PUZZLE The Mandrake Memorial - 1970 Poppy PYS 40006 1st Pressing Gatefold Cover
$
40
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Description
Mandrake Memorial was an American psych/progressive rock band active between 1967 and 1970, known for their Baroque sound and unique songwriting. Mandrake opened for The Doors, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Moby Grape, and Strawberry Alarm Clock, among others, and appeared on TV with Pink Floyd. They signed to Poppy Records, the new experimental music label of MGM Records.
For their third album, Puzzle, they teamed up with New York producer Ronald Frangipane with the result that he brought in an orchestra and filled out the songs with full choir, children's choir, orchestral splashes and elaborate production. This album fell into the progressive rock category, but did not sell well enough to make back its considerable production costs. It did garner critical praise, however. "The idea they have is very great," wrote classical conductor Seiji Ozawa in the May 23, 1970 edition of Billboard magazine. "I love this recording. With some recordings, I can listen to only one selection, but this recording I love to hear from the very beginning, from the first note to the last." Fusion, a major rock music publication at the time, added that it was "a symphony of the mind; one of the most important albums of the decade to come."
The cover is M.C. Escher’s House of Stairs. Inside the gatefold cover is a description by Escher of the creature in the artwork, which he calls “Curl-Up”.
THIS COPY is a 1st Hollywood pressing from 1970 on the Poppy label (see Notes, below). It has the original gatefold cover and inner sleeve, but not the circular insert that was supposed to come with it.
The vinyl has a couple of marks, including one audible click at the very end of the long track 4 on side two. Because of that, I am grading the disc as being in overall Very Good [VG] condition only. Note that most of the record, however, is in better condition. Because of this flaw, I am keeping the price lower than most of the other listings for this disc that i see on eBay.
The original gatefold cover, with the copied M.C. Escher artwork, shows some soiling and light ring wear. Overall, it is in Very Good [VG] condition.
The original inner sleeve ("FROM POPPY WITH LOVE:") has some splitting on the bottom edge and on one side edge. Overall, it is in Very Good Pus [VG+] condition.
Notes
First cat. nr. on spine, second on label, third inside the cover.
Released in a gatefold cover with a circular insert. – Insert not included
On bottom of label: Manufactured by Poppy Industries, Inc. N.Y. N.Y.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: ASCAP
Pressing Plant ID (Both sides runout): H
Matrix / Runout (Side A label): Z4RS-6935
Matrix / Runout (Side B label): Z4RS-6936
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout): Z4RS-6935--3 S H
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout): 4RS-6936--3 S H
ENJOY!
price rating
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