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Steely Dan – Two Against Nature
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item“’Everything’ appeared on vinyl in Europe shortly after its release, and Rhino put out a 2LP ‘Two Against Nature’ (with the fourth side blank) for Record Store Day in 2021. I haven’t heard the Euro pressing, but I have the Rhino. The Acoustic Sounds reissue is pressed from the same digital master (by Scott Hull), so its only distinctions are the QRP pressing and 45 RPM speed, but that makes a big difference. Fagen’s voice is clearer, the guitars are pluckier, the horns are brassier, the drums are more eye-blinkingly smacked, and the rhythm is more coherent. The improvement isn’t huge, but it’s obvious. (The improvement over the CD is fairly large.) The Rhino LP package is out of print and sells on Discogs for hundreds of dollars, so the Acoustic Sounds package, at $60, is a relative bargain. Everything Must Go was released on vinyl in Europe, and while it too is better than the CD (I have both), the Analogue Productions reissue, which is mastered by Bernie Grundman, is much better still. Here, too, comparisons are academic, as the Euro LP is out of print and selling for three-digit prices on the secondary markets. Both albums are also among AP’s handsomest productions, with a Tip-on gatefold jacket, lush color reproduction, and dead-quiet 180-gram virgin vinyl. If you missed these albums when they came out, at the start of the century, it’s time to catch up, since the times have caught up with them. There’s never been a better way to do so.” — Fred Kaplan, Revinylization, for Stereophile, September 2022. Order both albums here. Two Against Nature brought Steely Dan renewed commercial and critical success. Their first studio album after a 20-year hiatus, the album was released on February 29, 2000. At Metacritic.com, which assigns a rating on a scale of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album drew a “generally favorable” average score of 77, based on 13 reviews. Writing in March 2000 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau applauded the music as an excellent “rock comeback” and a “jumpier and snappier, sourer and trickier and less soothing” iteration of the jazz pop featured on Steely Dan’s 1977 album Aja, describing it as “postfunk.” Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic appreciated the “sharp humor” in the lyrics, but was especially impressed by the music’s “depth and character,” as he observed “nearly endless permutations within their signature sound.” Analogue Productions is honored to reissue these Steely Dan albums in a way that best shares the group’s unmistakable sound with decades of devoted fans. This reissue is newly remastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk and cut at 45 RPM. The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. The result is more sonic punch and more expression is captured. The Quality Record Pressings 180-gram vinyl ensures a virtually silent playing surface. Founded by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan’s popularity rose throughout the late 1970s on, and their seven albums over that period of time blended elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Steely Dan created a sophisticated, distinctive sound with accessible melodic hooks, complex harmonies and time signatures, and a devotion to the recording studio. Becker and Fagen, with producer Gary Katz, gradually changed Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring session musicians to record their compositions. The duo didn’t perform live between 1974 and 1993. But their popularity nevertheless grew throughout the ’70s as their albums became critical favorites and their singles became staples of Adult Oriented Radio and pop radio stations. Becker (bass) and Fagen (vocals, keyboards) were the core members of Steely Dan throughout its incarnations. Since reuniting in 1993, Steely Dan has toured steadily and released two albums of new material, the first of which, Two Against Nature (2000) earned a Grammy Award at the 2001 ceremony for Album of the Year as well as three other Grammys: Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album — Non-Classical, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (for the single “Cousin Dupree”). Commercially, it peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and sold more than 1 million copies, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. After a brief battle with esophageal cancer, Walter Becker died on September 3, 2017 at the age of 67. Steely Dan has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001. VH1 ranked Steely Dan at No. 82 on their list of the 100 Greatest Musical Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 15 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
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Ben Webster – Gentle Ben
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cart“The soundstage is intimate and inviting, Webster’s horn beautifully captured with sweet, rich overtornes, the bass liquid, chugging, and textured, piano and drums easy and natural. As with each title, the music emerges from QRP’s beautifully flat and wonderfully silent surfaces with that much more “there-ness.” Sonics = 4/5; Music = 3.5/5 — Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, January 2013
“…Webster’s trademark sensual sound is on full display and, of course, he’s backed by Montoliu, an outstanding Spanish piano veteran who accompanied all the great jazz artists passing through Europe…This is one of the first releases by Analogue Productions pressed at their new in-house pressing plant Quality Record Pressings, and the record bears a close resemblance in appearance to records from Pallas – beautiful looking and perfectly quiet…The superb 200-gram LP comes in a rice paper sleeve and jacket of heavy cardboard…Highest Recommendation.” Recording = 10/10; Music = 8.5/10 — Dennis D. Davis, Hi-Fi+, Issue 81
This recording was made 10 months before Ben Webster’s death in 1972. Webster, who had left the United States in 1965 to settle in Europe — first in Copenhagen and then in Amsterdam — was visiting fellow musician and friend Tete Montoliu in Barcelona. Webster and pianist Montoliu went back a ways, having played together regularly in Webster’s Copenhagen days. In fact, Montoliu cited Webster and Don Byas as his two chief musical influences. Webster and Montoliu understood each other deeply, and their comfort with on another is palpable in this recording. Their accompaniment of one another is seamless. On board with these two is Montoliu’s regular working trio-mates, Eric Peter on bass and Peer Wyboris on drums.
There’s no shortage of Webster’s trademark breathy, fat tenor tone here. In fact, given the sparse arrangement, that rich, humid, giant sax blooms like on few other recordings. Highlights include “Ben’s Blues,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “The Man I Love” and “Don’t Blame Me.”
