FAKE SIDES

Sounds For Sick? People (Shell S 1711)

I found this in the bins and immediately thought it was a joke. 

Back in the 1960s, a company called High In-Fidelity Records issued a bunch of novelty record covers (sleeves only, no vinyl inside) with titles like Songs For Swinging Mothers, Music for Mixed Emotions, Music For Casual Affairs, Music For Half-Assed Friends, etc. Nudity was strongly encouraged, but not essential.

Each empty sleeve had an insert that read "I Bought This Album For You As A Gift . . . Sorry I Couldn't Afford The Record."

Sounds For Sick? People was a real record, compiled by Dr. Herb Breger and issued on his own Shell Records. Breger was a dentist, but that didn't keep him from issuing music by The Ivy Three, The Delacardos, The Pyramids, and The Daddy-O's.

The music looks like a mix of standards ("St. James Infirmary," "I'm Beginning To See the Light," and "Dry Bones") along with tunes like "Ulcer Alley" and "X-Ray Eyes."  

I'm kinda glad my record player is already packed up.