JOHN J. FRANCIS - "Open Fist" LP, OZ folk/psych 1974

	A$		22
	$		14

JOHN J. FRANCIS

"Open Fist"

Original Stereo LP  Warner Bros. Records WS-20019 , released  1974. Australian pressing. Gatefold cover.

John J. Francis was a contemporary Australian singer/songwriter who released four albums during the early to mid seventies.Two of the songs he wrote still get airplay today; the classic ‘Simple Ben‘ featured in the legendary surf movie ‘Morning of the Earth‘ and the original hit song ‘Play Mumma Play, (Sing me a Song)‘ which has also been covered by many other artists.

‘Open Fist’ was his third LP and was released in early 1974. The album, although difficult to categorise, definitely has a folk/psych feel and shows some great original songs and two outstanding instrumentals.

Quoting from the official John J. Francis website "There are links to the earlier acoustic JJ in the tracks ‘Things Are Never Quite The Same’, ‘Don’t Know Where I’m Going’ and the hauntingly beautiful instrumental ‘Countryside Angelus’ but right from the opening track ‘Living in Sydney’, it is also obvious that John J has moved into a tougher, rougher, electric rock sound ably assisted by guitarists Ross Ward, Phil Doherty, bassist Roy Giles all then playing in the band Cinnamon. Other musicians featuring on some of the tracks are Jim Yonge (from Pirana) on drums, Doug Gallagher (drums), Tony Ansell (keyboards), Heather Armstrong (cello) and Chris Neil (mellotron and moog). ‘The Other Side of the Coin’ and ‘Trouble in My Head’ are two other fine examples of electric power playing on the album. But it is in the instrumentals and side two that much of the mystique of this album lays. ‘Headin’ for Armageddon’ is a brooding, menacing two-piano piece augmented with cello and flute and then there is the fifteen and a half minute opus, ‘Despair’; a song about isolation and loneliness which keeps revolving musically around intersecting themes until all eventually coalesce and climax into a extremely powerful finale. Both are outstanding tracks achieved with limited instrumentation. The rocker, ‘City Lights, Saturday Night, 1959’ was the single release but didn’t receive a lot of airplay. In the words the head programmer of the leading pop radio station, 2SM, said to Warners in rejecting it for airplay at the time, ‘It sounds too different to Play Mumma, Play. We don’t think the audience will go for it.’ Wrong. Music critics and reviewers did go for it and gave very good notices. The album sold in its thousands without airplay and has since become perhaps the most sought after of the four John J. Francis albums."

Track list:

Side1

1. LIVING IN SYDNEY
2. THINGS ARE NEVER QUITE THE SAME
3. CITY LIGHTS, SATURDAY NIGHT 1959
4. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN
5. DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING
6. TROUBLE IN MY HEAD 
7. COUNTRYSIDE ANGELUS

Side2

1. HEADIN' FOR ARMAGEDDON
2. DESPAIR

Condition:

Record  VG+ :This record is in great condition. There are some sleeve scuffs and a couple of light surface marks however it plays extremely well with excellent dynamics.The record has excellent gloss/sheen. There is no writing on the labels.

Cover    VG: Front cover, back cover and top-opening gatefold are in very good condition.There is some ring wear with its associated black ink-loss on the covers, but mainly on the rear cover. There is a tiny white spot (due to peeling) at the extreme right hand upper corner of the front cover. Inner gatefold with a few scattered indistinct small ageing spots and a tiny amount of ink peel spots at the top of the inner spine. Spine without splits, just a couple of tiny creases and some rubbing at top and bottom. Catalogue number, title and artist on spine extremely legible with minimal ink-wear. Corners and edge of upper front cover quite crisp. Top sleeve opening with some creasing and wear but still quite crisp.  Rear cover with a name written on left top hand corner and a blue star sticker next to it, plus some sticker residue with a small amount of peeling associated on the top right corner.

In summary, this a clean, very well cared for pressing of the one of the great Australian folk/psych. albums of the 1970's by John J. Francis .

 Good luck with your bidding!

Shipping methods and costs:

Within Australia

LP shipped Australia Post regular mail -- $10.50 AUD

Overseas

LP shipped Australia Post Airmail to New Zealand -- $14.80 AUD

LP shipped Australia Post Airmail to Asia/Pacific -- $18.40 AUD

LP shipped Australia Post Airmail to USA/Canada/Middle East -- $21.85 AUD

LP shipped Australia Post Airmail to Europe/ROTW -- $27.25 AUD

All LPs are packed with the record out of the cover to prevent spine damage during transit, padded and then shipped in strong cardboard mailing boxes.