Country & Country Rock

Neil Young – Hawks and Doves

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  • With two INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, this vintage Reprise pressing is certainly as good a copy as we have ever heard
  • The trick on this album is to find rich, smooth, edge-free sound, and this copy delivers those qualities like nothing else we played all day
  • “Hawks and Doves has a homey feel. ‘Little Wing,’ bare and haltingly lyrical with its miked harp and unaccompanied acoustic, is simpler than anything on the folky Comes a Time, and the rest of the music is defined by Ben Keith’s laconic dobro and steel and Rufus Thobodeaux’s sawing fiddle.” Robert Christgau (A-)
  • If you’re a serious Neil Young fan, this title from 1980 is surely worth hearing on a top quality pressing like this one

On side one, the second track, The Old Homestead, has an especially intimate vocal worth checking out.

Flip the record over and listen to how full-bodied the piano is on the first track on side two, Stayin’ Power.

This is the sound of ANALOG. So many copies are dry and edgy, as is the CD, I would guess, but here the sound is smooth, natural and enjoyable.

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Ray Charles / All Time Great Country and Western Hits – Better Sound than the Originals? Can It Really Be True?

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More Soul, Blues and R&B

  • These vintage ABC pressings boast superb Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on all FOUR sides
  • If you could only have one Ray Charles album, it would have to be this one – you’ll have a hard time doing better than this very copy
  • What was especially shocking about this shootout is that in some ways the better sounding copies of the reissue not just the equal of, but actually best their original album counterparts
  • 22 classic songs on two LPs, including huge hits like “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “You Don’t Know Me,” “Oh Lonesome Me,” “Bye Bye Love,” and much more – no wonder AMG gave both discs 5 stars
  • This is some big, bold, absolutely glorious Tubey Magical analog (particularly on sides one, two and four) – the tape to disc transfer is hard to fault, making a mockery of the audiophile remasters to come
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs) on “You Win Again” and “Some Day,” but once you hear just how excellent sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music

The music is wonderful. Just listen to that swingin’ horn section behind Ray on Hey, Good Lookin’. They are hot! And Bye Bye Love just plain ROCKS.

Both these LPs have 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. (more…)

Emmylou Harris – Luxury Liner

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  • Here is a seriously good copy of Luxury Liner (one of only a handful to hit the site in two and a half years) with Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from start to finish
  • Side two was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be amazed at how big and rich the sound is
  • Here is the full-bodied and natural sound we look for, with a nicely extended top end, plenty of space around the instruments and vocals, and far fewer of the problems that plague so many of the pressings we play
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Luxury Liner ranks as Emmylou Harris’ best-selling solo record to date, and it’s one of her most engaging efforts as well; her Hot Band is in peak form, and the songs are even more far afield than usual, including Chuck Berry’s “(You Never Can Tell) C’est la Vie” and Townes Van Zandt’s painterly tale of aging outlaws, “Pancho & Lefty.” – All Music

The sound that Emmylou and her producers were going for here is clean, detailed and low distortion, which is exactly what the best pressings like this one deliver. What really sets the good copies apart, though, is a natural, relaxed quality in the midrange. Emmylou sounds like a real person, with none of the too-clean, too-modern, tube-free sound that ruins many of the pressings of her records.  (more…)

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Second Helping

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  • An original Songs Of The South pressing with two solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides
  • Side two was sonically very close to our Shootout Winner – you will be shocked at how big and powerful the sound is
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, 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
  • A tough nut to crack – most copies are in horrible shape, which is why so few have ever hit the site (this is the first to hit the site in twenty-seven months)
  • We lucked out with this one though – reasonably quiet surfaces and top quality sound all rolled up in one fabulous vintage vinyl LP
  • 5 stars: “… the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional… they were a great band, but they were indelible because that was married to great writing. And nowhere was that more evident than on Second Helping.”

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Bob Dylan – Nashville Skyline

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  • Here is a vintage Stereo 360 pressing of Nashville Skyline (the first copy to hit the site in thirteen months) with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two
  • We guarantee this copy will blow your mind, and blow every other copy you have ever played out of the water, or your money back
  • “Lay Lady Lay,” “To Be Alone With You,” “I Threw It All Away,” “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” are true country-rock standards
  • 5 stars: “It’s a warm, friendly album, particularly since Bob Dylan is singing in a previously unheard gentle croon — the sound of his voice is so different it may be disarming upon first listen, but it suits the songs.”
  • This is a Must Own Dylan classic from 1969 that belongs in every right-thinking audiophile’s collection

Problems to Watch For

Some of the more common problems we ran into during our shootouts were slightly veiled, slightly smeary sound, with not all the top end extension that the best copies have.

You can easily hear that smear on the guitar transients; usually, they’re a tad blunted and the guitar harmonics don’t ring the way they should.

