Well Recorded Pop and Jazz Vocal Albums – The Core Collection

Frank Sinatra and Count Basie – Sinatra At The Sands

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These original Blue and Green Reprise Stereo pressings were doing practically everything right, with all FOUR sides earning incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades – just shy of our Shootout Winner
Truly one of the greatest live albums of all time, recorded late at night in the big room at the Sands Hotel in Vegas
This is Basie and Sinatra in their natural habitat and in their prime, putting on the show of a lifetime
On the right system, this is about as close as you get to hearing Sinatra singing live in your listening room, with the added realism of a live Vegas show
4 1/2 stars: “Basie and the orchestra are swinging and dynamic, inspiring a textured, dramatic, and thoroughly enjoyable performance from Sinatra … the definitive portrait of Frank Sinatra in the ’60s.”

These Nearly White Hot Stamper pressings have top-quality sound that’s often surprisingly close to our White Hots, but they sell at substantial discounts to our Shootout Winners, making them a relative bargain in the world of Hot Stampers (“relative” meaning relative considering the prices we charge). We feel you get what you pay for here at Better Records, and if ever you don’t agree, please feel free to return the record for a full refund, no questions asked.

Vintage covers for this album are hard to find in exceptionally clean shape. Most of the will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG

This double album presents Sinatra and Basie at the height of their powers, in a setting especially conducive to both men’s music, the big room at the Sands Hotel in Vegas. If you missed it — and I’m sure most all of us did — here’s your chance to go back in time and be seated with the beautiful people front row center. This two-disc all tube-mastered analog set is practically the only way you’ll ever be able to hear the greatest vocalist of his generation — in his prime, no less — fronting one of the swingingest big bands of the time.

The presence and immediacy here are staggering. Turn it up and Frank is right in front of you, putting on the performance of a lifetime.

The sound is big, open, rich, and full. The highs are extended and silky sweet. The bass is tight and punchy. And this copy gives you more life and energy than most, by a long shot. Very few records out there offer the kind of realistic, lifelike sound you get from this pressing.

These vintage stereo LPs also have the Midrange Magic that’s missing from the later reissues. As good as some of them can be, this one is dramatically more real sounding. It gives you the sense that Frank Sinatra is right in front of you.

He’s no longer a recording — he’s a living, breathing person. We call that “the breath of life,” and this record has it in spades. His voice is so rich, sweet, and free of any artificiality, you immediately find yourself lost in the music because there’s no “sound” to distract you.

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Bennett and Evans – The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album

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early pressing of this classic collaboration, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last and vinyl that is hard to find any quieter
When heard on our best Hot Stamper pressings, the album clearly belongs near the top of the All Time Great Male Vocal Recordings
Want to hear the Bennett-Evans Magic? Go right to “Waltz for Debby,” the high point of the album for us, and clearly one of Tony’s greatest performances, recorded when he was still at the peak of his powers, and thank goodness for that
4 1/2 stars: “… one of the best albums of either’s career… an excellent jazz-pop hybrid in which both musicians were shown off to advantage.”
This is our pick for Tony Bennett’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the Best Recording by an Artist or Group can be found here on the blog.
It’s yet another Vocal Album that belongs in any audiophile record collection worthy of the name

If you like sophisticated vocal jazz I don’t think you can do much better than this record, especially when it sounds like this. Tony Bennett’s voice sounds wonderfully rich, BREATHY, and above all REAL.

The soundstage is open and spacious, the piano full-bodied and clear, and the vocals have the clarity and fullness missing from most pressings. It’s incredible to hear these two top-notch musicians interacting and responding to each other in this kind of huge, open and natural space.

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Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Porgy and Bess

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Boasting FOUR outstanding Double Plus (A++) sides, these vintage Stereo Verve pressings were giving us the sound we were looking for on this Ella and Louis classic – fairly quiet vinyl too
Spacious, full-bodied and Tubey Magical, with Ella and Louis front and center, this is the sound you want for their brilliant collaboration from 1958
If you’ve never heard exceptionally well recorded male and female vocals from the 50s, this is a great opportunity to have your mind blown
Two vocal giants came together to perform Gershwin’s timeless opera, revered by both music lovers and audiophiles to this day
4 1/2 stars: “What’s really great about the Ella and Louis version is Ella, who handles each aria with disarming delicacy, clarion intensity, or usually a blend of both.”

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Ella Fitzgerald – Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie in Stereo

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This vintage Verve Stereo pressing boasts a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a superb Double Plus (A++) side two
The vocal naturalness and immediacy of this early stereo pressing will put Ella in the room with you – it lets her performance come to life
Our single Favorite Female Vocal album here at Better Records, one that gets better with each passing year
“Another typically wonderful LP of Ella Fitzgerald in her prime…this is an excellent (and somewhat underrated) set.” [It is definitely not underrated by us, we think it’s the best record the lady ever made]
These are the stampers that always win our shootouts, and when you hear them you will know why – the sound is big, rich and clear like no other
We’ve discovered a number of titles in which one stamper always wins, and here are some of the others
If you’re a fan of Ella’s, or vintage Pop and Jazz Vocals in general, this title from 1961 belongs in your collection.

