Moondog and His Friends: Epic LG 1002, released 1953 (complete 10-inch album)

This is one of the rarest records in my collection: Moondog and His Friends. Epic LG 1002, released 1953. Read below the track list for more information. Track List ---------------- Dragon's Teeth • Voices Of Spring Oasis Tree Frog • Be A Hobo Instrumental Round • Double Bass Duo • Why Spend The Dark Night With You? Theme And Variations • Rim Shot Suite No. 1 -- First Movement -- Second Movement -- Third Movement Suite No. 2 -- First Movement -- Second Movement -- Third Movement (The list is presented how the tracks were banded on the original record.) I have two copies of this 10-inch record. One was my mother's (she once called Moondog the "world's first hippie" 😁) and it had seen way too much abuse over the years, especially from my grubby young hands. I later found a very clean copy on eBay for ~$75, back when copies typically sold for well over $100 (they averaged $150 for a while). There have been recent reissues but, from samples I've heard, they have poor sound quality, apparently made from a needle drop and sounding like digital noise reduction was applied heavily. Mine is an original release on the old yellow Epic label with the black "strobe" border. There is still some random noise (I may run it through the ultrasonic and vacuum record cleaners again), but even without using the SugarCube, there were only very few tiny clicks throughout the album. This is no audiophile recording, but at least the original fidelity is intact in this version I've uploaded. Musically it is an interesting piece. "Dragon's Teeth" explores ten time signatures. "Tree Frog" was recorded by tapping the openings on a recorder (flute). "Be a Hobo" and "Why Spend the Dark Night with You?" are rounds, accompanied by Moondog's percussion in "snaketime" (5/4 time signature). The two suites are complementary--the first suite's movements are keyed minor/major/minor, whereas the second suite is major/minor/major; both feature similar rhythms in each corresponding movement.