Sold Date: November 16, 2022
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THE VAGRANTS 'THE GREAT LOST ALBUM' SINGLES 1966-1968  NEW YORK CITY GARAGE-SOUL ~ LESLIE WEST  
ARTIST: THE VAGRANTS (w/ LESLIE WEINSTEIN ~ A.K.A. LESLIE WEST) TITLE: "THE GREAT LOST ALBUM" A COMPILATION OF THEIR SINGLES 1966-1968 LABEL: ARISTA AL-8549 RELEASE DATE: 1987 MATRIX: AL-8459-SA/B
VINYL: EX   JACKET EX-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection this summer and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this fantastic, clean copy of The Vagrants 'Great Lost Album' compiled by Arista and released in 1987. This is my original copy that I purchased new and that I've taken great care of for many years. 
It has great Liner Notes by Jim Cawley.
See the full description of the jacket and vinyl condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE VAGRANTS ~ "THE LOST ALBUM" SINGLES 1966-68
Respect (Otis Redding) I Can't Make A Friend Beside The Sea I Don't Need Your Loving Young Blues And When It's Over A Sunny, Summer Rain The Final Hour My Babe (Willie Dixon) I Love, Love You (Yes I Do)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Vagrants were a very popular and fantastic local Long Island and New York City band from the 1965-1968 time period. They were huge in the New York City rock scene and it's a real shame they never broke out Nationally.
Many famous New York Rock Icons, such as Joey Ramone, KISS and others, mention The Vagrants as a huge musical influence on them growing up in the city.
Another person who loved the Vagrants was Lenny Kaye, who worked at a Greenwich Village Record Store, where I purchased many records back in the day, some on Lenny's personal recommendation.
Lenny Kaye famously put the Vagrant's rocking version of 'Respect' on his fantastic first Nuggets album, "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968. That record earned the band huge recognition, but they had broken up by the time Nuggets was released in 1972.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1987, due to strong demand, Arista put together this great album and called it "The Great Lost Album". It is a compilation of almost all of the Vagrants rare singles from 1966-68 and finally creates the great album that they should have released in 1968. It's a great album, full of singles of garage-rock mixed with gritty blue-eyed soul.
The Vagrants had the great guitarist, Leslie Weinstein, who after the band broke up in 1968, changed his name to Leslie West and went on to form 'Mountain'.
The Vagrants only released 5 singles in their short career. Although they were never big hits, true fans knew they were fantastic songs and they are now very valuable collectibles. The original singles that this album compiles were:
'Oh Those Eyes/ You’re Too Young' 1965 (SoSound 204) 'I Can’t Make A Friend/ Young Blues' 1966 (Vanguard VRS35038)  'Respect/ I Love,Love You (Yes I Do)' 1967 (Atco 45-6473) 'A Sunny Summer Rain/ Beside The Sea' 1967 (Atco 45-6513)  'And When It’s Over/ I Don’t Need Your Lovin’ 1968 (Atco 45-6552)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE STORY OF THE VAGRANTS
The Vagrants were from Forest Hills, Long Island and were regulars at the more popular clubs on the Island. They played garage rock and blue-eyed soul like many of the other popular Long Island bands.
They had a soulful but rocking Guitar/Hammond B-3 Organ sound and were in competition every weekend with similar Long Island bands like the Young Rascals, Vanilla Fudge, the Hassles (w/ Billy Joel) and the Illusion. Those bands all went on to be more famous and had National hits, but the Vagrants never quite got their big break. Actually they did, but it was strangely 'stolen' by Aretha Franklin.
The group was composed of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie Weinstein on guitar, Larry Weinstein on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums. Five buddies from Long Island.
~~~~~~~~~~~ The Vagrants had a similar sound to their main competition, The Young Rascals, playing blue-eyed versions of Stax & Motown, but they were much more guitar-based than the Rascals. The Vagrants also had a grittier, garage-y sound.
The Vagrants were noted for having the excellent Leslie Weinstein on guitar. Leslie was a fantastic gifted Guitar player, one of the best in the New York Metro area. NOBODY played guitar like Leslie Weinstein. His playing was much better than Gene Comish of the Rascals or Vinnie Martell, the guitar player in the Vanilla Fudge, another local band. 
He was locally 'famous' for his guitar tone and unique sound. He played a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior, with a single P-90 Pickup. He was one of the first to use the 'new' Sam Ash Fuzz Box. In fact, he used two of them, linked in series. His fuzz had fuzz. A gritty heavy sound for the time. Leslie was also 'famous' for his look, a 300 pound guy wih leather pants, scarfs and long hair. 
