Record Store Day has officially come and gone, and while the collective wallets of independent thinking, turntable-owning music fans are collectively empty this morning, there are still hoards and hoards of hard-to-come-by limited edition vinyl waiting to be bid upon at eBay.com.
Undercover.fm points out that one of those items will likely be a charity single from The Beach Boys which is set to benefit the Red Cross’s aid efforts in earthquake-ravaged Japan.
The seven-inch’s a-side brings together the last living members of the surf-rock pioneers – Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and Bruce Johnson – for a recording of “Don’t Fight The Sea”, which originally appeared on Jardine’s 2010 LP, A Postcard From California, and the b-side is home to an a capella mix of the boys’ song, “Friends”, which was released in 1968 as a part of an album of the same name.
“We felt the song had a nice basic message of friendship,” said Jardine of the cut, “I also like the idea of the song because the vocals are a but under-appreciated…[the single] was the perfect place to showcase the idea of harmony and friendship.”
The first 1,000 copies are reportedly pressed on white vinyl with a red label (meant to represent the Japanese flag), and what’s more is that about 90 first run copies will come with sleeves signed by Love, Wilson, Johnson, and Jardine themselves. The autographed copies will be sold through an auction, and while the official release date for the vinyl isn’t until tomorrow, a few lucky souls may already have their hands on a copy as a press release from the Red Cross says that Jardine brought a few copies with him to his RSD 2011 appearances.
Good luck finding them in person, but segments of the consumer populate who still have money to blow can try their hand at the EMI auction where the Ferrari from Daft Punk’s Elrectroma is currently going for just $25,000. The rest of you can help Japan by buying a T-shirt or something.