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In stock
Steely Dan – Everything Must Go
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cart“’Everything’ appeared on vinyl in Europe shortly after its release, and Rhino put out a 2LP ‘Two Against Nature’ (with the fourth side blank) for Record Store Day in 2021. I haven’t heard the Euro pressing, but I have the Rhino. The Acoustic Sounds reissue is pressed from the same digital master (by Scott Hull), so its only distinctions are the QRP pressing and 45 RPM speed, but that makes a big difference. Fagen’s voice is clearer, the guitars are pluckier, the horns are brassier, the drums are more eye-blinkingly smacked, and the rhythm is more coherent. The improvement isn’t huge, but it’s obvious. (The improvement over the CD is fairly large.) The Rhino LP package is out of print and sells on Discogs for hundreds of dollars, so the Acoustic Sounds package, at $60, is a relative bargain. Everything Must Go was released on vinyl in Europe, and while it too is better than the CD (I have both), the Analogue Productions reissue, which is mastered by Bernie Grundman, is much better still. Here, too, comparisons are academic, as the Euro LP is out of print and selling for three-digit prices on the secondary markets. Both albums are also among AP’s handsomest productions, with a Tip-on gatefold jacket, lush color reproduction, and dead-quiet 180-gram virgin vinyl. If you missed these albums when they came out, at the start of the century, it’s time to catch up, since the times have caught up with them. There’s never been a better way to do so.” — Fred Kaplan, Revinylization, for Stereophile, September 2022. Order both albums here. -
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Taj Mahal – Labor of Love (33 RPM)
78,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cart"In the late 1990s, Taj Mahal went on a 42-city tour with a gang of old, pure blues musicians. The producer, Tim Duffy, recorded several sessions on audiophile gear, but the tapes were stashed away, until a couple years ago, when the two took a listen, popped their eyes, and arranged with Chad Kassem, proprietor of Analogue Productions and owner of some of the world's best vinyl pressing plants, to put it out on LP. The music is a thorough delight; the sound quality is you-are-there vivid." — Fred Kaplan, Slate.com, December 2017 "Labor of Love began to become an audiophile reality when the founder and CEO of Analogue Productions, Chad Kassem, visiting his father in Raleigh, North Carolina, met (Tim) Duffy (of the Music Maker Relief Foundation) and heard the tapes. Nearly 20 years later, a deal was struck, a DAT arrived at Kassem's home base of Salina, Kansas, and Labor of Love, pressed on two 180-gram LPs, was born. 'The great thing is that we got to do it with Chad Kassem, Acoustic Sounds, and he did a wonderful job," Mahal says. "The record itself — the packaging, the 180-gram vinyl, and the sound — is just immaculate." — Robert Baird, Stereophile magazine, May 2017 "It's delicious stuff. Mahal was miked up close, allowing every crisp nuance of his voice and guitar to be recorded cleanly and clearly; that guitar work, especially, is so in-your-face that you'll feel like you're sitting at the artist's feet. Some of the material will be familiar to anyone who's followed Taj Mahal, or at least his brand of acoustic blues, for any length of time. The opening number, 'Stagger Lee,' is given a reverential traditional treatment, and 'Fishin' Blues,' regardless of how many times he's cut it, still delights. Mahal takes lyrical and rhythmic liberties with 'Walkin' Blues,' presented here in a bare-bones rendition even starker than the familiar Robert Johnson version; and Mississippi John Hurt's' 'My Creole Belle' is sweet and tasty. The duets, for the most part, are enjoyable as well-the slide guitar on 'John Henry,' with Etta Baker, is sharp and sleek-but in the end, you may end up wishing that the entire set could've been just pure Taj and nothing but Taj." — Jeff Tamarkin, Relix, April 11, 2017. Read it all here. "What we have here is magic: classic blues tunes — 'Stagger Lee,' 'My Creole Bell,' 'Mistreated Blues,' 'Zanzibar,' 'John Henry' and more — treated with such love and wit and heartache and (to use a tired term that's appropriate here) authenticity. Few field-hand recordings are drenched with this much sweat. And none of those field-hand recordings (few live or studio recordings, period) sound so vivid." — Fred Kaplan, Stereophile.com, March 6, 2017 Read the whole review here. "Of course this music and this project is at the core of what Analogue Productions' Chad Kassem has been about since he began producing vinyl reissues so it was only natural and fitting that these two LPs have been released on the Analogue Productions label, lacquers cut by Kevin Gray, pressed at QRP and housed in gatefold 'Tip-on' Stoughton Press jackets festooned with evocative black and white session photos. Even if you know these chestnuts like 'Creole Bell,' 'John Henry' and 'Hambone' by heart, you'll experience them here with fresh life breathed into their musical arteries. ... Among my favorites is Taj's instrumental 'Zanzibar,' but really, every track is a treasure. ... Don't be a fool and let the resolution stop you. These are probably the best sounding damn "field recordings" you're likely ever to hear and the stripped-down music is transportive and magical." — Music = 9/11; Sound = 9/11 — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. To read Fremer's full review, click here. "The solo acoustic tunes rank among some of the most relaxed and intimate that he has recorded in the latter part of his career. Even on 'Fishin' Blues' — familiar territory that he has traversed countless times in a career — Taj sounds spontaneous and genuine, often improvising quick guitar fills that substitute for words in some of the verses. ... A noteworthy album by any measure, the stripped-down vibe of these recordings also makes Labor Of Love a nice counterpoint to Taj's last (and more stylistically diverse) full-length studio release, 2008's Maestro." — Roger Gatchet, Living Blues Magazine, February 2017 "Taj Mahal has been tapping into his traditional blues roots since the '60s, but these intimate acoustic sessions from the mid '90s, released here for the first time (and on 180-gram vinyl-only format to boot) are something special. ... The audiophile presssing makes a big difference too: if you've ever longed to have Taj Mahal in your living room this is as close as you're likely to come." — Jim Allen, CultureSonar.com, December 2016 "Labor of Love is a time capsule. Even if 1998 doesn't seem that long ago, it was. Stripping down a record to voices and acoustic instruments will cause anyone to think throwback, yet few can pull it off as genuine and procure it quite like Taj Mahal