2019 has been by far my best year as an audiophile and record collector. The improvements I’ve made to my system these past 12 months, not the least of which being the addition of my NC-1 cartridge, have it sounding bigger, sweeter and more revealing than ever. And as my system has gotten more and more revealing it’s also been getting easier and easier for me to decide whether a record I’ve just bought, or one that I’ve pulled out of that dusty section of my collection, is a winner or not.
I’ve also had some amazing luck this year landing some fantastic sounding records, many of them dug straight out of the bins and several that have been clogging up my want list for a long time. So with all this vinyl wealth and good fortune I’ve decided its time to give back a little.
Below are some of the records I’ve acquired over the past year, most with detailed info that should allow you to find your own copy should you so desire. I am focusing here on the records that I’ve found to be sonically superior copies. In most cases but not all, these copies have not won shoot outs against other copies. I’ve evaluated most of the records below based on my experience of playing many, many records, both good and bad, and knowing what a good record sounds like. If I have any question in my mind that the version I’m recommending can be improved upon I will certainly mention that below.
Happy holidays and happy hunting!
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!!
Jimi Hendrix’ Axis Bold As Love
1993 UK Reissue on Polydor; Barcode: 042284724319; Remastered by Joe Gastwir
I can’t explain why during one of the worst years for vinyl sales to date someone at Polydor broke out the orginal master tapes of what is perhaps Hendrix’ best studio album and handed them off to Joe Gastwirt so he could deliver a reissue that I would be willing to bet rivals the best of the original Track Records release. But someone did I’m very they glad they did.
It’s records like this that literally demolish the notion that only original pressings are worth the time and money of any self respecting collector. My copy, bought from a US seller after watching him drop the price several times and still making it available for offers, is absolutely stunning, with MASTER TAPE SOUND on both sides. This is a must own for any Hendrix fan who wants the experience of sitting right in the recording studio while Jimi and company lay it down live.
I recently posted this record on Instagram and one of IG friends who’d already bought the recently issued Analogue Productions version picked up one of these. He was thrilled with it and thanked me for recommendation, saying “it sounds exactly like I imagined this record should have sounded. Fantastic, warm, lively.” So as another of my IG friends would say – YOU NEED THIS!.
The Rolling Stones’ Some Girls
2nd jacket version of a Monarch pressing (faces removed); Label matrix ST-RS-784079- MO; DD / FF Sterling stampers with TJ* (Ted Jensen) mastering credit
I unearthed this one at the crate diggers hell that is my local record store. I think I paid $6 for it and it’s a pretty solid VG+/VG+ copy. It’s hard to say what really distinguishes this copy from any other early pressing other than the Monarch pressing plant designation. There are a ton of different versions out there and I suspect with this one I just got lucky.
But I knew right when I started playing it this copy was a winner. It’s got a weighty bottom end with lots of punch and wonderful transparency and high frequency extension for loads of “live in the studio” sound. It’s also got some of my favorite Stones songs including “Miss You,” “Beast of Burden” and “Shattered.”
My experience thus far is that good sounding Stones records are more the exception than the rule. This is often the case with any title that sold well and a ton of copies were pressed, which is no doubt true for an awful lot of Rolling Stones records. I’ve had good luck with Let It Bleed, but I’ve struggled to find a good copy of some others, especially Sticky Fingers which Tom Port always mentions as one of the best if not THE BEST recorded Stones album.
I have yet to hear a copy of Sticky that even hints at that distinction, so it seems I’ll just have to keep looking. But it appears I’ve found a gem copy of Some Girls. If you’ve been looking for a knock your socks off copy of this record and you’ve started to wonder if there are any out there, I can assure you there are so keep looking!
Sonny Rollins’ East Broadway Run Down
Mono original on Impulse released in 1966; Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder with “VAN GELDER” stamped in the deadwax.
The jazz section at my local record store is not great, but I suspect a lot of other collectors have given up on it as I often find some real gems sitting in the bins at bargain basement prices. I picked this one up for $4. It’s not perfect, but the vinyl is comfortably in VG+ territory and the jacket Ex.
