Author: humorem

Paul Quinichette – On The Sunny Side, a Wonderful Pressing from the 80s

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Saxophone

  • Both sides of this long out-of-print OJC title boast lively, big and clear Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) MONO sound or close to it from first note to last
  • With three saxophones and a trombone, this is a fresh combination that really brings out the best in all the players during this Prestige jam session, a format for which they are justly famous
  • I raved about this album when it was in print many years ago – it’s solidly swinging jazz that belongs in your collection
  • 4 stars: “Waldron’s three originals (highlighted by ‘Cool-Lypso’) allow plenty of room for swinging, and Quinichette (who also performs ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’) sounds comfortable interacting with the younger musicians. An enjoyable and underrated release.”

As I wrote years ago, back in the days when we regularly sent out catalog mailings:

When we discover a record like this, a record with no reputation either in the jazz world or the audiophile world, we try to bring it to people’s attention, usually with some success. Some of my customers called me up to tell me what a great record this is.

(more…)

Donald Byrd – A New Perspective

More of the Music of Donald Byrd

  • A wonderful stereo pressing of one of our All Time Favorite Blue Note albums, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides
  • “Cristo Redentor,” one of the most amazing pieces of music ever recorded, sounds outstanding on this side two
  • The gospel vocals are exceptionally well recorded (thanks, RVG!) – with the transparency of this copy, you can easily pick out and follow each singer
  • To hear the real RVG magic, play “Beast of Burden” on side one – that’s some real audiophile Demo Disc sound
  • 5 stars: “One of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd’s career.”

(more…)

The Concert Sinatra and The Big Sound We Love

sinatconce_1011_1310577590

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Frank Sinatra Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This commentary about what to listen for on Sinatra’s 1963 album The Concert Sinatra was originally posted in 2015.

There may be a touch of smear (you can most easily hear it in the strings) but the sound is so RICH and Tubey Magical that you will barely be aware of it. Your attention should be focused on the superb feel the man has for this music.

One thing to pay special attention to, especially if you have other copies of the album, is that Sinatra’s voice on both sides of this pressing always sounds natural even at its loudest.

There is no strain or hardness.

That, among many other things, is what separates the best copies from the also-rans (and, of course, all the reissues, which tend to have gritty, harsh vocals which quickly get unbearably edgy in the louder parts).

(more…)

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Soul To Soul

More of the Music of Stevie Ray Vaughan

  • This copy was giving us the sound we were looking for on this classic of Electric Blues guitar, with both sides earning killer Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades, just shy of our Shootout Winner – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • A superb pressing with hard-rockin’ energy, rich, solid bass, open top end, and freedom from congestion
  • This is one of the best copies to hit the site – good SRV albums are getting tough to find nowadays
  • “[SRV] wanted to add soul and R&B inflections to his basic blues sound, and Soul to Soul does exactly that. [T]he Curtis Mayfield-inspired closer, ‘Life Without You,’ captures Vaughan at his best as a composer and performer. It’s such a seductive number – such a full realization of his soul-blues ambitions…”

Vaughan’s guitar playing is as fiery as ever, and the addition of keyboards and saxophone here gives the music broader scope and range than was possible on his previous albums.

(more…)

Smooth Sailing Didn’t Make the Cut

Hot Stamper Pressings of Top Quality Jazz Albums Available Now

Not long ago we dropped the needle on a copy of OJC 323 and thought the sound was not good enough to please the serious audiophiles we cater to, especially at the prices we charge.

As far as we can tell, based on this single pressing, Smooth Sailing from 1988 on OJC is not an album that would end up being worth the cost associated with finding, cleaning and playing enough copies for a shootout.

We can’t say that there aren’t good sounding pressings of the album though. If we happen to hear a good sounding one down the road, we would certainly consider spending the money to do a real shootout in order to make the best sounding copies available to our customers.

As I’m sure you know, 1961, the year in which Smooth Sailing was first released, happens to be a great year for top quality analog recordings, as can be seen from this illustrious group of albums.

Rudy Van Gelder is an extremely talented engineer, one of the greatest of all time. I suspect that the problems with the sound of this OJC pressing were caused by poor quality remastering, something that does not surprise us in the least.

(more…)

An Important Benefit that Often Goes Unmentioned

Two of the Worst Mistakes You Can Make in Record Collecting

One of our good customers wrote us to tell just how much he liked the Hot Stamper pressing we sent him of Paul Simon’s The Rhythm of the Saints.

I responded by making a few points about the service we offer, as well as, it should go without saying, the fact that we offer the best sounding pressings of the best sounding albums ever made.

(Many of our customers agree about the second part, especially the ones who, like Ryan, did their own shootouts.)

We eliminate the need to keep chasing after more and more copies of records you already own.

