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Title: HOUSEWIFE Artist: MISTRESS MARY
Description: 2016 USA Companion Records 12-track vinyl LP.

   *****FACTORY SEALED & BRAND NEW*****

Release Notes Smart songwriting, nice homey, drowsy country sound, “Byrds”/Burritos backing (Clarence White, Carl Walden), playfully subversive packaging, only previously available as a limited vinyl demo in ’69.  

Songwriter and multi-careerist Mary Afton recorded exactly one album of music in late 1968 at Darrel Cotton’s Ion Studio in the Hacienda Heights area. The session was led by Cotton and steel guitarist Carl Walden and several players sat in over the course of the 5 days it took to record including Walden, Clarence White & early rockabilly artist Johnny Redd. The group worked out most songs on the fly with Mary strumming out the songs on guitar and the band riffing off her.

Brilliantly packaged with lush glamour girl photo front and bored housewife pics back (and with hand-penned liners introducing herself as a “Wife – Mother – Civic Leader – etc. – Artiste”), 500 copies of the album were cut as a demo and maybe 50 of those were sent out as promos to industry folks (she saw to it that one of these copies made its way to Elvis Presley). Walden & Cotton thought the world of Mary and encouraged her efforts but after a year or two of little response she moved onto one of her many other careers (these include stints as an auto mechanics instructor for women, running a class on female self-defense, belly dance instruction and a lucrative multi-year gig as a disco dance instructor).

With her earnings Mary bought a beautiful ranch style home in Southern California where she lives to this day alongside four generations of daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters. When she’s not attending to the needs of her grandchildren and great grandchildren she’s throwing huge 500+ people pool parties in her backyard with a view.

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This is the first and only licensed reissue of Mistress Mary Housewife, an obscure Southern California songwriting demo issued privately in 1969. This is Mary's one and only recording and she's backed here by Carl Walden, Clarence White, Johnny Redd (and other yet to be identified session players) from the late '60s Byrds, Burrito Bros country rock scene.

Brilliantly packaged with lush glamour girl photo front and hand-penned liners/bored housewife pics back (sharply introducing herself as “Wife – Mother – Civic Leader – etc. – Artiste”.) 500 original copies of the album were cut as a demo and maybe 50 of those were sent out as promos to industry folks (she saw to it that one made its way to Elvis Presley). Walden & producer Darrell Cotton thought the world of Mary and encouraged her efforts but after a year or two of little response she moved on to one of her many other careers including stints as an auto mechanics instructor for women, running a class on female self-defense, belly dance instruction, and a lucrative multi-year gig as a disco dance instructor.

This faithful reissue was pressed at RTI with heavy, old style tip-in jackets produced by Stoughton. Alternate takes of "And I Didn't Want You" and "My Country Boy" and another track left off of the LP are included on a download card.

Condition of record: M Condition of sleeve: M
Catalogue number: CR11 Year of release: 2016 Tracklisting: AS ABOVE
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