THE RED CRAYOLA w/ THE FAMILIAR UGLY - PARABLE OF ARABLE LAND - 88 Decal repress

$

25

The Red Crayola w/ The Familiar Ugly

The Parable Of Arable Land

VG++/VG++

US 1988 (original US 1967)

Decal Records - LIK 20

Mayo Thompson and Fred Barthelme met at St. Thomas University in Houston, Texas and formed a band. Members included Mayo (guitars, vocals) Fred (lyrics, drums, percussion), Steve Cunningham (bass) with Bonnie Emerson (vocals) and Danny Schact (guitars). 
They called themselves The Red Crayola based on some of the clever band names in California. Luana Anderson managed them and they were a covers band playing "Louie Louie", "House of the Rising Sun", "Hey Joe" and other popular radio hits. They frequented a small club called Love and participated in a Battle of the Bands that saw them finish second to Johnny and Edgar Winter.
But Mayo was losing interest in the popular tunes and wanted to explore music on the edge. The band was paired down to a three-some with Mayo, Fred and Steve and they performed shows with other players that would bang pots, tap sticks and bring anything that would make noise. An auxiliary group of players anywhere from one to fifty members named The Familiar Ugly.
They performed at The Gulfgate Mall attracting none other than Leland Rogers, who was buying a parakeet at the time. As a producer for International Artists Records, he was well aware that odd was good for psychedelia. The 13th Floor Elevators had that odd sound with Tommy Hall playing a whiskey jug and Leland thought The Red Crayola was odd enough to sell records. So, he signed them to a contract.
The "freak-out" sessions occurred at Walt Andrus Studios with fifty of the loosely organized Familiar Ugly participants. There wasn't much structure to the music. The album was popular in Houston and they recorded a second album with twenty songs of two minutes or less that was not released until later. They applied to play at The Monterey Pop Festival, but they were turned down. 
However, a live performance happened at The Berkeley Folk Festival where critics concurred that a dog was killed from all the loud feedback. The show was broadcast live on radio and the DJ thought there was something technically amiss, so he kept making announcements on air over the first few minutes of the presentation until he was told that that WAS the music.

They opened another show for John Fahey, a well-known folk guitarist at The New Orleans House, and when they started playing the gig, all the patrons in the room cleared within ten minutes. The venue manager paid them $10 to stop playing. This was the last time they played a live show in the USA. International Artists gave up on the band and let them go. Way too weird!
Mayo moved to Europe and continued his exploits in music releasing nearly 20 LPs.
Musically, organized or unorganized chaos. Anti-music, perfect for taking acid and tripping into the abyss on your headphones. Experimental and Improvisational. The Arable Land album is at least somewhat listenable with slight musical structure and vocals, but there's lots of whoops, screams and hollers, echoes, guitar feedback, buzzsaws and a general madness with noises that you just don't know what the..... Similar to Hapshash and the Coloured Coat and their first crazy LP.
This was the first LP. A 1988 UK Decal label repress.
Cover has some very slight corner dings. Record looks and plays like new with NO visible imperfections and NO ticks. Unusual noises, yes. But that's the music. Generic inner sleeve.
Not too many of these around.







I was Ina-Gadda-Da-Records.

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All records are Graded to the best of my ability and are rated VINYL FIRST / THEN COVER. For Double LPs Vinyl / Vinyl / Cover. 

GRADING DETAILS – Everything I list will be at least VG+ or better, both visually and audibly, unless I state otherwise. 95% of what is offered and up for bid is very clean with maybe 1 or 2 minor flaws. If it’s very rare, it may be offered with obvious visual marks, scratches, warps and might make some low-level noise. But this would be a rare instance. I’ll describe any flaws as best I can. I ASK THAT YOU READ THE FULL DETAILS AS DESCRIBED BY ME ABOUT THE LOOKS AND SOUND OF THE RECORD. Don’t base everything on a simple grading rate M, EX, VG++, etc. I’m not that good at it.

AUDIBLE GRADING – All vinyl records are played before they are listed. Some records look bad and play good. Others look perfect but play badly. Any visual flaws that I see will be described and I will let you know if they make an audible noise. 95% of the records up for bid are very clean sounding. You may hear a minor tick or click as its spinning but typically light hairline scratches and sleeve marks Do Not Affect Play (DNAP) and should not detract from your overall listening pleasure.

VISUAL GRADING - PLEASE READ THIS!!!

COVERS - I'm a 72-year-old guy with Strabismus (an eye disorder). I try to visually describe every flaw that I can see, but sometimes I miss a small tear or a tiny seam split.

SHELF WEAR generally means that the cellophane was removed when the LP was new and it sat on a shelf or in a box without a plastic sleeve, before they were available, for several years, so there can be some rub blemishes, sticker residue if it was purchased used, tiny tears, slight seam splits and other defects.

