Best on Vintage Mono Vinyl

These records typically sound better in mono.

The Beach Boys – Surfin’ Safari

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More Titles that Sound Best in Mono

  • The band’s debut album finally arrives on the site with STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • A copy like this is a rare audiophile treat – here are The Beach Boys’ marvelous harmonies from 1962, sounding as rich, warm, clear, natural and lively as you could ever hope to hear them 
  • “… afford[s] a glimpse of the group as they sounded when they were a true band in the studio, before most of their parts were played by session musicians.”

We have to admit we were wrong about the early Beach Boys pressings sounding like the bad Capitol Beatles LPs we know all too well. As we discovered in our recent shootout, some of them can sound great.

There are also amazing sounding reissues, and this is one of those.

The sound is big, open, rich and full, with the band front and center. (It’s a mono pressing of a mono recording so the band had better be in the center or something is definitely amiss.) The highs are extended and sweet. The bass is tight and full-bodied. Very few early Beach Boys records offer the kind of sound you will hear on this pressing, and on both sides no less. (more…)

Jimmy Witherspoon – Witherspoon / Mulligan / Webster At The Renaissance

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This is an original Hi-Fi Records Mono LP from 1959. Jimmy is joined on stage by Gerry Mulligan and Ben Webster, with support from Mel Lewis, Leroy Vinnegar and Jimmy Rowles. Now that is some group of top jazz talent.

The sound is decent, but the music is the real thing, as you can imagine from the list of players. There’s also some slight groove distortion which is almost unavoidable on vintage pressings such as this.

Red Garland Trio – Groovy

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What makes this vintage piano trio album in mono so special? Allow me to quote a review from a few years back for a pair of recordings that Red Garland made with Miles Davis back in the mid-’50s: Workin’ And Steamin’.

To the Jazz Fans of the World, we here present one of the BEST sounding jazz recordings we have ever had the PRIVILEGE to place on a turntable. I cannot ever recall hearing a better sounding Rudy Van Gelder recording, and I have a theory as to why this tape is as good as it is: it’s MONO. It also sounds like it’s recorded completely LIVE in the studio, direct to one track you might say. As good a recording as Kind of Blue is, I think the best parts of this album are more immediate and more real than anything on KOB.

The size, the weight, the solidity, the clarity, the energy, the rhythmic drive – it’s all here and more. We’ve never heard the record sound better, and that’s coming from someone who’s been playing the album since the ’80s.

These guys are playing live in the studio and you can really feel their presence on every track — assuming you have a copy that sounds like this one.

Based on what I’m hearing my feeling is that most of the natural, full-bodied, smooth, sweet sound of the album is on the master tape, and that all that was needed to transfer that vintage sound correctly onto vinyl disc was simply to thread up the tape on a high quality machine and hit play.

The fact that nobody seems to be able to make an especially good sounding record these days — certainly not as good sounding as this one — tells me that in fact I’m wrong to think that such an approach would work. Somebody should have been able to figure out how to do it by now. In our experience that is simply not the case today, and has not been for many years, if not decades. (more…)

Gerry Mulligan / The Gerry Mulligan Quartet – Reviewed in 2009

More of the Music of Gerry Mulligan

This is a very nice Verve T Label Mono LP with Very Little Sign of Play (VLSOP).

The record has very good sound and plays Near Mint.

We did not find the stereo pressing to our liking by the way.

UPDATE 2024

Not sure if we would still feel that way, so try the stereo press and see if it doesn’t sound fine to you.

“One of the harder Gerry Mulligan records to find from the early 1960s is the Verve disc simply titled The Gerry Mulligan Quartet…. The interplay between Mulligan and Brookmeyer rekindles the magic of their work together a half dozen years earlier…” – AMG

This is an Older Jazz Review.

Most of the older reviews you see are for records that did not go through the shootout process, the revolutionary approach to finding better sounding pressings we developed in the early 2000s and have since turned into a fine art.

We found the records you see in these older listings by cleaning and playing a pressing or two of the album, which we then described and priced based on how good the sound and surfaces were. (For out Hot Stamper listings, the Sonic Grades and Vinyl Playgrades are listed separately.)

We were often wrong back in those days, something we have no reason to hide. Audio equipment and record cleaning technologies have come a long way since those darker days, a subject we discuss here.

