{"title":"Pearls Before Swine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePsychedelic Folk band formed by Tom Rapp in 1965 in Eau Gallie, Florida, USA. They released six albums between 1967 and 1971, before Rapp launched a solo career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePearls Before Swine is a renowned Psychedelic Folk band that was founded by Tom Rapp in the year 1965. Hailing from Eau Gallie, Florida, USA, this talented group mesmerized audiences with their unique blend of folk music infused with psychedelic elements. With an impressive discography comprising of six albums released between 1967 and 1971, Pearls Before Swine captivated listeners with their captivating melodies and thought-provoking lyrics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the success of the band's initial run, Tom Rapp embarked on a solo career to further explore his musical talents. However, the legacy of Pearls Before Swine lives on as a testament to their innovative sound and lasting impact on the genre.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"balaklava","title":"Balaklava","description":"\u003cp\u003eReleased in late 1968, the second Pearls Before Swine record continued to deliver music with a preternatural sense of what the youth of America wanted to hear.\u003ci\u003e One Nation Underground\u003c\/i\u003e had been a surprise hit when released in 1967 by the hipster free-jazz indie label ESP, receiving an incredible organic response, with continuous underground radio play and sales. Like \u003ci\u003eOne Nation Underground\u003c\/i\u003e before it, \u003ci\u003eBalaklava\u003c\/i\u003e celebrates 50 years of life in stunning fashion. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginal producer Richard Alderson has remastered the album, restoring the precision of the original mix - and in the process, revealing fantastically dynamic performances and dispersing the haze of the years that had gathered over latter-day editions of \u003ci\u003eBalaklava\u003c\/i\u003e. The music and message it intended to deliver to the world are still needed, the peace still sought. The fight to understand and to change is still ongoing. And so, \u003ci\u003eBalaklava \u003c\/i\u003ehas fresh purpose, after all this time. The music of \u003ci\u003eBalaklava \u003c\/i\u003estrips away the manic, post-garage band diversity of the first album, instead grounding the production around Tom Rapp's guitar and singing, with the touches of instrumental colour all the more dramatic and striking. Tom Rapp passed away while this album was being readied for re-release. While he spent the majority of his life working as a lawyer who practiced humanist, equal-rights law - \"60s law\", as he put it - for the benefit of many underrepresented people, his name will best remembered and will forever be synonymous with the music of Pearls Before Swine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383952838987,"sku":"1049547","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50383953297739,"sku":"1049546","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bf6e1a57-391a-4463-a3e0-c2d8fc500f2f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726280254"},{"product_id":"the-wizard-of-is","title":"The Wizard of Is","description":"\u003cp\u003eRemastered and re-appraised collection of Pearls Before Swine rarities from the private tape collection of the late, great Tom Rapp. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the first time on vinyl, this beautiful collection brings together alternate versions of Rapp originals ‘The Jeweler’, ‘Translucent Carriages’ and ‘Rocket Man’. It also includes jaw-dropping covers of Rapp’s contemporaries Cohen, Dylan and Joni Mitchell, with bonus download material featuring seven amazing live versions plus a never before released intimate show at The Other End circa 1976.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA goldmine of possibilities from a prospector with a silver tongue and stories to tell. \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard Of Is\u003c\/i\u003e is a weird and wonderful trip inside its creator’s mind, from sonnets and space hymns to stories of revolution and the war. It’s an American Gothic fantasy that straddles old tyme America and the outer edges of an imagined stratosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Earth Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50458813956427,"sku":"1166464","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50458815430987,"sku":"1166463","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/24852487-a827-4a76-be85-1b836ab44f84_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727214272"},{"product_id":"the-exaltation-of-tom-rapp","title":"The Exaltation of Tom Rapp","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew compilation, featuring many unreleased recordings and rarities from the cult favourite and all endorsed by the Tom Rapp estate. The grand masters of acid folk, Pearls Before Swine outline the genius of leader Tom Rapp on an album created from a dusty box of tapes left behind by the incisive tunesmith. Never before heard recordings remastered to create the perfect route into the essential \u003ci\u003eBalaklava\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eOne Nation Underground\u003c\/i\u003e albums that kick started a whole genre. This new compilation was made in collaboration with, and fully endorsed, by the Tom Rapp estate. