1958

Leroy Anderson – Music of Leroy Anderson, Vol. 2 / Fennell

More Mercury Label Recordings

  • Music of Leroy Anderson, Vol. 2 debuts on the site with solid Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides of this original Plum Label Mercury stereo pressing
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This spectacular recording is big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic – here is the Mercury sound we love
  • Mercury recordings often struggled in the area of string reproduction, but here the rich, textured sheen sounds glorious – tonally correct and, above all, natural

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John Coltrane – Coltrane (aka Soultrane and Traneing In)

More of the Music of John Coltrane

  • This wonderful compilation double album (only the second copy to hit the site in close to three years) boasts incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) MONO sound on all FOUR sides, just shy of our Shootout Winner – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • These two discs comprise two complete albums, John Coltrane with The Red Garland Trio (aka Traneing In), and Soultrane, both released in 1958
  • Yes, there was a time when two top Coltrane titles boasting the highest quality mastering available could be had at a bargain price, and, if you know anything about records, you know that that time has long since passed
  • Tubier, more transparent, more dynamic, with plenty of that “jumpin’ out of the speakers” quality that only The Real Thing (an old record) ever has – thanks RVG!
  • 4 stars: “The absence of any unessential instrumentalists encourages a decidedly concerted focus from Coltrane, who plays with equal measures of confidence and freedom.”
  • 1958 just happens to be one of the truly great years for analog recordings, as evidenced by this amazing group of albums, all recorded or released that year.

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Schubert – The Trout Quintet / Curzon / Vienna Octet

More of the Music of Franz Schubert

  • Boasting two seriously good Double Plus (A++) sides, this vintage Ace of Diamonds pressing is doing just about everything right
  • It’s simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more REAL than most of what we played – this is music you cannot help but be drawn into
  • The 1958 master tape has been transferred brilliantly using “modern” cutting equipment (from 1968, not the low-rez junk they’re forced to make do with these days), giving you, the listener, sound and surfaces that are hard to fault
  • When you hear how good this record sounds, you may have a hard time believing that it’s a budget reissue from 1968, but that’s precisely what it is.
  • Some budget reissues are so good, they can actually win shootouts

The cello does not have that “fat” sound some audiophiles seem to like – Decca knew more about recording chamber music in 1958 than practically all the audiophile labels that would come along later, the ones that managed to make a mess of the very idea of audiophile quality sound (you know who I mean)

The piano and the strings have that Golden Age Tubey Magical sound we love. It’s been years since I’ve had the opportunity to play this record; most copies are just too beat up to bother with, so I was glad to find a number in minty condition.

Now what I hear in this recording is sound that is absolutely free from any top end boost, much the way live music is. There’s plenty of tape hiss and air; the highs aren’t rolled off, they’re just not boosted the way they often are in a recording.

A few years back I had a chance to see a piano trio perform locally; they even played a piece by Schubert. The one thing I noticed immediately during their live performance was how smooth and natural the top end was. I was no more than ten feet from the performers in a fairly reverberant room, and yet the sound I heard was the opposite of what passes in some circles for Hi-Fidelity.

This is the opposite of those echo-drenched recordings that some audiophiles seem to like, with microphones placed twenty feet away from the performers so that they are awash in “ambience.” If you know anything about us, you know that this is not our sound.

I have never heard live music sound like that and that should settle the question. It does in my mind anyway. The Chesky label (just to choose one awful audiophile label to pick on) is a joke and always will be. How anyone buys into that phony sound is beyond me, but any audio show will prove to you that there is no shortage of audiophiles who love the Chesky “sound,” and probably never will be.

