compiled by Michael Fitzgerald
September 1997-August 4, 2000
This is not a catalog. This is a discographical tool for researchers. I have no idea how to obtain these records. Please visit http://www.espdisk.com/ for such information.
Thanks to contributors:
Mike Buck <mbuck60@hotmail.com>
Paul Costuros <costuros@costuros.com>
Les Fradkin <lfradkin@earthlink.net
Andy Galkin <amgalkin@ix.netcom.com>
Katsuhiro Imai <mtkisco@po.aianet.ne.jp>
Gregor Kessler <gregor@hayfever.de>
Jonathan L. Kutler <jkutler@hotmail.com>
Henry Loess <hloess@pipeline.com>
Paul L. Madarasz <plmad@primenet.com>
Frank Malczewski <malczews@pogo.ast.lmco.com>
Chuck Nessa <nessa@earthlink.net>
Craig Parrish <Cwp1955@aol.com>
Mark Raap <raap@bc.sympatico.ca>
Andrew Rogers <andrew.rogers@east.sun.com>
Jeff Schwartz <jeffs@bgnet.bgsu.edu>
Bernard Stollman
Ken Waxman <cj649@freenet.toronto.on.ca>
Jack Woker <stereo@ix.netcom.com>
François Ziegler <ziegler@math.yale.edu>
<splashone@earthlink.net>
| ESP | ARTIST | TITLE |
|---|---|---|
| 1001 | (Esperanto Record) | Ni Kantu En Esperanto |
| 1002 | Ayler, Albert | Spiritual Unity |
| 1003 | Sanders, Pharoah | Pharoah |
| 1003 | Sanders, Pharoah | Pharaoh's First |
| 1004 | New York Art Quartet | New York Art Quartet |
| 1005 | Allen, Byron | Trio |
| 1006 | Coleman, Ornette | Town Hall 1962 |
| 1007 | Logan, Giuseppi | Quartet |
| 1008 | Bley, Paul | Barrage |
| 1009 | James, Bob | Explosions |
| 1010 | Ayler, Albert | Bells |
| 1011 | Blake, Ran | Plays Solo Piano |
| 1012 | Davidson, Lowell | Trio featuring Gary Peacock |
| 1013 | Logan, Giuseppi | More |
| 1014 | Sun Ra | Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, The 1 |
| 1015 | Graves, Milford | Percussion Ensemble |
| 1016 | Ayler, Albert & Don Cherry | New York Eye And Ear Control |
| 1017 | Sun Ra | Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, The 2 |
| 1018 | Fugs, The | Broadside Album |
| 1019 | Erdman, Jean | Coach With The Six Insides, The |
| 1020 | Ayler, Albert | Spirits Rejoice |
| 1021 | Bley, Paul | Closer |
| 1022 | Brown, Marion | Quartet |
| 1023 | Wright, Frank | Trio |
| 1024 | Greene, Burton | Quartet |
| 1025 | Waters, Patty | Sings |
| 1026 | Grimes, Henry | Call, The |
| 1027 | Leary, Timothy | Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out |
| 1028 | Fugs, The | Fugs, The |
| 1029 | Tyler, Charles | Ensemble |
| 1030 | Simmons, Sonny | Staying On The Watch |
| 1031 | Howard, Noah | Quartet |
| 1032 | Murray, Sunny | Sunny Murray |
| 1033 | (Various Artists) | [ESP Sampler] |
| 1034 | East Village Other | East Village Other |
| 1035 | Kupferberg, Tuli | No Deposit, No Return |
| 1036 | Lancaster, Byard | [NEVER ISSUED?] |
| 1037 | Godz, The | Contact High With The Godz |
| 1038 | Fugs, The | Virgin Fugs |
| 1039 | Burns, Randy | Of Love And War |
| 1040 | Brown, Marion | Why Not? |
| 1041 | Berger, Karl | From Now On |
| 1042 | Hampel, Gunter | Music From Europe |
| 1043 | Simmons, Sonny | Music From The Spheres |
| 1044 | Watts, Marzette | Marzette & Company |
| 1045 | Sun Ra | Nothing Is |
| 1046 | ||
| 1047 | Godz, The | 2 |
| 1048 | Sondheim, Alan | Ritual-All-7-70 |
| 1049 | Barbieri, Gato | In Search Of The Mystery |
| 1050 | Burroughs, William | Call Me Burroughs |
| 1051 | (Various Artists) | ESP Sampler |
| 1052 | Zitro, James | West Coast Music |
| 1053 | Wright, Frank | Your Prayer |
| 1054 | Pearls Before Swine | One Nation Underground |
| 1055 | Waters, Patty | College Tour |
| 1056 | Movement Soul | Love Recording Of Songs And... |
| 1057 | Lemer, Peter | Local Colour |
| 1058 | Gagnier, Sean | [NEVER ISSUED] |
| 1059 | Tyler, Charles | Eastern Man Alone |
| 1060 | Lacy, Steve | Forest And The Zoo, The |
