Reissue=Best

In our experience, the records linked here potentially sound their best on the right reissue.

What the “right” reissue is — from which era, from which country, with which stampers — is something I have spent most of my adult life trying to figure out. Now that I have retired, our staff of ten is carrying on that work and constantly discovering new and better pressings.

Sometimes the new and better pressings turn out not to be the reissues we used to like, and when that happens we learn from our mistake, admit we were wrong and offer our customers something even better sounding than before.

We call them Hot Stampers, and we make them available to the serious audiophile who appreciates — and is willing to pay a premium price for — the best sounding vinyl in the world.

Naturally, they are almost exclusively pressed on vintage vinyl, since modern remasterings, in our experience, consistently fail to provide the higher sound quality they promise.

Johnny Cash – The Fabulous Johnny Cash

More Johnny Cash

  • An outstanding vintage stereo pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout for Cash’s first Columbia album – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both sides are Tubey Magical yet clear, with plenty of performance energy and a lovely musical quality that’s noticeably missing from many of the copies we’ve played over the years (and no doubt the Heavy Vinyl pressing)
  • For a country album from 1958, “Fabulous” is very well recorded, with consistently engaging songs sung from the heart
  • 4 1/2 stars: “What makes it so entertaining are the songs themselves. From ‘Don’t Take Your Guns to Town’ and ‘Frankie’s Man, Johnny’ to ‘Pickin’ Time’ and ‘The Troubadour,’ the album is filled with first-rate songs.”

We had a wealth of different pressings to play — original 6 Eye stereos, one mono (with a crude and unappealing side one but excellent side two), some later Columbias, and even some of the Special Edition brown label editions which appear to be from the ’70s.

This was one of the better copies we heard. It has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern pressings cannot BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back.

Having done this for so long, we understand and appreciate that rich, full, solid, Tubey Magical sound is key to the presentation of this primarily vocal music. We rate these qualities higher than others we might be listening for (e.g., bass definition, soundstage, depth, etc.).

The music is not so much about the details in the recording, but rather in trying to recreate a solid, palpable, real Johnny Cash singing live in your listening room. The best copies have an uncanny way of doing just that.

If you exclusively play modern repressings of older recordings (this one is now 61 years old), I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but less than one out of 100 new records do, if our experience with the hundreds we’ve played can serve as a guide. (more…)

The Yardbirds – Roger The Engineer

  • A stunning copy with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two and a solid Double Plus (A++) side one – exceptionally quiet import vinyl too
  • Here are the full-bodied mids, punchy lows and clear, open, extended highs that let this Psych Classic by the band come alive
  • Over, Under, Sideways, Down – the big hit off the album – sounds great here in MONO
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… the Yardbirds’ best individual studio album, offering some of their very best psychedelia.”

This is one of the few Mono albums that really justifies the claims made for the superiority of mono in general. Just listen to the vocals on side one: they’re right up front and centered the way they should be on any good pop song. On the stereo version, they’re off to the left and way down in level. They have no power over there! It robs the song of its focus.

Even worse, the stereo remaster by Edsel has no bass. It’s a joke next to the mono. It’s doubtful we would ever buy one again. What a waste of good import vinyl.

Edsel did a great remastering job of the mono mix here. What do we hear on this pressing that’s different from most of the early pressings? A smoother, sweeter, lower distortion midrange and top end. And really punchy solid super low distortion bass. The transparency of this pressing is clearly superior to anything we have ever played. (more…)

Jethro Tull – Benefit

More Jethro Tull

  • A superb copy of the band’s third studio album, with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • The sound is big and rich, yet still wonderfully clean, clear and open with fantastic energy – you will not believe all the space and ambiance here
  • Huge, rich, tubey and solid, the best track on the album – To Cry You a Song – rocks like you will not believe
  • “Benefit forms the perfect bridge between the rolling, tumbling Tull of old and the tightly braided riffs and prickly lyrics presented by Aqualung.” Record Collector

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Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges – Blues Summit – Better Sound than the Originals?

  • This superb jazz double album makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • What surprised during our shootout was that this later pressing from 1976 actually sounded quite a bit better than virtually all the early pressings we put it up against
  • The Classic Records pressings from 1995 aren’t bad, but they head to head they can’t begin to compete with a pressing as good as this one
  • Superb engineering from the man behind so many great sounding Verve records, Val Valentin
  • 4 stars: “… this very enjoyable double LP includes two related sessions… Highly recommended in one form or another.”

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Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed and Delivered

More Stevie Wonder

  • With a shootout winning side one and a better than Double Plus (A++ to A+++) side two, this copy is killin’ it 
  • Much more natural and relaxed, this is what finding the right mastering with the right EQ is all about – it’s the only way to hear tonally correct, distortion-free sound for the album
  • Has anyone ever done a better cover of a Beatles’ tune than “We Can Work It Out” here?
  • Christgau noted that the album was “still the most exciting LP by a male soul singer in a very long time, and it slips into no mold, Motown’s included.” 
  • Rolling Stone said that the album “holds more creative singing than you’re likely to find in another performer’s entire body of work.”