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Ted Heath – Hits I Missed

More Large Group Jazz Recordings

  • Hits I Missed appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) grades from start to finish
  • Both of these sides are huge, rich, weighty and dynamic like few records you have ever heard – it sets the Gold Standard for Tubey Magical Big Band sound
  • This pressing is bigger, bolder and richer, as well as more clean, clear and open than most other copies we played in our recent shootout

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Ravel / Debussy – Ma Mère L’Oye (Mother Goose Suite) / Nocturnes / Ansermet

More of the Music of Ravel / More of the Music of Debussy

  • Here is an original London pressing (CS 6023) of Ansermet and the Suisse Romande’s lively performance of these wonderful works with a spacious, textured and Tubey Magical Shootout Winning Triple (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This spectacular Demo Disc recording is big, clear, dynamic, transparent and energetic – here you will find some of the best orchestral Hot Stamper sound we offer
  • The sonics here have the power to transport you completely, with solid imaging and a real sense of space, qualities that allow us to forget we are in our listening rooms and not in the concert hall
  • There are some bad marks (as is sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings) on the first movement of Debussy’s Nocturnes – “Nuages,” but once you hear just how incredible sounding this copy is, you might be inclined, as we were, to stop counting ticks and just be swept away by the music

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Fiesta in Hi-Fi / Hanson

More TAS List Super Discs

  • This original Stereo Mercury pressing boasts two solid Double Plus (A++) or BETTER sides
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, with no marks that play or issues with the inner grooves
  • We owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for championing records such as this one – who is fit to carry his mantle today? (Besides us, of course!)
  • “…this musical merriment is brought bubbling forth by gregarious conductor Howard Hanson and his merry band, the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, which sounds like it had fun making this music.” – SoundStage Review
  • 1958 just happens to be one of the truly great years for analog recordings, as evidenced by this amazing group of albums, all recorded or released in that year.

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Michel Legrand – Legrand Jazz

More Large Group Jazz Recordings

  • This original 6-Eye Stereo pressing was doing just about everything right, earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades from start to finish
  • Both of these sides are open and spacious with real depth to the soundfield and lots of separation between the various instruments, a very important quality for a recording of a large ensemble recording such as this
  • Rich, solid bass; you-are-there immediacy; energy and drive; instruments that are positively jumping out of the speakers – add it all up and you can see that this copy had the sound we were looking for
  • Legrand rounded up 31 of the greatest jazz players of the 50s, divided them up into three groups, and the result was a landmark 30th Street Studio recording with audiophile sound to die for
  • We’re talking jazz giants: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Ben Webster, Herbie Mann, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Phil Woods — everybody who was anybody is on this record
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Throughout this superlative album, the arrangements are colorful and unusual, making one wish that Legrand had recorded more jazz albums through the years.”
  • Robert Brook recently played the “award winning” Impex 45 RPM pressing from 2019 (as did we) and wants to know what you think of the sound

This album is more common in mono than stereo, but we found the sound of the mono pressing we played seriously wanting. It’s dramatically smaller and more squawky and crude than even the worst of the stereo pressings we played.

We had a copy we liked years ago, but that was years ago. We don’t have that copy anymore and we don’t have a stereo that sounds the way our old one did either.

The unique voices of each of the jazz giants featured on this landmark recording contributes memorable solos then receeds into the group to provide the structure for the rest of the music. Which is an awkward way of saying everybody does his thing in service to the song and then gets out of the way. “The Jitterbug Waltz,” which opens up side one, is a perfect example: the arrangement is completely original, and within its structure, Miles Davis, Phil Woods, John Coltrane and others solo beautifully, each taking a turn at the melody. If three minutes into this song you don’t like what you’re hearing, jazz is just not for you.

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Various Artists / Witches’ Brew

More of the Music of Modest Mussorgsky

  • This original Shaded Dog pressing of the New Symphony Orchestra of London’s performance of these classical warhorses boasts seriously good Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound from first first note to last
  • If the price seems high, keep in mind that the top copy from our most recent shootout went for almost $3000(!)
  • A quick look at the cost of used copies on eBay or Discogs should tell you all you need to know about how impossibly tough it is to get this shootout going these days – we may not do it again for a very long time!
  • These TAS-approved sides are doing just about everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • The rich, textured sheen of the strings that Living Stereo made possible in the 50s and early 60s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience, because that sound just does not exist on modern records
  • We have written extensively about this recording and went into some depth about the Classic Records repress of it, which you can find linked here and here.

