1962-best

Tchaikovsky / Strauss – Romeo & Juliet / Till Eulenspiegel / Munch

More of the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

More of the music of Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

  • Wonderful Living Stereo sound throughout this original Shaded Dog pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them
  • Hard to find them quiet, though – for whatever reason, this title was rarely if ever pressed on quiet vinyl
  • Our favorite performance of the Tchaikovsky — when you hear it played by the BSO, guided by the baton of the supremely talented Charles Munch, you know you are hearing the work performed with the greatest skill and interpreted as authentically as is humanly possible
  • Spacious, rich and smooth (particularly on side two) – only vintage analog seems capable of reproducing all three of these qualities without sacrificing resolution, staging, imaging or presence
  • Our White Hot Shootout Winner was simply amazing sounding — some of the best orchestral sound we have heard lately, especially audible in exceptionally breathy flutes and sweet strings
  • It was a quite a step up in sound quality over even the closest contender, which just goes to show how hard it is to come across these very special pressings no matter how many Shaded Dogs you play

A Must Own Record

This is a recording that belongs in any serious Classical Music Collection. Others that belong in that category can be found here.

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Sonny Rollins – The Bridge
  • Seriously good Living Stereo sound throughout this 70s reissue pressing, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades
  • It took us close to ten years to track down enough originals as well as the right reissues — so many to choose from, and so many of them just awful sounding — to get our most recent shootout going
  • Both of these sides are remarkably clean and clear with wonderful size, clarity and transparency, with real texture to the instruments and an abundance of energy
  • Of all the reissues we played, this one sounded the best, which came as a (costly) surprise
  • The sax sounds right, and played loud enough it’s almost as if you’re hearing the real instrument and not just a recording of one
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The interplay between Rollins and [guitarist Jim] Hall is consistently impressive, making this a near-classic and a very successful comeback.”

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Sonny Rollins – The Bridge
  • An original pressing of the The Bridge debuts on the site, here with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Demo Disc Living Stereo sound throughout
  • It has taken us close to ten years to track down enough orginals (and reissues) to get this shootout going, and the very high price of this copy reflects the work that went into finding it
  • Although the best originals will always win our shootouts, the early reissues from 1975 with the later cover can sound quite good – ten years ago those were the ones that won our shootout, but now we know better
  • Here’s just one of the things we had to say about this killer copy in our notes: “Tubey and sweet and silk all over. Perfect.”
  • The sax sounds just right, and played loud enough it’s almost as if you’re hearing the real instrument and not just a recording of it
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The interplay between Rollins and [guitarist Jim] Hall is consistently impressive, making this a near-classic and a very successful comeback.”

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Chet Atkins – Caribbean Guitar

More Chet Atkins

More Recordings in Living Stereo

  • You’ll find superb Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides of this famous TAS Super Disc RCA Living Stereo LP
  • Plays fairly quiet too – about as quiet as these RCA pressings from the early 60s ever will
  • If you have ever heard one of our luscious Living Stereo Chet Atkins records, you know what to expect – off the charts Tubey Magic unlike anything made in the last fifty years, or more!
  • Engineer Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording – everything the guy touches is gold
  • If you’re a fan of the smooth guitar stylings of Mr. Atkins, this is a classic from 1962 that belongs in your collection.

This is one of Chet Atkins’ best albums. Sonically, it’s right up there with The Other Chet Atkins and the Hollywood album. It seems like Bill Porter just doesn’t know how not to make an amazing sounding Living Stereo recording. He knocked this out of the park.

I suppose we owe a debt of gratitude to Harry Pearson for pointing out to us with his TAS List what a great record this is, although I’m pretty sure anybody playing this album can tell after a minute or two that it’s in that very special class of great recordings.

This album is a little more lively than some of his other recordings, which can be criticized for being a little too laid back. For example, try side 2, cut 2 where Chet actually jams.

The last track on side 2 where Chet is joined by a trumpet player is my favorite on the album. That guitar-trumpet combination is pretty magical on that song. And you’ve got to love the kind of sound Bill Porter get from a trumpet. That’s the kind of sound we audiophiles drool over. I do anyway.

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Phineas Newborn, Jr. – A World of Piano!

More Phineas Newborn, Jr.

More Contemporary Label Jazz Recordings

  • One of the most musically impressive jazz piano recordings we’ve played in years – Newborn’s improvisational skills are operating at a very high level
  • The team of Roy DuNann and Howard Holzer insure that everything you want in an Audiophile Quality piano trio recording is here
  • If you don’t have any Phineas Newborn albums in your collection, this is definitely the place to start
  • 5 stars: “Phineas Newborn’s Contemporary debut (he would record six albums over a 15-year period for the label) was made just before physical problems began to interrupt his career…. He performs five jazz standards and three obscurities by jazz composers on this superb recital…”

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Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 1 / Curzon

More of the Music of Johannes Brahms

  • Incredible sound throughout this early London pressing of Curzon and the LSO’s dynamic performance, with a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (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
  • Both sides boast full brass and an especially clear, solid, present piano, one with practically no trace of smear — the right combination of richness and clarity is what allows the best pressings of this album to sound like live music
  • With huge amounts of hall space, weight and energy, this is a Demo Disc by any standard
  • Some old record collectors (like me) say classical recording quality ain’t what it used to be – here’s all the proof anyone with two working ears and top quality audiophile equipment would need to make that case
  • Speakers Corner did a creditable job remastering the record back in the early days of Heavy Vinyl, but one thing you can be sure of: theirs won’t hold a candle to the Hot Stamper pressings we are offering

