More of the Music of Stevie Ray Vaughan
A good customer, initials CF, bought some SRV Hot Stampers from me a while back. He then told me he was going to spend $400 on the AP SRV Box Set in the hopes that the rave reviews from audiophile reviewers were justified.
The complete story of his disappointment can be found here. An excerpt:
What do you do with the Box Set if you find out these reviewers are full of horse pucky and it sounds as awful as our friend CF say it does? Can you send it back to Acoustic Sounds?
Oh, sorry, you can’t.
Within 30 days of purchase, we will accept returns of any physically or audibly defective or damaged item. We do not guarantee that you will like the music or recording quality of a LP or CD, and personal taste does not qualify as a reason for return.
There is a reason they have that policy. They sell bad sounding records.
We have the opposite policy. You can return any record for any reason within 30 days and get 100% of your money back.
We can do that because we sell good sounding records.
PS from CF
Great stuff, love it. Someone’s gotta keep this industry as a whole accountable. It’s like we’re in the dark ages with just a few devoted monks scouring the libraries and preserving the truth of what once was. Hopefully due to your lifetime’s commitment to this we’ll one day see a renaissance of quality, but it’s looking pretty bleak currently.
Ain’t that the truth.
We leave you with this comment from Michael Fremer, a man who apparently cannot get enough of this crap.
With all of the reissues coming from questionable sources or proudly proclaiming their ‘digital-ness’ ala The Beatles Box, we’re fortunate to have labels like Analogue Productions, Mobile Fidelity, ORG, IMPEX, Rhino and the others cutting lacquers from analog tapes. Acoustic Sounds’ Chad Kassem sent this image of the master tape box from Couldn’t Stand the Weather one of the many Stevie Ray Vaughan albums his reissue label is currently readying for release, pressed at his Quality Record Pressings pressing plant in Salina, Kansas. That’s a form of vertical integration we like! I have heard some truly miserable vinyl reissues from labels like Vinyl Lovers and ZYX some of which didn’t even sound like the same music when compared to original pressings. I’ve also heard test pressings of these SRV albums and they will rock your world! So, we are lucky to have these companies that are doing things correctly lavishing vinyl goodies on us all year long. Sometimes we wish they’d stop long enough for us to catch up, but then we come to our senses and say “more please!” even when the shelves are stuffed.
Lucky to Have Analogue Productions Around?
If you think his pressing of Tea for the Tillerman sounds good, it’s a near certainty you will want to be the first on your block to collect all the newly remastered Steely Dan Heavy Vinyls (the first of which has been reviewed here).
The same goes for this pressing of Stand Up. If this is the sound you are looking for, you can be sure Chad will give it to you, good and hard (apologies to H.L. Mencken).
- Fragile?
- Steppenwolf – Gold: Their Great Hits?
- Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus?
- Sonny Rollins Plus 4?
- Jazz Giant?
Do these records sound fine to you? You’re happy with them, are you?
Then you have much to look forward to with the release of the complete Steely Dan LP collection!
These Analogue Productions releases will no doubt share many of the sonic characteristics of the above-mentioned titles.
How could they not? They are guaranteed to sound the way Chad wants them to sound. Chad is the customer, and the customer is always right.
If you’re Bernie Grundman, it might take you seven runs at it until you find that indescribable and elusive “Chad” sound, but you will have to keep at it until you do, assuming you want to get paid.
Further Reading