Crazyville Hill- Life Is Just A Carnival

If there is one rule about vinyl collecting that I always follow its this : Never walk away from a record whose cover features garden gnomes/ elves playing guitars and drinking moonshine outside a carnival.  Its not a rule you have to follow very often. 

The album seems to be a privately pressed Texas-based nugget with Leon Turner Jr. as the main man behind it.  All the songs were written by him and he also wrote the liner notes.  The songs are actually decent.  Very folky/ country.  Released in 1979, I think poor Leon missed the alt-country/ folk artist trend by about a decade.  Had this been released in 1969, we may be more familiar with the Crazyville Hill name. 

I looked around the internet and found a couple copies for sale and a couple that have sold in the past.  It turns out its worth a nice chunk of change, ranging from $50 up to $120!  Not a bad score for a buck at a junk shop. 

Although the music itself isn't terrible (its not life altering, either) the best thing about this record is the cover art.  I love the gnome that's passed out on a picnic table!  And the name that is written on the bass drum is "Kamakazi Express."  I would pay big money to see a band of elves called Kamakazi Express blast out some country laced, rock jams.  Bobby Rector, who did the artwork, also played drums on 9 of the 12 tracks. 

Although I doubt this record will ever slip into heavy rotation around here, it has definitely endeared its way into a permanent spot in the Weird Wax Archives.  One of the best dollars I have ever spent!

Stats...
Artist: Crazyville Hill
Title: Life Is Just A Carnival
Label: Privately Pressed
Matrix: ???
Year: 1979
Size: 12"
Speed: 33.3