Sold Date: November 2, 2024
Start Date: October 26, 2024
Final Price: $24.99 (USD)
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CHEECH & CHONG 'BIG BAMBU' 1972 RARE ODE FIRST PRESSING GATEFOLD w/ 3 'PAPERS' 
'BIG BAMBU'  CHEECH & CHONG (Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong) RELEASED: JUNE 1972 LABEL: ODE RECORDS: SP 77014  ORIGINAL 1972 FIRST PRESSING ON ODE w/ DELUXE GATEFOLD w/ 3 ROLLING  PAPERS RECORDED: PAUL'S MALL BOSTON ~ PLUS VARIOUS HOTEL ROOMS & CRASH PADS ORIGINAL GATEFOLD SLEEVE w. 3 ROLLING PAPERS ALBUM DESIGN & 'POSTER' CONCEPT  ~  BRAUN & WILKES at SOUND PACKAGING CORPORATION PRODUCER: LOU ADLER RECORDING ENGINEER: NORM KINNEY 'MUSICIANS':  ORGAN: CLARENCE McDONALD w/ THE L.A. TALK-ALONG CHORUS PRESSING PLANT: COLUMBIA RECORDS PRESSING PLANT ~ PITMAN, NJ ~ ('P' IN MATRIX) MATRIX: SIDE A: (Etched) ODE SP 77027 RE-1 P3 MATRIX: SIDE B: (Etched) ODE SP 77028  P2
CONDITION: VINYL: EX-   JACKET: EX-  "PAPERS": 2 EX, 1 VG+ (A BEAUTIFUL COMPLETE COPY)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection these past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 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 original 1972, First Pressing, of Cheech and Chong's classic 2nd album 'Big Bambu."
And, yes, this contains the giant Rolling Paper. In fact it contains 3 of them! Read on to see why.
This is my original copy, purchased back in the summer of 1972, shortly after it's release, that I've taken great care of for many years. 
It's complete, in fantastic condition, and the vinyl is still in excellent, clean, bright, shiny condition. See more details on this First Pressing and it's beautiful condition below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'Big Bambú' was the second album by Cheech & Chong, released in the summer of 1972. It's their funniest and most consistent album, and many people's favorite from the early years. All of those first 4 albums, from the 1972-1974 period, are fantastic and essential to own on the original vinyl.
Cheech and Chong's hip, twisted act as a pair of bumbling East L.A. Latino stoners was very popular. They were the pre-eminent comedians of the stoner generation and, by 1972, were comedy superstars.
More performance comedy than 'music', this is the stoner comedy duo's best album, in my opinion.  Very cool and timeless, many rebellious teens, myself included, loved this album when it was released in the summer of 1972.
'Big Bambu' actually made the Billboard Top 5 in 1972, a rare accomplishment for a comedy record.
~~ The Tile of this album, 'Big Bambu' is a reference to the actual Bambu brand of cigarette rolling papers. 
Bambu, a very old company, based in Alcoy Spain, was one of the first to make quality cigarette rolling papers. They started out in the 1760's making high quality paper for Bibles, but soon started making paper for cigarettes, as that form of smoking was starting to become more popular.
Their use of high quality Rice paper, which burned with no taste, and left almost no ash, and use of natural glue, from Acacia trees, instead of chemical glues, made them very popular with smokers for over several hundred years.
Their odorless, tasteless, all natural content made them THE paper of choice for rolling joints back in the late 60's and early 70's, before rolling papers specifically made for that purpose started to appear on the market.
When this album was released in 1972, every serious Stoner in America would have immediately recognized what this album cover represented and its implications.
The original shrink wrap on many First pressing copies of this record included a hype sticker on the front that read "Rolling Paper Included". I remember that causing a lot of controversy at the time, the whole 'promoting drug use'  thing, and the stickers were soon removed, but the rolling paper remained.
~~~~ Cheech & Chong's stand-up style of conversational, situational, 'Stoner' comedy was something new, different and revolutionary at the time. 
Comedians like Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and even Redd Foxx included drug references in their act, but none did it as humorously and openly as Cheech and Chong.
Their 'act' was made much more effective by their use of perfect timing, and different 'characters' and voices, which was sometimes hard to express and recreate on stage.
One of Cheech and Chong's best skills were being able to create hip alter ego characters, which they could then return to from time to time. Those sketches became regular recurring story lines on later albums.
~~ The content on this classic Cheech and Chong 'Big Bambu' album includes:
Sister Mary Elephant Ralph And Herbie Streets Of New York Or Los Angeles Or San Francisco Or . . . Rebuttal: w/ Speaker 'Ashley Roachclip' The Continuing Adventures Of Pedro De Pacas And Man The Bust Television Medley: Tortured Old Man Empire Hancock Let's Make A Dope Deal Unamerican Bandstand
~~ This album kicks off with the classic "Sister Mary Elephant" skit, a chaotic Catholic schoolroom situation that many listeners could relate to. 
