Genres

Letter of the Week – “The kind of sound my CD ‘audiophile’ friends can only dream about.”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Hippie Folk Rock Albums Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased recently:

Hey Tom, 

Recently bought a Tarkio Hot Stamper and what a great album it is. This record has truly great ANALOG sound. The kind of sound my CD “audiophile” friends can only dream about. This recording is a lot of fun to listen to. There is much more to it than the songs that had airplay.

Anyway, another great find from the better records crew.

Jim S

Jim,

Thanks for your letter. This is one my favorite records too. I have it on tape and that tape has been played at least 500 times.

Along with Crosby, Stills and Nash’s debut, Tarkio represents the pinnacle of what we affectionately call Hippie Folk Rock.

On the best copies, the Tubey Magical acoustic guitar reproduction is some of the best we have ever heard, right up there with another record Stephen Barncard recorded, If Only I Could Remember My Name. As you may have read elsewhere on the site, the guy is a genius.

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Grateful Dead – Wake Of The Flood

More of the Music of the Grateful Dead

  • With STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades throughout, this vintage copy could not be beat beat
  • Both of these sides gives you clean, clear, full-bodied, lively and musical analog sound from first note to last
  • A difficult album to find audiophile quality sound for; this is one of the best copies to ever hit the site
  • Marks and 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
  • 4 stars: “Wake of the Flood was certainly as good – if not arguably better than – most of their previous non-live efforts.”

This is the album that comes after American Beauty on the Grateful Dead timeline, and while it’s certainly not in the same league as that masterpiece, there’s still a lot of good music on here.

Again, I think American Beauty is a stronger album, but this is a very good representation of the kind of jazzier sound The Dead carried on with for the next twenty-plus years. Many of these songs remained staples of their concert repertoire, including Stella Blue, Eyes Of The World, and Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo. You might get more incendiary performances of the tracks on the best of the band’s famous bootleg tapes, but you certainly won’t get sound this good. (more…)

Joe Cocker – Self-Titled (1972)

More of the Music of Joe Cocker

  • You’ll find STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout this copy of Joe Cocker’s patented Blue-Eyed Soul album (only the second to hit the site in years)
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this killer copy in our notes: “huge and weighty and rich”…”great bass and vox”…”sweet and tubey and open”…”great space and detail”
  • “Pardon Me Sir,” “High Time We Went,” “Black-Eyed Blues,” “Midnight Rider,” “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and “St. James Infirmary” – so many of his best songs
  • “With ‘St. James’ Infirmary,’ Joe Cocker has moved into a whole different sphere of musical activity, far distant from the rip-roaring anarchism of the Mad Dogs … This album is, when all be said and done, riddled with meaningful soul.” — Rolling Stone

Great sound for this rockin’ soul album with two live tracks. Just listen to the drums on “Black-Eyed Blues” — the way the percussion and bass mingle sonically with Alan White’s skins takes this listener right into the room where the magic happened.

Classic Tracks

On side one, there are three out of five you know or should know: “Pardon Me Sir,” “High Time We Went” and “Black-Eyed Blues.”

On side two, there are three out of four you know or should know: “Midnight Rider,” “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and “St. James Infirmary.”

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Art Pepper – Smack Up on Contemporary

More of the Music of Art Pepper

  • This is a classic from Pepper – all the songs were written by saxophonists and he tears into them with gusto and naked emotion, the hallmarks of his playing style
  • This is some seriously good-sounding saxophone-led jazz, thanks to Roy DuNann and Lester Koenig
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Pepper is very much on top of his game throughout, ably demonstrating a capacity for precision and intimidating passion. Nowhere is proof more readily available than on these sides, which project Pepper at the peak of his craft.”

The horns are really jumpin’ out of the speakers here, but they never get hard or squawky like they do on some pressings. This combination of clarity and fullness is not easy to come by, but it lets the music flow in glorious waves of All Tube 1960 analog. With the always wonderful Jack Sheldon on trumpet, this is a great date from the Golden Age of Jazz Recordings. (more…)

Years Ago We Foolishly Thought a Domestic LP Could Beat the Brits on Low

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of David Bowie Available Now

This shootout listing for Low was written sometime around 2008. 

In 2008 we hadn’t discovered the right imports for this album yet — that would not happen for many more years, hence the error we made in thinking that some especially good sounding domestic copies could win a shootout.

Back then they could, but with the right pressings in the mix there is not a chance in the world that would happen now.

Just another case of live and learn.

By the way, Low has much in common with another Bowie record we struggled with for years.

To be fair, some domestic pressings do end up having low-level (1.5+) Hot Stampers, but they’re rare. Our best Brits just kill ’em. We haven’t bothered with the domestic pressings in more than a decade, and why would we? The reissue imports we sell now are just too good.