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Manfred Mann / The Best Of… – Reviewed in 2008

 

This EMI British Import Mono LP (an early reissue from the ’70s I’m guessing) has SHOCKINGLY GOOD sound, by far the best I have ever heard for this music and worlds better than expected. We cleaned this one up and gave it a listen; we couldn’t believe how good it sounded! These songs are actually very well recorded — and most were made way back in the early days of the British Invasion: ’64 to ’66! This is not your midrangey Mamas and Papas and Kinks; these recordings are rich and full-bodied in the best tradition of what was to follow in British Rock with The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Zep, Floyd and the like.

Obviously Manfred Mann is not exactly in that league, but these are still some great songs, from Do-Wah-Diddy Diddy to Sha-La-La and Got My Mojo Working. A good time is guaranteed for all. We had a blast.

By the way, if you want to know where Bruce Springsteen found (or stole if you like) much of his sound, play this album and I think you will hear it too. (more…)

Sonny Rollins / The Sound of Sonny – Reviewed in 2007

The Music of Sonny Rollins Available Now

Sonny Rollins Albums We’ve Reviewed

Riverside White and Blue original 2 Mic Label Mono LP. Side one sounds like a typical old Riverside jazz record, but side two sounds EXCELLENT! I don’t know when I’ve heard an early Sonny Rollins record sound better. His horn is really full-bodied and dynamic and has amazing IMMEDIACY on some tracks. It makes side one sound sick in comparison.

The surfaces for old jazz records are always the problem. This one plays M– to EX++ and has some groove damage in the inner grooves — nothing too serious, but it’s definitely there. We played all the marks and only a few of them repeat, and not for long. I’ve never seen a clean quiet copy of a record like this in my life. I’m sure they exist, but I don’t come across them, at any price.  (more…)

Sarah Vaughan – In a Romantic Mood

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  • Sarah Vaughan’s superb In a Romantic Mood album from 1957 finally debuts on the site, and what a copy it is, taking top honors for side two and earning our coveted Triple Plus (A+++) grade
  • No other copy could touch this original Black Label Mono Mercury pressing for warmth, richness, and, most especially, vocal intimacy and in-the-room presence
  • If all you know are the Classic Records and Speakers Corner Heavy Vinyl reissues, our Shootout Winner here should be a sonic treat you have simply never experiences before
  • An original Mercury pressing that has no audible marks and plays as quietly as this one does is a rare find indeed – it seems to be the quietest copy from our shootout, and even better, no other copy earned higher grades

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Milstein Miniatures – Milstein / Pommers

More Violin Recordings

  • With two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, this copy is guaranteed to sound better than any vintage pressing of violin pieces you’ve heard, and it plays as quietly as any copy ever will (and far better than most)
  • We are big fans of Nathan Milstein here at Better Records and it’s records like this that justify our enthusiasm
  • Works for violin and piano by Chopin, Vivaldi, Smetana, Brahms, Stravinsky and others – and each is played with the feeling and skill as would be expected from one of the greatest performers of his generation
  • The appeal for the casual listener may not warrant the expense, but those who seek out these kinds of vintage ’50s pressings should find much to like here

A wonderful batch of short violin pieces with piano accompaniment: Previously we had written: (more…)

Frank Sinatra – Love Is A Kick

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More Vintage Columbia Pressings

  • Sinatra’s swingin’ 1958 release finally arrives on the site with KILLER Triple Plus (A+++) sound of both sides of this 6 Eye mono pressing – exceptionally quiet vinyl for a vintage pressing too
  • If you’re trying recreate a solid, living, breathing Frank Sinatra singing right there in your listening room, these Hot Stamper sides will let you do that in a way that nothing else can
  • 4 stars: “All of the cuts are archetypal Sinatra, parading his perfect pitch, phrasing, and timing, and is further evidence of his ability to make virtually anything he sang sound extraordinary, as if any additional evidence were needed.”

This vintage Columbia Six-Eye Stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely begin to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back. (more…)

Elvis Presley – Elvis

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  • Presley’s sophomore release makes its Hot Stamper debut with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish and exceptionally quiet vinyl for an Elvis album from 1956 (!)
  • This is by far the cleanest copy of an early Elvis record we have ever come across, and it sounded pretty darn right to us, although we can’t say we’ve played all that many copies – where on earth would you find them?
  • Features loads of quintessential Elvis hits, including Love Me, Old Shep, When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again, and many more
  • 5 stars: “… a more confident and bolder work than his debut, and in any other artist’s output it would have been considered a crowning achievement.”

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