FIREBIRDS Light My Fire ORIGINAL '69 vicious FUZZ psych

$

56

MEGA RARE original 1969 album by the Firebirds, “Light My Fire” on the Crown label.  So what IS it about these low-budget F.W. Woolworths 44 cents record bin exploito albums that makes them now seem so gleefully over the top and entertaining, 35 years after the fact?  Is it because the musicians responsible KNEW they were going to be anonymous, so it gave them the freedom to just go into the studio and go NUTS?  I mean, this thing’s got more FUZZ on it than the first SHIPMENT of Blue Cheer albums.  And if I were the guy responsible for laying down these Roseanne Barr-thick layers of demon fuzz, I’d sure as heck want SOMEONE to know I’m the guitarist.  The Firebirds, of course, never made another album – probably due to the fact that they never existed – but man, the one album they left behind is perhaps the single greatest legacy the fuzz guitar ever left behind.  Does Thurston Moore have this album in his collection, ‘cuz I swear this sounds like Sonic Youth’s pot-smoking dad in places.  I love how “Reflections” crashes in on a maelstrom of fuzz feedback – barging in like the opening of the Stones “Child of the Moon” – then turns quickly into the evil black magic ju ju version of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile”, all vicous dark fuzz licks screaming from speaker to speaker.  There ARE lyrics here, but I can’t understand ‘em, much less HEAR ‘em over the roller coaster fuzz guitar and thrashing Keith Moon avalanche of drums.  The Hendrix influence is even more obvious on “Gypsy Fire”, where a funky blues riff tries to create some sense of structure behind a fuzz guitarist who’s now gone completely insane.  He’s pressed the fuzz pedal down so far, it’s now slightly underground, and his playing is so unhinged and freeform, he may not even be playing musical notes anymore.  And he never stops ONCE – just lays down a steady and THICK layer of electric noise for 3 solid minutes.  The drummer, on the other hand, stops midway, and when he does you can feel the floor drop out from under you.  And for a few seconds, you think the guitarist is going to launch into the Hendrix version of “The Star Spangled Banner”, but he doesn’t (maybe that would be TOO obvious a move?).  The crazed “No Tomorrow” starts out like Sonic Youth on acid with a blast of freeform fuzz guitar skronk.  Then it suddenly shifts into fifth gear, riding an INSANE 300mph chuggin’ proto-speed metal fuzz guitar riff that pummels at your eardrums like an evil Fran Dresher laughing while operating a jackhammer.  I mean, with a sound this loud and fast, the Firebirds live could’ve held their own with the likes of Blue Cheer and the MC5, at least for a few minutes.  But yet, for some reason, they chose to remain anonymous, and never took credit for the masterpiece of noise they created.  Which is doubly confusing when you consider that Limp Bizkit readily take full credit for theirs.  But the Firebirds, they were cool enough to remain a mystery, to this day in fact, happy enough just thinking about all the young minds they must’ve destroyed when kids took “Light My Fire” home from the bargain bins at Woolworths and played It for the first time on their dad’s Magnavox hifi system.  Which makes this the coolest album in the world.  Original 1969 pressing on the Crown label.  Cover’s shot, GOOD at best thanks to heavy ringwear, sticker on front, split seams on top and bottom (though not entirely split), clear tape on spine, and small name written on lady’s dress.  Vinyl looks AMAZINGLY clean for such a low-budget press (and considering state of cover), only very light superficial marks, and vinyl plays VG++ with only occasional pops here and there. 

Winning bidder pays $4.50 for media mail shipping plus tracking in the US, $8 air mail to Canada, $14 everywhere else.  Paypal, Bidpay, checks and money orders accepted.  And please be sure to check out my other auctions for more vinyl obscurities, and I will combine shipping costs on multiple wins.