LONNIE LISTON SMITH & The Cosmic Echoes: Astral Traveling. Used LP, gatefold, vintage pressing (1973), in Very Good+/Very Good+ condition; Extremely Rare manufacturing error for jacket (see below); Flying Dutchman Catalog # FD 10163

Condition (please read carefully!): Vinyl looks excellent, but there is a small, nasty scratch that makes start of Side One Track One pretty noisy [I may have bought this used, really can’t remember after all these decades]. I did make a note on inner sleeve that I bought it in 1983, at which time it was considered rare. [I replaced that sleeve with a poly-lined new one.] Packaging: now it gets interesting! The LP jacket is in very good shape overall, very minor shelf wear, not a “cut-out.” But the jacket was mis-manufactured, so that the info (artist name, album title) that should appear on the spine is seen on front of jacket, and if you turn jacket over the two ends don’t align! There is also a white sticker with an altered Catalog # wrapped over spine, likely placed there by a distributor. [My camera would not focus properly when I tried to shoot close-up of the “misplaced” spine info, but you can probably make out what the situation is from my pics.] Graphics on inside of gatefold jacket in good condition, but I didn’t bother to snap a photo. Is this item very valuable?? Well, I have been buying LPs since about 1960 and never encountered such a flaw elsewhere, nor could I find anything on internet relating to this particular album having this flaw. Therefore I am putting this item up for auction, whereas I normally state a Buy Now price. I will let the marketplace decide what this thing is worth.

UPDATE JULY 5, 2024: Sifting thru my LP collection the other day, I encountered another Flying Dutchman record with same printing error; that is, text that should be on the spine of LP jacket is on front! Looks like the Dutchman was cutting corners by using a less than fully competent printer! In my 60 years of experience with LPs, I still find this to be a very rare situation.

Behind the Music: Keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith blasted onto the scene in early 1970s with his “spacey, cosmic” sound. His album Expansions actually “crossed over” to some Prog Rock FM radio stations back in the day. PERSONNEL: L.L. Smith—piano, electric piano; the venerable Cecil McBee—bass; David Lee Jr.—drums; Badal Roy, Sonny Morgan, Mtume, Geeta Vashi—various percussion; George Barron—tenor and soprano sax (sounding a bit like Pharoah Sanders); Joe Beck—guitar. Produced by Bob Thiele. 

About the seller: I am downsizing my personal belongings, and you can benefit. Unless otherwise indicated, all my records have been owned by me alone and treated with loving care. No scratches or gouges. I have been a Jazz radio broadcaster for 30+ years, but my musical tastes are wide-ranging. You will see this as my listed offerings grow. New items added weekly, check back often!

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