Many of Cheech and Chong's best comedy bits have nothing directly to do with drugs, and you don't have to be a stoner to laugh at their gut-busting comedy. 
The second side of this classic album is another example of (mostly) drug free humor. It contains the duo's "Television Medley", a spoof of 70s American pop culture and fascination with daytime TV.  It contains the hilarious and classic game show parody "Lets Make a Dope Deal"
This album also introduces the hilarious mutt buddies "Ralph & Herbie" and contains "The Continuing Adventures of Pedro de Pacas and Man". Pedro and Man were a pair of characters they introduced on their first album, less than a year earlier, and would show up in their live act, and on their albums, over the years.
Luckily, their popular nightclub stage act translated over onto audio records remarkably well, and their records became very popular in the early 70's.
Part of the pair's genius was to fill their situational stories with all sorts of small audible background details, which, in the listener's properly prepared mind, really created a stunning "visual" effect. Cheech and Chong's first few albums are truly records that you can 'see', which was a key element to why they sold so well.
The duo's amazingly successful formula was a huge 'hit', pardon the pun, and they were a very fast-rising comedy duo by 1972.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This Record has a fantastic, timeless, colorful album jacket design, making it a great album to have in any vinyl collection.
The album jacket was designed to accurately resemble an oversized pack of classic Bambu cigarette rolling papers, using the original authentic colors and calligraphy, which cleverly incorporates the 'Cheech and Chong' name into the design.
The album jacket is cleverly designed to open up just like a real booklet of Bambu rolling papers.  There's even a 'slot' die-cut into the jacket lining inside, containing an actual giant rolling paper.
This First pressing album is also a 'digipack' design, and the album pulls out from the center seam, not from the outer right edge like most records. There is no opening on the right side of the jacket; it's sealed like a booklet of cigarette papers.
The album jacket was designed and manufactured by Craig Braun and his team at Sound Packaging Corporation, who created many unusual album jacket concepts for artists back in the day.
Just like authentic cigarette rolling papers at the time, the giant, album cover sized, rolling paper has 'watermarked' branding on it, with the 'Cheech and Chong' logo.
When you first open the album jacket, you just see the paper sticking out, with the watermarked 'Cheech & Chong' branding, but when you pull the paper out of it's slot, it reveals a fantastic image of the dynamic duo, barely standing, with Cheech holding a giant joint, also 'watermarked' onto the paper.
The image on the original First pressing rolling papers is much more clearer and detailed than on later pressing papers, but also much lighter in color, since it was meant to look like an authentic watermark, not a printed image.
Later pressing late 70's rolling papers were actually printed in black ink, and have a much darker, easier to see, but less detailed, image.
As mentioned, there are actually 3 original rolling papers included with this record; The original one that was in it when I purchased this record back in the summer of '72, which was never 'used' but has has some edge wear and a torn corner, an original 1972 First pressing, light colored, 'watermarked' replacement, and a late 70's dark colored version.
My 'original' rolling paper has some minor wear, but the other two are perfect examples of the 2 styles of rolling papers used in this album over the years. 
So, 3 rolling papers, 2 'originals' and a later 70's version.
The rolling papers are made of very thin, translucent paper, but I don't think they are made of rice paper. Also, there's no 'glue' on these papers, although there's a stripe down one side that suggests a band of glue.
Their use was totally implied, but they weren't actually meant to be used or smoked. I never used mine, but back then, we all knew of some daring 'dude' who claimed to actually have used it for it's suggested purpose.
Still, very cool to have 3 rolling papers; 2 of the original rolling papers, plus a better looking, but later version.
I tried to show some photos of how the rolling papers have changed over time and the difference in the light 'original' vs. the darker late 70's version.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copies of this album are not exceedingly rare, as it sold well and was repressed several times, but clean, complete, original 1972 copies on the 'Ode' label, with the original white record label style, with the original early inner sleeve, the original 'lighter' colored rolling paper, no tears or damage to the 'slot' inside, and in pristine condition are very, very rare and real gems.
This album is classic Cheech & Chong, very funny, and hard to find in good condition as these 'Dope Comedy' records were not always stored and played under 'ideal' conditions.
This First Pressing copy is clean and complete. They vinyl is in fantastic condition.  One of the best copies I've run across in quite some time. You'll love it!
~~ Original First Pressings can be identified several ways; the quickest and easiest way is that true originals have the Title, Ode catalog number and the '0598' price code printed on the spine.