and friends. Proof positive that all it takes is a soul with something to say and a way to catch it on tape to light that fire in the listener. If you're akin to the blues, God bless you. If you're not, let this be your easing in, you'll find that at the heart of any Labor Of Love there's a definitive true blues." Read the whole review here. — Glide Magazine, January 2017 "Music Maker Foundation founder Tim Duffy has managed to capture Mahal at his most skeletal on this vinyl-only release, culled mostly from Duffy's archives of off-the-cuff performances recorded in 1998 on a 42-city Music Makers tour with Mahal headlining. Some of the cuts were recorded after the shows, late at night in hotel room jams, and some were taped at Duffy's Pinnacle, North Carolina, Music Makers studio/residence. ... Music Maker Foundation releases are always special, but this one should be on your Christmas list and receive your attention all year long. It's a gift that keeps on giving." — Grant Britt, nodepression.com. Read the entire review here. "Mahal's 47th (no, not a typo) album, Labor of Love, features some of the blues musician's greatest tunes. It consists of solo favorites from almost twenty years ago, and collaborations with the Music Maker Relief Foundation artists. ... He's a storyteller who incorporates his deep musical history in every note that's played. "Stack-O-Lee" is timeless, really... talking about that "bad man." Collaborations on Labor of Love include "John Henry" with the late Etta Baker. Baker's Piedmont blues experiences flood the listeners with a chilling journey into the Mississippi Delta. This stripped down release matches that photo of Taj Mahal on his website — laid back, at ease, welcoming listeners to pull up a chair and leave their cares at the door." — Brenda Hillegas, Elmore Magazine, January 2017 "The album is Taj Mahal's 47th. On it are six solo performances by Taj and seven more duets recorded with Music Maker Relief Foundation artists. All of the songs are previously unreleased performances recorded in 1998. ... Taj states that he enjoyed getting to know the musicians lives and "how they made things work" while getting "closer to the source." — Richard Ludmerer, makingascene.org The blues live on because the blues give people life, not the other way around. Talk about the blues with Grammy winning singer-songwriter and composer Taj Mahal, or Tim Duffy, founder of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, and you'll quickly understand how deeply they grasp this. So it's no surprise that their shared love of blues has created a special vinyl-only album release that's got the loose, easy feel of a porch-sitting guitar strum, sipping sweet tea on a warm summer day. It is, as Taj himself exclaimed upon receiving his copy of this exquisite album — a "great package, mind-blowing sound!!" Labor of Love comprises recordings made by Duffy, hanging out with Taj and other artists in a Houston hotel room and during visits to the Music Maker Relief Foundation headquarters in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Taj and Tim first connected in the mid-1990s as Tim was establishing the foundation. The foundation is dedicated to preserving Southern roots music by directly supporting senior artists in need, while documenting their music and sharing their stage and recording talents with the world. A CD collection released by the foundation featuring Music Maker artists caught Taj's attention. Tim invited Taj to his place in rural Pinnacle, N.C., where he hung out with several of the artists. Taj loved how they played and sang, but he especially loved "getting to know their lives and how they made things work." Not much time passed before a performing tour was launched, with Taj as the headliner. Meanwhile, Tim, sensing an incredibly rich opportunity, was hauling along with the tour, high-end recording gear. He set it up in hotel rooms hoping to capture an impromptu session. One night in Houston, magic happened. A few senior bluesmen, Tim, Taj and the daughter of Katie Mae, immortalized in the Lightin' Hopkins classic "Katie Mae Blues" hung out together in a hotel room in Houston. Taj picked up an acoustic guitar and started in on classic tunes — "Stack-O-Lee," "Walking Blues," and more. The tape was rolling. During the time of the tour, Taj was also visiting during hang-out, barbecue and recording sessions at Music Maker's new North Carolina headquarters in Hillsborough. When the music got going, Taj would play some piano, bass, harp, banjo, mandolin and whatever else was needed. Now is the time for these immortalized sessions to be heard. So here they are on a solid piece of wax. And what wax it is — a full-on 180-gram vinyl Analogue Productions masterpiece plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings, maker of the world's best-sounding LPs. Packaged in a Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket. You won't find a more intimate portrayal of Taj as a freewheeling, fun-loving, always-in-the-pocket sideman. •••••• "Once again, the legendary Taj Mahal dives in knee-deep in the folk blues waters, and rises to the surface with a musical document that chronicles and ties the past to the present. And what a present this is-to each and every true folk blues fan. This double disc rarity finds Taj Mahal spreading his wings and sharing the wealth of his talents with unsung musical heroes of North Carolina-his multi-talented gifts on vocals, banjo, 6-string acoustic, 12-string guitar, piano, and upright bass are all on display here, and the results are breath-taking. "For starters, Taj treats us to a rare and refreshing take on the classic "Stagger Lee," weaving his rich voice with his "Ting-a-Ling" guitar picking like only the Maestro can. Mahal then casually switches it up and frails on the banjo while veteran Neal Pattman wails on vocals and harmonica for "Shortening Bread." "Taj uses his gorgeous tenor vocals to great effect on "My Creole Belle," along with what I naturally assumed was his mastery of the delicate Piedmont guitar fingerpicking style. "Not exactly!" says Maestro, correcting me, his pupil. "It combines Mississippi John Hurt's fingerpicking style with that of Elizabeth Cotton and Mrs. Etta Baker, both from North Carolina, but all are influenced by the West African pickin' of the Mandinka!" "Algia Mae Hinton's regional Carolina-inflected voice permeates the arrangement of "I Ain't The One You Love," with Hinton playing 12-string acoustic and Taj strolling with the leisurely two-step acoustic bass line underneath. "Of course, this collection would not be complete without a fresh version of "Fishin' Blues." Its probably his most well-known and often-performed piece, and it never gets old-mainly because Taj finds a new way to deliver the lyrics, injecting real feeling, passion, and humor into each rendition. "Taj