Blues, Electric Blues and R&B

Mississippi John Hurt – The Best of…

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  • Insanely good sound on all four sides with each earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl for the most part too
  • As is often the case with old records, the title is misleading – this is simply a live recording from 1965 of MJH accompanied by his guitar running through a batch of his favorite folky blues songs
  • “Hurt was remarkably consistent as a performer… the skill and delivery is always steady, professional, and charming. Among the highlights in this set is his intricate and atmospheric slide guitar work on “Talking Casey,” one of the few times Hurt abandoned his trademark three-finger guitar picking style.” 

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B.B. King – Indianola Mississippi Seeds

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  • Indianola Mississippi Seeds debuts on the site with solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them throughout this original ABC pressing
  • This side one is big, full-bodied and Tubey Magical, yet still pretty clear, spacious and open, and side two is not far behind in all those areas
  • Credit Bill Szymczyk for the punchy, huge and energetic sound he produced and engineered
  • An exceedingly tough album to find with audiophile surfaces – the top copy and two of the better second-tier copies from our recent shootout didn’t even make it to the site due to vinyl issues, which means that what we’re offering here is as good as it gets for the foreseeable future
  • 4 stars: “B.B. King hasn’t made many better pop-flavored albums than this. Joining King here were Leon Russell, Joe Walsh and Carole King; several pop luminaries who did more than just hang on for the ride.”

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John Lee Hooker – The Healer

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  • Here is a vintage copy with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
  • On the best pressings like this one, you get something approaching the warmth and unforced clarity of analog we audiophiles crave
  • With Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, Canned Heat and others
  • Four Stars in Rolling Stone: “Brilliant, 100-proof blues… the spirit that animates this album is the ageless voice of John Lee Hooker and his boogie-man blues. He has conjured up a renewed world blues with the canniness of the hoodoo healers and root doctors who first gave birth to the Delta blues.”

These guys (and one gal!) are definitely LIVE in the studio. The amount of studio reverb may be a bit much for some, but we think it works for this music. (more…)

John Mayall / The Turning Point – A Surprisingly Good Later Mayall Album

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  • Here is a vintage Polydor pressing with two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides or close to them – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This is a superb recording, something that cannot be said for most of Mayall’s output from this period (and none of his later albums, in our experience)
  • More importantly, this is some of the best music we have ever heard from the man – this is a very special group effort the likes of which we had never heard before
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – those on “So Hard To Share” are especially bad – but if you can tough those out, this copy is going to blow your mind
  • 4 1/2 stars: “This album also signifies a distinct departure from the decibel-drowning electrified offerings of his previous efforts, providing instead an exceedingly more folk- and roots-based confab… [Jon] Mark’s precision and tasteful improvisational skills [on acoustic guitar] place this incarnation into heady spaces.”

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Eric Clapton – Unplugged

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  • With incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides, this copy of Clapton’s latter day masterpiece is practically as good as we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • The sonics of this stunning import are rich, full-bodied, lively, and warm, with solid bass and breathy, clear vocals
  • There are a number of records that Eric Clapton has made over the years that are Must Own titles, and we would have no problem putting this album on that list
  • Consistency has never been the man’s strong suit, but you will simply not be able to find a bad track on this live album from 1992
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Unplugged is the concert and album that established the MTV program as a classy, tony showcase for artists eager to redefine themselves via reexamination of their catalogs, which is what Clapton cannily did here.”
  • If you’re a Clapton fan, this unplugged album from 1992 surely belongs in your collection.

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The Band – The Last Waltz

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  • The Last Waltz is back on the site for only the second time in about a year, here with roughly Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on all SIX sides of these vintage Palm Tree pressings – just shy of our Shootout Winner (sides two and three actually won the shootout)
  • These sides are rich, dynamic and natural sounding, with low end weight, midrange smoothness and powerful, punchy bass
  • Features an A-list of brilliant artists, including Van Morrison, Ringo Star, Joni Mitchell, and Muddy Waters, just to name a few, and it’s surely the reason that this record is so hard to find and so expensive when you do find it
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these Classic Rock records – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 stars: “It’s the Band’s ‘special guests’ who really make this set stand out — Muddy Waters’ ferocious version of ‘Mannish Boy’ would have been a wonder from a man half his age, Van Morrison sounds positively joyous on ‘Caravan,’ Neil Young and Joni Mitchell do well for their Canadian brethren, and Bob Dylan’s closing set finds him in admirably loose and rollicking form.”
  • If you’re a fan of The Band, and what audiophile wouldn’t be?, this triple album from 1978 belongs in your collection

