Birdyak (Cobbing, Bob; Metcalfe; Hugh)

Aberration

London, England, UK: Klinker Zoundz/New River Music, 1988. First Edition, First Printing. Aberration is a 1988 vinyl LP by Birdyak, the free-improvisation group built around British concrete, visual & sound poet Bob Cobbing (1920-2002) & British guitarist Hugh Metcalfe, released on Metcalfe's own Klinker Zoundz label, a "free jazz/poetry/performance art/etc club." It comprises twelve tracks compiled from live recordings made in 1986–87 at Apples & Snakes, Torriano Meeting House, the Makeshift Club, Cardiff's St. David's Hall, Glasgow, and Aberystwyth. Titles include: Finn-Ships, Kwatz, Worm, The Sacred Mushroom, and two takes of Destruction In Art. During the 1960s Cobbing managed Better Books, a London shop that functioned as a proto-Arts Lab with stage, cinema & gallery presentations, and was the seedbed for the London counterculture. Beat Generation Founding Father Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) read there in May 1965, and that reading directly precipitated the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall the following month. Ultimately, Aberration is a late-period documentation of a Writers Forum/British Poetry Revival leading figure that was active during the Beat Generation-adjacent mid-60s London scene. With special guests Ma-Lou Bangerter on violin, Bill Smith on saxophone, Lol Coxhill on soprano sax, and cover photography by Jennifer Pike, Cobbing's wife & longtime collaborator. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England for founder Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see for example our Item No.s 8217 & 8366). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining gems of Unicorn & Public House, including this deep cut. Twelve-inch Vinyl LP record with likely original paper sleeve in original cardboard sleeve, First Pressing. A most essential Birdyak collectible in its rarest contemporary form with extremely relevant association & very distinguished provenance. Record in relatively fine-to-very fine condition, plays & sounds well; no visible imperfections to either side; mild-to-moderate wear to paper protective sleeve; moderate age-toning and sealant glue remnants to same. Cardboard sleeve fine-to-very fine with mild rubbing/wear & age-toning mostly to blank margins, corners & fine edges of both sides. [Item #9271]

Price: $80.00