EDGE WEAR usually means the picture wrap around the edge has been worn, sometimes into the cardboard itself. This usually happens on the top or bottom edge.

CORNER WEAR is the same as edge wear but sometimes there will be a dent or ding at the corner. All 4 sides are suspect for this occurrence.

RING WEAR occurs when a record was not stored in a protective sleeve for a very long time. Back in the day, plastic sleeves were not easily available. Most of us as teenagers, ripped off the cellophane and didn’t consider how the record cover was being stored. Most of the record covers laid on the floor or were stored in the closet or on a shelf for easy access. If they sat for a long time, earth movement, that nobody feels, causes vibration and the record sleeves would rub together and wear on the cover picture or illustration causing the ring wear and other flaws.

THE VINYL RECORD ITSELF - I will try to visually grade both sides of the vinyl record. There might be some sleeve rubs or marks on some of these. All of my records were played more than once, unless they are sealed. If I mention ticks and or clicks in the description, that means that you can visually see and sometimes hear the imperfection. Most of these Do Not Affect the Play (DNAP). I try my best to see any flaws but understand I don’t Inspect these LPs with a High Lumens Tactical Light and a Magnifying Glass. If the visual flaws are obvious or severe, I try and describe these as best as I can. If there are a lot of visual scratches, it won’t be listed. The exception is if the LP is very rare. I will list a rare record that looks bad but plays pretty good.

INNER SLEEVES - Most of the inner sleeves are simple paper sleeves and have slight splits, bends and tears on older LPs. If they’re really bad or split in half, I replace them with a newer paper or plastic sleeve. GENERIC means a blank paper sleeve.

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HIGH END RECORDS - There will be a few more pictures for any records that are high end items. I will give a more critical inspection and description of both cover and vinyl. Ask for more pictures if you need them and I can send them to you.

PACKAGING - LPs will be packaged in the proper corrugated cardboard box, we all know about, with extra cardboard pads. Each LP will have a clear plastic sleeve. The record itself will be removed and shipped within the sleeve separate from the cover to prevent any seam splits. All of the boxes I package records in are new and there are typically no problems. I can also ship in a Whiplash Box. But I will only do this if you request it. 

SEALED RECORDS - The vinyl record will NOT be removed from a sealed LP purchase for shipping. I would advise you to add additional insurance for all sealed LPs that are being shipped to high heat areas due to possible heat warping. No obligation, but it safeguards against some potential problems.

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I WILL SHIP WORLDWIDE, BUT INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IS DETERMINED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE PACKAGE. DO NOT MAKE A PAYMENT UNTIL I SEND YOU AN INVOICE.

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POSTAGE COST - Typically, the minimum cost for USPS Media mail would be 1-2 LPs $5.50 USD. Canada 1-2 LPs around $24.00 USD. Europe, Japan and other countries around $33.00 USD for 1-2 LPs. Additional LPs as per total weight. I will send an invoice with the total postage cost. Everything is shipped via USPS. I don't use the E-Bay International shipping, because you and I have no control over the tariff costs, etc. Tracking for International shipping only covers destinations within the USA and only gives a Date of Arrival for all countries outside of the US. Your record may have arrived, but it is probably sitting at your customs depot. (Sometimes for weeks) It would be up to you to call them for details about your package.

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REFUNDS - I will Refund for any item purchased and received that was not fully as described. Grading is difficult and is the usual cause of concern. We're talking used and 30-50 years old. THERE ARE NO PERFECT RECORDS. Even sealed records can have visual and audible flaws, ticks, clicks, skips and heat warps. IF YOU OPEN A SEALED RECORD AND IT IS WARPED SO BADLY THAT IT DOESN'T PLAY THROUGH, that usually means it was stored near or shipped in high heat. I have no way of knowing. All sealed records should be insured, just in case that happens. But with regard to a warped record that was sealed and is unplayable, contact me anyway, I will try and make it right. Any other flaws found on a sealed record that was opened by you, deems the LP non-refundable. If there is a concern, please contact me. We can always work things out.

DAMAGES DURING DELIVERY CAUSED BY THE POSTAL SERVICE - Any damages that are caused due to unfortunate circumstances during the delivery process, broken records, scrapes, heavy package dents caused by something heavy set on top, warpage caused by excessive heat during delivery, etc. should be handled through E-Bay. They guaranty that packages arrive in the condition as described. If there are obvious damages to the package and the record is unplayable, email me with pictures of the record and the package as delivered and let me know. I mark all packages with "Fragile. Do Not Bend" notices marked in RED, so they should be careful. But $&#t happens. I will not be responsible for damages that were not incurred by me. But E-Bay can refund the transaction with proof.

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