continues to display his virtuosity by switching to feverish honky-tonk piano as he accompanies John Dee Holeman's wicked vocal delivery of "Mistreated Blues." "A special treat for followers of Mahal's career comes in wonderful sparse arrangement of "Zanzibar," an original tune that has appeared on a few previous recordings in ensemble setting but has never been heard as a solo guitar feature until now. "Taj's whining harmonica solo "So Sweet" With Cootie Stark who sings in a vocal style that can only be ripened with age, experience, and wisdom. "The opening of Maestro's "Spike Drivers Blues" is delivered in an intense-yet-sultry "talkin' blues" style quite different from Leadbelly's standard version, which is better known as "Take This Hammer." And it is here that Taj gives me yet another mini-history lesson. "I along with Alhaj Bai Konte (kora master of the Gambia) toured and played separately and together over a period of weeks back in the mid-70's, and there is a recording on Flying Fish label of Bai Konte and his son Dembe and I playing ‘Take This Hammer.'" "Listeners get transported to "a cabin in the pines" with the tune "Hambone," featuring Dee Holeman's smooth delivery on vocals, and Taj providing complimentary body percussion-the two of them both slappin' and clappin' their hands, chests and thighs, perfectly synchronized against the rhythms and rhymes of the lyrics. "Mahal then offers "Walkin' Blues," best known by the "crossroads" legend Robert Johnson-but this time it's done in the inimitable Taj Mahal manner, with his words tumblin' out like he's kickin' a rolling rock down a Mississippi dirt road. The Maestro does more than just conjure Robert's spirit; he transforms it, transcends it even. "The sole offering with Mrs. Etta Baker on this double disc set is "John Henry" which finds Baker playing her classic guitar slide style, with Taj playing accompanying guitar. "The final bonus, "Song For Brenda," is an amazing performance that the listener is simply not ready for! Cool John Ferguson has George Benson-like chops that are breathtaking-not to mention the double stops and rhythmic riffs that remind you of the legendary Phil Upchurch! It's a bit alarming when one realizes that Ferguson plays single-note runs on his National steel string with greater ease than most guitarists can handle on their electric Fender or Gibson-it's an impressive change of pace in the song cycle and a great way to close the album. "These thirteen tracks compiled here are a stunning achievement-not only for the excellent artists and performances gathered throughout, but also for the determined and indefatigable founder of the Music Make Relief Foundation, Tim Duffy, whose unwavering efforts cannot be overestimated or ignored. The notion that these gems have sat on the shelf unreleased is almost unbelievable-it's such a great treasure trove for us listeners to discover, and we have Tim to thank for that. "Duffy has-in one fell swoop-turned back the hands of time, and, like magic, simultaneously reset the clock twenty years forward and backwards, chronicling a series of most auspicious occasions that stretched from Houston to Hillsborough. Indeed, these wonderful musicians-led by griot Taj Mahal-came together to remind us that the very best music in the world is, in a word, timeless." — Dr. Wayne Everett Goins, University Distinguished Professor and Director of Jazz Studies, Kansas State University. Dr. Goins is the author of the forthcoming book "Maestro: The Life and Music of Taj Mahal," published by University of Illinois press.
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Steppenwolf – Steppenwolf Gold: Their Great Hits (180 Gram)
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item“Perhaps the biggest surprise about this 1971 compilation, nearly a half-century after the band’s heyday, is not the quality of the music — that’s obvious — but the sonic impact. Most of us were introduced to this paradigm of gusty, semi-psychedelic rock via AM radio (or a certain hit road movie about two biker/hippies…), so few of us listened to ‘Born To Be Wild’ or ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ over good sound systems. But damn, the sound is solid, visceral, raunchy and detailed. John Kay’s snarl, a wall of guitars, those much-loved pedal effects and 11 sure-fire classics… This reissue is truly a fitting tribute to keyboardist Goldy McJohn, who passed away last August.” — Sound Quality: 85% — Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, April 2018 Get your motor runnin’ baby — Steppenwolf’s Gold: Their Great Hits took its title literally. The towering rock album success rang in at No. 24 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and became certified gold for record sales in excess of 500,000 units by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April 1971. AllMusic praised the production and engineering of most of the tracks and called it a “nearly perfect” introduction to the band. Acoustic Sounds and Analogue Productions want to introduce you to the most sonically perfect version of this historic album you’ve ever heard on vinyl. Our 180-gram reissue was remastered from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Sound and plated and pressed by Gary Salstrom and his crew at Quality Record Pressings, makers of the world’s finest-sounding LPs. And now — we’ve upped the ante even more for true audiophile bliss — the 45 RPM 2LP version reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. Natural tonalities, superb balances, pristine clarity and more are all revealed. We’ve also added a 12″ full-color poster insert with the track list and additional vibrant artwork! The Canadian-American rock band, named for Hermann Hesse’s mystical novel, rocketed to worldwide fame after their third single “Born to Be Wild” dropped in 1968. The song and Steppenwolf’s version of Hoyt Axton’s “The Pusher” figured prominently in the 1969 counterculture cult film “Easy Rider,” and both show up on Gold’s track list. Two other singles on this stunning album compilation also cracked the Top 10 on the charts: “Magic Carpet Ride” and “Rock Me.” “Magic Carpet Ride” was released in 1968 on the album The Second. It was written by band members John Kay and Rushton Moreve, peaked at No. 3 in the U.S. and stayed on the charts for 16 weeks, longer than any other Steppenwolf song. You also get the Don Covay soul cover “Sookie, Sookie,” which got airplay on some soul stations nationwide, as well as rock ‘n’ roll radio. Gold also includes “Hey Lawdy Mama” the hit studio single from Steppenwolf Live. Steppenwolf enjoyed worldwide success from 1968 to 1972, when clashing personalities ultimately broke up the core group after a farewell concert in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day, 1972. Today, John Kay remains as the only original Steppenwolf member.
