1972

Lou Reed – Transformer

More Rock Classics

  • This copy of Lou’s Rock Masterpiece boasts solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER from top to bottom – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • A superb pressing that is guaranteed to blow your mind – there is practically no chance that you have ever heard this album sound this good, especially if you have an original import or domestic pressing
  • A side one this good means “Walk on the Wild Side” is a Demo Quality track that will have your audiophile friends turning green with envy
  • Our vintage British import Hot Stamper pressing here showed us just how Tubey Magical the midrange of the album could be – thanks, Ken Scott!
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… Bowie and Ronson gave their hero a new lease on life – and a solid album in the bargain.”
  • Transformer is his Masterpiece, a Core Collection title, and possibly a case of One and Done since it’s the only Lou Reed album we sell. (You, of course, may feel differently.)

Transformer is an absolute tour de force of 70s Glam Rock / Classic Rock / Alternative Rock. You’ve got Lou Reed teamed up with David Bowie (in the producer’s chair), Mick Ronson, Herbie Flowers and Klaus Voorman, and on top of that the album was recorded at Trident and mixed by the great Ken Scott.

Throw in the fact that this is the best set of post-Velvets material Lou would ever write and it is a recipe for success. There are so many good songs on here I won’t bother to list them one by one. Satellite Of Love is especially good though, if you ask me. If you agree, and you’ve never heard the VU demo version, make sure to seek it out. It’s completely different and good fun.

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Carmen McRae – The Great American Songbook

More Pop and Jazz Vocal Albums

  • A killer pressing of Carmen McRae’s superb live double album from 1972 with Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades or close to them on all FOUR sides – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • Everything sounds immediate and unprocessed – this is the kind of natural, analog sound, that puts a living, breathing Carmen McRae right between your speakers
  • Recorded at Donte’s Jazz Club right here in Los Angeles, the lively banter between songs reveals the lady’s charm and wit
  • We may never do this shootout again — our two best sounding copies were too noisy to sell, and it’s hard to justify playing a pile of copies of a double album only to find out that the best pressings are a bust
  • 5 stars: “Joined by pianist Rowles, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Chuck Domanico, and drummer Chuck Flores, McRae had what was at the time a rare opportunity to record a live, spontaneous, jazz-oriented set. She sounds quite enthusiastic about both her accompaniment and the strong repertoire…'”

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Neil Young – Harvest

More of the Music of Neil Young

  • This vintage Reprise pressing was giving us the sound we were looking for on Neil’s undeniable classic, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • It’s practically impossible to find an early pressing with sound this good and vinyl that plays as quietly as this
  • I don’t know how many early pressings (which are the only ones that ever sound any good) we would have to play in order to find one this quiet, but my guess is 15 or 20, and that’s probably a conservative estimate
  • A Top 100 album and a sublime recording no audiophile should be without
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…the love songs and the harrowing portrait of a friend’s descent into heroin addiction, ‘The Needle and the Damage Done,’ remain among Young’s most affecting and memorable songs.”
  • If you’re a Neil Young fan, and what audiophile wouldn’t be?, this title from 1972 is clearly a Must Own
  • Harvest is one of the titles that helped us dramatically improve our playback over the course of many years

When you have this kind of open, extended top end, the grit, grain and edge just disappear, leaving you with a clear, Tubey Magical sound that’s way beyond anything you have ever heard for Harvest (or we will happily give you your money back).

Tubey Magical acoustic guitar reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. Simply phenomenal amounts of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings).

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Joni Mitchell – For The Roses

More of the Music of Joni Mitchell

  • With stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on both sides, this early White Label Asylum pressing is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • The sound is rich, warm and natural, with wonderful immediacy to Joni’s vocals and Tubey Magic for days – this is the amazing sound of Asylum in the Seventies, a subject nobody seems to talk about but us
  • One of the best sounding Joni records, on a par with Court and Spark and Blue – fine company indeed
  • 4 1/2 stars: “The lyrics here are among Mitchell’s best, continuing in the vein of gripping honesty and heartfelt depth exhibited on Blue…. More than a bridge between great albums, this excellent disc is a top-notch listen in its own right.”

This copy has real energy and dynamics that just could not be heard on most of the pressings we played. With dynamics and the warmth and richness found here, this copy will be hard to beat.

Listen to how huge the piano is. No two copies will show you the same piano, which makes it a great test for sound. Both sides have clear, present, breathy vocals, about as good as Joni can sound on vinyl, which is saying a lot.