A copy like this will currently set you back about $35 on Discogs, but I’d have to say it’s worth it. Rollins’ foray into free jazz featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Elvin Jones on drums and Jimmy Garrison on the bass delivers some fearless and ferocious playing including a killer solo from Garrison on the title track. Rollins’ and Hubbard’s horns attack with clarity and bite and Jones’ drums slam and splash with a relentless intensity that reminds me of his incredible work on Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, no doubt and inspiration for this album.
The recording and this pressing of it deliver with the power and transparency that this music deserves. This album was originally released in both a mono and a stereo version. My copy is the only one I’ve heard and it’s possible the stereo version might improve on it, but you won’t go wrong with this version.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR THE MORE ADVENTUROUS LISTENER!
Frank Zappa’s Waka Jawaka – Hot Rats
White label promo; Santa Maria pressing; S 1 MS 2094A 31456-Re1-T2 A6 / S1 MS 2094B 31457 Re1-T2 A1 stampers
Over the years I’ve had a few Frank Zappa records that for one reason or another didn’t resonate with me. This album, a regular on the Better Records website and one that Tom Port raves about has intrigued me. So when I saw this white label promo not too long ago at a record store over in Berkely, CA at the very reasonable price of $35 (Ex vinyl / strong VG jacket) I figured I’d be a fool to pass it up.
I’m certainly glad I had my head screwed on straight that day so I could bring this gem home and let Zappa and company unscrew it again for me. More a jazz than a rock album, Waka Jawaka – Hot Rats is an inspired, free wheeling, genre busting album of mostly instrumental Zappa compositions. There’s some serious playing here that mostly stays serious throughout. The album does feature a modicum of the devilish irreverence that is more heavily featured on some other Zappa records, in particular We’re Only In It For The Money and Freak Out.
If you read my recent interview with Todd Drootin of LPGuru you might recall our discussion of white label promos and whether they are a viable short cut for finding a great sounding pressing. In Todd’s rather extensive experience they are by no means a sure thing, which has been my experience as well.
It’s too bad all white label promos don’t sound this great. This sound on this one is super high rez and transparent with a huge low end which suits this music and its many flourishes perfectly. The title track is a real standout on this record with some exceptionally well reproduced brass and a solo on one of the biggest sounding drum kits I’ve had the privilege to hear.
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!!
John Lee Hooker’s The Best of John Lee Hooker
Vee Jay Records “Vintage Series” red label reissue. “AUDIOMATRIX” stamped in the runout. Release date unknown, but likely early 60’s.
This record came to me in a box of records I bought from someone who wanted to sell off their small collection. I think I paid them $20 for the whole box and it was worth it just for this one record. Despite the fact that it’s a reissue of a “Best Of” album, this was clearly cut from the master tapes for virtually every track.
Hooker is quite the story teller and his performances are anything if not intimate. On most tracks you’re feeling the weight of his breath on the microphone and its as if you’re right there in the club or studio for the performance. The live club recording of “Tupelo” rounding out side 1 is a stunner!
There’s not a ton of these out there but those that are are not expensive. At least not yet so don’t sleep on it!
A POSSIBLY OVERPLAYED BUT BY NO MEANS OVERRATED AUDIOPHILE GEM
James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James
Warner Brother’s original green label Santa Maria pressing; “Hi James” in the A side runout and “THAT’S ALL FOLKS” in the B side.
Maybe it was the slightly traumatizing childhood memories of hearing “Fire and Rain” on the car radio in my parents purple Gremlin, but it took me several years and multiple system upgrades to find my way to this record. When I did I realized that it is both a great record and an audiophile’s dream with the right copy.
Sweet Baby James is loaded with terrific songs recorded beautifully, and the album is HUGELY dynamic with a deep, open soundstage where the performances can really come to life. Somewhat ironically, “Fire and Rain” is one of the best recorded tracks on the album, turning out to be an absolute monster at the right volume.
