Sold Date: October 19, 2022
Start Date: October 7, 2022
Final Price: €20.00 (EUR)
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GIANT SAND

HOWE GELB, SCOTT BARBER, TOM LARKINS, WINSTON A. WATSON JR.,

plus CHRIS CACAVAS, LISA VERNON, MARY WEHNER

Giant Sand was the primary outlet for the stylistic curveballs and sun-damaged songcraft of Howe Gelb, a Pennsylvania-born singer/guitarist who formed the four-piece Giant Sandworms after relocating to Tuscon, Arizona in the mid-'70s. After releasing the EP Will Wallow and Roam After the Ruin in 1980, Gelb fired everyone but bassist Scott Gerber (although founding guitarist Rainer Ptacek returned to the fold many times in the future) and started over as simply Giant Sand, essentially a one-man band backed by a revolving cast of players. The first Giant Sand LP, 1985's Valley of Rain, earned Gelb comparisons to Neil Young for his reedy vocals and country-flavored, grungy guitar aesthetic; like Young, Gelb also proved to be a restless creative spirit

"VALLEY OF RAIN"

Produced by Howe Gelb, Scott Garber and Eric Westfall

1986        LP    ZIPPO RECORDS     ZONG 008

MADE IN ENGLAND     ORIGINAL PRESSING

SINGLE SLEEVE

NOTES: This version has the label design with the plain white background. Also in blue.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode: none

LABEL: ZIPPO  - WHITE LABEL w/LOGO on TOP - BLACK TEXT

Catalog on cover: ZONG 008

Catalog on labels: ZONG 008  ZONG 008-A / ZONG 008  ZONG 008-B

Matrix / Runout (Side A, Etched): ZONG -008-A1 1 MT. DAMONT A PORKY PRIME CUT.

Matrix / Runout (Side B, Etched):  ZONG-008-B1 1 MT. DAMONT

On labels: rim text reads "All Rights.....Prohibited"

All tracks composed by Howe Gelb

Produced by Gelb, Garber, and Westfall

℗ 1985 Black Sand Records

© 1986 Demon Records

Manufactured in England

On Back Cover: Tracklist + Credits

Issue under licence from Black Sand Records

©1985 The Amazing Black Sand

Zippo Records........Manufactured in England

tracklisting

Side A: DOWN ON TOWN (LOVE'S NO ANSWER) - BLACK VENETIAN BLIND

CURSE OF A THOUSAND FLAMES - ARTISTS - MAN OF WANT

Side B: VALLEY OF RAIN - TUMBLE AND TEAR

OCTOBER ANYWHERE - BARRIO - DEATH, DYING AND CHANNEL 5 – TORTURE OF LOVE

 grading

RECORD EX but (please, read above description)

SLEEVE VG(+) but (please, see pictures and read above description)

The dry, dusty, and rambling sound that became Howe Gelb's trademark isn't much in evidence on Giant Sand's debut album, 1985's Valley of Rain. Instead, this early edition of the band recalls the distaff branch of the Paisley Underground scene that was still a big part of the Los Angeles scene when Gelb arrived there from Tuscon, as if Giant Sand were the oddball high desert cousins of Green on Red. Valley of Rain is tougher and scrappier than much of what Giant Sand would release later on, and it rocks noticeably harder, though Gelb's sense of lyrical wanderlust is very much evident here, and even when the guitars wind up and the drums crack, the melodies drift on and off path with an expressive glee. The band's slightly warped country influences are all but invisible here (perhaps because Gelb and his pals were cutting a Blacky Ranchette album around the same time)...(AllMusic)