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Various Artists – The Wonderful Sounds Of Male Vocals
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item"Analogue Productions returns with another in its very popular 'Wonderful Sounds' series that began with a Christmas compilation and followed up in 2018 with a female vocalist assemblage. Like those two, AP's Chad Kassem selected the tunes from among titles he's licensed over the years for whole album reissues on SACD and AAA vinyl.... Use this compilation as a 'listening booth' to discover unfamiliar music or just enjoy song after great well-recorded 'demo quality' song. While some like Aaron Neville's cover of John Hiatt's 'Feels Like Rain' and The Beach Boys' 'In My Room' will be familiar others probably won't be — like Willis Alan Ramsey's 'Sympathy for a Train,' Willy DeVille's 'Spanish Jack' and perhaps JD Souther's 'Silver Blue' (with Stanley Clarke on bass). Many fans of Belafonte at Carnegie Hall have never heard the encore 'Scarlet Ribbons,' which is here too." — Music = 10/11; Sound = 10/11 — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the whole review here. "Can't stop exploring The Wonderful Sounds Of Male Vocals! The album is stunning not only because of the exemplary high standard of recording it showcases, but also because of the satisfying range of artists and music genres presented across the four sides. There are wonderful surprises to discover as well as wonderful sounds." — Kevin Howlett Kevin Howlett is an award-winning U.K.-based radio producer and writer. He's been closely associated with The Beatles throughout his long career, having written numerous books about the group as well as making radio documentaries about them for the BBC and Apple Corps. He was deeply involved in the recent super-deluxe editions of Sgt. Pepper, "The White Album" and Abbey Road, both writing the books and researching the original session tapes. Other artists and companies Howlett has documented for radio or in books include David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, Jimmy Webb, Frank Zappa, Elektra Records and Ortofon. Ready for another go with A-list caliber demo tracks chosen by the man himself, Acoustic Sounds founder and CEO Chad Kassem? Here in our Analogue Productions Wonderful Sounds series, we have a treat for you — following up on The Wonderful Sounds of Christmas, and Female Vocals, we've put together The Wonderful Sounds of Male Vocals — stone-cold killers from the first song to the last! When you want to show off your hi-fi system's potential, why waste time with multiple LPs? Skip the searching, un-sleeving, re-sleeving and more — and give your audiophile friends what they like to hear. Grab this album and you'll hear show stoppers by Amos Lee, Dean Martin, Aaron Neville, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Pure Prairie League, Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, The Beach Boys, Willy DeVille, Greg Brown, JD Souther, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Tony Bennett, Harry Nilsson, Tony Joe White — and what would a male vocal compilation be without the truly great Elvis Presley? Just how good older recordings can sound when the touch of an exceptional mastering engineer is involved is demonstrated by the matchless Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Like others in our Wonderful Sounds series, this album works well as entertainment and as a great sampler of the LPs, mostly released by Analogue Productions. Michael Fremer, of AnalogPlanet.com and Stereophile Magazine, walks you through each track and its historic place with very thorough and entertaining liners. Plating and pressing was done at Quality Record Pressings, where Gary Salstrom and his crew manufacture the world's best-sounding LPs with their exceptionally quiet playing surfaces. From "Fever" to "Spanish Jack," and "Amie" to "Blue Bayou" and everything in-between — "Georgia on My Mind," "(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco," "Silver Blue" and more — you'll be relishing this LP with each play. Make the easy selection and enjoy listening.
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Willie Nelson – And Then I Wrote
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cart"...Stardust this is not but it's a collection of 12 Nelson tear jerkers like 'Darkness on the Face of the Earth' and 'Where My House Lives' that somehow turns 'down in the dumps' self-pity into excruciating pleasure-especially if you've ever been there. ... Matt Lutthans mastered at 45rpm on the finally fully up and perfectly running The Mastering Lab's tube-based cutting system now housed at Blue Heaven Studios in Salina, Kansas. How great it is to see the TML-M stamp on two brand new slabs of 180g QRP pressed records. Housed in gatefold Stoughton Press 'Tip on' jacket. Willie Nelson fans will want to have this." — Music = 7/11; Sound = 9/11 - Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. To read Fremer's full review, click here. "Hello Walls," "Crazy," "Funny How Time Slips Away." These are some of the most memorable hits in the Willie Nelson songwriting canon. One of the most important musical artists in American history, a first-name giant like Elvis and Ella, Willie scored these and more hits with his debut album — ...and then I wrote. (Texas Monthly magazine ranks it No. 4 on their ranked list of all 145 Willie Nelson albums). In 1961 Willie Nelson was finally in Nashville and tasting success after years of scraping by in various locales, on his gift for making heartaches and memories rhyme. Nelson's songs "Crazy," "Hello Walls" and "Funny How Time Slips Away" bcame huge hits for Patsy Cline, Faron Young and Billy Walker, respectively. The royalty checks — fat ones — were rolling in. But Willie wanted more. These songs were his essence, and he wanted country music fans to know they poured out of his soul. The next fall, in 1962, he debuted his first full-length album with Liberty Records, and called it ...and then I wrote. It was perhaps the most accomplished debut album in history. "For many of us born in the six decades since, it's impossible to imagine a world in which these songs didn't exist. If you grew up in Texas, they were likely just about everywhere: at ballgames and cookouts and weddings and funerals, on road trips and the radio and every jukebox you've ever flipped through," writes Texas Monthly. How best to apply the Analogue Productions reissue treatment to such a historic veteran country classic? Well, for starters, there was no doubt this classic deserved the wider-spaced grooves, improved cartridge tracking, and noticable reductions in distortion and high frequency loss that are testament to a 45 RPM four-sided AP reissue. So four glorious sides of 180-gram dead-silent vinyl pressed by our own Quality Record Pressings it would have to be. And the mastering? Top-notch marks there as well. The capable hands of our engineer Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab by Acoustic Sounds working with the original master tape sounds amazing. The Mastering Lab by Acoustic Sounds upholds the quality standard achieved by the late Grammy-winning mastering engineer Doug Sax that made the brand famous. It wasn't just the songs on the album that ascended to the country canon, including the three previously mentioned hits that appear back-to-back, but the deep cuts like "Mr. Record Man," "Undo the Right," and "Wake Me When It's Over." ...and then I wrote isn't just one of the greatest debuts of all time — it's one of the best singer-songwriter records ever recorded. The sheen of the Nashville sound on this record is mercifully dialed down. It was produced by the head of Liberty's country division, Joe Allison, partly in Music Row's famous Quonset Hut studio and partly in Hollywood. Allison appreciated Willie's idiosyncratic singing style and kept his vocals out front, dropping the glossy chorus back in the mix and eschewing strings altogether. The album produced one Top Ten single ("Touch Me"), yet none of the other three singles made the charts. Yet if it were released today, people would mistake it for a Willie's Greatest Hits record. Patsy Cline released her definitive version of "Crazy" in 1961, and in the years since it's been recorded by dozens of artists, from Linda Ronstadt to Chaka Khan to Austin emo band Mineral to, for the first time on this record, Willie himself. It's the song that would take him from poet-picker to a composer worthy of inclusion in the Great American Songbook. The Analogue Productions reissue of ...and then I wrote will find its place of honor at the top of the most cherished LPs in your music collection.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd – Nuthin’ Fancy
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cartThe title may say Nuthin' Fancy but don't be deceived! This 200-gram stunner pressed at Quality Record Pressings is nearly peerless as a Southern rock record. Expertly remastered by Kevin Gray, lacquer plating by master technician Gary Salstrom, heavy cardboard gatefold jacket with vibrantly reproduced original artwork. How does it get any better? Well, we've cut this edition at 45 RPM! The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. As the Ultimate-Guitar.com put it: "Most hard rock bands would give their left arm for a record that swaggers and hits as hard as Nuthin' Fancy." "Second Helping brought Lynyrd Skynyrd mass success and for the follow-up they offered Nuthin' Fancy. It was a self-deprecating title for a record that may have offered more of the same, at least on the surface ... The biggest difference with this record is that the band, through touring, has become heavier and harder, fitting right in with the heavy album rock bands of the mid-'70s. The second notable difference is that Ronnie Van Zant may have been pressed for material, since there are several songs here that are just good generic rockers. But he and Skynyrd prove that what makes a great band great is how they treat generic material, and Skynyrd makes the whole of Nuthin' Fancy feel every bit as convincing as their first two records." — AllMusic
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Dave Brubeck Quartet – Time Out
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item“The results speak for themselves: the platters from QRP are in my experience the most consistently flat and quiet being pressed today … at least for the foreseeable here and now, Analogue Productions’ newly mastered 45 RPM (Brubeck) is the edition to own. You’ll hear it right from the familiar piano intro to “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” where Brubeck’s playing seems richer, more lyrical, more rhythmically alive. It seems to me that as our gear gets ever more quiet, these QRP LPs continue to wring more musical nuance from the finest recordings.” — Music = 5/5; Sound = 5/5 — Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, January 2013. “I’ve now heard a number of LPs from Quality Record Pressings (QRP), Chad Kassem’s year-and-a-half-old record-pressing plant. Before Time Out, I would have said that some positive trends were apparent from the earlier LPs I’ve heard. However, this current pressing is so much better than those that came before it, which were certainly very good, that it’s obvious things have improved considerably over the past year. It’s a positive sign when the noise floor is defined by the hiss of the master tape, not the quality of the pressing or vinyl, and that’s the case here. Having heard many, many Pallas and RTI pressings, the main competition for QRP, I would say that QRP pressings combine the strengths of both its competitors: the very low surface noise and bottom-of-the-groove quiet of Pallas LPs and the sharp delineation of musical detail of RTI.” — Sound = 4.5/5; Music = 5/5 — Marc Mickelson, The Audio Beat, August 2012 Virtually all serious and even casual music lovers ought to be familiar with, or at least are likely to have heard The Dave Brubeck Quartet, even without realizing it — for the quartet’s best-known hit “Take Five” has graced the soundtracks of multiple films, including “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Pleasantville” and “Constantine.” The piece is famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody, as well as its use of unusual 5/4 time — so distinctive, it’s a rare jazz track that became a pop hit. Including the monster hit “Take Five,” the Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out is a jazz and audiophile classic. Every album collection needs a copy. And now, cut at 45 RPM on 180-gram premium vinyl, pressed at Quality Record Pressings (Acoustic Sounds’ own industry-lauded LP manufacturer), Analogue Productions brings you the definitive copy. Why definitive? The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. But it’s more than just the vinyl that makes this release so special. For the first time in its history, Time Out is presented here packaged in a deluxe gatefold jacket. Inside are eight fantastic black and white images shot during the recording session at Columbia’s famous 30th Street Studios. Sony Music supplied the images for use in our SACD reissue, and gave us persmission to use them in our LP reissue as well. The jacket is also special — very heavy-duty. It’s produced for us by Stoughton Printing featuring a printed wrap mounted to a heavyweight chipboard shell, producing an authentic “old school” look and feel. This jacket is a beauty! Never has Time Out‘s colorful iconic cover art looked so vibrant. The record label’s sales executives didn’t want a painting on the cover when Time Out debuted in 1959 on Columbia Records, Brubeck told an interviewer. An entire album of originals? That wouldn’t work either, he was told. Some standards and some show tunes were needed in the mix. Fortunately, Brubeck ignored the conventional wisdom and Time Out became the original classic we know it as today. Brubeck became proof that creative jazz and popular success can go together. The album was intended as an experiment using musical styles Brubeck discovered abroad while on a United States Department of State-sponsored tour of Eurasia. In Turkey, he observed a group of street musicians performing a traditional Turkish folk song that was played in 9/8 time, a rare meter for Western music. Paul Desmond, who was Brubeck’s alto saxophonist, wrote “Take Five,” at Brubeck’s urging to try and write a song in quintuple (5/4) time. “I told Paul to put a melody over (drummer) Joe Morello’s beat,” Brubeck explained. As a jazz pianist, Brubeck became a household name in jazz in part due to Time Out‘s success. Demond’s cool-toned alto and quick wit fit in well with Brubeck’s often heavy chording and experimental playing. Morello and bassist Gene Wright completed the group. The Quartet traveled and performed constantly around the world until breaking up in 1967 to pursue other musical ventures. Time Out peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard pop albums chart and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. “Take Five” became a mainstream hit, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 5 on Billboard‘s Easy Listening survey, the precursor to today’s Adult Contemporary charts. The song was included in countless movies and television soundtracks and still receives significant radio play. Musicians: Dave Brubeck, piano Paul Desmond, alto saxophone Joe Morello, drums Gene Wright, bass
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Charles Mingus – Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item"Mingus is also all about the ensemble...this reissue has a life and immediacy I've not heard before with this title, whose stunning music overwhelms any flaws of the recording." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound, June/July 2009 Produced by Impulse! A&R director Bob Thiele in 1963, this recording is a major showcase of the talented Charles Mingus as a bassist, pianist and writer. In his 1963 original liner notes, critic-at-large Nat Hentoff said that of all the musicians, it is impossible to remain indifferent to Mingus. This recording more than any other testifies to Hentoff's claim. More so today than in 60's, there is truly only one Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus.