I’ve had several copies of this record over the past few years including an original Japanese pressing. That copy highlighted the difficult balancing act this record presents for a mastering engineer. The Japanese pressing had a big, bold sound, but was a bit compressed, resulting in excessive sibilance and annoyingly loud, shouty vocals.
Some US pressings I’ve heard have gone in the opposite direction, holding back a bit perhaps to sweeten up the vocals, but in the process losing the heft and power that really sets this record apart. I haven’t exactly played dozens of these, but my experience thus far is that the copies with “Hi James” and “THAT’S ALL FOLKS” etched in the deadwax strike the right balance between sweetness and boldness.
This is not a difficult album to find, although not always in great condition. It’s also not typically an expensive album and it’s fairly easy to resell if you end up with a clunker. I would recommend picking them up whenever you find ’em and to keep going until you land a copy that really delivers the goods!
ESSENTIAL!!!
Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Zuma
Original Santa Maria pressing with 1A / 1B stampers (same as white label promo)
I was a very late bloomer when it came to Neil Young. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but it wasn’t too many years ago that I went so far as to abandon a friend of mine at the Bridge School Benefit concert at Shoreline Ampitheater BEFORE Neil came on to top off the show.
A year or so after that while driving my mother’s Prius to the south bay listening to a burned cd of Harvest (given to me by that same friend) I finally understood what I’d not before – the man is a bona fide genius responsible for some of the most stunning songs ever written and some of the most staggering performances ever pressed onto a piece of plastic.
Then I read this post on ontherecord.co :
“Listen to the way Danger Bird opens. Each instrument, one by one, slowly, deliberately, one could almost say haltingly, feeds into the mix, until the churning guitars give way to Neil’s spare vocal — fatalistic, doomed, already resigned to some fate he barely understands.
Even though the song has just begun, you sense that Neil feels a weight and a darkness bearing down on him, that it’s ongoing, that it’s already started, that somehow you’re coming into it in the middle, well after the weight of it has begun to crush and perhaps even kill him. He knows the story of Danger Bird all too well.
It’s as powerful and intense a piece of music as any I have ever experienced; sublime in its simplicity, transcendental in effect. You feel yourself swept along, an out of body experience that you can’t control. When Neil launches into the first of many guitar solos the sense of journeying or exploring with him the imaginary musical world he is creating is palpable. He doesn’t seem to know where it will lead and neither do you. There is no structure to reassure you, no end in sight, only the succession of notes that play from moment to moment, first tensing, then relaxing; cresting, then falling away.
Music has the power to take you out of the world you know and place you in a world of its own making. How it can do that nobody knows. Whatever Neil tapped into to make it happen on Danger Bird, he succeeded completely. If you’re in the right frame of mind, in the right environment, with everything working audio-wise, a minute into this song you will no longer be sitting in your comfy audio chair. You won’t know where you are, which is exactly where you should be.”
I couldn’t get to the record store fast enough after reading Tom’s post. F…ing BRILLIANT!!! And the best thing I’ve ever read on his blog which is saying something ’cause I’ve read nearly all of it. As luck would have it I found a copy soon after and needless to say I was eager to clean it and give it a spin. This copy, an early pressing with 1H/1H stampers sounded okay, but I could tell it was only hinting at what this album was capable of.
Then last spring I found another copy, the one featured here, and it was clearly a much better pressing as it absolutely blew me away. MAN WHAT A RECORD! I don’t tend to put much stock into 1A’s and 1B’s as these runout numbers don’t always mean much and are by no means a guarantee that a record will sound good, but in this case I would venture to say that seeking out the 1A/1B stampers, which are the same as that on the white label promo, will greatly improve your chances of getting a strong copy.
And let’s face it, when you read Tom’s post above how could you settle for anything less than a strong copy of Zuma?