| 1061 | Moore, Jerry | Ballad Of Birmingham |
| 1061 | Moore, Jerry | Life Is A Constant Journey Home |
| 1062 | Coursil, Jacques | Unit [never issued] |
| 1063 | New York Electric String Ensemble | New York Electric String Ensemble |
| 1064 | Howard, Noah | At Judson Hall |
| 1065 | Music From The Orthodox Liturgy | Music From The Orthodox Liturgy |
| 1066 | Powell, Bud | Blue Note Cafe Paris 1961 |
| 1067 | HARYOU Percussion Ensemble | Sounds Of Ghetto Youth |
| 1068 | Holy Modal Rounders | Indian War Whoop |
| 1069 | MacKay, Bruce | Midnight Minstrel |
| 1070 | ||
| 1071 | Bley, Paul | [never issued double album] |
| 1072 | Snell, Tony | Fungus And Englishmen Abroad |
| 1073 | Howard, Norman | Burn, Baby, Burn [never issued] |
| 1074 | Greene, Burton | Trio On Tour |
| 1075 | Pearls Before Swine | Balaklava |
| 1076 | Elstak, Nedley | Machine, The |
| 1077 | Godz, The | Third Testament, The |
| 1078 | Seventh Sons | Four AM At Frank's |
| 1078 | Seventh Sons | Raga |
| 1079 | ||
| 1080 | Velebny, Karel | SHQ |
| 1081 | (Various Artists) | Evening At Home With ESP, An |
| 1082 | Sondheim, Alan | T'Other Little Tune |
| 1083 | Free Music Quintet | Free Music 1 & 2 |
| 1084 | ||
| 1085 | Killen, Lou | Sea Chanteys |
| 1085 | Killen, Lou | Folk Songs |
| 1086 | ||
| 1087 | ||
| 1088 | ||
| 1089 | Burns, Randy | Evening Of The Magician |
| 1090 | ||
| 1091 | Silva, Alan | Skillfulness |
| 1092 | Askew, Ed | Ask The Unicorn |
| 1093 | ||
| 1094 | ||
| 1095 | Levitts | We Are The Levitts |
| 1096 | ||
| 1097 | Kelley, Todd | Folksinger |
| 1098 | MIJ | Yodeling Astrologer |
| 1099 | Erica [Pomerance] | You Used To Think |
| 1099 | Erica [Pomerance] | Surreal |
| 1111 | (Various Artists) | Boots 'n Roots |
| 2000 | Octopus | Rock-New Music Fusion |
| 2001 | Cromagnon | Elliot/Grasmere Connecticut Tribe |
| 2001 | Cromagnon | Cave Rock |
| 2001 | Cromagnon | Orgasm |
| 2002 | County, Jayne | Goddess Of Wet Dreams |
| 2003 | Manson, Charles | And The Family Sing 13 Songs |
| 2004 | Sweet Pie | Pleasure Pudding: Livid at Fat City |
| 2004 | Sweet Pie | Honky Tonk Jive |
| 2005 | Titus, Barry | Do Wappa Do |
| 2006 | Emerson's Old Timey Custard-Suckin' Band | Emerson's Old Timey Custard-Suckin' Band |
| 2007 | Burns, Randy | Songs For An Uncertain Lady |
| 2008 | Tobias, Joel | God Is Watching America |
| 2009 | Titus, Barry | 42nd Street |
| 2010 | Woodstock Workband | Armed And Dangerous |
| 2012 | Woodstock Band | Sword In The Hand |
| 2013 | Psychotic Frogs | Live At Max's Kansas City |
| 2013 | Lalumia, Jimi & Psychotic | Live At Max's Kansas City 1981 |
| 2015 | Moore, Don | In The Groove |
| 2016 | Moore, Don | Party Goin' On In Woodstock |
| 2017 | Godz, The | Godzundheit |
| 2018 | Fugs, The | Fugs 4, Rounders Score |
| 2020 | Visible, Les | Too Old To Rock And Roll |
| 2021 | Visible, Les | Jews From Outer Space |
| 2022 | (Various Artists) | ESP-disk Guide To Funky |
| 2044 | (Various Artists) | Woodstock: Moods And Moments |
| 2051 | (Various Artists) | ESP Sampler [promotional only] |
| 3000 | Parker, Charlie | Live Performances |
| 3001 | Parker, Charlie | Broadcast Performances, Vol. 2 |
| 3002 | Holiday, Billie | Broadcast Performances, Vol. 1 |
| 3003 | Holiday, Billie | Broadcast Performances, Vol. 2 |
| 3004 | Snell, Tony | Medieval & Latter Day Lays |
| 3005 | Holiday, Billie | Radio & TV Broadcasts (1953-1956) |
| 3006 | Holiday, Billie | Broadcast Performances, Vol. 4 |
| 3007 | Revolutionary Ensemble | Vietnam 1 & 2 (at the Peace Church) |
| 3008 | McCarthy, Jim [original] | Alien |
| 3008 | Godz, The [reissue] | Alien |
| 3009 | Tiger Tiger | Sun Country |
| 3009 | Captain Matchbox-Wow | Smoke Dreams |
| 3011 | Black, Marc | Big Dong Dharma |
| 3012 | Kemp, Rolf | Daydreamer |
| 3013 | Lowe, Frank | Black Beings |
| 3014 | Stampfel, Peter & Luke Faust | Wendigo Dwain Story |
| 3015 | Nadolski | New Music From Poland 1 [NEVER ISSUED] |
| 3016 | Niemen Enigmatic | New Music From Poland 2 |
| 3017 | Young, Lester | Newly Discovered Performances 1 |
| 3018 | Sea Ensemble | We Move Together |
| 3019 | Thornton, Fradkin & Unger & The Big Band | Pass On This Side |
| 3019 | Godz, The | Godz Bless California |
| 3020 | Horwitz, Bill | Lies, Lies, Lies |
| 3021 | Powell, Bud | Winter Broadcasts 1953 |
| 3022 | Powell, Bud | Spring Broadcasts 1953 |
| 3023 | Powell, Bud | Summer Broadcasts 1953 |
| 3023 | [See Note] | New Music From Japan |
| 3024 | Powell, Bud | Autumn Broadcasts 1953 |
| 3025 | Bruhin, Anton | New Music From Switzerland |
| 3026 | Boykins, Ronnie | Will Come, Is Now, The |
| 3028 | Jackson, Michael Gregory | Clarity |
| 3029 | Sorgen, Harvey Windbiel, Bob S. Rust | Outlet |
| 3030 | Ayler, Albert | Prophecy |
| 3031 | Ayler, Albert | Live At Slug's Saloon 1 |
| 3032 | Ayler, Albert | Live At Slug's Saloon 2 |
| 3033 | Sun Ra | Concert For The Comet Kohoutek |
More commonly known as ESP. Founded by lawyer Bernard Stollman in 1964. The two mottoes on the back of each album give an idea of the label’s focus: “The artists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP-disk.” and “You never heard such sounds in your life.” The label’s original incarnation lasted until 1976. The last original release was Ronnie Boykins: The Will Come, Is Now (3026).
1002: Several covers: one is the black-on-white, which has been used for the Get Back vinyl reissue, the other was inverted white-on-black. There is also a copy that has red graphics on a white jacket and 200 were pressed with black ink (possible silk screened) on orange jacket.
“The first (or pre-release) is orange with red (burgundy) silk screened, orange base is painted on white cardboard cover with booklet poem by Paul Haines. The first 200 copies were numbered but unknown how many copies were pressed. There’s even two label variations: One has handwritten characters printed and the other is normal (???) red with black typing.” – Katsuhiro Imai
“Actually there are three cover versions, the first one being rose on white and was in mono without the Library of Congress info on the bottom of the front cover. The back cover was actually hand-written (!) and the first 100 copies came with an 12 page brochure containing several more drawings by Howard Bernstein (who also did the front-cover drawing) and Paul Haines’s 11-page piece, AYLER-PEACOCK-MURRAY-YOU AND THE NIGHT. I have this info directly from Mr. Haines.” – Gregor Kessler
1003: Two covers: the original pressing of this record had a silk-screened sleeve. The title Pharoah’s First applies to the white cover with a photograph of Sanders.
1014: Two covers: both are called The Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra, Vol 1. The first version had a glued on (Folkways-style, like many early ESP titles) cover, showing Sun Ra’s primitive white-on-black drawing. The second version has a completely different lilac-on-yellow sleeve and has a smaller version of above drawing by Sun Ra on the back. This is the cover used for the Base and Get Back reissues.
1018: Two covers: Initial copies with blue textured sleeve, later pressings with black and white sleeve. Both have alternate takes of ‘Supergirl’, ‘Swineburne Stomp’ and ‘Boobs a Lot’, also ‘available’ in another sleeve (commonly referred to as ‘psychedelic wizard’-sleeve).
1035: Some copies on gold vinyl and others on black but with an insert.
1037: Two covers: different b/w sleeves exist.
1038: first press issued with ‘For Adult Minds Only’ sticker on front cover, poster, booklet and loose stickers.
1045: Referred to as “Sun Ra #4” in some catalogs.
1051: One version in a blue cover with the upper right corner saying 99c, and a version with the same sleeve but on dark grey without 99c-sign. Also a version that appears to be more of a black than a dark grey, and also looks to have a hand written “99cents” on the cover. Another version is like the blue copy only it is black with a red image on the cover, and it says “99cents Stereo.”
1052: Record does not show a title. Listed in 1970 ESP catalog as “West Coast New Music”
1054: Many, many different cover version exist, all showing the Bosh design, but sometimes with border, sometimes with band and album name put inside the design sometimes not. I think all pressings initially came with the poster.
1069: Label says ORO-1 and the record does not show a title.
1073: Never issued by ESP but later came out on tape only as Homeboy Music 2.
1078: Album initially titled 4 AM At Frank’s.
1098: “I owned a copy of this album in the early ’70s, although my copy was called “Color By the Numbers.” The cover was a black and white drawing of Jim ?Holmberg (or whatever his name is — I found it on a site somewhere), broken up into different “color-by-number” sections. All of the sections were labeled “0” (that’s “zero”), and the reverse was the Waite Tarot Card “The Fool” – card No. 0, of course. Great album of 12-string folky stuff.” – Paul L. Madarasz
2001: Caverock was ZYX title for the CD reissue. The planned title was Orgasm and Get Back used this for the recent reissue. Apparently, early copies came in a full color sleeve, while later ones were black and white.
3008: On original copy “The Godz” are not mentioned anywhere. It is credited to: Jim McCarthy, ALIEN, ESP-3008. The cover is a silhouette picture of him, and not the picture later used for the reissue titled “The Godz, Alien”.
3009: Licensed from Image Records in Australia.
While 3016, 3017, 3023 [Japan], 3025 were listed in catalogs, it seems they were never issued.
3019: Thornton, Fradkin & Unger & The Big Band is the artist credited on Pass On This Side (ESP-63019). ZYX re-issued it as Godz Bless California in 1993. Versions exist numbered ESP-63019.
3028 is a reissue of Bija Records MJ1000.
3031: Only released on BASE.
ESP-OBY1/2: this was promo-only (compiled on High All the Time Vol.2 LP)
“I recently found a strange ESP LP: It did not have a cover, nor did it have a label that showed anything else but the three letters ESP. The run out groove on one side says ESP 1010 and really has all of Ayler’s Bells on it. The other side however says ESP STEREO 99 and does NOT have any music by ERICA on it, BUT eight different promo-jingles for the ESP-Sampler (1051), I guess it was used for radio ads, even though it is hard to imagine that any halfway-established station would play any of these weird and often truly funny (in a very warped way – just like the music) little dialogues.” – Gregor Kessler
ESP Bud-1: Volume 1 of 6 Volumes. I assume this is the Winter Broadcasts 1953 (february,7th and 14th) This has a very nice Dark Purple Vinyl.
Confirmation needed on a number of items, especially titles. Those who own these albums are encouraged to contribute. Bold indicates an album that has been confirmed by an owner.
The following ESP-disk 45 rpm singles were issued:
| Billie 1 | Holiday, Billie | Tenderly |
| ESP-ODY 1/2 | Odyssey | California Jethro |
| ESP-ORO 2 | All That The Name Implies | Black Tuesday So Am I |
| ESP-ORO 3 | All That The Name Implies | August Pine Liar |
| 4501 | Shelton, Gilbert | If I Was a Hell's Angel Southern Stock Car Man |
| 4503 | Godz, The | Lay in the Sun I Want a Word with You |
| 4506 | Coleman, Ornette/ Ayler, Albert | Sadness Holy Family |
| 4507 | Fugs, The | Frenzy I Want to Know |
| 4508 | Fugs, The | Kill for Peace Morning Morning |
| 4521 | Bley, Paul | Ida Lupino Cartoon |
| 4547/48 | Godz, The | Whiffenpoof Song Travelin' Salesman |
| 4554/55 | Pearls Before Swine | Drop Out Morning Song |
| 4561 | Moore, Jerry | Ballad Of Birmingham Winds Of Change |
| 4575 | Pearls Before Swine | Images Of April There Was A Man |
| 4576 | Pearls Before Swine | I Saw The World Images Of April |
| 45302 | Horwitz, Bill | New American Guilt Trip If I Had A Friend Like Rosemary Woods |
| 4563019 | Thornton, Fradkin & Unger | God Bless California Sometimes |
| ? | Poindexter, Pony | "Pancho: The Game Is Love" |
| ? | Durso, Bill | "Birds" |