1960-must-own-other

Louis and the All Stars – The Best of Louis Armstrong

More Pop and Jazz Vocals

  • A superb sounding copy with solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish
  • Both sides here are incredibly clean, clear, full-bodied and lively with lots of space around all of the players 
  • “The sextet, including veterans Peanuts Hucko on clarinet and Trummy Young on trombone, relaxes into a perfect New Orleans groove, allowing Armstrong to stretch out to especially good effect on the haunting dirge “St. James Infirmary” “

This vintage Audio Fidelity pressing 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. (more…)

Peggy Lee – Latin ala Lee!

More of the Music of Miss Peggy Lee

  • Excellent sound throughout this vintage Capitol Stereo pressing of Lee’s 1960 release, with both sides earning Double Plus (A++) grades
  • Everything that’s good about All Tube Vocal Recordings from the 50s and 60s is precisely what’s good about the sound of this record
  • “The rhythms are not only authentically Afro-Cuban, but surprisingly strong and rarely watered down. The rest of the arrangements, though breezy and pop-slanted, support Lee’s vocals perfectly.”

Heavy Vinyl

When the S&P pressing came out, I was knocked out by the sound. Here is what I wrote in my catalog at the time:

The Record of the Year for 2003. I know how crazy that sounds, but it’s true! If you don’t have a smile on your face fifteen seconds after playing track one, you better check your pulse, cuz, as the famous song has it: Jack, You Dead. Amazingly good sound, courtesy of a fabulous and painstakingly difficult remix by the mastering guru himself, Steve Hoffman. This is popular music for the previous generation — but why should we be denied these long forgotten treasures?

Now I would be much more likely to find fault in the sound of that pressing. I’m sure it has all the shortcomings typical of this era’s records from Kevin Gray’s opaque and ambience-free cutting system.

If you want to hear a copy with all the life, presence and space of a real record, you will have a hard time doing better than this very pressing.

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Louis Armstrong – I’ve Got The World On A String

More Louis Armstrong

More Pop and Jazz Vocals

  • This superb Verve stereo pressing boasts excellent sound from the first note to the last
  • These two sides are big and rich, yet clean, clear and present, with virtually none of the midrange edginess that plagues so many copies
  • If you were buying records in the 90s, you might have picked up the Classic Records pressing, and if you did, we guarantee this Verve reissue is dramatically superior in every way
  • “Armstrong finds the essence of each tune, bending and projecting them with his patented joie de vivre and gravel-voiced warmth every time.”

I first heard this album on the wonderful Classic Records pressing from the ’90s. I remember really enjoying the music and liking the sound of Bernie Grundman’s remaster very much. We reviewed and recommended the album (along with Under the Stars) in our old paper catalogs.

I have no idea what I would think of their version these days — well, to be honest I do actually have some idea of what I would think of it — but their version is at least good enough to make the case that Russell Garcia’s orchestral arrangements and Louis Armstrong’s sublime skills interpreting The Great American Songbook are a match made in heaven.

You may have seen Russell Garcia’s name on one of the landmark recordings of the ’50s: Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s recording of Porgy and Bess for Verve in the previous year, 1959.

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