These problems are just as common to the 360 label original Columbia pressings as they are to the later red label LPs. Smeary, veiled, top-end-challenged pressings were regularly produced over the years. They are the rule, not the exception.

360 Issues

I’m fairly amazed at how bad most 360 pressings sound. Many of them are as dull as dishwater. The top end is rolled off and there is very little presence in the midrange. Often the first track of either side will sound good, but the following tracks are dullsville.

If you think that buying an original of this record guarantees you top quality sound I’m here to tell you it does not. Not unless you are lucky and actually end up with a record that was properly mastered and pressed. These I have found are not as common as most audiophiles and record collectors think.

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Willie Nelson – Me & Paul

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  • Both sides of this copy were doing pretty much everything right, earning excellent Double Plus (A++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Don’t waste your money on whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size, and energy of Nelson’s 1985 release, an original pressing like this one is the only way to go
  • 4 stars: “The album kicks off excitingly with ‘I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,’ and there really aren’t any noticeably weak moments. The band is superb and, by the standards of a normal country artist, the record would be considered a masterpiece.”

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Bob Dylan – New Morning

  • New Morning is back on the site for only the second time in three years, here with a Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • “If Not For You” was the big hit on this one, and we guarantee you have never heard it sound better than it does on this very copy
  • During our shootout we were reminded how surprisingly enjoyable this album is – it fits in nicely between Dylan’s country era and his later 70s works such as Blood On The Tracks
  • He’s also singing in his familiar Bob Dylan “nasally” voice, not the country croon he developed for Nashville Skyline
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… the overall quality is quite high, and many of the songs explore idiosyncratic routes Dylan had previously left untouched… Such offbeat songs make New Morning a charming, endearing record.”

There are some great songs here like “If Not For You” and “The Man In Me,” and when you find a copy that cuts through the murk and veil of the typical pressing it’s a lot of fun. Big Lebowski fans will be happy to hear “The Man In Me” on side two, one of Dylan’s under-appreciated gems.

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Willie Nelson and Leon Russell – One for the Road

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  • The sound is big and rich, the vocals breathy and immediate, and you will not believe all the space and ambience
  • This is an exceptionally good (studio) recording, and this pressing really nails the smooth, rich analog sound of what must be an awesome master tape
  • Our notes for sides one and two on our shootout winning copy read: big/rich/no smear/not bright/breathy vox/big bass/3D/huge vox — that’s our kind of sound!
  • 4 stars: “…it’s a small, priceless gem for any serious fan of either singer.”

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Sons of the Pioneers – Cool Water

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  • A Cool Water like you’ve never heard, with seriously good Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound throughout this vintage pressing
  • These sides have a richness and sweetness that’s disappeared entirely from modern recordings yet they’re still incredibly clean, clear and spacious
  • If you want to know why people love Living Stereo records, playing either side of this record should be all the convincing anyone would ever need
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • “The original release, issued at the height of the stereophile boom of the late 1950s, was a vivid display of close, intimate presence and discreet channel separation.”

This vintage RCA Black Label Living Stereo LP has two excellent sides, making this without a doubt one of the better sounding pressing we have ever had the distinct pleasure to play! We were as shocked to hear this copy as you will no doubt be (if you end up with it of course).

And the music — sophisticated arrangements of western classics featuring the group’s trademark harmonies — has maintained its charm remarkably well since 1959, more than sixty years after this All Tube recording was made. The orchestra and the male singers sound so natural you’ll wonder what the hell modern recording engineers think they’re up to. Engineers apparently knew how to make good recordings in 1959 — this record is all the proof you need — so what excuse can they possibly have for the dismal dreck they’ve been turning out for the last 30+ years?

The woodwinds here have that lovely airy, breathy quality that they do in real life. The singer’s voices are rich and full. The presentation is relaxed and involving. When’s the last time you heard a modern record with any of those qualities? Do you think the people recording Patricia Barber appreciate qualities such as these in a vocal recording? My ears tells me they don’t.

But there’s no point complaining about the modern world and its manifest shortcomings. Let’s be thankful that these wonderful records, recorded with such skill and care, still exist.

And that Better Records can offer you superb sounding pressings of them like this one.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors

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  • A vintage pressing with the rare “flames” cover boasting excellent Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Forget whatever dead-on-arrival Heavy Vinyl record they’re making these days – if you want to hear the Tubey Magic, size and Southern Rock Energy of this surprisingly well recorded album from 1977, this is only the way to go
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… it’s a hell of an album. The band springs back to life with the addition of guitarist Steve Gaines, and Van Zant used the time off the road to write a strong set of songs… If the original band was fated to leave after this record, at least they left with a record that serves as a testament to Skynyrd’s unique greatness.”
  • If you’re a Southern Rock fan, this undeniable classic from 1977 is surely a Must Own
  • The complete list of titles from 1977 that we’ve reviewed to date can be found here

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