Vocal Discoveries

Over the many years we’ve been in business, we’ve managed to stumble upon hundreds of titles that have both wonderful music and potentially top quality sound.

They may not be familiar to audiophiles, but we’re hoping to change that fact by offering the best of them to our customers in the form of Hot Stamper pressings.

There is lots of work still to be done to populate this section, so please come back from time to time to check our progress, however slow it may be.

Lena Horne / Harry Belafonte – Porgy and Bess

More Harry Belafonte

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • This wonderful recording from 1959 returns to the site for the first time in years, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sound throughout this original pressing
  • The notes for our top copy on side one are all raves, “big, dynamic and rich vocals / very full and rich,” etc.
  • For side two, track one, the notes read, “So sweet and rich, can’t complain” followed by “This is a serious step up! crazy good.”
  • If you want to hear a record with sound like that, focus your attention on the pressings made in 1959 – that’s where that sound can be found, and you will have a hard time finding it on any record made in the last 50 years, no matter what anybody may tell you
  • If someone disagrees with that assessment, have them play you the record that beats this one, something they will have a devil of a time trying to do
  • “The first of Belafonte’s duet albums with female performers, this one paired two attractive black American singers at the peak of their respective talents.”

A Living Stereo knockout! We often forget to spend time with records like this when there are Zeppelin and Floyd records to play. We’ve always enjoyed Belafonte At Carnegie Hall, but when we’ve dug further into his catalog we’ve been left cold more often than not. However, when we finally got around to dropping the needle on a few of these we were very impressed by the music and blown away by the sound on the better pressings.

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Louis Armstrong – I’ve Got The World On A String

More Pop and Jazz Vocals

  • This superb Verve stereo pressing boasts excellent sound from the first note to the last
  • These two sides are big and rich, yet clean, clear and present, with virtually none of the midrange edginess that plagues so many copies
  • If you were buying records in the 90s, you might have picked up the Classic Records pressing, and if you did, we guarantee this Verve reissue is dramatically superior in every way
  • “Armstrong finds the essence of each tune, bending and projecting them with his patented joie de vivre and gravel-voiced warmth every time.”

I first heard this album on the wonderful Classic Records pressing from the ’90s. I remember really enjoying the music and liking the sound of Bernie Grundman’s remaster very much. We reviewed and recommended the album (along with Under the Stars) in our old paper catalogs.

I have no idea what I would think of their version these days — well, to be honest I do actually have some idea of what I would think of it — but their version is at least good enough to make the case that Russell Garcia’s orchestral arrangements and Louis Armstrong’s sublime skills interpreting The Great American Songbook are a match made in heaven.

You may have seen Russell Garcia’s name on one of the landmark recordings of the ’50s: Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s recording of Porgy and Bess for Verve in the previous year, 1959.

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Sarah Vaughan – After Hours on Roulette

More Sarah Vaughan

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • Excellent Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides of this vintage Stereo Roulette pressing puts the living, breathing Divine One right in front of you
  • With simple arrangements, featuring Mundell Lowe’s guitar and George Duvivier’s double bass, Vaughan’s soulful voice can take center stage
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • “…a quiet and intimate affair, with Vaughan more subtle than she sometimes was… some fine jazz singing.”
  • If you’re a fan of Sarah’s, or live jazz club recordings in general, this Top Title from 1961 belongs in your collection.

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Willie Nelson / Pretty Paper

More of the Music of Willie Nelson

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

  • With KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them on both sides, this copy (only the second to hit the site in three years) is one of the BEST we have ever heard
  • This is an exceptionally well recorded album – if you want a Demo Disc quality Christmas record, we don’t know of one that fits the bill better than this one
  • Christmas songs performed at the level of Willie’s All Time Classic, Stardust – it was recorded just one year later when Willie was clearly on a roll
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 stars: “One of the finest country holiday records ever released. It’s not just because the title track became a classic, or that his choice of material is terrific (all familiar tunes, but all great) — it’s because Nelson is a great interpreter, capable of making standards like ‘White Christmas’ and ‘Silent Night’ fresh and unpredictable.”

Imagine the sound of a Hot Stamper Stardust, but instead of Pop Standards you hear the Red Headed Stranger himself, Willie Nelson, his voice still in its prime, singing Christmas songs, backed by similarly tasteful and understated arrangements. That, in a nutshell, is what you get on Pretty Paper.

Released just a year after Stardust in 1979, many of the same musicians are featured, as well as the same producer, the amazing Booker T.

And the most shocking thing of all is just how good the sound is. Next to Stardust I’d have to say this is the best sound Willie has ever had. It’s so rich, smooth and natural — in other words, analog sounding — that it puts to shame what has come to be expected from pop recordings over the course of the last thirty years.

Yes, records used to actually sound like this, as hard as that may be to believe after playing so many dismal sounding modern recordings, modern reissues and audiophile “product”. A good pressing of this album is one of the best reasons I can think of to own a high quality turntable these days. I find it hard to imagine that the CD would sound remotely as good.