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Bruch / Vieuxtemps – Scottish Fantasy / Concerto No. 5 / Heifetz

More Classical Recordings Featuring the Violin

  • Boasting two Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) Living Stereo sides, this early Shaded Dog pressing of these wonderful Romantic works could not be beat
  • The Heifetz Scottish Fantasy on side two is our favorite and contains the best sound we know for the work
  • The orchestral passages are rich and sweet, the violin present, all of its harmonics gloriously intact
  • As usual for a Living Stereo Heifetz violin recording, he is front and center, with every movement of his bow reproduced clearly, without being hyped-up in the least
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • We will have some Super Hots coming soon for those of you looking for quieter vinyl

If you want to demonstrate the magic of Living Stereo recordings, jump right to the second movement of the Bruch. The sonority of the massed strings is to die for. When Heifetz enters, the immediacy of his violin further adds to the transcendental quality of the experience. Sonically and musically it doesn’t get much better than this, on Living Stereo or anywhere else.

The violin is captured beautifully on side two. More importantly, there is a lovely lyricism in Heifetz’s playing which suits Bruch’s Romantic work perfectly. I know of no better performance.

The Bruch brings to mind some of Tchaikovsky’s works. It’s so sweet and melodic, it completely draws you into its world of sound. This is a work of unsurpassed beauty, music that belongs in any serious classical collection.

The performance of the Vieuxtemps Concerto No. 5 is also wonderful, and the Romantic music is even better than I remember it from our last shootout.

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Herbie Mann – Live At The Village Gate

  • A vintage Atlantic stereo pressing of what is probably the most well known album Herbie Mann ever made, here with two superb Double Plus (A++) sides
  • One of the better flute jazz albums we’ve heard, both in terms of sonics and music
  • Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • 4 1/2 stars: “In addition to ‘Comin’ Home Baby,’ Mann and his men perform memorable versions of ‘Summertime’ and ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’; the latter is 20 minutes long. Recommended.”
  • It’s hard to imagine that any list of the Best Jazz Albums of 1962 would not have this record on it

We’ve been trying to track down top pressings of this one for ages, but they are tough to come by and often noisy.

Both sides really shine with a meaty bottom end, lots of energy, an extended top and wonderful transparency. The soundstage is big and open with lots of depth, giving room to all the various players and their instruments.

Would you believe a song from this album was sampled and turned into a big hit in the ’90s? The great version of Gershwin’s Summertime on side one provided the backbone for the band Sublime’s 1997 single Doin’ Time. Maybe not of much interest to most of us baby boomer audiophiles, but the younger guys around here all had a good laugh when they recognized the break. Maybe your kids will too? (more…)

Prokofiev & Rachmaninoff / Piano Concertos / Janis / Kondrashin

More of the music of Sergei Prokofiev

More of the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • This pressing has White Hot Stamper (A+++) sound on side one – sound that must be experienced to be believed! – backed with stunning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the second side – exceptionally quiet vinyl too 
  • The finest recordings of the Prokofiev No. 3 and Rachmaninoff No. 1 – these performances by Janis are legendary, and with phenomenal sonics such as these, the combination of sound and performance here is virtually unmatched in our experience
  • So big, so, rich, so transparent, so dynamic and full of life, we guarantee you have never heard a better piano concerto record in your life
  • This is one of the two Must Own Mercury piano concerto recordings, the other being SR 90283, which often suffers from inner groove distortion — not to worry, as a matter of grading policy, we check the inner grooves of every record we offer on the site
  • For a more complete list, the highest quality recordings of piano concertos that we’ve auditioned to date can be found here
  • To see more of the best orchestral recordings with top quality sound we know of, click here

This is a superb early Mercury Plum label stereo pressing of two of Byron Janis’s most famous performances (along with the Rachmaninoff 3rd, which is every bit as good). It’s a longtime member of the TAS Super Disc list.

The recording is explosively dynamic and on this copy, the sound was positively jumping out of the speakers. In addition, the brass and strings are full-bodied and rich, with practically no stridency, an unusual feat the Mercury engineers seem to have accomplished while in Russia.

Big, rich sound can sometimes present problems for piano recordings. You want to hear the percussive qualities of the instrument, but few copies pull off that trick without sounding thin. This one showed us a piano that was both clear and full-bodied.

With huge amounts of hall space, weight and energy, this is Demo Disc Quality sound by any standard. Once the needle has dropped you will quickly forget about the sound and simply find yourself in the presence of some of the greatest musicians of their generation captured on some of the greatest analog recordings of all time.

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Peggy Lee – Sugar ‘N’ Spice

More Peggy Lee

  • An excellent copy of Sugar ‘N’ Spice with Double Plus (A++) sound throughout
  • So hugely spacious and three-dimensional, yet with a tonally correct and natural sounding Peggy, this is the way to hear it
  • This ’60s LP has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern pressings barely BEGIN to reproduce
  • Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back
  • “Peggy Lee is in fine voice throughout this jazz-flavored set, backed by ensembles arranged by Benny Carter, Billy Byers, Billy May, and Shorty Rogers. One of [her] better recordings from the early ’60s.”
  • “Peggy is in fine voice and brings her sweet feminine tones to her ballads and her salty, seductive sounds to the more uptempo material.”
  • If you’re a fan of Miss Lee,  or vintage pop and jazz vocals in general, this album from the Golden Age of 1962 is surely one that belongs in your collection. (As one reviewer noted below, ignore the bad wig and lousy cover art.)

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