Record Lists

Nina Simone – Nina Simone at Town Hall

  • STUNNING sound for the Hot Stamper debut of this superb live album, featuring Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades on both sides
  • The kind of Tubey Magical, tonally correct, spacious sound on this Colpix stereo pressing is nothing less than an audiophile THRILL
  • The piano sounds amazing here – natural and dynamic, letting Simon’s passionate playing shine
  • 5 stars: “One of Nina Simone’s finest recordings… From the start of her career, Nina Simone carved out her own unique niche, meshing together her classical piano technique with folk singing, civil rights protest lyrics and jazz. All of those elements are in evidence on this highly recommended set.”

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R.E.M. – Reckoning

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  • An outstanding pressing of Reckoning, with solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Both sides are big, rich and analog sounding, yet uncongested, clear and open – a combination not heard on many ’80s recordings
  • 5 stars: “Reckoning runs through a set of ten jangle pop songs that are different not only in sound but in style from the debut. Where Murmur was enigmatic in its sound, Reckoning is clear, which doesn’t necessarily mean that the songs themselves are straightforward. Michael Stipe continues to sing powerful melodies without enunciating, but the band has a propulsive kick that makes the music vital and alive… the songwriting is more direct and memorable than before…”

Most of the copies we played were somewhat veiled and stuck in the speakers. The music is dramatically better on a copy like this one where there is real depth to the soundfield and lots of space separating the instruments. (more…)

Chicago – Chicago II

More Chicago

  • You’ll find solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from first note to last on this outstanding copy of the band’s sophomore release
  • Big, rich, and present throughout, with real Jazz Rock energy – this is just the right sound for this album all things considered
  • One of the most difficult rock albums to find good sound for, bar none – it’s by far the toughest nut to crack in the entire Chicago catalog
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The contents of Chicago II underscore the solid foundation of complex jazz changes with heavy electric rock & roll that the band so brazenly forged on the first set.”

*NOTE: On side three, a mark makes 8 moderate pops at the beginning of Track 1, Fancy Colours.

This album spawned three top 10 singles and can sound very good on the right copy. Finding that copy, though, can be incredibly difficult — that’s why you won’t often find top copies of the album on our site. (more…)

Stan Getz – Big Band Bossa Nova

  • Getz’s superb 1962 release finally arrives on the site with outstanding Double Plus (A++) stereo sound or BETTER from start to finish – and the vinyl plays about as quietly as any vintage Verve ever does
  • Speakers Corner produced an unimpressive remaster on Heavy Vinyl years ago, and there are probably plenty of newer pressings that have come out since then, but none of them can begin to compete with the All Analog sound of this very pressing
  • 4 stars: “Fresh from the sudden success of Jazz Samba and “Desafinado,” Stan Getz asked the 28-year-old, strikingly gifted Gary McFarland to arrange a bossa nova album for big band as a follow-up. Getz is always his debonair, wistful, freely-floating self, completely at home in the Brazilian idiom that he’d adopted only a few months before.”

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Gabor Szabo with Gary McFarland – Gypsy ’66

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Guitar

Reviews and Commentaries for Gabor Szabo

  • With excellent Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it on both sides, this copy is getting the sound of Gabor Szabo’s music right from first note to last
  • This copy plays on exceptionally quiet Impulse vinyl, Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus throughout
  • The credit must go to one of, if not THE Greatest Jazz Engineers of all time, Mr. Rudy Van Gelder
  • “Szabo’s original sound, the unusual instrumentation (two or three guitars, Sadao Watanabe on flute, Gary McFarland on marimba, bass, drums and percussion) and McFarland’s clever arrangements uplift the music.”

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Johnny Cash / Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison – Our Shootout Winner from 2014

More of the Music of Johnny Cash

We’ve been trying to find good copies of this fun album for ages, but it wasn’t until recently that we heard this music sound right.

Most copies are just too thin and edgy with lots of strain and hardness on the vocals.

This one is richer, smoother and sweeter, with lots of body and excellent transparency. It ain’t easy to find great sounding Johnny Cash records, but this copy had the sound we were looking for.

Cash’s vocals sound right here — present, full and natural with virtually none of the hardness, strain and edge you get on the typical copy.

Like we’ve said, it’s mighty tough to find Johnny Cash records that sound right, so don’t miss out on this one if you’re a fan! It literally took us YEARS to find a copy that was worthy enough to put on the site.

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Nina Simone – Nina Simone Sings The Blues

  • You’ll find outstanding sound on this vintage copy of Simone’s RCA debut, with Double Plus (A++) grades for sound or close to them
  • This stereo pressing of Nina’s exceptionally hard to find, highly regarded 1967 release (5 Stars! ) is full-bodied, smooth and musical
  • 5 stars: “Nina Simone Sings the Blues is a hallmark recording that endures; it deserves to be called a classic.”

If you’re a fan of vintage female vocals – the kind with no trace of digital reverb – you may get quite a kick out of this one. And unless I miss my guess you’ll be the first and only person on your block to own it! (That’s not a bad thing considering the average person’s taste in music and sound these days.) (more…)

Gabor Szabo – The Sorcerer

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Guitar

Reviews and Commentaries for Gabor Szabo

  • With two nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sides, this original Impulse pressing is close to the BEST we’ve ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Szabo’s best albums are full of Tubey Magic and dead-on-the-money instrumental timbres – this live one puts you smack dab in the middle of an intimate jazz club in 1967, your very own time machine
  • If you want to hear the warmth, size and energy of the tape, this vintage LP is the way to go
  • “Gabor Szabo’s quintet featuring Jimmy Stewart was one of the guitarist’s very best units. Live performances like this, recorded at Boston’s Jazz Workshop, document some of the excitement the group stirred in 1967-1968. The playing seems inspired, and the interplay within the group is something to behold…”

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Jefferson Starship – Spitfire

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Reviews and Commentaries for The Jefferson Airplane

  • Insanely good sound for this Shootout Winning copy of the Starship’s 1976 release — Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the first side and solid Double Plus (A++) sound on the second
  • Forget whatever dead-as-a-doornail Heavy Vinyl they’re making – the Tubey Magic, size and rock and roll energy of this very special vintage pressing simply cannot be beat
  • “Spitfire was Jefferson Starship’s 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus (1975), and it found the band in a cooperative mood… [it] was more than the sum of its parts, boasting the sort of vocal interplay and instrumental virtuosity that had always been the hallmarks of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.” 

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The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels

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  • With two Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, we would be very surprised if you’ve ever heard Steel Wheels sound remotely as good as it does on this pressing
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more space, richness, vocal presence, and performance energy on this copy than others you’ve heard
  • 4 1/2 stars in Rolling Stone: “All the ambivalence, recriminations, attempted rapprochement and psychological one-upmanship evident on Steel Wheels testify that the Stones are right in the element that has historically spawned their best music – a murky, dangerously charged environment in which nothing is merely what it seems. Against all odds, and at this late date, the Stones have once again generated an album that will have the world dancing to deeply troubling, unresolved emotions.”

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