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Son House – Father of Folk Blues
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item“Just had to get in touch to let you know that my copy of Son House’s Father Of The Blues — on QRP 45 RPM is totally amazing. I’ve been collecting records for 40 years and have a modest collection of 900 LPs — most first pressings from the late ’60’s on — but nothing compares to this pressing from your company! Wow! Quiet pressing, amazing sound, fabulous packaging — just fantastic. At 54 I’ve just bought the best quality album ever. I’ve bought originals, classic records, modify, Japanese etc. but this is the best in every detail. Well done to you all to produce an LP this classy! Thanks.” — Kevin O’Connor, Waterford Ireland “AP’s reissue of this recording is extremely transparent, naturally balanced, and fulfills the ‘it’s like he’s playing in my room!’ audiophile cliché. The record sounds mono at times, but that is how the album was originally mixed. … Ryan K. Smith used the original two-track stereo tape from the Sony archives and referenced an original Columbia ‘360 Sound’ pressing to master this correctly and it shows. Never have I heard a blues recording that is so musically raw yet so sonically exceptional. Further, the QRP-pressed platters are silent and flat as pancakes.” Music = 10/11; Sound = 11/11 – Malachi Lui, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the entire review here. Mississippi’s Son House was already legendary for a small collection of live field recordings made by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1941 and 1942, and for having taught some important licks to both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters before he was rediscovered by a new generation of college-age fans in 1964. The “Father of the Delta Blues” recorded this namesake LP for Columbia Records a year later in 1965. It’s become, in the words of Living Blues magazine — “Essential recordings by one of the greatest bluesmen ever.” And now, Analogue Productions presents a reissue unmatched in sonic quality and luxury presentation. For our version we turned to Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound to remaster the recording from the original master tapes. The freshly cut lacquers — for this version we’ve cut the album at 45 RPM for truer cartridge tracking and decreased distortion on the inner groove — were then plated and pressed on 180-gram vinyl by our own Quality Record Pressings. The Hybrid Stereo SACD version was authored for SACD by Gus Skinas at the Super Audio Center in Boulder, Colo. Son was born Eddie James House, Jr., on March 21, 1902, in Riverton, Miss. By the age of 15, he was preaching the gospel in various Baptist churches as the family seemingly wandered from one plantation to the next. He didn’t even bother picking up a guitar until he turned 25; to quote House, “I didn’t like no guitar when I first heard it; oh gee, I couldn’t stand a guy playin’ a guitar. I didn’t like none of it.” But if his ambivalence to the instrument was obvious, even more obvious was the simple fact that Son hated plantation labor even more and had developed a taste for corn whiskey. After drunkenly launching into a blues at a house frolic in Lyon, Miss., one night and picking up some coin for doing it, the die seemed to be cast; Son House may have been a preacher, but he was part of the blues world now. Now, sit back and enjoy one of the genere’s greatest, on a reissue that’s the best that’s been made to date. So authentic, so real – that’s the Analogue Productions difference. Praise for our 33 1/3 version! “Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer wasn’t the only blues LP recorded with the due care rarely shown to albums in the genre, prior to the revival. Son House’s rediscovery in the early 1960s reads like a Hollywood script, but all of the elements are there to make you realize that this John Hammond-produced LP, 50 years on, was one of the most important. Just House and his bottleneck acoustic guitar: his sheer presence must has been terrifying to those unfamiliar with the intensity of rural, unamplified blues. Every track is astounding, but skip straight to the voice-only ‘John The Revelator’ for an instant taste of House’s abilities to captivate. And he lived long enough, too, to savor his renaissance.” — Sound Quality = 92% — Ken Kessler, HiFi News, November 2016
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Doug MacLeod – Come To Find
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show itemSpend any time around Doug MacLeod and the stories from his years of road time with the likes of Big Joe Turner and Pee Wee Crayton start to flow as easily as a brook tickled by a breeze. And you know you're getting to the good part, the climax if you will, when Doug's eyes start to twinkle, his grin grows broader and out of his mouth pop the words "Come to find ..." MacLeod was a widely acknowledged electric blues guitarist for many years, and the leader of his own band, yielding a number of U.S. and European tours and several albums to his credit. Doug disbanded the group to focus all his energies on his first love, acoustic blues. Come To Find is the debut fruit of that effort. And now it's made even more remarkable, with this 45 RPM 180-gram reissue by Analogue Productions. The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately. The pressing sounds spectacular. You're holding a 180-gram masterpiece from our own Quality Record Pressings, our state-of-the-art LP pressing plant. And the gatefold jacket from Stoughton Printing is hard-core, old-school style — thick cardboard, tip-on, with additional photos and liner notes inside. Sweet. Come To Find is the sound of a consummate bluesman touching the core of his art in a program featuring ten originals by Doug. He is beautifully supported in this intimate setting by harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite and the Mighty Flyer rhythm section, Jimi Bott and Bill Stuve. This is the album that deserves a place of honor in the music collections of even casual blues fans. And for those who love blues already, this is one of the best-sounding, most original works you'll ever hear.
