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LP
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SOMM 059LP
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2022 restock. First ever reissue of this ultra-rare acetate (two copies pressed) from 1972, Grit's self-titled album. Featured in Hans Pokora's book with the maximum scale rarity. Psychedelic hard-rock with furious drumming and stunning lead guitar by this unknown until now London based band. Includes the four tracks from the original acetate (taken from the master tape) plus two bonus tracks taken from lo-fi, crude rehearsals: "1000 Miles" (a Grit original) and a killer demo version of "Mineshaft". Born from the ashes of a London band called Merlyn, Grit consisted of Frank Martinez (lead guitar, vocals), Paul Christodoulou (bass, vocals), Tom Kelly (drums, vocals), and Jeff Ball (vocalist). Frank, nicknamed "Spider", has an interesting story: at the beginning of his musical career he auditioned for Joe Meek at his Holloway Road studio. Later, he also played with a band called Grand Union -- who supported Pink Floyd in 1968 -- and with members of the John Dummer Band. An electronic wizard, Frank also worked building amps and electronic equipment at Nolan Amps, MIDAS, etc. Tom Kelly came from a band called Connexion and Paul Christodoulou had played in Merlyn along with Frank. After some attempts, the definitive line-up of Grit was born when Frank and Paul convinced drummer Tom Kelly to join them, after assisting to a Nazareth concert. They also recruited powerful singer Jeff Ball after an ad in Melody Maker. On Christmas Eve, 1972, Grit recorded a demo at SWM Studios and two copies of a one-sided 12" acetate were pressed for promo purposes. It featured four self-penned songs, the killer "Mineshaft" (pure underground fuzz hard-rock), and two lengthy numbers: "Child and the Drifter" (furious drumming, stunning leads, hard-prog moves), and the hard-psychedelic "What Do You See In My Eyes"/"I Wish I Was". 40 years later, one of the two copies of the original Grit acetate was found at a flea market in Germany, which led to its inclusion in the 7001 Record Collector Dreams book by famous collector Hans Pokora. By pure chance in 2019, Alex Carretero from Guerssen found Frank Martinez and he opened his vault, which included the original master tape of the Grit acetate and several tapes with rehearsals from Grit and Merlyn. Master tape sound. Includes insert with rare photos/memorabilia and detailed liner notes. Free download card includes the full album plus another three digital-only bonus tracks, also taken from rehearsal tapes, including cool cover versions of "Chicken Shack" and "Burnin' Red Ivanhoe".
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