Best on Vintage Mono Vinyl

These records typically sound better in mono.

Julie London – Julie Is Her Name

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Albums

  • This killer MONO pressing of Julie London’s debut LP boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last
  • The midrange immediacy of this early Liberty pressing will put Julie in the room with you – more than anything else, it lets her performance come to life
  • The naturalness of the presentation puts this album right at the top of best-sounding female vocal albums of all time
  • This is a lot of money for a somewhat noisy copy, but the sound is so awesome and quiet pressings of the album so hard to come by that we hope someone will take a chance on it and get the thrill we did from hearing it sound right for once
  • 4 stars: “Her debut is her best, a set of fairly basic interpretations of standards in which she is accompanied tastefully by guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Leatherwood.”

Listen to how rich the bottom end is on Barney Kessel’s guitar. The Tubey Magic here is off the charts. Some copies can be dry, but that is clearly not a problem on this one.

To take nothing away from her performance, which got better with every copy we played. Julie’s rendition of Cry Me a River may be definitive.

If only Ella Fitzgerald on Clap Hands got this kind of sound! As good as the best copies of that album are, this record takes the concept of intimate female vocals to an entirely new level.

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Paul Quinichette – On The Sunny Side, a Wonderful Pressing from the 80s

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Saxophone

  • Both sides of this long out-of-print OJC title boast lively, big and clear Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) MONO sound or close to it from first note to last
  • With three saxophones and a trombone, this is a fresh combination that really brings out the best in all the players during this Prestige jam session, a format for which they are justly famous
  • I raved about this album when it was in print many years ago – it’s solidly swinging jazz that belongs in your collection
  • 4 stars: “Waldron’s three originals (highlighted by ‘Cool-Lypso’) allow plenty of room for swinging, and Quinichette (who also performs ‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’) sounds comfortable interacting with the younger musicians. An enjoyable and underrated release.”

As I wrote years ago, back in the days when we regularly sent out catalog mailings:

When we discover a record like this, a record with no reputation either in the jazz world or the audiophile world, we try to bring it to people’s attention, usually with some success. Some of my customers called me up to tell me what a great record this is.

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The Rolling Stones – No. 2

More of The Rolling Stones

  • With KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from top to bottom, this vintage copy of The Stones’s sophomore LP could not be beat
  • This British MONO pressing (made from the mono tapes) will show you the real, honest sound of the early, early Stones
  • Both of these sides have the Midrange Magic that’s surely missing from whatever 180g reissue has been made from the tapes (or, to be clear, a modern digital master copied from who-knows-what-tapes)
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… [No. 2 includes] one of the group’s best blues covers, their version of Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” which wasn’t released in America until 1973 and features some killer slide playing by Brian Jones.”

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Red Garland – Soul Junction

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Piano

  • This vintage Prestige recording pressed on OJC vinyl (the first copy to ever hit the site) boasts INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) MONO sound or close to it from first note to last
  • These sides are doing practically everything right – richer, fuller, better bass, more Tubey Magic, and the list goes on
  • Another top jazz recording from Rudy Van Gelder – big, bold and lively, just the right sound for this music
  • We refer to the Dark Blue Prestige label copy we played in the notes you see below, a label we tend to like, but in this case it let us down with sound that was smaller and less tubey than our Shootout Winner
  • 4 stars: “Pianist Red Garland’s very relaxed, marathon blues solo on the 16-minute “Soul Junction” is the most memorable aspect of this [release]. With such soloists as tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and trumpeter Donald Byrd, plus steady support provided by bassist George Joyner and drummer Art Taylor, Garland gets to stretch out on the title cut and four jazz originals, including ‘Birk’s Works’ and ‘Hallelujah.’ Coltrane is in excellent form, playing several stunning sheets of sound solos.”

This vintage Prestige recording has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records can barely BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the band, this is the record for you. It’s what vintage all analog recordings are known for — this sound.

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Thelonious Monk – The Riverside Trios

More of the Music of Thelonious Monk

  • This Milestone 2-LP set boasts solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on all FOUR sides
  • We know of no better way to hear these legendary MONO recordings – these are by far some of the better sounding pressings of both these albums we’ve yet to play
  • The 1979 transfers of tape to disc by David Turner are superb in all respects – this is remastering done right
  • Can anybody working today make a record that sounds as good as this one? We can think of only two, and one of them we only know by his work, not by his name, as there is no trace of it in the credits for the great sounding Bill Evans title he remastered!
  • 4 1/2 stars: “When Thelonious Monk first signed with Riverside Records in 1955, producer Orrin Keepnews thought that it would be a good idea for the unrecognized giant to record an album of Duke Ellington compositions and follow it up with a set of standards so as to discount his eccentric and forbidding image. The results were quite satisfying, trio performances that made Monk’s playing seem more accessible to the regular jazz audience without watering down his style.”

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Duke Ellington – A Drum Is A Woman

More Duke Ellington

  • An early 6-Eye MONO copy of this wonderful musical allegory with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them throughout
  • The sound is rich and Tubey Magical, yet transparent and spacious in the way that only the best vintage pressings ever are
  • It’s hard to imagine an original pressing playing any quieter than this one does
  • And may I point out for all of your record collectors out there that the worst sounding copy in our shootout was a White Label Promo, which did not even earned Hot Stamper grades on both sides
  • “It was powerful, rhythmic and kaleidoscopic, with a strong vocal anchor at Friday’s performance in Claudia Hamilton, a commanding presence as Madam Zajj.”

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Thelonious Monk / Brilliant Corners

More of the Music of Thelonious Monk

  • Boasting STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from start to finish, this vintage MONO recording pressed on fairly quiet OJC vinyl was giving us the sound we were looking for on Monk’s 1957 release
  • Rich, full-bodied and present yet still clear and spacious – we guarantee this copy sounds better than any pressing you’ve heard, and should beat the pricey originals hands down
  • With masterful horn playing from Sonny Rollins and Clark Terry, and a rhythm section that can actually keep up with Monk – made up of Max Roach, Oscar Pettiford and Paul Chambers – this is a Must Own for any music loving audiophile
  • 5 stars: “Brilliant Corners may well be considered the alpha and omega of post-World War II American jazz. No serious jazz collection should be without it.”
  • If you’re a fan of Mr. Monk, this All Tube Recording from 1957 belongs in your collection.
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” but with the accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life. Brilliant Corners is a good example of a record most audiophiles probably don’t know well but would benefit from getting to know better

If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good a 1957 All Tube Analog recording can be, this superb copy should be just the record for you. Talk about Tubey Magic! The liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny. This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it.

No recordings will ever be made like this again, and no CD will ever capture what is in the grooves of this record. There is of course a CD of the album, but those of us in possession of a working turntable could care less.

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Miles Davis – Green Haze (‘The Musings of Miles’ and ‘Miles’)

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • A Green Haze like you’ve never heard, with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on all FOUR sides of these vintage Mono pressings – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Spacious, sweet and positively dripping with ambience – talk about Tubey Magic, the liquidity of the sound here is positively uncanny
  • This Prestige Two-Fer simply combines two complete Miles Davis titles recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1955 – ‘The Musings of Miles’ and ‘Miles’
  • The 1976 transfers of tape to disc by David Turner are superb in all respects – this is remastering done right
  • 4 stars: “… it is for the excellent rhythm sections and the playing of Miles Davis that this two-fer is highly recommended.”
  • If you’re a fan of Miles, this All Tube MONO Recording from 1955 belongs in your collection.

This is vintage analog at its best, so full-bodied and relaxed you’ll wonder how it ever came to be that anyone seriously contemplated trying to improve it. (more…)

Sonny Rollins – Taking Care Of Business (Work Time, Tenor Madness and Tour de Force)

More of the Music of Sonny Rollins

  • With outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on all FOUR sides, these vintage Prestige pressings are guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Taking Care Of Business you’ve heard
  • The complete Tenor Madness album is found here, with big, full-bodied, MONO jazz sound at its best, courtesy of the great one, Rudy Van Gelder
  • This is what classic 50s jazz is supposed to sound like – they knew how to do these kinds of records 70+ years ago, and those mastering skills are in short supply nowadays, if not downright extinct
  • The transfers from 1978 by David Turner are in tune with the sound of these recordings – there’s not a trace of phony EQ on this entire record
  • “Tenor Madness was the recording that, once and for all, established Newk as one of the premier tenor saxophonists, an accolade that in retrospect, has continued through six full decades and gives an indication why a young Rollins was so well liked, as his fluency, whimsical nature, and solid construct of melodies and solos gave him the title of the next Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young of mainstream jazz.”

This Two-Fer includes all of Tenor Madness and most of Work Time and Tour De Force.

Top jazz players such as Ray Bryant, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Kenny Drew, Max Roach and Paul Chambers can be heard on the album.

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The Rolling Stones – Self-Titled

More of the Music of The Rolling Stones

  • You’ll find solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last on this outstanding pressing of The Stones’ 1964 release – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • We guarantee there is dramatically more richness, fullness and presence on this copy than others you’ve heard, and that’s especially true for whatever godawful Heavy Vinyl pressing is currently being foisted on an unsuspecting record buying public
  • This is the real, honest sound of the early, early Stones
  • “The Stones’ debut knocked The Beatles from the chart summit… They were on their way.” – BBC Review
  • If you’re a fan of the early Stones, their debut from 1964 belongs in your collection.

The best word I could use to sum up both the sound and the music on this record is HONEST. If you want to hear how early Rolling Stones records sound when they sound right, this is the ticket. This is the real sound of the early, early Stones.

Probably what any modern engineer would want to do to the album would only end up making it worse. It is what it is and that’s good enough for us. Since the tapes are now more than 60 years old, no modern reissue will sound remotely as good as this one.

The Stones wanted their stuff to sound like the old Blues albums they grew up on and revered, and with that sound in mind you can’t argue that they didn’t succeed here.

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