Growing up, the famous studio/session guitarist Waddy Wachtel lived in the same building as Leslie and taught him some unusual chords and chops. Wachtel also sold West his first Gibson Les Paul Jr, which became his signature guitar in The Vagrants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The story of how they came together is a classic and shows that they were rooted in Garage Rock attitude right from the start.
The roots of The Vagrants started shortly after high-schoolers Peter Sabatino and his buddy Larry Weinstein saw The Beatles at the local Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in August 1964. Like so many who saw the Beatles in 1964, they decided to form a band. Larry Weinstein's older brother Leslie was a good guitarist, so he joined up.
Music, not school, was now on all their minds. Leslie had already dropped out of school, and Larry and Peter were in permanent detention for their behavior, attitude and long hair.
While in detention, they met Roger Mansour who was drumming on a table to pass the time. He could keep a beat, had a drum set, and joined on. They 'practiced' at Sabatino's parent's place, eventually getting kicked out into the basement of the apartment building.
When not in detention, the guys all hung out at the local Bowling alley down the road. They chatted about music and forming a band. One of the 'regulars' there mentioned that he played piano. Jerry Storch was invited to join in on the rehearsals back at Sabatno's place.
The band continued to rehearse/jam in the basement of Sabatino's apartment building but, as the band came together, and got louder, the residents complained and they got kicked out again.
That could have been the end for the band, but Jerry Storch was well connected to the Bowling Alley and they were allowed to practice in their lounge instead. Their first 'paid' gig was at the local Bowling Alley in Forest Hills.
The kids who heard them hired them for parties and their fame spread. Soon they were playing in local clubs, still as young Teens.
School was still required, but by then they were all expelled from their local High School. Sabatino, Weinstein and Mansour showed enough musical skill that they all then enrolled at Quintano's School for Young Professionals, a local high school for performers. There they got serious about their band.
They developed a professional press kit, and it caught the interest of the small unknown Southern Sound record label, who offered to cut a single.
They recorded "Oh Those Eyes" b/w "You're Too Young" (SoSound 204) during summer break in 1965. 
"Oh Those Eyes," was a punky garage rocker, with snappy guitar work by Leslie Weinstein. The single went nowhere and few heard it, but is was noticed by one important set of ears.
The single gained the attention of local NYC film makers who were directing a Beach Party film called 'Disk-O-Tek Holiday', which featured various music artists performing songs.
The Vagrants performed "Oh Those Eyes" in the film. That exposure got them some more gigs around Long Island and more exposure. By late 1965, they were playing one of New York City's coolest clubs, Steve Paul's Scene. 
Early on, The Vagrants were just just a simple cover band doing the usual Beatles and Stones songs but they also covered Memphis and Detroit Soul, 'Mustang Sally' type stuff. 
Their club gigs provided them with more experience and more exposure. After playing clubs thru the winter, they got a summer-long gig at the beach in Hampton Bay, a popular and affluent summer retreat out on Long Island.
There they played the local clubs and became friendly with another up and coming band, The Young Rascals. Their Rascals connection would serve them well.
The Vagrants quickly rose from a bunch of New York high-schoolers rehearsing in a basement in Forest Hills to playing for thousands of kids in clubs. They became extremely popular in their home base of Long Island.
After the summer season shut down, in the Fall of 1965, the Vagrants wound up at another hot spot, The Rolling Stone, a Manhattan Rock Club run by popular NYC disc jockey Scott Muni, who loved their sound and attitude. They had an 18 week residency there.
While playing there, they were noticed and got signed to Vanguard Records, who were mostly known for Folk and Jazz music, but they also had a special affection for local NYC bands. They cut one single for Vanguard 'I Can’t Make A Friend/ Young Blues' (Vanguard VRS35038) which was a regional hit in January 1966. A grungy garage-soul song, it sold well, in Long Island, and still shows up on various Garage Band compilations.
The Vagrants had a great garage-soul sound with keyboards, but they couldn't compete with the soulful sound of the Rascal's with their big Hammond B-3 organ sound.
One of their fans, who was wealthy, took keyboardist Storch to a Manhattan music store and with nearly $3,000 cash, purchased a brand new Hammond B-3 for him.
That was the defining moment for the band. Now they could sound like the competition, and play better than them.
They honed their new sound and then their friends in The Rascals introduced them to Felix Pappalardi who was working with the Rascals at the time. A&R Guru Pappalardi liked what he heard and managed to get them signed to Atlantic/Atco records, the Rascal's label.
Producer Felix Pappalardi, who was available because Cream imploded, took on the Vagrants as his new project. He gave them some songs to record including 'Beside the Sea' which would be a single for Atco.