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Dave Mason – It’s Like You Never Left

More Folky Rock

  • It’s Like You Never Left returns to the site after a nearly three and a half year hiatus, here STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound throughout this early Columbia pressing
  • Mason’s 1973 comeback album got help from the likes of Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder and George Harrison
  • Both sides have good extension up top and down low, with plenty of meaty bass and silky highs
  • “Mason is perhaps one of the most creative forces, lyrically, musically and vocally, in pop today.” – Billboard, 1973
  • Thank Al Schmitt for delivering top quality — albeit glossy — sound on this 1973 recording
  • If you’re a Dave Mason fan, this has to be considered a Must Own Title of his from 1973.

I was a big fan of this album when it came out in 1973. I used to play it all the time, in fact. Now I hear why — it’s big and rich with a solid bottom end and a smooth, sweet top; perfect for the big but not especially sophisticated speakers (the Fulton J System) I had back in the day.

This album has the kind of sound that the typical CD just doesn’t want anything to do with. Not that the Compact Disc couldn’t pull it off — there are good sounding CDs in this world, I own hundreds of them — but it doesn’t seem to want to even try.

Graham Nash helps out on vocals on tracks one, two and five on the first side. Stevie Wonder plays a lovely harmonica solo on “The Lonely One” on side two, and George Harrison guests on guitar on “If You’ve Got Love,” the third track on side one.

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Leroy Vinnegar Sextet – Leroy Walks! (OJC)

More Contemporary Label Jazz

  • Boasting two superb Double Plus (A++) sides, this Contemporary recording of Leroy Vinnegar’s debut album pressed on OJC vinyl is doing just about everything right
  • The Contemporary LP stereo sound here is completely natural in every respect – rich, warm and smooth
  • Roy DuNann and Howard Holzer engineered some of the best sounding records we have ever heard – here’s a textbook example of what the audiophiles at Contemporary were able to achieve in the studio
  • 4 stars: “…Vinnegar generously features his talented sidemen… A fine, straight-ahead session.”
  • Fans of exceptionally well-recorded West Coast jazz will find much to like on this recording from 1958.

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Julie Is Her Name – A Boxstar Bomb from Bernie

Hot Stamper Pressings of Pop and Jazz Vocals Available Now

One question: Where’s the Tubey Magic?

We would never have pointed you in the direction of this awful Boxstar 45 of Julie Is Her Name, cut by Bernie Grundman in 2009, supposedly on tube equipment. I regret to say that we actually sold some copies, but in my defense I can honestly and truthfully claim that we never wrote a single nice thing about the sound of the record. That has to count for something, right?

We found the Tubey Magic on his pressing to be non-existent, as non-existent as it is on practically every Classic Record release he cut. If you have his version you are in for quite a treat when you finally get this one home and on your table. There is a world of difference between the sound of the two versions and we would be very surprised if it takes you more than ten seconds to hear it.

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David Bowie – Pin-Ups

More of the Music of David Bowie

  • An outstanding import copy of Bowie’s 1973 classic, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • A Top Ten Poster Boy for Tubey Magical Richness, thanks to the engineering of Ken Scott, the man behind all the best Bowie recordings
  • The bottom end is huge, as would be expected from anything Ken recorded, and if you don’t believe me, check out “Baby You’re a Rich Man” from MMT
  • A really fun listen, with Bowie running through covers of his favorite Sixties hits in true Demo Disc sound
  • Turns out he’s a great interpreter, turning in passionate versions of songs by The Who, Pink Floyd, The Yardbirds and more

Bowie puts a unique spin on tracks originally played by The Who, The Yardbirds, Pink Floyd and other British rockers. It’s a fun, intriguing album that stands up well to repeated plays. Bryan Ferry did the same thing in 1973 with some of his favorite pop songs. Oddly enough, both albums entered the charts on the very same day in November of that year.

The sound is lively and full-bodied with nice transparency throughout. Bowie’s voice sounds correct and the bottom end is huge.

The bass here is deep and not nearly as sloppy as on most copies. Listen to the vocals, which sound just right and have lots of texture to them. The harmonica on “I Wish You Would” is amazing. When has a harmonica ever sounded so rich and full? You’ll also want to check out the sax solo on “Sorrow,” which just plain rocks.

So what were some of the worst copies we heard? One was a British original, believe it or not. They tend to be dull, thick, and lifeless — not a good match for this punky, energetic material. There may be some very good sounding Brit originals but, having said that, to date they have never won a shootout.

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Miles Davis – E.S.P.

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • Boasting two solid Double Plus (A++) sides, we guarantee you’ve never heard E.S.P. sound remotely as good as it does on this original pressing
  • There’s plenty of 1965 Columbia 360 Label Stereo Tubey Magic – the analog sound is real, tonally correct, and above all, natural
  • Miles fronts his second classic quintet here – saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams
  • Marks and problems 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
  • 4 1/2 stars: “They created a unique sound that came to define the very sound of modern jazz … ESP remains one of their very best albums.”

You’re going to have a fairly tough time finding a copy that is anywhere near as impressive as this one. Trust me — we know whereof we speak. We’re always trying and all too often coming up short; but most of them are too dull and lifeless to get excited about. Many of them are too congested and veiled to make any sense of. Not here though!

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