Strictly Personal – 50 year anniversary

Yes, it’s 50 years since the band’s second album, Strictly Personal, was released. It was October 1968 in the US and December 1968 in the UK.

The recording of the follow-up to Safe As Milk had begun back in November 1967 not long after Jeff Cotton had joined the band to replace Jerry McGee. However, these recordings were destined to remain unissued for a few years and the band had a second go at recording the album in May 1968.

It was these later  sessions that were to be eventually released by Blue Thumb in the US and Liberty in the UK as Strictly Personal. The band’s manager, Bob Krasnow, was the producer and bore the brunt of Don’s annoyance for adding various ‘psychedelic’ effects without the band knowing … or so the story goes.

In celebration of this superb album, ‘bromo seltzer’ effects et al, we have been updating the information we have about it here on the Radar Station.

As well as the extensive list of different versions of vinyl and CD which includes comments about the sound quality of some of these releases (see Strictly Personal releases) you can also find some new articles:

  • Gary Marker on Strictly Personal – friend of Don, bass player in the band the late Gary ‘Magic’ Marker spoke about the album in interviews and on online forums. Here are some of his stories told in his inimitable fashion
  • Inner sleeve photograph – we take a closer look at the amazing photograph by Guy Webster that appeared on the inside of the gatefold sleeve
  • Reviews and ads from 1968 – a couple of reviews taken from IT (International Times) by John Peel and Miles written when the album first appeared
  • The Strictly Personal Acetate – could this acetate be the fabled unphased version? If so, where the hell is it?

 

 

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