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrack listing: 1 State U, 2 Translucent Carriages, 3 Ring Thing (Three Rings), 4 The Jeweler, 5 Harding Street, 6 New Man, 7 I Saw The World, 8 For The Dead In Space, 9 From The Movie Of The Same Name, 10 Rocket Man, 11 Teacup Kingdom, 12 Images Of April, 13 If You Don’t Want To (I Don’t Mind), 14 Sin Of Jesus\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Earth Recordings","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50459124236619,"sku":"1145226","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50459123876171,"sku":"1160103","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f9d80391-ee61-43ac-824e-f325b6d940cf_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727217597"},{"product_id":"one-nation-underground-fiftieth-anniversary-mono-restoration-and-remastering","title":"One Nation Underground - Fiftieth Anniversary Mono Restoration and Remastering.","description":"\u003cp\u003eAnother time, indeed! It's been fifty years since Pearls Before Swine first appeared. A genteel, oft-hushed missive from a far corner of the psychedelic hive mind, \u003ci\u003eOne Nation Underground\u003c\/i\u003e was released on an independent outlier of a record label, removed from the mainstream - and still its spirit came to be deeply appreciated by a generation and more. Today, this music has been reissued by labels around the world dozens of times. Tragic then that it hasn't been heard properly in decades! The stereo record that made it to compact disc in the 90s (and to subsequent vinyl pressings) was a botched job, with reverbs added to evoke a fake stereo image, and an overdub track from the original master lost in the transfer - providing a perfect analog for a release destined not to make the original artists any money at all. The 50th-Anniversary edition, however, has been returned to the hands of its creators, restoring the original mono mix that made such an impact in 1967, freed from the muffling veils that time eventually wrapped around it. Cast into a moment of incredible tumult and great discovery, Pearls Before Swine contributed a uniquely earthy strain to the arc of sound that defined the time and place of the later 1960s. A group of young men in Florida were inspired to send their demo tape to the label that released The Fugs, whose appearance and lawless attitude seemed at once a dare and an invitation. The label was ESP-Disk, whose catalog was largely comprised of records from some of the farthest-out jazz players in New York City - but Pearls Before Swine were welcome to make a record there, too. Relocating to New York in the Spring of 1967, they were installed at Impact Sound with provisional ESP-house man Richard Alderson (engineer of many of those jazz sessions, as well as sound-man on Dylan's '66 world tour) and, in three days, laid down the album. When it was released in October of that year, it immediately began to catch on with young people around the world with its blend of gentle and innocent, erudite and outraged. Each song was from a different genre and each track had something strange\/mysterious in it, via exotic instruments, electronic oscillation or pure, simple intent. There was proto-punk in the mix, rife with humor, aloft with the pastoral acoustics of the banjo; music of the people of the world, all in the service of Tom Rapp's visceral, unblinking lyrics. Original producer Richard Alderson oversaw the restoration and remastering of the tapes, allowing us to hear with jolting clarity the original sound of Pearls Before Swine. Notes from Richard and PBS leader Tom Rapp lend historical perspective, and Tom adds his reflections on each of the songs as well. Listen again - and hear for the first time, perhaps - the sound of \u003ci\u003eOne Nation Underground. \u003c\/i\u003eFor music like this, radio play wasn't dictated by pluggers pushing a single up the charts - the jockeys at free-form stations played it because it spoke to them, and they loved it. \u003ci\u003eOne Nation Underground\u003c\/i\u003e indeed! This was THE cult album of its time, loved by artists as divergent as Leonard Cohen and Iggy Pop. Fassbinder's 1969 film Rio Das Mortes used two songs in its soundtrack and featured the album cover on one of its characters' walls. Two hundred thousand copies were pressed over the next couple years, and by 1969, Pearls Before Swine were an underground legend, recording their third album for a major label. The mysterious glow around their first two ESP-Disk releases has never faded, even in the past several decades, when the albums' sound was undermined by technology.