New, Sealed, Charles Bukowski Uncensored LP: HarperCollins 2019

HarperCollins/Ecco has produced a couple special Bukowski items over the years, like bundled books and a word game you could use to create Bukowski phrases.

Produced by HaperCollins in 2019, this LP could have been a cool item, especially with its white vinyl and cool record label. But intentionally or not, HarperCollins gave the impression that this was a limited-edition record. As a result, fans and lots of bookstores snapped them up thinking they would become instantly valuable – like a lot of things do these days, such as Stanley water bottles.

The problem was that it wasn’t a limited edition, so shops that started selling them for $40 and up before they even arrived ended up getting burned by HarperCollins trying to be hip 10 years too late. While posting this, I noticed that HarperCollins has them on sale for $19.95, down from $24.95, adding insult to injury.

Dear HarperCollins: I have plenty of ideas for special items that you own the rights to, so give me a call if you’re interested.

This copy is in New condition, still in the shrink wrap. I have not listened to this LP, but it sounds awfully like the 2010 recording they put out.

From the Publisher:
From his early hardscrabble life to his literary success, Charles Bukowski’s unique personality came alive through his work. In 1993, the year before he died, this counterculture icon recorded and published selections from his classic Run With The Hunted. Charles Bukowski Uncensored Vinyl includes selections from that recording session, along with candid conversations between Bukowski, his wife, and his producer. For any fan of Charles Bukowski, these recordings are an intimate look at a brilliant and wild mind.

Selections included: The Genius of the Crowd, Consummation of Grief, The Poetry Reading, Short Order, The Soldier, his Wife and the Bum, The Most, The Mockingbird, Fan Letter, Luck, Are you Drinking?, You Know and I Know and Thee Know, an excerpt from Ham on Rye, and We Ain’t Got No Money, Honey, but we Got Rain.

Crate 2