Tripsichord Music Box - Fly Baby / She Has Passed Away (1970)

Tripsichord Music Box - "Fly Baby" b/w "We Have Passed Away"

Original 1970 45 RPM single versions

San Francisco Sound T-5-12700-Y // 1-6-12 700-Z  (Discogs)

~ThePoodleBites rip in 96kHz / 24bit FLAC + high-res scans~

When I first heard "Fly Baby," all the hype about this band finally started to make sense. After repeated listening I realized that song is simply one the best San Francisco psychedelic-sounding masterworks ever recorded. Everything about it oozes eerie midnight trips, the heightened fluid lead of Frank Straight jazzing out before the band suddenly bursts into harmonic overdrive, 3-part vocals pleading to "flyyy... fly with me baaeee-beeee..." -- wow! 

This Tripsichord 45 was probably released contemporaneously with their demo album on the red San Francisco Sound label, which has been dated to circa November or December 1970. Unlike the band's first single, both of these tracks appeared on their full-length album, but "Fly Baby" was truncated to less than half of its original length, omitting the long guitar solo and final verse. The B-side sounds identical to the red-label demo LP to me, but I guess there will be people who argue this is superior sonically, having been cut at 45 RPM rather than 33⅓. This 45 has never been reissued or ripped elsewhere, so both sides make their digital debut here. 

Major thanks again to C.F. for lending out this treasure from his never-ending archives!

Although the lyrics are pretty easy to hear, and even though they unambiguously define the B-side title as "We Have Passed Away," somehow that song was mistitled on the labels as "She Has Passed Away." This was corrected in 1971 for the Janus release and for all future reissues, but it surely makes one wonder what Katz was listening to these recordings on back in those days...

Unlike the first single, this was a New York affair, and it was pressed on vinyl, which bodes very well for the sound quality. Those who have never heard the red-label SF Sound pressing of the Tripsichord album (which is probably pretty much everyone reading this post) will note that the sound quality here is far better than on the Janus LP or any of the subsequent reissues: vinyl, CD, or otherwise. More on that later... 

Frank Straight absolutely burning up the lead on his ES-330; Randy Gordon on drums, Burke Wallace on the SG

Lineup:
- Bill Carr: acoustic guitar, vocals
- Frank Straight: lead guitar
- Dave Zandonatti: bass, vocals
- Randy Gordon: drums, vocals

Track listing:
1) "Fly Baby" -- 3:07
2) "We Have Passed Away" -- 2:46

Dynamic Range: DR12
Vinyl condition: M-
Equipment Lineage:
– Audio-Technica VMN40ML stylus on AT150MLx dual moving-magnet cartridge
– Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB direct drive professional turntable (internal stock preamp/ADC removed)
– Pro-Ject Phono Box S2 Ultra preamp with dedicated Zero Zone linear power supply
– Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 MkII (96kHz / 24bit)
– Adobe Audition CC 2020 (recording)
– iZotope RX 7 audio editor (manual declicking, EQ subtraction, additional adjustments)
– Audacity 2.3.3 (fades between tracks, split tracks)
– Foobar2000 v1.5.1 (tagging, dynamic range analysis)

The unedited B-side is on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAK5Wx7PKDI

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MEGA: https://mega.nz/folder/XIMniQaa#l4Vu9epfl14JLy1c9jl4WA

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The band performing "Omaha" as the fake Moby Grape in Phoenix, circa April 1968
(L-R): Frank Straight, Burke Wallace, Dave Zandonatti, Oliver McKinney, Randy Gordon