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50465904623947,"sku":"1015617","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465904918859,"sku":"1015619","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5e24ea30-1ad9-4705-a0a1-420dff80802a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727298779"},{"product_id":"balaklava-3","title":"Balaklava","description":"\u003cp\u003eDouble LP expanded re-issue of Pearls Before Swine's follow up to \u003ci\u003eOne Nation Underground,\u003c\/i\u003e plus a second disc of unreleased extras including demos, rehearsals and alternative versions. With a faithfully recreated original sleeve and extensive notes, produced in collaboration with the Tom Rapp Estate. “The near-brilliant follow-up intended as a defiant condemnation of the Vietnam War, it doesn't offer anthemic, fist-pounding protest songs. Instead, Tom Rapp vented his anger through surrealist poetry, irony, and historical reference.” AllMusic. “A high point in his recorded output.” Goldmine. “A high of psychedelic delicacy and deceptive urgency, one of his masterpieces.” Rolling Stone.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Earth Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50468658610507,"sku":"2012182","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Pearls_Before_Swine_-_Balaklava_ee97cc52_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727349730"},{"product_id":"one-nation-underground-2","title":"One Nation Underground","description":"\u003cp\u003eDouble LP expanded re-issue of Pearls Before Swine's classic debut, plus unreleased extras, including demos, rehearsals and alternative versions. With faithfully recreated original sleeve and extensive notes, all created in collaboration with the Tom Rapp Estate. The psychedelic-folk debut from “one of the most erudite, literate minds in rock… a stunning piece of work, from the nightmarish sleeve art - the \"Hell Panel\" from Hieronymus Bosch's 15th century painting \"Garden Of Delights\" - to the strange yet powerful songs.” AllMusic. “From moody, poetic gems to the anger and intensity of the bitter anti-war anthem, ‘Uncle John’. Fiercely unique and individual sounding.” Goldmine. “A high of psychedelic delicacy and deceptive urgency, one of his masterpieces.” Rolling Stone.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Earth Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50506131210571,"sku":"2012402","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/One_Nation_Underground_b822b92c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727819455"},{"product_id":"tom-rapp-the-man-who-fell-to-earth-rsd-2026-ls","title":"Tom Rapp: The Man Who Fell to Earth - RSD 2026","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuy in-store on Record Store Day (18\/04\/2026). This product is an RSD Exclusive title and is not available to pre-order.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRemaining stock available online from:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUS - 08:00 EST (19\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEU - 14:00 CEST (19\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUK - 20:00 BST (20\/04\/2026)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSome titles will sell out prior to online sale and some will only be available in specific regions. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eA mesmerising, super rare ten-track collection of songs from Pearls’ mainstay Tom Rapp; a stripped-down study of love, hate and the state of the world, recorded over 50 years ago and still as poignant and incisive today. Featuring music never released or set to vinyl from Ton Rapp’s private collection, created with the blessing of Tom’s family. Remastered from the original reel-to-reel tapes. “Tom Rapp is a musician from another era, I sometimes think he belongs among medieval troubadours, singing to knights and nobles.” The Voice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Earth Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56474843152715,"sku":"R5947-4199","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/mLA7fk9XsKLkwLmcbdu5JcIkhcRtk_fgopABMrqTB0k-1920w.jpg?v=1770385454"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_c3ba9751_thumbnail_4096_5bb8c60a-3964-4771-97ad-ee6d7d62f906.jpg?v=1726280229","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/pearls-before-swine.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}