this is the case is "Pale Shades of Gray" on Side 2.  I have included a sound clip of the track to give you an idea of how it sounds.  This is the worst case scenario, most of the other tracks play much better.  However, due to the fact that several tracks have passages with annoying clicks, I would lower the grade to G and say that this album should probably be regarded as merely a "filler" copy.  On that basis, I think the winning bidder will be pleased.  To hear a portion of "Pale Shades of Gray" click on the following link :

http://home.comcast.net/~deepgroove/shades.mp3