Those of you who are familiar with this record will not be surprised to learn that these shootouts are TOUGH. Very few copies are any better than mediocre.

Many copies were gritty, some were congested in the louder sections, some never got big, some were thin and lacking the lovely analog richness of the best — we heard plenty of copies whose faults were obvious when played against two top sides such as these. (more…)

J.J. Cale – Naturally

 

  • An outstanding pressing of J.J. Cale’s debut, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound throughout – exceptionally QUIET vinyl too    
  • This copy is balanced and natural, with the kind of rich, full-bodied sound that no one seems to know how to record anymore
  • “Cale included a new version of “After Midnight” on the album, but the true meat of the record lay in songs like “Crazy Mama,” which became a hit single, and “Call Me the Breeze,” which Lynyrd Skynyrd later covered. On these songs and many others on Naturally, Cale effortlessly captured a lazy, rolling boogie that contradicted all the commercial styles of boogie, blues, and country-rock at the time.”

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Dean Martin – Holiday Cheer

Another Record We’ve Discovered with (Potentially) Excellent Sound

  • Exceptionally good Double Plus sound (A++) sound or close to it on both sides — big, rich and full
  • With a voice that is relaxed, smooth and warm, Dino is the perfect guy to sing these songs
  • More songs on this copy than on the original?! However many there are, they’re all good
  • Subtitled “Romantic vocals for the warmest kind of winter season”

Both Sides

Big and rich without the excessive, phony sparkle we hear on so many copies. There’s some nice clarity here as well — the background singers on the second track sound rich and clear, just the way they should.

A surprisingly large number of copies suffered from a lack of Tubey Magic, including even the 1959 originals we had on hand. Dino also gets a little hot and sparkly in the upper midrange depending on the song — watch for it.

All the copies we played were stereo. We’ve had very poor luck with mono Dean Martin records in the past and tend to avoid them. (The mono of Dream With Dean is a joke. Don’t waste your money.)   (more…)

Sarah Vaughan – After Hours At The London House

  • Vaughan’s 1959 live album finally arrives on the site with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • No other copy could touch this pressing for warmth, richness, and, most especially, vocal intimacy and in-the-room presence
  • The multiple takes Sarah Vaughan does on Thanks for the Memory here blows my mind to this very day – pull it up on youtube and hear it for yourself
  • “… the producers invited a small group of friends and well-wishers to another Chicago club, London House, for an after-hours session. Vaughan expanded her trio with a quartet of Count Basie titans, including trumpeter Thad Jones and tenor Frank Wess, and… decided to record a set that, in true after-hours fashion, was completely improvised.”
  • Don’t waste your money on the mono pressings — the sound is third rate at best
  • Leave those monos in the bins for the jazz guys with Garrard turntables and speakers that sit on milk crates
  • Additionally, the original pressings we played were not remotely competitive with the best Hot Stamper reissues we are offering here

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Offenbach / Gaite Parisienne / Dorati

More of the Music of Jacques Offenbach

This lovely Mercury Golden Import LP not only has Super Hot Stamper sound on side one, which is where Gaite Parisienne can be found, but it also boasts one of the greatest performances of the piece ever recorded. 

Dorati is surely The Man when it comes to energy, drive and dynamic excitement with this venerable warhorse. He and his Minneapolis Symphony play the hell out of this boisterous music, and luckily for us audiophiles, the Mercury engineers give us Demonstration Quality Sound to go with it.

The original Mercury release of this record (sr 90016) is a shrill piece of trash, as is the Mercury Wing pressing. So many of the early Mercurys were poorly mastered it seems.

We audiophiles must wait for reissues (either by Mercury or in this case by Philips once they had bought Mercury) to show us how good the sound of a particular recording might actually be. [Not sure I would agree with most of that now in 2022.]

Of course what you really need is the right copy to know ultimately how good the recording can be, and to find it you might have to clean and play ten LPs, or more. That’s where we come in.

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Roy Orbison – Orbisongs

More Roy Orbison

  • Excellent sound throughout with Double Plus (A++) or BETTER on both sides
  • This superb pressing is especially Analog Sounding – lively, warm, with rich bass and breathy, clear vocals 
  • Features one of Orbison’s greatest legacies, “Oh, Pretty Woman,” in stereo no less, and it sounds amazing here
  • While this isn’t the quietest copy we’ve ever heard, it’s clearly one of the best sounding
  • “…every track is strong and showcases Orbison’s immense talent both as a vocalist and a songwriter of effective and poignant lyrics… if you are looking at Orbison at his best you need look no further.”

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