T. Rex’s The Slider
Original UK Emi pressing with 1U/2U stampers; Lacquer cut by Bob Hill aka Bobil
I bought a copy of this record in college and have treasured it ever since. That copy, an original US pressing with 1A/1A stampers sounded great to me. Tony Visconti produced The Slider and the big, bold larger than life sound that he brought to many of David Bowie’s albums is here on this one. I had heard that the UK version improved upon the US, but frankly had a hard time wrapping my head around how.
Acquiring this UK pressing was an important lesson in why we need to have and play AT LEAST 2 copies of any record to evaluate for sonics. This UK pressing has all of the qualities I love in US pressing, but with more transparency and immediacy it brings the music to life in a way the US, it turned out, didn’t. Honestly, if I no one had ever mentioned to me that the UK version could improve on the US, I never would have sought one out. But I’m glad I did as it’s given me the opportunity to fall in love with The Slider all over again!
A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK!
King Crimson’s In The Court of the Crimson King
UK Pink Rim Island Pressing; Lacquer cut by George Peckham aka Porky; “Porky” and “Pecko” in the deadwax
No album I can think of has demonstrated for me the importance of proper mastering better than this one. Crimson King and King Crimson’s recordings in general have such a HUGE dynamic range with songs that swing wildly between, quiet, delicate percussive passages that require a highly revealing system to reproduce, and MASSIVELY INTENSE, slammingly loud passages that can overwhelm the range of even the highest quality audio systems.
It’s easy for me to see how a mastering engineer working on a King Crimson album would be tempted toward compression so that quiet passages can be heard by fans with less revealing systems or so that those unaccustomed to playing their music at very high volume will even be able to hear what’s on the recording. And make no mistake, you need some serious volume to play King Crimson’s music the way it was meant to be played, and with a well mastered, well pressed copy on the right system at the right volume In The Court of the Crimson King is a thing to behold!
I had owned the 2010 Discipline Global Mobile 200g reissue for several years and never played it because it didn’t sound at all good to me. Earlier this year I set out to find a better copy, and with original pink label UK pressings in good condition fetching pretty high prices and George “Porky” Peckham’s reputation as a mastering engineer so strong, I figured the pink rim reissue he mastered was the place to start my search for a great sounding copy.
This copy, which I paid handsomely for and had shipped from France was graded well but sonically DOA. I kept it for a while and then put it up for sale on Discogs, selling it first to someone who I suspect was another audiophile. He asked to return it, claiming I had mis-graded it (which I hadn’t), but said it wasn’t my fault because records don’t always “resolve the same way on every system.” IOW, I couldn’t have graded it properly ’cause my system was no doubt shite. Geez!
The fact is, that record didn’t resolve period, and I can’t imagine a system that would have been able to bring that piece of crap to life. It just goes to show you that having what would have been “the right” mastering credit for other titles (Led Zeppeling 4 for instance) is a far cry from a sure thing with this one.
So I decided to give one of several Polydor reissues a try and chose this one:
I never actually got to hear that version as the seller sent me this one:
https://www.discogs.com/release/9171680
That copy was clearly not mastered properly. It muddled along okay during the quieter passages, although Michael Giles’ wonderful percussion sounded flat and lifeless. But during the louder, more intense passages the music became unlistenable. So I was back to the drawing board.
Usually after 3 copies of a record I’m at least a little closer to finding a good one, but at this point I was no closer and still narrowing the search by trial and error. Finally I waved the white flag and went to Better Records and bought a super hot copy from them. It turns out there IS an Island pink rim version that was mastered properly, and it delivered the experience of listening to Crimson King I knew was out there.
Out of respect for Tom Port and his staff who did some heavy lifting finding hot stampers of Crimson King I’m going to leave it at that. But don’t settle on this album. The difference between the properly mastered the poorly mastered copy is night and day.
AN AMAZING, MUST OWN RECORDING!