Folks, if you’re in the market for one of the most magical female vocal recordings ever made, today is your lucky day.

We’re absolutely crazy about this album, and here’s a copy that more than justifies our enthusiasm. You will have a very hard time finding better sound than we are offering here.

Longtime customers know that I have been raving about this album for more than two decades, ever since I first heard it back around 1995. I consider it the finest female vocal album in the history of the world. I could go on for pages about this record.

It is clearly a Vocal Demo Disc of the highest quality. Suffice it to say this record belongs in every right-thinking Music Lover’s collection.

Fans of The First Lady of Song are encouraged to give this one a very hard look. It’s not cheap but this kind of quality never is. (more…)

Frank Sinatra – Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

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Boasting superb sound from start to finish, this vintage stereo pressing of Sinatra and Jobim’s sublime collaboration will be very hard to beat
The presence and three-dimensional space of the recording have the power to transport the Chairman of the Board and his Brazilian buddy right into your listening room
This is a magical album from start to finish, one of a handful of a Must Own Sinatra releases, and my personal favorite of all his recordings
4 1/2 stars: “After a few plays, the album begins to slowly work its way underneath a listener’s skin, and it emerges as one of his most rewarding albums of the ’60s.”
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,” with less of an accent on morbidity and more on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. This is a good example of a record audiophiles should make an effort to get to know better

This is, in our opinion, one of the two best sounding Sinatra album on Reprise (the other being September of My Years from 1965). The recording is so rich, sweet, and Tubey Magical, you would think it was prime Capitol period Sinatra — but it’s not, obviously; it just sounds that way.

If you like romantic music, you will be hard-pressed to find a better album than this one. The song “Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars” perfectly encapsulates the mood of this album. My favorite track here is “Dindi.” Sinatra is the king of lost loves, and the song “Dindi” offers him another opportunity for regret. Nobody does it better than Frank. It’s a cliche to say he wears his heart on his sleeve, but the man made a career out of it. If the cliche fits…

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June Christy – Gone For The Day

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Amazing sound on this original Capitol Turquoise Mono pressing, with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them from first note to last
Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead on correct tonality, and wonderfully breathy vocals, not to mention boatloads of Capitol Tubey Magic – everything that we listen for in a great record is here (particularly on side two)
Take this one home and play it against whatever audiophile pressings you own – it’s guaranteed to beat any and all versions you have in your collection, or your money back
“One of June Christy’s two 1957 Capitol LPs, Gone for the Day boasts Pete Rugolo arrangements and a 12-piece group of mostly West Coast all-stars…includ[ing] trumpeter Don Fagerquist, trombonist Frank Rosolino, altoist Bud Shank, and Bob Cooper on tenor.”
If you’re a fan of June’s, this Top Title from 1957 belongs in your collection
The complete list of titles from 1957 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here.

The shootout winner for this title may have been the best sounding June Christy record we’ve ever played.

Musically this album is right up there with the best female vocal records we know of, the creme de la creme, albums on the level of Julie Is Her Name, Clap Hands and Something Cool. It really doesn’t get much better than this.

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Mel Torme / Swings Shubert Alley – Another Reissue that Kills the Original

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Mel Torme Albums We’ve Reviewed

Outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound brings Torme’s 1961 release to life on this vintage Verve Stereo pressing – fairly quiet vinyl too
One of our favorite Male Vocal albums – exceptionally well recorded and really involving on a copy that sounds as good as this one does
Lovely richness and warmth, you may just find yourself using it as a Analog Demonstration Disc – Mel is in his prime and magnificent throughout
5 stars: “Though the nominal concept for Swings Shubert Alley is Broadway standards, this last moment of pure Mel Tormé brilliance swings much too fast and hard for the concept to be anything but pure swing. The overall mood is unrestrained enthusiasm, and it makes for an excellent record.”
These are the Top Titles from 1961 we’ve reviewed to date. From an audiophile perspective, depending on your taste in music, most should be worthy of a place in your collection
Here is the complete list of titles from 1961 that we’ve reviewed (which overlaps quite a bit with the group above). Just about any of these, depending on how much you like the artist(s) or music, are worth seeking out

Mel Torme Swings Shubert Alley is one of our very favorite Male Vocal albums, and a great copy like this will show you why — the audiophile quality sound and swinging jazz vocal music are simply hard to beat.

This album from 1961 finds Mel in his prime. By the ’70s he was a shadow of himself, and more modern (read: less natural) recording technology wasn’t doing him any favors. None of those later albums means much to us here at Better Records.

His Bethlehem recordings can have outstanding sonics and music to match, but try to find a clean one. It’s been years since one came our way that wasn’t noisy or groove damaged. (more…)