Note that this record sounds even better when played loud, no doubt the result of having no trace of phony top end boost and very little processing throughout, unlike — you guessed it — much of the vinyl product being produced today. (And of course all digital releases, which should go without saying to anyone reading this commentary I hope.)

Many if not most pressings of the legendary Stardust album have some phony top added to the sound. The good ones — meaning the Hot Stamper copies — are the ones that sound more like this: natural up top and and throughout the midrange.

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Ella Fitzgerald – The Duke Ellington Songbook, Volume Two

More Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Albums We’ve Reviewed

  • An excellent Verve Mono reissue with wonderful sound on all FOUR sides
  • Forget the originals – like so many of the early songbook pressings, they suffer from painfully hard and honky mastering EQ (and gritty sounding vinyl)
  • We know whereof we speak when it comes to early Ella records – we’ve played plenty of them and found that most just don’t sound very good
  • Exceptionally quiet vinyl throughout* — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • “Duke’s spectacular catalog dazzles, and his sprightly, lush textures are transfigured under Fitzgerald’s warm-timbred voice and elegant, precise delivery… each tune as familiar as it is delightful to hear in this new context.”
  • If you’re a fan of Ella’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.

This mono reissue is the only way to find the MIDRANGE MAGIC that’s missing from modern records. As good as the best of those pressings may be, this record is going to be dramatically more REAL sounding.

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Sarah Vaughan – After Hours on Emus

More Sarah Vaughan

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides of this vintage pressing put the living, breathing Divine One right between our speakers
  • With simple arrangements, featuring Mundell Lowe’s guitar and George Duvivier’s double bass, Vaughan’s soulful voice can take center stage
  • “…a quiet and intimate affair, with Vaughan more subtle than she sometimes was… some fine jazz singing.”
  • If you’re a fan of Sarah’s, or Live Jazz Club Recordings in general, this Top Title from 1961 belongs in your collection.

This early Emus Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records cannot even 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, this is the record for you. It’s what Vintage Records are known for — this sound.

If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, 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 maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds. (more…)

June Christy – Gone For The Day

More June Christy

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • 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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Peggy Lee – Sugar ‘N’ Spice

More Peggy Lee

  • An excellent copy of Sugar ‘N’ Spice with Double Plus (A++) sound throughout
  • So hugely spacious and three-dimensional, yet with a tonally correct and natural sounding Peggy, this is the way to hear it
  • This ’60s LP has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern pressings barely BEGIN to reproduce
  • Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back
  • “Peggy Lee is in fine voice throughout this jazz-flavored set, backed by ensembles arranged by Benny Carter, Billy Byers, Billy May, and Shorty Rogers. One of [her] better recordings from the early ’60s.”
  • “Peggy is in fine voice and brings her sweet feminine tones to her ballads and her salty, seductive sounds to the more uptempo material.”
  • If you’re a fan of Miss Lee,  or vintage pop and jazz vocals in general, this album from the Golden Age of 1962 is surely one that belongs in your collection. (As one reviewer noted below, ignore the bad wig and lousy cover art.)

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

More Mel Torme

Mel Torme Albums We’ve Reviewed

  • Outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound brings Torme’s 1961 release to life on this vintage Verve Stereo pressing
  • 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
  • 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 the accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. Swings Shubert Alley is a good example of a record many audiophiles may not know well but would benefit from getting to know better

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…)

June Christy – June’s Got Rhythm (Mono)

More June Christy

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Recordings

  • With two superb Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides, this early MONO Capitol pressing was doing just about everything right
  • This copy will teleport a living, breathing June Christy directly into your listening room like no album of hers you have ever heard
  • Rich, smooth, sweet, full of ambience, dead on correct tonality, and wonderfully breathy vocals – everything that we listen for in a great record is here
  • 4 stars: “Christy excels on a jazz-oriented set with a nonet that includes trumpeter Ed Leddy, trombonist Frank Rosolino and her husband Bob Cooper (who arranged the set) on tenor and oboe.”

This vintage Mono Capitol LP from 1958 has superb sound on both sides and some of the best June Christy music we’ve ever had the pleasure to play.

Just listen to the piano on “Gypsy In My Soul;” it’s rich, warm and full-bodied. You’ll never hear an RVG recording with a piano that sounds like that.

On side two drop the needle on “Easy Living” to get a taste of some of Capitol’s luscious Tubey Magical midrange.

Musically this album is right up there with the best we know, the creme de la creme of female vocal recordings, albums on the level of Clap Hands and Something Cool and Lady in Satin.

Backed by an intimate combo of star jazzmen, June swings a set of fresh songs in an eventful album that sings out to the whole world that she has, indeed, got rhythm.

For an album of warm, breathy, intimate female vocals, it really doesn’t get much better than this.

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