1956-must-own-non-classical

Julie London Is a Knockout on Lonely Girl

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  • Lonely Girl returns to the site on this original Liberty Turquoise Mono pressing with INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish
  • The vinyl is fairly quiet for Liberty in 1956, with only one minor pressing bubble to mar this otherwise well-cared-for copy
  • Julie is in the room with you – her voice is intimate, breathy and Tubey Magical like practically nothing you’ve ever heard
  • For late night listening, this is surely one of the best Sultry Female Vocal recordings ever made – you won’t believe how real the sound is
  • Our last shootout was two and a half years ago, which should tell you just how easy it is to find early pressings in audiophile playing condition, let alone copies capable of winning shootouts
  • 4 stars: “Lone guitarist Al Viola plays gentle Spanish-tinged acoustic behind the hushed vocalist, and it suits London perfectly. While the singer was often chided for her beauty and lack of range, she deftly navigates these ballads without any rhythmic underpinnings to fall back on. London’s intense focus on phrasing and lyrics recalls Chet Baker’s equally telescopic approach.”
  • If you’re a fan of Miss London’s, or vintage Pop and Jazz Vocals in general, this 1956 release belongs in your collection

After hearing this amazing copy in our shootout we felt that it might be a bit too noisy to list, but another scrub cleaned it up nicely and now it’s about typical for an exceptionally clean copy of the album. No marks play — the noise one hears is mostly just the vinyl of the day.

I bought this very record in 1998. It took me close to twenty years to be able to clean it and play it right! (more…)

Chet Baker and Art Pepper / Playboys

More Chet Baker

More Art Pepper

  • An outstanding Boplicity reissue that boasts dynamic and lively West Coast Jazz sound from start to finish – it earned Double Plus (A++) grades and plays on exceptionally quiet vinyl to boot
  • Both of these sides have close to the best condition grade we give out, Mint Minus – there may not be another record on the site with vinyl that quiet!
  • The label may say stereo, but the sound on both of these sides is pure, glorious 1958 Tube-recorded MONO
  • Bigger and more present and energetic than most of the other copies we played, the horns sound fuller and have more space to play into – it’s the Tubey Magical classic 50s jazz sound, the only sound that ever works for this kind of music in our experience
  • This album was reissued with a different title in 1961 as Picture of Heath — we’ve played both the original and the Pure Pleasure Heavy Vinyl reissue from 2006
  • 4 stars: “These thoroughly enjoyable and often high-energy sides are perfect for bop connoisseurs as well as mainstream jazz listeners.”

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