The Atco label had a lot of R&B and Soul acts on it and Pappalardi suggested some songs that would fit The Vagrants garagey Blue-eyed Soul style. One of those songs was Otis Redding's 'Respect' from his 1965 'Otis Blue' album.
The Vagrant's rocking soulful version of 'Respect' was fantastic and became a big hit on the East Coast in 1967. This was finally the break-out song the band needed.
Unfortunately, their terrific recording of “Respect” also caught the ear of Atlantic/Atco boss Jerry Wexler, who passed it along to Aretha Franklin. Aretha's version also came out in 1967, after the Vagrants version, and blew the Vagrants great version out of the water, becoming the definitive version.
Aretha's version won 2 Grammys; the great rocking version by the Vagrants disappeared into obscurity. The Vagrants would never get another chance at National fame but continued touring locally.
The Vagrants, by this time, were the House band at The Action House, one of the premier rock clubs, out in Island Park, Long Island. A fantastic gig. The Action House was one of the most popular clubs on Long Island and was also controlled by the Mob. They were paid well and supported well. They were making $1,500 a show and working 28 days a month, several shows a night.
They quickly got tighter as a band, wrote better songs and improved their on-stage presence. They often appeared on the same stage with other iconic bands of the period such as Vanilla Fudge, The Rascals, The Illusion and The Hassles (with Billy Joel on keyboards). 
The 'sound' of Long Island bands at the time was to take the latest radio hits, as well as upbeat Soul and R& songs, and slow them way, way down and turn them into groovy blue-eyed soul numbers with organ backing. Local band Vanilla Fudge were masters of that style.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Vagrant's sets were known for their powerful covers of Stax & Motown hits as well as a few Originals.
Their set closer, and highlight at the time, was often a crazy rocking performance of "The Theme from Exodus". The band seemed to try to out-do themselves during their 'Exodus' finale each night. They often smashed and destroyed their instruments during the song and added crazy pyrotechnics. By then, Hendrix and The Who were big influences.
One night, after closing, the band's pyrotechnics accidently ignited and the Club was destroyed, taking much of the band's gear with it, including their expensive and relatively new Hammond B-3 organ.
The club, as mentioned, was under control of the Mob, and they wanted the lucrative business, so they purchased brand new equipment for the band. They were back playing local gigs within a few days. The Band quickly realized that they could get as crazy as they wanted onstage and be financially safe. Things got wilder and quickly just got out of hand.
This new more aggressive style laid the early foundations for Heavy Rock and Metal Rock, but the Band was starting to suffer from their own success. Egos flared. Brothers Larry and Leslie Weinstein fought all the time, spare money led to excess drugs and alcohol, and the lack of National success was frustrating.
In the summer of 1968, Jerry Storch had enough and quit, taking his B-3 Organ sound with him. That was the end, the band was done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Guitarist Leslie Weinstein changed his name to Leslie West and went on to record his great solo album 'Mountain' in early 1969, produced by Felix Pappalardi. West was nearly 350 pounds by then and Pappalardi affectionately nicknamed him 'Mountain.'
West and Pappalardi remained close and, later in 1969, they went on to form the post-Cream power-band Mountain, with Pappalardi, on bass and vocals.
Mountain's third gig ever was at Woodstock, getting on the bill because they shared the same Agent with Jimi Hendrix. If they wanted Jimi, they had to take Mountain.
After Woodstock, Mountain became famous almost overnight and went on to huge success. Mountain had several big hits ('Mississippi Queen') and Leslie West finally got the fame he deserved.
Leslie West has gone down in history as laying the foundation of Heavy Metal Rock with the 1968 version of The Vagrants and especially with Mountain. Black Sabbath's first US tour was opening up for Mountain and that helped confirm Leslie West as a Metal Guitar master. 
Leslie West died on December 22, 2020 at the age of 75.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION:  I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl is fantastic. Clean, bright, glossy. No faults or defects. It looks new. I purchased this album new and only played it a few times over the years.
LABELS: The labels are crisp and clean. No markings or damage. Spindle holes are crisp. A fantastic copy.
JACKET: The jacket is in great condition overall. Some very mild corner bumps and very light creases from years of storage and reshelving. NO names, marks, or writing.
The only fault is a slight grey discolored area on the left spine of the jacket. I'm not sure how that occurred. I've owned this since new and don't recall any issues. It's minor, but does affect the white cover. See pictures for details.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Add this fantastic album to your collection today. It would make a great addition to any Rock, garage, Soul or New York themed vinyl record collection. 
~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN