GAGC / Century Records

Our Shootout Winner Had Sound that Was Really Jumping Out of the Speakers

Hot Stamper Pressings of Direct-to-Disc Recordings Available Now

Recently we put up a copy of this wonderful direct to disc recording with this description:

Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: “tubey and 3D and breathy”…”huge and lively”…”powerful orchestra”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”very rich and present.”

Great energy, but the sound is relaxed and Tubey sweet at the same time, never squawky, with plenty of extension on both ends – that’s analog for ya!

This is no sleepy over-the-hill Sheffield Direct-to-Disc (referring to the later Harry James titles, not the excellent first one) – these guys are the real deal and they play their hearts out on this album, recorded in a church with exemplary acoustics.

Note that side two did not have all the space, but was so punchy and 3-D that it was easy to award it a Nearly White Hot Stamper grade of 2.5+. The copy that beat it had all the same qualities and more space, sounding more like side one of this very pressing.

And here are the actual notes for the Shootout Winning copy we found.

We have no trouble hearing when a record is doing everything right, and when a record has one side that is a bit lacking, it’s the shootout that shows us in what area it is lacking.

In this case, our notes read:

  • Not all the space but so punchy and 3-D

Track one had sound that “jumped out of the speakers,” and if — like us — that’s the kind of sound you are looking for, our Hot Stamper pressings are where you can find it.

If you would like to test the pressings you own, here are a few that might make good tests for that quality. Also, many of our customers have commented about that quality in the Hot Stamper pressings we sent them, and you can read their letters here.

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Glenn Miller Orchestra – The Direct Disc Sound of…

More of the Music of The Glenn Miller Orchestra

  • An original pressing of a Great American Gramophone Company direct-to-disc recording with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: “tubey and 3D and breathy”…”huge and lively”…”powerful orchestra”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”very rich and present”
  • Great energy, but the sound is relaxed and Tubey sweet at the same time, never squawky, with plenty of extension on both ends – that’s analog for ya!
  • This is no sleepy over-the-hill Sheffield Direct-to-Disc (referring to the later Harry James titles, not the excellent first one) – these guys are the real deal and they play their hearts out on this live-in-the-studio recording
  • Note that side two did not have all the space but it was so punchy and 3-D that it was easy to award it 2.5+. The copy that beat had all the same qualities and more space, sounding like side one of this copy.

One of the all time GREAT Direct to Disc recordings. For sound and music, this one is hard to beat. And the vinyl is as quiet as any you will find.

We went a bit overboard years ago when we wrote, “I don’t think you can find a better sounding big band record on the planet.” Well, we’ve heard plenty of amazing big band albums in the course of our Hot Stamper shootouts for the last five or ten years, albums by the likes of Basie, Zoot Sims, Ellington, Shorty Rogers, Ted Heath and others.

Not to mention the fact that the shockingly good Sauter-Finegan track “Song of the Volga Boatman” from the LP Memories Of Goodman and Miller is played regularly around these parts for cartridge setup and tuning, as well as general tweaking.

But that should take nothing away from this superb recording, made at the famously good-sounding Capitol Records Studio A, with none other than Wally Heider doing the mix and Ken Perry manning the lathe.

We also noted that, “It absolutely murders all the Sheffield big band records, which sound like they were made by old tired men sorely in need of their naps. Way past their prime anyway”, which is mostly true.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra heard here was an actively touring band. They know this material inside and out, they clearly love it, and they’re used to playing the hell out of it practically every night.

If you like the tunes that Glenn Miller made famous — “String of Pearls,” “In The Mood,” “Tuxedo Junction” — you will have a very hard time finding them performed with more gusto, or recorded with anything approaching this kind of fidelity.

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Les Brown – Goes Direct to Disc

More Large Group Jazz Recordings

More Reviews of Century Direct to Disc Records

  • Excellent sound throughout this original Great American Gramophone Company (later Century Records) pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Great energy, but the sonics are relaxed and tubey sweet at the same time, never squawky, with plenty of extension on both ends – that’s analog for ya!
  • Both sides here fulfill the promise of the Direct to Disc recording technology in a way that few – very, very few – Direct to Disc pressings can
  • Try “Tickle Toe” and “Gonna Fly Now” on side two to hear the best combination of excellent sonics and superb musicianship

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The Direct Disc Sound of the Glenn Miller Orchestra – “The Best Sounding Big Band Record?”

Hot Stamper Pressings of Big Band Recordings Available Now

We went a bit overboard years ago when we wrote, “I don’t think you can find a better sounding big band record on the planet.”

Well, we’ve heard plenty of amazing big band albums in the Hot Stamper shootouts we’ve carried out over the course of the last ten or fifteen years, albums by the likes of Basie, Ellington, Shorty Rogers, Ted Heath and others.

Not to mention the fact that the shockingly good Sauter-Finegan track “Song of the Volga Boatman” from the LP “Memories Of Goodman and Miller” is played regularly around these parts for cartridge setup and tuning, as well as general tweaking.

But that should take nothing away from this superb recording, made at the famously good-sounding Capitol Records Studio A, with none other than Wally Heider doing the mix and Ken Perry manning the lathe.

We also noted that, “It absolutely murders all the Sheffield big band records, which sound like they were made by old tired men sorely in need of their naps. Way past their prime anyway.” Which may be harsh but, in our defense, it’s mostly true.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra heard here was an actively touring band. They know this material inside and out, they clearly love it, and they’re used to playing the hell out of it practically every night.

If you like the tunes that Glenn Miller made famous — String of Pearls, In The Mood, Tuxedo Junction — you will have a very hard time finding them performed with more gusto, or recorded with anything approaching this level of fidelity.

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Mel Torme & Buddy Rich – Together Again For The First Time on Direct to Disc

Hot Stamper Pressings of Big Band Recordings Available Now

This is a Century Direct-to-Disc featuring Mel Torme fronting the Buddy Rich Big Band. And it’s a pretty big band with four trumpets, three trombones, five saxes and a tuba! One of the best tracks is “Here’s That Rainy Day”, with guest soloist Phil Woods. The beginning is just Mel and Phil, a duet of sorts, with a lovely sense of melancholy.

However, both men seem tired and the session doesn’t swing much.

Or could it be that they’re playing it safe, afraid to make a mistake and then have to start the live-to-disc session over from the top?

Hard to know, but that’s the problem with direct to disc recordings — avoiding mistakes, even engineering ones, can suck the life right out of the music.

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The King on Century Direct Disc – Not Good Enough

Hot Stamper Pressings of Big Band Recordings Available Now

This is a Century Direct-to-Disc LP that is every bit as good sounding as the excellent Glenn Miller disc, and in some ways better.

The problem is that Benny sounds much too old and tired, so this one gets a Not Good Enough ranking from us.

Our Pledge of Service to You, the Discriminating Audiophile 

We play mediocre-to-bad sounding pressings so that you don’t have to, a free service from your record-loving friends at Better Records.

You can find this one in our hall of shame, along with others that — in our opinion — are best avoided by audiophiles looking for hi-fidelity sound.

Some of these records may have passable sonics, but the music is weak.  These are also records you can safely avoid.

We also have an audiophile record hall of shame for records that were marketed to audiophiles with claims of superior sound. If you’ve spent much time on this blog, you know that these records are some of the worst sounding pressings we have ever had the misfortune to play.

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