Demonstration Quality Sound, of a sort. As I’ve said elsewhere on the site, this is not my idea of natural tonality. It’s not trying to be a realistic recreation of music performed in the concert hall. It’s a blockbuster to be impressive when played on an audio system in your home. On that level is succeeds.

The excerpt on side 1 from Pictures at an Exhibition and the complete A Night on Bare Mountain are both played with a kind of energy and attention to detail that allows these pieces to come alive right in your living room.

The entire side 2 is outstanding from start to finish.

Only the Arnold piece on this record is not particularly inspiring, although it does have excellent sound.

All in all, an amazing group of warhorses given a fresh reading by Alexander Gibson and the New Symphony Orchestra of London.

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Ravel / Rachmaninoff – The Reiner Sound

More of the Music of Maurice Ravel

More of the Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • With big, bold, dynamic Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound or close to it throughout, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this original Shaded Dog pressing
  • It’s also remarkably quiet at high end of Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • Side one is doing just about everything right – it’s rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and has depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard, and side two is not far behind in all those areas
  • True, side two earned a minimal Hot Stamper grade of 1.5+, but we still guarantee that it will beat the pants off any Heavy Vinyl reissue, because every one of those that we played was ridiculously opaque, muddy and thick enough to have us crying “uncle” after five minutes
  • This record will have you asking why so few Living Stereo pressings actually do what this one does (particularly on side one). The more critical listeners among you will recognize that this is a very special copy indeed (also particularly on side one). Everyone else will just enjoy the hell out of it.
  • Contains two works by Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole and Pavan for a Dead Princess, as well as Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead

This former TAS list record really surprised us on two counts.

First, you will not believe how dynamic the recording is. Of all the classical recordings we’ve played lately, I would have to say this is the most dynamic of them all.

The explosively loud sections of these wonderful works, with their huge orchestral effects, are dynamic contrasts that are clearly part of the composer’s intentions but ones that rarely make it from the concert hall to vinyl disc the way they do here.

Second, there is simply an amazing amount of top end on this record. Rarely do we hear Golden Age recordings with this kind of energy and extension up top. Again, it has to be some of the best we have heard recently.

(This is, of course, one of the reasons the Classic reissue is such a disaster. With all that top end energy, Bernie’s gritty cutting system and penchant for boosted upper midrange frequencies positively guarantees that the Classic Reiner Sound will be all but unplayable on a tonally correct system. Boosting the bass and highs and adding transistory harshness is the last thing in the world that The Reiner Sound needs.)

Unlike many bien-pensant audiophiles who buy into HP’s classical choices, I am not the biggest Reiner fan. On these works, though, I would have to say the performances are top drawer, some of the best I have ever heard. The amount of energy he manages to coax from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is nothing less than breathtaking.

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Harry Belafonte / Sings The Blues

 More Living Stereo Recordings

  • Here is a vintage pressing of Sings the Blues with seriously good Double Plus (A++) grades from top to bottom
  • So hugely spacious and three-dimensional, yet with a tonally correct and natural sounding Harry, this is the way to hear it
  • Lively, balanced and vibrant, with a healthy dose of the Tubey Magical Living Stereo richness these recordings need to sound the way they should
  • This is yet another title that has taken us more than ten years to do and believe us when we tell you they usually don’t come as quiet as this
  • “Belafonte nails every song on the album … his version of ‘Cotton Fields’ is as good as there is and his ‘God Bless the Child’ is outstanding”

If you’re looking to demonstrate just how good 1958 All Tube Analog sound can be, this killer copy may be just the record for you.

Naturally the vocals have to be the main focus on a Harry Belafonte record. He should sound rich and tubey, yet clear, breathy and transparent.

To qualify as a Hot Stamper the pressings we offer must be highly resolving, not crude and ambience-challenged the way so many modern LPs seem to be.

You should be able to hear every element of the recording, with the voice and instruments surrounded by the natural space of the studios in which the recording was made.

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