First Pressing of Hostage LP: Sweetwater in Redondo Beach, CA, March 31, 1980

This vinyl LP was produced by Rhino in 1985, which was an up-and-coming label at the time. The album was released under the Freeway Records label. The photographs on the front and back cover are by Michael Montfoty and the liner notes are by Kenneth Funston.

This was to be Charles Bukowski’s final public reading, taking place at the Sweetwater in Redondo Beach, California, on March 31, 1980.

The reason behind the reading was to promote the new Bukowski album “Bukowski Reads His Poetry”, which was released by Tacoma records in 1980.

I don’t have the expertise to grade vinyl records, but here is my description. Because of the black cover, there is noticeable edgewear and light creases on all four sides of the cover, which travel about 1” in. There are also small bumps on all four corners with edgewear. The record sleeve seems original and has no tears. I do not visibly see and scratches to the record itself and the labels are clean and bright.

This is the reading list: