Month: January 2021

Count Basie – Kansas City 5

More Count Basie

Labels We Love – Pablo

  • Presenting yet another amazingly well recorded Count Basie album, with STUNNING Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout
  • It’s bigger, richer, more Tubey Magical, with more extension on both ends of the spectrum than every other other copy we played
  • A different sound for Basie, a small group setting with two of his favorite players at his side: Milt Jackson on vibes and Joe Pass on guitar
  • “The predictably excellent group performs spirited versions of some of Basie’s “hits” (including “Jive at Five” and “One O’Clock Jump”), some blues and a few standards. It is always interesting to hear Basie in a hornless setting like this one where he gets opportunities to stretch out on the piano.”

Only recently did I become familiar with this record, released in 1981 from sessions recorded in 1977. We pick up all the Pablo Basie titles we can get our hands on these days. When we dropped the needle on a copy of the album we were amazed at the sound. Don’t know much about the engineer — Geoff Sykes — but he did a great job working at Kendun for this session.

This was the first of a series of smaller ensemble recordings under the heading of Kansas City. We have more coming, including the superb Kansas City piano trio album entitled “For the Second Time” with Louis Bellson and Ray Brown, a record that can have superb sound on the Pablo pressing (but steer clear of the OJC which is thin and opaque, the opposite of the sound you want).

With such a small group and no horn players there is much more room for interplay between Basie and either Pass or Jackson. As the liner notes make clear, both vets quickly adapted their playing styles to the laidback Count Basie approach to the blues. If you are in the market for some smooth Basie grooves with exceptionally good sound, this one should be right up your alley. (more…)

Rick Wakeman – The Myths and Legends of King Arthur…

More Rick Wakeman

  • Superb sound for this A&M British Import LP with each side rating a solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Forget the dubby domestic pressings (or whatever crappy new reissue is around) – this the only way to hear the master tapes’ huge, lively and Tubey Magical qualities
  • 4 stars: “Rick Wakeman’s third solo album is among his best, as he employs his vast array of keyboards to their full extent, musically describing the characters pertaining to the days of King Arthur’s reign… The album’s entirety is a sensational execution of Wakeman’s adroitness, and with vocals from Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford Hopkins, it still stands along with Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII as one of his most astute pieces.”

This vintage British pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound. (more…)

Glazounov and Mozart / Violin Concertos / Heifetz

Hot Stamper Pressings Featuring the Violin

Super Hot Stamper sound on side two of this Shaded Dog pressing, which is the side with Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante for violin and viola. The sound is wonderful, with lovely 1964 RCA Living Stereo Tubey Magic, presenting the violin solidly with spot-on timbre.

Side one, the Glazounov, earned a nearly-as-good sonic grade of A+ to A++. The violin on this side is full-bodied and present just the way we like it.

Side Two

A++, the body of the violin is reproduced here especially well, along with the rosiny texture of the strings. This side is a bit smooth and dark compared to the best we played, so we are calling it Super Hot. Its faults are few, its strengths many.

Side One

A+ to A++. The orchestra is rich, but there is some Old School smear to the strings and an Old School lack of top end. Overall the sound is quite good within these limitations. (more…)

The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick Did Not Make the Grade

Hot Stamper Pressings of Pop Albums from the ’60s Available Now

Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Dionne Warwick

Blary and gritty. Much too unpleasant to be enjoyable on today’s much more revealing high quality equipment.

The only stereo that can play a record that sounds the way this album does — and we had a number of copies that all sounded bad, some worse than others — is a stereo that is powered by a pair of vintage tube amps like the Macs seen below, or something like them. (Some modern amps try to recreate that sound, and if you want to hear what is on your records, you had best avoid them.)

The above approach to record playback is also very good at hiding the faults of the Modern Heavy Vinyl record.

Remastering Out The Good Stuff

What is lost in the newly remastered recordings so popular with the record collecting public these days ? Lots of things, but the most obvious and irritating is the loss of transparency.

Modern records tend to be small, veiled and recessed, and they rarely image well. But the most important quality they lack is transparency. Almost without exception they are opaque. They resist our efforts to hear into the music and get lost in it.

We don’t like that sound, and like it less with each passing day, although we certainly used to put up with it back when we were selling what we considered to be the better Heavy Vinyl pressings from the likes of DCC, Speakers Corner, Cisco and even some Classic Records.

Now when we play the vinyl those companies produced they either bore us to tears or frustrate us with their veiled, vague, lifeless, ambience-challenged presentation.

It was sometime in 2007 when we turned a corner. The remastered Blue on Rhino Heavy Vinyl came out and was such a mediocrity that we asked ourselves “Why are we bothering?” That was all she wrote.

We stopped selling those third-rate remasters and dedicated ourselves to finding, cleaning, playing and critically evaluating vintage pressings, regardless of era or genre of music.

The result is a website full of great sounding records that should find special appeal with audiophiles who set high standards, who own good equipment and who have well-developed critical listening skills.

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Letter of the Week – “LOVE the product!”

More of the Music of Fleetwood Mac

More of the Music of Pink Floyd

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

I’m trying to put a world class collection together of LP’s that I like from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Neil Young and “best sounding albums of all time” from any era.

I want only the best. $500, $1000+, I have a blank check for the best mint copies with priority on sound and not covers. Is there a way to go about this without having to pull up the site or check emails constantly?

Already bought shootout winners of Fleetwood Mac white album and Rumours and Pink Floyd the Wall.

Please advise.

LOVE the product!

Thanks, Mike (more…)

Listening in Depth to A Collection of Beatles Oldies But Goldies

Hot Stamper Pressings of The Beatles Available Now

The choice of songs is outstanding, with just the right mix — almost as if you had compiled the thing yourself from all the best tunes from that era of The Beatles. They’re almost all favorites of mine, and I hope yours too.

This album is an excellent source for many of the Beatles’ greatest hits up to 1966. With 8 songs per side you get a lot for your money. 

This collection has a number of songs that are not on the original British LPs: the first three on side one for starters; also Can’t Buy Me Love, I Feel Fine; Bad Boy; Paperback Writer and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

Side One

She Loves You

This song will never be Demo Quality, but when it’s mastered correctly using low-distortion cutting equipment, as it seems to be on the better copies, it can actually sound quite good.

From Me to You
We Can Work It Out

One of the better test tracks for side one. The overall sound should be airy and spacious. On the best copies you’ll hear lots of ambience around the harmonium. This is also one of our favorite songs from Paul McCartney’s Unplugged, again with a wonderful sounding hamonium.

This track and Day Tripper were the first “double A sided single” The Beatles released, the two songs having been recorded during the Rubber Soul sessions. (Some good sessions those!)

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Stevie Wonder – The Woman In Red

More Stevie Wonder

  • The Woman In Red finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated with an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side two – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Surprisingly good sound, perhaps the best sound Stevie Wonder got after about 1976 – we were shocked as you no doubt are
  • A superb collection, including I Just Called To Say I Love You and Love Light in Flight
  • “An ingenious jump from his trademark, spectacular, blend of Funk, R&B and Soul, contaminated with Pop, Disco, Gospel and Reggae, to a brand new Synth-pop/Pop-soul sound that characterizes his ’80s works.”

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Donald Byrd – Fancy Free

More Donald Byrd

  • Fancy Free makes its Hot Stamper debut here with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from top to bottom
  • The overall sound here is Tubey Magical, lively and clear, with three-dimensionality that will fill your listening room from wall to wall
  • Credit must go to Rudy Van Gelder once again for capturing the jazz energy and performance space of this superbly sympathetic ensemble
  • “1969’s Fancy Free marked the beginning of Donald Byrd’s move away from hard bop, staking out fusion-flavored territory… the rare Donald Byrd album that holds appeal for rare-groove fanatics and traditionalists alike.”

If you’re ready to take a mindblowing jazz fusion trip with sonics to match, you should definitely check this one out. (more…)

Frank Sinatra – Softly, As I Leave You

More Frank Sinatra

  • With two insanely good sides, each with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it, this early stereo pressing was one of the best copies we played in our shootout
  • Big, rich and natural, the newer material for this album was recorded in 1964, with Sinatra’s voice in very fine form
  • This is one of the few Sinatra records where the second label pressings can still sound quite good – that is rare in our experience
  • “The highlight of the record was the hit title song, which featured a subdued but forceful and steady backbeat. The rhythm itself was indicative of Sinatra’s effort to accept the new popular music.”

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Jimmy Smith – At Club Baby Grand

More Jimmy Smith

  • Jimmy’s superb live release from 1956 makes its Hot Stamper debut here with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from top to bottom
  • A killer early mono pressing, with a strong bottom end, lovely richness and warmth, real space and separation between the instruments, and wonderful immediacy throughout
  • There is a mark that makes 25 pops, which would be a deal killer if this record were not so rare and so good – it’s literally the first copy we’ve ever found that could be played on an audiophile turntable
  • Credit goes to Rudy Van Gelder once again for the huge space this superbly well-recorded trio occupies
  • “It’s all Jimmy Smith in full flight, bubbling over with cascading notes and breathless detours, and if his studio work is generally more structured and considered (but only a little more so), this set shows him in what was his natural habitat, astounding an audience in a small club.”

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