THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS - (S/T) - Mainstream vinyl LP - SEALED - 1967 - 1ST PRESS

$

124

THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS

“THE JELLY BEAN BANDITS” 

Mainstream      S/6103

1969

M / M

FIRST PRESSING

SEALED

THIS IS NOT A CUTOUT COPY!

THE BEST COPY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, ON EBAY AS OF 02-11-2017. Two other copies sitting at $50 (VG/VG) and $84 (VG+/VG).

SEALED copy of this highly regarded and highly sought after 1960s psych punk rarity.  Honestly, it does not get any BETTER for this release than this copy (first pressing, sealed, gorgeous).

Perhaps one of the reasons this LP is so coveted is that it did not sell particularly well for Mainstream who was used to marketing Big Brother & The Holding Company (Janis Joplin) and The Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent) among others. So, it was deleted pretty quickly.   (Note:  While sealed, this is a cutout though the tiny punch is under the shrink as are several pin holes.  I believe the pins are from the machine that produced the punch.  I believe this is NOT a re-wrap but a remnant of Mainstream's business practice of not shrink wrapping LPs until they were shipped to shops in order to save money (costs).  Mainstream was a quirky company that ran on a shoe string (including an almost non-existent promo department, hence low sales).  Anyway, I have never seen a finer copy of this LP and I was a youngster collecting the day this LP was released.

The next reason would be the name of the group, The Jelly Bean Bandits.  Most bands were running as fast as they could from any kind of teenybopper name.  Not the  Bandits.  They embraced the “edge” like no one else.  It really would have been cool if Frank Zappa would have produced these guys.  We’d be talking major stars of the underground. 

Another likely reason the LP didn’t sell was the cover.  While most bands were taking themselves DEAD SERIOUSLY, The Jelly Bean Bandits were glorious kitsch on a grand scale.  Look at ‘em.  Über crappy sombreros, toy bandoleers and cap guns, fake eye patch, smoking cigarettes, wearing outfits from hell.  In fact, the guy in the back on the right looks like he’s wearing a cocktail dress accessorized with his mother’s belt.  Of course, that’s exactly why I bought it, and then didn’t open it.  It’s hard to explain unless you grew up a collector.  Never mind.   (See below for the lowdown on these wonderfully looned out mad dogs). 

Stored vertically in a smoke-free environment for 48 years.

About the band from the fine ALLMUSIC web site:  “Newburgh, New York psych-punks the Jelly Bean Bandits formed in 1966. Singer Billy Donald, guitarist Jack Dougherty, bassist Fred Buck, keyboardist Michael "Mr. Addams" Raab, and drummer Joe "Laredo London" Scalfari originally played locally as The Mirror, regularly packing area nightspots like the local Trade Winds, Poughkeepsie's Buccaneer Nightclub, and Burlington, Vermont's Red Dog. In due time, they recorded a three-song demo reel that resulted in a three-album recording contract with Mainstream Records -- however, unknown to Mainstream, these three songs represented the sum total of the Jelly Bean Bandits' repertoire, forcing the band to write enough additional material to flesh out a full-length LP in the course of a week. Amazingly, their eponymous 1967 debut is excellent, a freakbeat cult classic distinguished by Dougherty's emotive guitar and some innovative production techniques -- all the more impressive, the album was recorded in a single 12-hour stretch. Mainstream hated the end result, however, and dropped the Jelly Bean Bandits just as they were commencing work on the follow-up -- only one song, "Salesman," was completed before the sessions were aborted.” 

NOTE:  A 2006 CD reissue exists but the analog vinyl mix & master are what the band wanted you to hear.