Queen’s News Of The World
UK EMI Original; “Super Hot Stamper”
I picked up quite a few records from Better Records this past year, nearly all of them fantastic (more on this later), but I’m not interested in turning this article into a gloat fest about all of the great sounding records that I paid someone else to find, clean and preview for me. I chose to include this hot stamper for reasons that I think are in keeping with the spirit of this article. That is, I think this record represents good value and some degree of “discovery” from a collecting standpoint.
In the scheme of things, I didn’t pay all that much for this record. It was priced at $69.99 and on top of that I was able to apply one of their now weekly coupon deals and I received $25 off of that price. If you consider that copies in good condition will set you back about $20 and that you’ll likely need to pay at least another $10-20 for shipping from the UK, buying an already cleaned and sonically curated copy from BR is a no brainer!
Which brings me to my point – prices at Better Records have been coming down, and the sticker shock I once had looking at their site is way less than it used to be. Also, they are offering more of the records they’ve found that have minor defects but the same expected level of sonic standards at significantly lower prices. So far the records I’ve bought from this “with issues” category have been extremely tolerable from a listening experience standpoint. And since I don’t ever plan to sell off any of my hot stampers, it matters very little to me that these great sounding records have a few relatively small flaws that might deter other buyers.
The other reason I wanted to post this record is that, given what I paid for it, it sounds amazing! When listening to this A++ copy of News I honestly have a hard time imagining what the A+++ copies sound like. It’s stunning!
I was surprisingly unfamiliar with this record before I bought this copy, given its popularity. Of course, I knew “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions,” both songs heavily touted as jaw droppers in the BR hype for News, but as amazing as these songs sound on this record, they have turned out to be my least favorite tracks on the album. I find myself playing the ‘B’ side more often.
Here again I’m going to refrain from posting more pressing details on this record in an attempt to honor BR’s intellectual property. But I’d like to point out that, as much as Tom and company keep the pressing and stamper knowledge they glean from all the hard work they do close the chest, they do give out a lot of useful information for free. In the case of News and most other Queen albums, learning that US pressings are sonically inferior to the UK from a such a reliable source that’s not just offering anecdotal evidence is information I value, and I didn’t have to pay a cent for it.
ESSENTIAL!!!
Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks
1973 Warner Brothers repress; Terre Haute pressing on Burbank labels; 1A / 1A stampers
I actually bought this record a few years ago, but I rediscovered it in 2019 in a way I think is compelling. When I first got this record, I found it to sound somewhat bland. My wife and I have a shared love of Astral Weeks so I played it for us from time to time, but I continued to be unimpressed with the sonics whenever I did.
When I saw an opportunity to pick up an A++ original green label pressing from BR at a good price, I went for it. It was a nice copy with the jacket in surprisingly good condition and with the poster included. It sounded very good, but it wasn’t knocking me out. So in the interest of due diligence I shot it out against the copy above and, much to my surprise, this Burbank label repress sounded significantly better.
I had read on the BR site and heard from another reliable source that the Burbank pressings could rival the originals for sonics (again, great FREE information from BR!) so I wasn’t shocked that the copy I already had was besting the hot stamper, but I was scratching my head as to why I hadn’t appreciated it before.
In the end I came up with two reasons. One, I’d mostly been playing the record at lower volume when spending time with my wife, so I hadn’t really cranked it to see what the record could actually do. Two, I may have had expectations for the sonics of the album that exceeded its potential.
What made my Burbank copy better than the hot stamper? Resolution of the vocals was the main thing. Van’s voice can sound loud and shouty and somewhat annoying if the record reproducing them doesn’t resolve extremely well at the top end. I felt the A++ hot stamper fell short of the Burbank with its vocal reproduction. And the improved high frequency resolution I was getting with the Burbank also paid dividends with the strings, which sounded more rosiny and sweet, as well as the percussion elements, which presented with more space around them and greater clarity on the later pressing.
I sent the hot stamper of Astral Weeks back and got a different record, feeling pretty justified in my choice and quite pleased with the discovery I’d made from my own collection. If you’re in the market for a great copy of Astral Weeks, a must for any collection, the green label originals can be great, but they can also be quite expensive. The 2nd and 3rd pressings on the Burbank labels are significantly less money, but even prices on these are starting to climb so don’t sleep on it!