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Dave Mason – Headkeeper

More of the Music of Dave Mason

  • An early Blue Thumb pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) grades on both sides – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • Some of the best sound Dave Mason ever managed, so let’s give credit where credit is due: to the amazing engineer Al Schmitt
  • If you’re a Dave Mason fan, this is one of the better albums he’s put out and it deserves a place in your collection
  • “The spare, acoustic solo performance of ‘Can’t Stop Worrying, Can’t Stop Loving’ heard here, for example, makes the undistinguished full-band studio version instantly obsolete. And the live version of ‘World In Changes’ is one of the best pieces of early 70s rock, period.”

This is some of the best sound Dave Mason ever managed, so let’s give credit where credit is due, to the amazing Al Schmitt. He recorded and mixed this album and he sure knocked it out of the park.

We know his work well; he happens to have engineered many albums with superb sound: Aja, Hatari, Breezin’, Late for the Sky, Toto IV – the guy’s won 13 Grammies, which ought to tell you something.

Side one of the album is recorded in the studio, side two live from the Troubador. Many of the songs on side one would be recorded again by Mason, and not as well in most cases. Mastered at Artisan (where Kevin Gray got his start, what the hell happened to that guy?) by none other than the owner, Bob MacLeod, this record got the A Team treatment from start to finish. (more…)

Seals & Crofts – Summer Breeze

More Folk Rock


  • A superb copy of Summer Breeze with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • With an abundance of Tubey Magical richness in the midrange – the kind that was still abundant on analog tape in 1972 – this is a wonderful sounding album of folk pop
  • It has taken us years to find the right stampers for this album, and now here they are on the Green Label original in all their glory
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Summer Breeze offered an unusually ambitious array of music within a soft rock context – most artists tried to avoid weighty subjects in such surroundings… the most highly regarded of all of Seals & Crofts’ albums.” (more…)

Chuck Berry – The London Chuck Berry Sessions

More Live Recordings of Interest

  • This original pressing boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound or close to it from start to finish, and plays about as reasonably quiet as any copy ever will, Chess vinyl being what it is
  • Side two is rich, full-bodied and Tubey Magical with a lovely musical quality that was missing from most other copies we played, and one is not far behind in all those areas
  • “This 1972 release is Chuck Berry’s bestselling album in nearly 50 years of hot-wax work. Buoyed by the playfully lewd No. 1 hit single ‘My Ding-A-Ling,’ one of three live recordings here, the success of these sessions marked a comeback for the mercurial Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immortal…” – Alan Greenberg

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Taj Mahal – Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff

More Soul, Blues and R&B

  • Taj’s 1972 release appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with a STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side two mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side one
  • The sound is huge – big, wide, deep, and open, with a punchy bottom end and rhythmic energy to spare, as well as cleaner, smoother, sweeter upper mids and a more extended top
  • “The first side features laidback in-the-studio work with some nice gospel-inflected back-up from the Pointer Sisters. The second… side offers a good look at Mahal’s stage show.”

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James Taylor / One Man Dog – A Personal Favorite and Forgotten Gem

More of the Music of James Taylor

  • This early Green Label pressing boasts STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from start to finish – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • Big, rich and solid on both sides, with a more relaxed, musical quality, as well as the clarity that was missing from most other copies we played
  • The sound of the best pressings is raw, real and exceptionally unprocessed
  • There is not a false note to be found on side one: it’s brilliant from start to finish, and side two is almost as good – we love the Abbey Road-like medley that makes up most of it
  • “Taylor turns in his best singing performance, running through the songs with fire, force, and enthusiasm…” – Rolling Stone
  • If you’re a fan of old JT, this overlooked title from 1972 surely belongs in your collection

Play Chili Dog here, one of our favorite tracks, and note not only the clarity and spaciousness, but the PUNCH and LIFE of the music. This song is supposed to be fun. The average lifeless and dull copy only hints at that fact.

Then skip on down to the hit at the end of the side, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, another favorite track for testing. There’s a lot of bass in the mix on this track, but the best copies keep it under control. When it gets loose and starts blurring the midrange, the vocals and guitars seem “blocked”. The best copies let you hear all that meaty bass, as well as into the midrange.

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Flack / Hathaway – Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

More of the Music of Roberta Flack

  • Boasting two STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them, we guarantee you’ve never heard Roberta and Donny’s 1972 collaboration sound remotely as good as it does on this vintage copy
  • There’s Tubey Magic, sweetness and spaciousness all over this recording
  • One of our favorite duet albums, Flack and the woefully underrated Soul Man Donny Hathaway are in top form here
  • 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 stars: “A duet classic, and perhaps the most popular album Roberta Flack made. ‘Where Is the Love’ dominated urban contemporary radio for almost the entire year, while ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ was just as influential…”

These soulful duets sound wonderful. The best sides are big, bold, open and transparent with a huge three-dimensional soundfield, strong presence, good rhythmic energy, and wonderfully dynamic leads and choruses. (more…)