If the album is remastered on Heavy Vinyl every two or three years by whatever company hasn’t licensed it yet, who cares? There is not a shred of evidence to back up the contention that any of these labels will ever be able to produce a record that sounds better than the pressing you already have sitting on your shelf.

If you do ever find that elusive creature — we know of a couple, here’s the one we’ve written about — they must be awfully rare considering that we’ve reviewed and offered for sale over three thousand different titles as of 2026. Two out of three thousand? Don’t bet the farm with those odds.

(more…)

“The records are so good I cannot concentrate on anything else while they are playing.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently, one of which was Please Please Me.

Hey Tom, 

In the fall of 2007 I ordered my first Hot Stamper from you, Please Please Me.

Since then I have bought several more Hot Stampers from you, and occasionally you or Todd have written me asking how I like them. I have always replied saying I haven’t listened to them yet, because I’m waiting to buy a good enough turntable to do them justice. 

Good news: I now have a very good turntable.

Even better news: I have now listened to the first few Hot Stampers, and the combination of my new turntable and your Hot Stampers is heavenly.

The records are so good I cannot concentrate on anything else while they are playing, I just have to listen, and I want them to go on for ever.

The detail and clarity are breathtaking and it’s difficult to believe the sound can be really that good, but it is. It’s like the musicians are there in the room, it’s amazing.

For example, Please Please Me and Mccartney Unplugged are stunning, but in truth all the ones I’ve listened to so far are stunning. I’m really looking forward to listening to the rest.

(more…)

Black Sabbath / Self-Titled

More of the Music of Black Sabbath

  • Boasting two STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them, this copy of Sabbath’s debut LP rocks like nothing you’ve heard – remarkably quiet vinyl too for any record pressed in this era
  • Massive, powerful and spacious throughout – this original Green Label pressing is big, rich and solid like you won’t believe
  • The better copies are stunning Demo Discs – crank it up good and loud and if you have the right system for it you can be sure your audiophile friends will never forget it
  • 4 1/2 stars on AllMusic and one of the best sounding hard rock recordings from the era, or, to be honest, from any era
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” but with less of an accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life.
  • We think this is the band’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the Best Sounding Album by an Artist or Group can be found here.

Top 100

Back in 2018 we wrote:

This title will surely make the cut next time we update our Top 100 Rock and Pop List. I would go so far as to say that the best copies of this album have sound as good or better than anything I’ve heard all year, and that’s an awful lot of great sounding records, hundreds and hundreds of them.

It did in fact make the Top 100 a while back. The album is hard to find in audiophile playing condition, but we make the effort and this killer Hot Stamper is the result.

Sabbath recorded their set list more or less live in the studio. This give the recording an unprocessed quality that really stands out on the best copies. The best Green Label pressings sound raw and real, with sound that is a perfect match for the band’s powerfully dark music.

(more…)

The Rolling Stones – No. 2

More of The Rolling Stones

  • With KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom, this vintage copy of The Stones’s sophomore LP could not be beat
  • This British MONO pressing (made from the mono tapes) will show you the real, honest sound of the early, early Stones
  • Both of these sides have the Midrange Magic that’s surely missing from whatever 180g reissue has been made from the tapes (or, to be clear, a modern digital master copied from who-knows-what-tapes)
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… [No. 2 includes] one of the group’s best blues covers, their version of Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” which wasn’t released in America until 1973 and features some killer slide playing by Brian Jones.”

(more…)

Another Fine Entry for Our Heavy Vinyl Hall of Shame

Hot Stamper Pressings of Orchestral Spectaculars Available Now

UPDATE 2026

It just so happens that I had the time to listen to this work from start to finish twice just last night, 2/11/2026. Saw it performed live just a few months back at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

This wonderful work never gets old.  Next time we do a shootout for the performance we like with Muti on EMI I hope you will see your way to picking up a copy. You won’t regret it.

The Classic Records repressings of Pictures at an Exhibition — whether at 33, 45, or any other speed, on one disc or four –are all godawful sounding.

(Yes, we have auditioned both versions, for as long as we could stand them, which wasn’t long as the sound was painfully bad. The details can be found below.)

Everything that was bad about the worst original Shaded Dog pressings not only hasn’t been fixed, it’s been made even worse!

Yes, we admit to having played a good pressing of LSC 2201 in 2024, but there are just too many bad pressings of the album to bother doing a shootout for it. It’s hard to justify the cost when so few have the sound we are looking for.

The shrillness, the hardness, the sourness, the loss of texture to the strings, the phony boosted deep bass — this is the kind of sound that makes my head hurt and my skin crawl. After a minute or two of listening to sound this bad I’ve had it.

And can you believe that HP put this miserable remastered pressing on his TAS Super Disc List? Sad but true.

(more…)