HUGE BOTTOM END!
Roxy Music’s Stranded
UK Island pink rim original; A1 / B1 stampers
Audiophiles are big fans of tweaks. We’re always looking for ways to improve the sound of our systems, even if just a little, with the “grail” of tweaks being a low cost upgrade that offers the equivalent of a “component upgrade” in performance. And if you’re not a wealthy audiophile and the value of your system has already climbed dangerously close to your annual income, finding that grail tweak is a big deal because a component upgrade may very well be out of reach.
So when you find a record that sounds so impressive that your system sounds like you’ve just made a component upgrade when you play it, that’s a special record. I bought this copy of Stranded a few years ago but I’ve since rediscovered it and on a recent listen was absolutely blown away by how much bass it delivers. The bottom end on this sucker is so big that when the drums came in on “Amazona” I had to double check that Santa hadn’t come early this year and brought me a new pair of speakers! Meanwhile the top end is as clear and open as the bottom end is big.
Veteran producer Chris Thomas who’s credits include production on several of Roxy Music’s albums, records by Procol Harum, Bandfinger and The Pretenders, and mixing work on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon produced Stranded and did a superb job. But a great deal of credit here has to go to whoever it was at Island records that mastered this album. It’s pretty hard to fathom how they managed to get so much bass onto a record.
This album apparently sold well as there are a large number of copies of these UK originals available in the marketplace for reasonable prices, including several from US sellers. If you’re a fan of this band or you’ve been thinking of diving into their music, this record is a great place to start. And if you do pick up a UK original of Stranded and it sounds half as good as this one, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
AUDIOPHILE JAZZ GREATNESS!
Charles Mingus’ Mingus Ah Um
70’s red label reissue on Columbia Records; curated by LPGuru
I bought quite few records this past year from LPGuru and they’ve all been great, but among them, this one was a clear stand out for me. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this album! It delivers one wonderful song after another with a series of infectiously engaging performances that leave me wanting more the moment the stylus hits the runout.
Lets face it, if you’re a jazz fan and an audiophile you’ve got to love records that give you the warm, wet sound of a tube mastered recording with the clarity and bite of a high quality 70’s solid state remastering. Add in some fabulous production and a well pressed copy and you get a group of thrillingly skilled musicians killing it in a wide open soundstage, playing songs written by one of the most exciting jazz composers of all time keeping time on his bass with a perfect balance of precision and musicality right there in your living room.
As I did for Tom and Better Records, I’ll refrain from giving away stamper info on this record out of respect for the time, energy and knowledge Todd put in to find this copy. But there appears to be just a couple of different versions of these 70’s reissues out there so it might not be too hard to find the same version I’ve got for a reasonable price.
I haven’t heard any other version but it’s clearly a great recording and, provided it’s mastered well, another version should deliver as big as this one. I would recommend seeking out a stereo version. My experience is that with these larger ensemble recordings the monos sound too congested.
AVOID!!!
Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
1974 original pressing on Flying Dutchman; 1A / 1B stampers
This compilation of material previously released on Scott-Heron’s first two albums includes some of his best and most iconic songs, including the stone cold classic title track. Unfortunately the mastering on this album is just plain awful, rendering what would otherwise be an unforgettable album, IMO, practically unlistenable.
I have a recent UK reissue of Pieces of a Man mastered by Nick Robbins at Sound Mastering that’s also on Flying Dutchman and includes most of the best tracks from this album. This copy of Pieces is mastered much better and with sound that’s pretty good for a modern reissue. Considering an original pressing of The Revolution in good condition will set you back at least $40, original pressings of Pieces are in the hundreds and even later 70’s pressings of Pieces are near that, I think this recent reissue of Pieces is a pretty good option. It won’t give you audiophile sound but it will be quite listenable, relatively inexpensive and highly available.