Opal - Early Recordings/Happy Nightmare Baby

haha, yeah, seems unlikely, but that guy is legit, I think

I didn't know he was handling Kendra's stuff, but Pat is definitely legit.

I played Early Recordings for the first time in maybe ten years and I have to say I remember liking it more than I do. I think in my old age I actually prefer Happy Nightmare Baby. I don't remember all the lousy slide playing on this album! Total respect and admiration for Roback as a guitarist but Kendra remains the draw for me. And I still love the Rainy Day album more than all the Opal and Mazzy Star albums combined.

That said, if a reissue of Early Recordings materializes, I'll probably buy it, as my copy of this is beat to hell.

This is now in stock...

here's the latest from pat thomas:

I had to have this release postponed until the record company recognizes Kendra’s % of ownership - records are sitting in warehouse awaiting legitimacy- should be soon, I hope

— Pat Thomas (@PatThomas1964) November 2, 2019

thanks Tyler

I believe Amazon is already shipping these (it says shipped from and sold by Amazon - delivery by tomorrow). I'd order it but I already have the earlier CD.

yeah i don't really know, haha.

I wonder what source was used to master the thing... did they just take the CD version and master it for vinyl, lopping off "Hear the Wind Blow"?

This is a CD.

The new CD comes with the original CD bonus track "Hear the Wind Blow" plus four additional bonus tracks: "I Called Erin," "Don't Stop the Train," "Sailing Boats" and an alternate version of "Empty Bottles." It sounds great (i.e. not compressed), and the bonus tracks are wonderful. I have been waiting for a legit reissue for a long, long time (25+ years) since I refused to pay collector prices, ha (and yes, I did download MP3s to tide me over). "Empty Box Blues" goes through my head *all the time*. For the record, Rainy Day's cover of "Flying on the Ground is Wrong" is one of my favorite tracks ever recorded by anyone.

Rainy Day reissue next, I hope? That album kills Early Recordings (and I have always really liked Early Recordings)

Anyway, I bought this.

xpost - thanks for the report! I think I've only seen "Sailing Boats" on 'Early Recordings 2'.

Ordering this now.

And yes, fingers crossed for 'Rainy Day'.

double wow! it was listed as a vinyl release on amazon initially

Ah, ok. I'm really glad it's not just some vinyl repackage.

gahhhh OK thanks

can anyone give me a link to buy other than Amazon?

oh hell yeah looks like they did Happy Nightmare Baby as well

https://www.roughtrade.com/us/opal/happy-nightmare-baby

would kinda like to know who is behind these reissues

love Sailing Boats, can't wait to hear the others!

Re: "who is behind these reissues" - in the credits, it says: "2019 reissue Frank Gironda- Lookout Mgt., Pat Thomas"

OK, that's Mazzy Star's management company.

Rainy Day reissue next, I hope?

Happy Nightmare Baby reissue now has a listing on Amazon US with a Nov 1 release date, still unavailable though:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X7CP219

Early Recordings reissue is still not listed on Discogs, so I assume there are no actual physical copies out there yet:

https://www.discogs.com/Opal-Early-Recordings/master/30242

there are, I have one

ah cool!

god damn it this appears to have vanished completely, still not listed on Discogs and unavailable anywhere (even Amazon)

f. hazel plz ILXmail me if you can rip yr copy?

so frustrating

The CD reissue of Happy Nightmare Baby also vanished, I assume the few copies Amazon got last year of Early Recordings were not meant to be sold, in reference to the tweet from Pat Thomas about the reissues being embargoed until the royalties for Kendra Smith get worked out.

haha, the saga continues ... the reissues are listed for preorder over here, but who knows: https://www.propermusic.com/label/s/sally-gardens.html

in the meantime, i recently came across a 1985 recording (with opening set by Hope Sandoval's first band): https://ia801509.us.archive.org/32/items/Opal1985-04-22TexasRecordsLosAngelesCA/Opal1985-04-22TexasRecordsLosAngelesCA.mp3?cnt=0

GOING HOME (opener)
OPAL
1985-04-22
Texas Records L.A.(CA) USA

Going Home:
1. Give You My Lovin' 3:53
2. The Scarecrow 4:32
3. 2:41
4. 2:09
Total: 13:15

Opal:
5. Lisa's Funeral 8:03
6. Rock Section 7:09
7. Blue Flower 4:58
8. Lullabye 6:03
9. She's A Diamond 3:30
10. Fell From The Sun 4:49
11. Soul Giver 9:24

thx for the webmail f. hazel, much appreciated!

thanks tylerw, a Kendra version of Blue Flower is pretty cool, and the fuzzed out Lullabye too! complete with dude creeping on Hope Sandoval after their set... Mazzy Star played Blue Flower and Rock Section when I saw them last February!

dear f. hazel, sorry to bother you but I have not seen a second email from you, just checking!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OsKEMrh_W0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWuUYFF31rQ

via Ned on FB:

Pat Thomas just posted a note including this: "I manage Kendra. There will be some news soon about Opal reissues. Please do NOT ask me any more details about the release of Opal at this time. Roback made some magical music (with many of my close friends) - my favorite is the early Opal material."

Roback made some magical music

MAGICK POWER

Just the most amazing song (and video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6g1IvcwL5Y

Just noticed that the "Verified Artist" page for Opal on Spotify--while including an authentic band photo and bio--completely features music by an unrelated artist using the same name.

<iframe width="616" height="462" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iEamS2sQO9Q"; frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

ahhhh, evidently not how that works, empty box blues, beautiful stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=50&v=iEamS2sQO9Q&feature=emb_logo

via Elvis Telecom on FB, never seen this (great) show before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCqD-vCS9hw

wow never seen that one before!

nice! it's nice that for a relatively obscure band, Opal/Clay Allison was pretty well-documented, bootleg-wise. here's one of their earliest live gigs: https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/611039000197775360/clay-allison-mccabes-guitar-shop-santa-monica

sleeve do I still owe you an email?

"Rocket Machine" is such a jam. What a band.

xp yes please!

https://t.co/AEQAuASxM8

— Pat Thomas (@PatThomas1964) February 27, 2020

So I think I read that the opal reissue from 2019 wasn't authorized? I see it up for pre-order now. Confused

My guess (genuinely only a guess) is that it was put together by someone who thought they had the rights or didn't think there would be a problem with them, then a few copies got out, then there was a problem with the rights, subsequently resolved, release is back on.