Monday, August 23, 2010

The Jugs - First Batch

I've always complained to no end that the state of Vermont never reached it's quota of truly fried private press hippie rockers in the seven-ought-tees, a disgrace considering the plethora of granola osmosis the state endured from '69 onward. The Philo label sucked up a lot of local talent, and while impressive in their scope and professional flair, most of those LPs lack the grit and gristle that drives me wild... Having grown up in the Green Mountain state I can count a mere handful of actually home-made longhair releases I would go to bat for, so resigned I've been for the most part on anything new coming to light on this... though one can always dream! It seemingly took forever, then, for this slab of teenage Deadhead litanies to surface on the collector scene - a whole long player's worth of rural jamming w/ properly zonked shit-kicker attitude and a few ace original tunes, the perfect antidote to the last time you actually forced yourself to sit through a Mark Winokur LP. "First Batch" was issued in 1981 on the custom press imprint at Green Mountain Records, the band consisting of 5 students from the Vershire School in southern Vermont who had recently returned from a class trip to Mexico where the bulk of the songs were written. The small private school was closed several years later, due to various tawdry reasons which seem in keeping with the existence of "First Batch" as a musical reminder of the place and time it came to be. I can't proclaim this some kind of masterpiece that will appeal to everyone, as it's a true paen to late 70s Deadhead mores and moves, but for me the thing just oozes summer charm, and many stony vibes close to the heart of this olde Vermonter... so jump for joy!

21 comments:

  1. I've been curious about this for quite some time now and it's fantastic that you share it J. Major thanks from the dark end of the solar system.

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  2. wow , that's an excellent surprise

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  3. Good album but isn't 1 song missing? It jumps from track 18 to 20 and i think side b is way to short anyhow so can a full set be obtainable please?

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  4. This is the whole LP. There's a skip int he track numbers because 19 was a miscue on my part while ripping it to a CD-R. The B-Side is just shorter... I'll post a track-list when I get a minute.

    Cheers, J

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  5. Excellent lp. I have a CDR, but good to see you posting good stuff here J.

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  6. Can you post that track list? Thanks!

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  7. you're a bit of an odd cookie, but hey it's about the music, thanks

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  8. Anonymous -- Do I know you?

    Clifford -- Will have a track list up soon. Apologies...

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  9. No you don't know me and please excuse my bad manners it was a pathetic piece of attention seeking, sometimes when one posts comments or observations on blogs there is no reply and it's frustrating. What I really feel is that it's refreshing that music lovers such as yourself research the side avenues of pop - after all what is so clever about posting, for example, Tom Jones Greatest Hits? - full respect, Andy

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  10. No worries! I honestly thought you might be someone related to this LP trying to give me flack! Glad you are enjoying the blog.

    Talk soon, J

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  11. 1. Skankola
    2. Ride the Wheel
    3. Chinga La Madre
    4. Jump for Joy
    5. Hecho en Mexico
    6. I Know You Rider
    7. Fire On the Mountain
    8. Foggy Mountain Breakdown
    9. Corn "Shucklin"

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  12. Hi J.
    Thank you for posting the tracklist for this great album.

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  13. yeah, 'ride the wheel' is a corker, is it an original?

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  14. Yeah, Skankola, Ride the Wheel, Chinga La Madre, and Hecho en Mexico are all originals.

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  15. Could you reupload this?

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  16. Hello, Would it be possible to add a new link for this rare Lp? Thanks.

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  17. This album is still near impossible to locate a copy on vinyl. Would it be possible to reupload a rip of the album?

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  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  19. Hi! Sorry it's taken me a bit to get back to you. Could you send me your e-mail address? Thanks, J

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  20. Thank you so much for this album, it's really Great!

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