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2LP
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GUESS 139LP
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2021 restock. First ever legit vinyl reissue of Rick Saucedo's mind-expanding, one-man, multi-tracked private press miracle in sound from 1978. Master tape sound; original artwork; includes insert with interview with Saucedo and detailed liner notes by Jeremy Cargill (Got Kinda Lost/Ugly Things). Heaven Was Blue drifts in the same sonic milieu as fellow travelers in '60s square peg joy Darius, Marcus, D.R. Hooker (without the lounge allusions), or late period psych adventurers Michael Angelo and Bobb Trimble -- and his concentration and vision equals or exceeds these international underground heroes. Rick Saucedo is an internationally-known Elvis tribute artist, actor, and singer-songwriter from Chicago. In 1978, after some years of doing his Elvis show, he decided he wanted to have his own identity, and recorded an album with his own songs, influenced by The Beatles and Pink Floyd. All instruments on the album were played by Rick with help from a couple of friends. Songs like "Reality," which was written in a graveyard just after the passing of Mr. Presley, or "In My Mind," which dates back to 1967, written just after Sgt. Pepper had come out, are prime examples of dreamy acid psych with Lennon-esque vocals, lysergic guitars, and studio effects. There's also a couple of fuzz rockers with a strong '50s vibe, and then there's the album centerpiece: the impressive 18-minute "Heaven Was Blue" suite, which Rick envisioned as an "acid trip dream." In words of Patrick Lundborg, "Saucedo pulls it off. Somehow like how you turn the wheels on a kaleidoscope, new melodies, guitar figures and arrangements emerge out of the old ones every three minutes, each sequence more swirling and enchanting that the last, with a sense of progression throughout." This expanded reissue offers a full extra album of bonus tracks: "Oh My God" was the conclusion to "Reality" and "In My Mind," recorded in 1978 but omitted from the original album at the last moment. Previously unreleased on vinyl until now. "Baby in the Sand" and "It Burns Again Today" were written during the Heaven Was Blue sessions but went unrecorded until 1991; they're terrific sitar-drenched melodic psych in the same vein as the original album. Previously unreleased on vinyl until now. And there's also both sides of the post-album single Reality/History Makin' - Country Shakin', which featured different mixes and an alternate mix of "Reality." These tracks were originally released as promo 45s in very limited quantities.
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