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Muddy Waters – I’m Ready

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  • This vintage copy (only the second to hit the site in nearly four years) boasts two INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them
  • If you’re looking for a Hot Stamper Blues album to add a little variety to your collection, you can’t do much better this copy of I’m Ready
  • “Waters and band provide these well-worn gems with a little new studio polish, but it is with the newer songs that the performers really shine… For new listeners trying to get a feel of what the blues is all about, I’m Ready and its bookends are the albums to start with. Once you experience a taste of Muddy Waters, you’ll be ready for more.”

*NOTE: On side one there is a mark that plays lightly ten times at the start of the first track.

Waters made three albums with Johnny Winters in the ’70’s, including this one. Muddy was still in great form, and the sound can be fantastic on the right copy. It’s not easy to find blues recordings that sound natural and honest while still giving you the energy, presence and clarity needed to bring the music to life, but this bad boy has exactly the sound we were looking for. (more…)

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Couldn’t Stand The Weather

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  • Boasting two excellent Double Plus (A++) sides, this vintage copy (one of only a handful to hit the site in ten months) is doing just about everything right
  • The bass is big, the overall presentation is huge, and the energy is jumpin’ on this early pressing – this is the right sound for SRV’s hard-chargin’ Electric Blues
  • 4 stars: “Stevie Ray Vaughan’s second album, Couldn’t Stand the Weather, pretty much did everything a second album should do: it confirmed that the acclaimed debut was no fluke, while matching, if not bettering, the sales of its predecessor, thereby cementing Vaughan’s status as a giant of modern blues.”

Superb sound for this Stevie Ray classic! Just picture yourself in a blues club. Now imagine the volume being about ten times as loud. This is the kind of music you would hear and it would tend to sound pretty much like this: a bit messy but also real. If you’re one of those audiophiles who likes pinpoint imaging, forget it. They were going for the “live in the studio” sound with this one, which means it’s a bit of a jumble image-wise. But that’s the way you would hear it in a blues club, so where’s the harm?

This copy has excellent presence to the vocals and guitars, keeping in mind that the vocals are usually well back in the mix compared to the guitars, which for a guitarist of SRV’s skills is probably a good thing.

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Stevie Ray Vaughan – Live Alive

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  • A Live Alive like you’ve never heard, with superb Double Plus (A++) sound on all FOUR sides – remarkably quiet vinyl too
  • 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
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true if you made the mistake of buying whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently on the market
  • Speaking of Heavy Vinyl, the SRV Box Set put out by Analogue Productions in 2014 — a set we have never heard by the way — rather disappointed one of our customers. He took the time to write us about how he felt being $400 poorer after hearing it
  • This same gentleman learned how important it is to play records like SRV’s good and loud, the way we do
  • “Live Alive is a magnificent double-length showcase for Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar playing, featuring a number of extended jams on a selection of most of the best material from Vaughan’s first three albums.. The renditions here sound less polished than the studio versions, with Vaughan’s guitar tone bitingly down and dirty and his playing spontaneous and passionate” 

KILLER sound throughout! Most copies we played were thick, murky, overly smooth and/or veiled, but this one almost never suffers in any of those areas. The sound is clean, clear, transparent and lively throughout.

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Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood

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  • With solid Double Plus (A++) grades from first note to last, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage Epic pressing
  • Both of these sides here are remarkably big, full and natural sounding with an abundance of energy and presence
  • 5 stars: “It’s hard to overestimate the impact Stevie Ray Vaughan’s debut, Texas Flood, had upon its release in 1983… Vaughan became a genuine star and, in doing so, sparked a revitalization of the blues…”

This copy gets Stevie’s room-filling guitar to sound about as rich and powerful as a recording of it can. When playing this record, first make sure the volume is up good and high. Now close your eyes and picture yourself in a blues club, with the volume ten times louder than your stereo will play. Electric blues played at loud levels in a small club would sound pretty much like this album does, a bit messy but also real.

If you’re one of those audiophiles who insists on proper soundstaging with layered depth and pinpoint imaging, forget it. That’s not in the cards. The producers and engineers were going for the “live in the studio” sound with this one (and most of his other albums it seems), which means it’s a jumble image-wise.

But that’s the way you would hear it performed live, so where’s the harm?

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