Hampton Grease Band Album Reissued

Hey old lady! Real Gone Music has rather quietly reissued the Hampton Grease Band’s sole album, Music to Eat!

The storied, seven-track double platter was previously reissued on CD in 1996 through Brendan O’Brien’s short-lived Shotput Records imprint. That edition is long out of print, and this marks the first time the album has seen re-release on vinyl.

With the original gatefold jacket and artwork carefully reinstated, the double-LP set is pressed on peach colored vinyl in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, which may or may not be in the range of the amount it sold when originally issued by Columbia Records in 1971. But in the years since it made its rather microscopic initial splash, the album’s bold, out-there eruption of avant garde psychedelic jazz-rock, Dadaist lyrical/vocal therapy (with Bruce Hampton at the helm) and dazzling twin guitar interplay (at the nimble hands of Harold Kelling and Glenn Phillips) has attained a somewhat mythic standing among adventurous aficionados of jam-rock, Southern rock and outsider music. Hampton, in particular, became a guru of the jam set, exploring new directions with an ever-evolving array of players. Similarly Phillips continues to amaze Atlanta audiences with his own bands, sometimes featuring original HGB bassist Mike Holbrook and/or Jeff Calder of the Swimming Pool Q’s. Supposedly, Glenn didn’t even know about this Real Gone reissue before it was announced by the label for pre-ordering!

Given its sporadic, mostly out-of-print history, there’s no telling when or if this Atlanta musical artifact might be available again. Grab a copy while you can.