JOE ROSANOVA & VINEYARD 1968 RARE PRIVATE PSYCH LP HEAR

$

47

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS…

JOE ROSANOVA AND THE VINEYARD "In Dedication To the Ones We Love"

Original 1968 LP on the ASTRO-SONIC label STEREO D-AP-4000 cool textured cover

Cover: VG++, light ringwear, cutout hole, 1" seam split on top edge

Vinyl:  Scuffs and light marks, nothing deep, plays VG++

In the grand tradition of Eric Burdon and the Animals and Paul Revere and the Raiders comes Joe Rosanova and the Vineyard!  That’s right, no mere backing band – even the mighty Vineyard – can keep down a force as strong as Joe Rosanova, who requires his name be separate but was humble enough to allow it to be set in a much smaller type size on the album cover.  But Joe’s fans know he’s there, and it also avoids confusion lest any other acid rock band from the late 60’s be tempted to use an uber-rockin’ name like The Vineyard.  Already taken, kids.  Napa and the Chardonays is available, though.

In Dedication to the Ones We Love is a rare album, alright, thanks in part to the fact that the Astro-Sonic label which pressed it was one of those DIY type affairs that would press anything if you had the cash.  Most likely Joe and the Vineyard only printed enough copies to carry around to their shows – Tuesday nights at 11 at the Knoxville Sheraton, Fridays at the Chattanooga Rock N’ Bowl, and opening for Cream at the Royal Albert Hall.  Okay, just kidding about that last one.  Still, there can’t be very many of these babies floating around.  But is it any good?  Well, grab your bib and let’s check it out.

We start our wine tasting with a little California Guwertztraminer called “Vikki,” which goes down slow and smooth, thanks to Joe Rosanova’s velvety Neil Sedaka croon which always seems to be double-tracked throughout In Dedication to the Ones We Love.  “Vikki” is pop with a slight buzz – it wants to be smooth supper club lounge pop, but the drummer won’t let it.  He’s too busy pounding out a far more aggressive, stabbing staccato beat that’s more insistent than Donald Trump after TV ratings, while someone makes happy pot-laced swirls on a rented Wurlitzer from Chuck and Edna Boil’s Organ Emporium, Exit 29, Nashville.  So Joe, never one to argue, lets the band “rock out” on the power anthem “Mother’s Brothers,” technically “Uncles” but that’s not as catchy a title.  And the Vineyard’s guitarist thanks him for the momentary spotlight by unleashing some of the fiercest wah wah overload since Robin Trower first wet his bed listening to Electric Ladyland.  “Mother’s Brothers” makes a point and makes it hard - Anyone who thinks a band called The Vineyard ain’t capable of rockin’ with the best of ‘em needs to be pelted about the head and neck with a couple bottles of German Spatlese.

But the real star of In Dedication – the Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 of indie psych, if you will – is the absolutely stone cold AMAZING mind-melter “Dreams of You.”  If this album were a wine-tasting course, “Dreams of You” would be a 24-hour binge on Portuguese Duoro, right at the point where the room starts spinning and everything you see, hear and taste seems to pulsate with day-glo electric color.  This slow, smoldering slab of ghetto funk bellows from the wine cellar and catches you completely off guard – even the trippy wah wah in “Mother’s Brothers” doesn’t prepare you for THIS.  It’s Joe Rosanova channeling Jack Bruce channeling George Harrison channeling Ravi Shankar – with Joe singing in that Jack falsetto (“Those Were the Days”, “We’re Going Wrong”) while someone wrenches some mystical Maharishi riffs out of a guitar that’s gone haywire with flanging and feedback.  Someone slipped a little funny powder into the Vineyard’s Robert Mondavi, and if your Mom always told you never to mix drugs and alcohol, well, Joe Rosanova and the Vineyard just proved her wrong.  Go ahead, boys and girls.  Mix away, just remember to pick up a gee-tar and find someone to press your record.  And always – underscore that, always – double track your vocals.  In the absence of actual alcohol, Joe Rosanova and the Vineyard have created an album entirely capable of blowing minds back in 1968.  And if you’ll pardon the thirty-ninth wine pun in this description, In Dedication to the Ones We Love is vintage stuff.

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS REQUIRE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION, WHICH IS AN EXTRA 75 CENTS.  Air mail shipping to Canada starts at $10 US, each additional record $2 shipping.  Air mail shipping everywhere else in the world starts at $16 US, with each additional record only $3 shipping.  ALL FOREIGN ORDERS REQUIRE CERTIFICATE OF SHIPMENT, WHICH IS AN EXTRA $1.10.  I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

And finally, I include delivery confirmation on all shipments inside the US.  This is my proof of shipment, and also helps us to track your package if it doesn’t arrive when it should.  I will email you within 2 days of shipment and give you the confirmation number at that time.  Insurance is always optional, but for larger orders, it’s highly recommended.   I DO NOW REQUIRE THAT ALL FOREIGN BUYERS PAY AN ADDITIONAL $1.10 FOR PROOF OF SHIPMENT.  IT'S A NOMINAL FEE AND THE CHEAPEST WAY FOR ME TO PROVE THAT I ACTUALLY SHIPPED YOUR PACKAGE AND DIDN'T JUST POCKET YOUR MONEY AND SKIP TOWN.  For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town. 

hear a sample below -