Ode records, Lou Adler's side label after he sold off Dunhill to ABC in the late 60's, were briefly distributed by his main A&M record label. Early pressings have that A&M distribution clearly identified, but the initial First Pressings of 'Big Bambu' also have the early '1416 La Brea' address in the rim text of the record label. 
Later pressings have the 'Beverley Hills' address, and anything with 'Epic' records on it, or 'BSK' in the matrix numbers is a much later pressing.
The white Ode record label also changed from pressing to pressing. Original First Pressings have the song titles in all capital letters. 2nd and further pressings include lower case letters.
Buyer beware! Just because a copy has a Rolling Paper, doesn't make it an original First Pressing or early pressing. All U.S. pressings originally came with a rolling paper included.
Most copies of this album found today are missing the giant Rolling Paper, as they were removed and used by determined and motivated fans to try to twist a big "Fattie". Most of the album's original rolling papers went 'Up in Smoke'.
This is a crisp, clean, fantastic condition, true first pressing of this iconic Cheech and Chong 'Stoner Rock' comedy album from the summer of 1972, and comes with 3 original rolling papers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back when this record was released, Marijuana was still a Schedule I Narcotic, and a single roach found in an ashtray could send you to prison. That made the comedy much more biting and cutting edge at the time, and the duo's loose reckless approach to drugs somehow a bit more funny.  
These days, with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana, Cheech and Chong's classic early 70's records are becoming discovered by a whole new generation and becoming valuable again.
Cheech and Chong were a sensation that has truly stood the test of time, and it's great to be able to laugh at this vintage 70's 'dope humor' again.
Listening to this vintage stoner humor on vinyl brings back some great memories of listening to them 50 years ago. Using big old Koss headphones, so your parents couldn't hear what you were up to.  Funny, timeless humor never gets old or goes away.
If "No stems, no seeds, that you don't need, Acapulco Gold is......some Badass Weed!", "Open the door....it's me....Dave", or the names "Black Labrador," "Sgt. Stadanko," and "Blind Melon Chitlin" ring any bells for you, than you need to have this classic album, on original vinyl and in it's complete, original packaging, back in your vinyl collection again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels, 3 rolling papers, inner sleeve and vinyl in my pictures.
I purchased this copy back in the summer of 1972, 50 years ago, on one of my regular vinyl digs in those days, and have taken great care of it since.
VINYL: The vinyl looks fantastic. Clean and bright. Maybe a few light hairlines but No serious scuffs, palpable scratches, or dings.
I'll call it at least VG++, possibly better. You'll be very happy with it. 
The Deadwax has the early etched Ode numbers. The 'P' designates a Pitman pressing.  See the full Matrix numbers above.
There wasn't room to show the Matrix or too many pictures of the vinyl, as I wanted to show the rolling papers and other features instead, but I included a few close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
I haven't messed with it or cleaned it, other than my trusty 'DiscWasher' brush, in 50 years, since Nixon was in office. It would likely benefit from a good deep cleaning to make it even better looking and better sounding than it already is.
LABELS: This is pressed with the 'classic' early Black & White Ode labels. Note the First pressing indicators of all-capital letter titles and the early 'La Brea' address.
The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over the years.
JACKET: As you can see from my pictures, this still looks fantastic for a 50 year old copy. 
Usually these jackets show significant wear and ringwear, but this copy still looks nice.
These 'Stoner' records usually weren't treated very well or played under the best conditions, but this record was always lovingly cared for. This has been stored in a poly-lined sleeve and outer poly sleeve for decades.
Seams and corners are sharp, the artwork is bold and bright, the inner gatefold is clean and crisp. No names, marks or writing. This still has the original early Ode inner sleeve.
Overall, a very nice survivor.
This record has been sleeved and stored properly for Decades, and is still quite nice for an early first pressing. Overall, at least a conservative VG++.
ROLLING PAPERS: As mentioned, this has 3 Rolling Papers. The original one that was in it when I purchased this record back in the summer of '72, which was never 'used' but has has some edge wear and a torn corner, an original 1972 First pressing, light colored, 'watermarked' replacement, and a late 70's 'dark' colored version.
My 'original' rolling paper has some minor wear, but the other two are in excellent condition.  So, 3 rolling papers, 2 'originals' and a later 70's version.
I can think of a good 'project' for the slightly worn rolling paper, but I'll leave that up to the winning bidder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Timeless Stoner rock & comedy. A great jacket design, and a 'Must Have' record for any vinyl collection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.00 for this record. I will gladly combine postage with any of my other items. 
If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy! 
I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love collecting and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any items that I personally would not want in my collection.
My descriptions and grading are fair and honest. I have had over 3,500 happy and satisfied EBay customers, with 100% positive feedback, over the years and I have been buying/selling on ebay for over 25 years, so please bid with confidence!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far. Keep vinyl alive and Happy Haloween! -- JOHN