bloodchild

Hey Speakers Corner, What The Hell Were You Thinking?

Hot Stamper Pressings of Great Albums from 1968 Available Now

UPDATE 2026

We rarely have either of the first two B,S&T albums in stock, sorry.

The second album is almost impossible to find these days. Our last shootout was in 2024 and it could be years before we get another one going.

Child Is Father to the Man on Speakers Corner is an audiophile hall of shame pressing and a Heavy Vinyl disaster if there ever was one (and oh yes, there are plenty, with reviews for more than 300 on this very blog).

When this pressing of Child Is Father to the Man came out back in 2007, we auditioned one and were dumbfounded at the dismal quality of the sound. We noted:

This is the worst sounding Heavy Vinyl Reissue LP I have heard in longer than I can remember.

To make a record sound this bad you have to work at it. What the hell were they thinking?

Any audiophile record dealer that would sell you this record should be run out of town on a rail.

Of course that would never have happened, and will never happen, because every last one of them (present company excluded) will carry it, of that you can be sure.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, out comes a record like this to prove that no matter how negative you are about the quality of audiophile record production these days, things can always get worse, and they have.

Is it the worst version of the album ever made? Hard to imagine it would have much competition.

Actually it would, now that I come to think about it. The Gold CD Cisco put out in 2012 was every bit as awful.

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What to Listen For on Child Is Father to the Man

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Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Blood, Sweat and Tears Available Now

At the end of a long day of listening at loud levels to multiple copies of this album you may want to run yourself a hot bath and light some candles. If you have an isolation tank at your disposal, so much the better.

You could of course turn down the volume, but what fun is that?

This music wasn’t meant to be heard at moderate levels. Playing it that way is an insult to the musicians who worked so hard to make their music sound big and lively.

The Right Balance

Every once in a while you hear a pressing in which the right balance has been struck, and we played one years ago that clearly belonged to that group. It’s not perfect; you have to put up with a few rough patches to get the sound that serves most of the music properly. No copy will do it all; with this album the goal is to do the best you can.

When it’s working it’s fantastic. The big Al Kooper productions (I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know, My Days are Numbered, I Can’t Quit Her, Somethin’ Goin’ On) really work when they have the energy and dynamic drive to carry the emotion of the lyric.

What to Listen For

This record needs fullness; the copies that were thin, like most of the reissues, were unlistenably shrill and spitty.

Next you want the life of the music to come through, which means presence and dynamics.

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Blood, Sweat & Tears – Child is Father to the Man

More Blood, Sweat and Tears

Reviews and Commentaries for Child Is Father to the Man

  • An original 360 Stereo pressing of BS&T’s debut LP with an INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) side one mated to a solid Double Plus (A++) side two – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • This copy will show you just how big, full-bodied, lively and powerful this music can be on the right pressing
  • Not many records on this site are harder to find with top quality sound and reasonably quiet surfaces than this one
  • 5 stars: “Child Is Father to the Man is keyboard player/singer/arranger Al Kooper’s finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures… One of the great albums of the eclectic post-Sgt. Pepper era of the late 60s.”
  • If I were to make a list of my Favorite Rock and Pop Albums from 1968, this album would definitely be on it.

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Letter of the Week – “It’s mind blowing!”

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Blood, Sweat and Tears Available Now

One of our good customers had this to say about some Hot Stampers he purchased a while ago:

Hey Tom, 

I just received my shipment and played Blood Sweat and Tears – it’s mind blowing! Exquisite and pristine with no surface noise.

Absolutely worth it. 

Sujay

Sujay,

That’s great news, mind-blowing and exquisite were exactly what we were going for!

Glad to hear that this pressing justified its high price. And if you ever end up with one of our records that doesn’t sound every bit as good as we say, feel free to return for a full refund.

Best,

TP

Further Reading

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Two Reviews of Child Is Father to the Man – Fremer Vs. Better Records

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Blood, Sweat and Tears Available Now

In 2010 MF reviewed both the Sundazed and Speakers Corner Heavy Vinyl pressings of the album.

I think his review is mistaken on a number of counts, and mostly unhelpful. The commentary below will discuss his errors in more detail, in the hopes that you, dear reader, will not make the same mistakes yourself. 

He talks about his history with the album for a while, and then notes:

Anyway, the original “360 Sound” edition of this record sounds fantastic. It’s a high quality Columbia studio recording, with vivid harmonics, impressive transparency and dynamics, shimmering highs and tight extended bass. The soundstage is expansive and the images tightly presented. I’m not sure it can get much better than the original given how well-pressed Columbia records were in those days, especially if you have a clean original.

We, however, seem to hold precisely the opposite view. I quote from our review:

Why did it take us so long [to do a Hot Stamper shootout]? Let me ask you this: have you ever played this album? The average copy of this record is a sonic MESS. Even the best copies have problems.

We then go on to discuss in detail what most copies do wrong and what to listen for in order to find a copy that gets it right. (More on that later.)

Shortcomings? What Shortcomings?

Fremer continues:

There are two reissues of this. One is from Sundazed and there’s a far more expensive one from Speakers Corner…

The Speakers Corner reissue, which uses the wrong label art is pressed at Pallas and consequently it’s quieter and better finished overall. However, the Sundazed copy I got was very well finished and reasonably quiet, but not as quiet.

On the other hand the Speakers Corner version was somewhat more hyped up at the frequency extremes and cut somewhat hotter, but not objectionably so. The Sundazed sounds somewhat closer to the original overall, so for half the price, you do the math.

“Somewhat hyped up”? We liked it a whole lot less than Mr. Fremer apparently did. Early last year I gave it a big fat F for failure, writing at the time:

This is the worst sounding Heavy Vinyl Reissue LP I have heard in longer than I can remember. To make a record sound this bad you have to work at it.

What the hell were they thinking? Any audiophile record dealer that would sell you this record should be run out of town on a rail. Of course that won’t happen, because every last one of them (present company excluded) will be carrying it, of that you can be sure.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, out comes a record like this to prove that it can. I look forward to Fremer’s rave review.

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