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Holly Cole – Temptation
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item"Not the first time a jazz singer has focused on a single composer — even Keely Smith did an all-Beatles LP, while Ella made an entire series of songbooks — but a double LP that's predominantly made up of Tom Waits material? You're forgiven if this seems like a Rickie Lee Jones album in disguise, rather than a sincere tribute. That, though, would be too glib because this 1995 release is entrancing and atmospheric. The arrangements offer a variety of experiences from Cole's trio in lean, unplugged form, to other tracks augmented by electricity, brass or strings. The transfer is superb, and Acoustic Sounds has expanded the original set with three bonus tracks." — Sound Quality: 90% — Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, December 2019 Over the past decade, new talents such as Cassandra Wilson, Patricia Barber and Holly Cole have redefined the world of female jazz vocals. Cole's Temptation, a 1995 Blue Note release, is her musical tribute to the writings of Tom Waits. Besides being a superb audiophile recording (perfect in every production detail, from the rendering of Cole's amazing voice to the incredibly natural sound captured by producer Craig Street's team), this album has garnered kudos for her interpretation of Waits' unique compositions. Now hear how our Analogue Productions' 200-gram LP reissue makes this standout album even stronger! Doug Sax at the Mastering Lab, assisted by Gavin Lurssen remastered the 33 1/3 recording that gives Cole's vocals richer detail and greater body. Premium pressing by Quality Record Pressings provides flawless reproduction against a super-silent background for pure listening enjoyment. Lastly, top it off with a Stoughton Printing old-style tip-on jacket and this disc is a sure winner. A great addition to your jazz collection. Standout tracks include a catchy version of "Jersey Girl," which made it onto a number of radio playlists, and a rendition of "The Briar and the Rose," augmented by the Canadian Brass. Also included are "Take Me Home," "Train Song," "Temptation," "Falling Down," "Invitation to the Blues," "Frank's Theme," "Little Boy Blue," "I Don't Wanna Grow Up," "Tango 'til They're Sore," "The Heart of Saturday Night," "Soldier's Things," "I Want You" and "Good Old World."
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Lowell Graham – Winds Of War and Peace
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cart“It’s a sonic spectacular and while perhaps you are skeptical about this, it makes for damn entertaining listening. … If your system is capable of wide dynamic swings and deep bass, you’ll definitely enjoy cranking up this record! The original, cut by Doug Sax, … is obviously no ‘slouch,’ but this Kevin Gray-mastered reissue is even better overall. The bottom remains solid and dynamic while the midrange is far more transparent, having lost a ‘milky’ quality that made it sound as if it had been recorded in an airplane hangar. … if chamber is more your style and/or more suited to your system I’d recommend Sonatas For Violin and Piano (Analogue Productions APC-8722) performed by David Abel (violin) and Julie Steinberg (piano). Incidentally, Wilson’s catalogue numbers begin with the release year, so this one was issued in 1987. These chamber music recordings were designed to create the sensation of the performers playing in your room as opposed to you being in a venue. … The QRP pressings produce pitch black backgrounds with which the originals cannot begin to compete. Plus the music is sublime and/or bombastic!” — Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com. Read the whole feature article here. On Winds of War and Peace, conductor Lowell Graham takes the National Symphonic Winds ensemble through a program of stirring orchestrations and marches. “Liberty Fanfare” was composed for the centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. The fanfare set the stage for one of the most spectacular celebrations in America’s history. Samuel Barber’s “Commando March” composed in 1943, represents Barber’s first band work. Written in a quadruple meter, this work utilizes the constant contrast of dotted and triplet rhythms. Roger Nixon’s “Festival Fanfare March,” was recognized for superb composition by the American Bandmasters Association in 1973. It is a work that’s technical, bright in color and effervescent in spirit. The album also includes “Victory at Sea,” “El Camino Real,” “A Santa Cecilla” and “Symphonic Dance No. 3”. Although the 33 1/3 reissue of this recording by Analogue Productions was outstanding, our 45 RPM version raises the quality bar even higher. With wider grooves, you’ll hear sound that reveals more depth and space to the orchestra as a whole, as well as individual instruments. This disc sports more detail, more human presence, more of what we as audiophiles, listen for. The musicians in the National Symphonic Winds come from the premier military bands of the United States as well as the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The musicians for this recording session represented a superb mix of seasoned and assured professionals. Graham, a native of Greeley, Colorado, has earned recognition as one of America’s most talented conductors. He graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. He was also the first person to be awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Catholic University of America. Graham has led orchestras and bands on record and in performance throughout the world. He is the current conductor and commander of the United States Air Force Tactical Air Command Band.
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Lowell Graham & National Symphonic Winds – Center Stage 45
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Add to cartFrom Wilson Audiophile Recordings comes Center Stage, featuring Lowell Graham conducting the National Symphonic Winds. These recordings were made in a historic concert hall on the campus of Hampton University in Hampton Roads, Va. The history of the hall parallels somewhat New York's Carnegie Hall. The musicians in the National Symphonic Winds come from the premier military bands of the United States as well as the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The result was a superb mix of seasoned and assured professionals for this single, five-hour recording session. Those who have already enjoyed the 33 1/3 Analogue Productions reissue of Center Stage know why it is an exceptional-sounding audiophile record. Now, cut at 45 RPM, and with wider grooves, you'll hear sound that's upgraded from exceptional, to brilliant. There's more depth and space to the orchestra as a whole, as well as individual instruments. This disc sports more detail, more human presence, more of what we as audiophiles, listen for. Lowell Graham, a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, was also the first to be awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from the Catholic University of America. He has led orchestras and bands in performances throughout the world, and he's the current conductor and commander of the United States Air Force Tactical Air Command Band. Recorded with minimal miking (Sennheiser), directly to 2-track half-inch, 30 ips tape using arguably the finest 2-track analog recorder in the world — the Wilson Ultramaster — a highly-modified Studer tape deck with custom-designed electronics designed by John Curl. To accomplish this difficult, time pressure recording, the recording engineering skills of the renowned Bruce Leek were employed.
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Lynyrd Skynyrd – Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
88,00 €
Includes 19% MwSt DEplus shippingAdditional costs (e.g. for customs or taxes) may occur when shipping to non-EU countries.Show item“It’s not the first time the ill-fated band’s astounding debut has been ‘audiophiled’ but this version is arguably the best. OK, for some of you, the two-LPs-at-45rpm shtick may seem overkill, especially applied to a hard rock release, but it does remind us that there may be more in the grooves than we think. If anything, it’s a physical manifestation of what drives us as audiophiles. Everything here is enhanced: detail, space, tonal balanc, the sense of mass, transient attack. Perhaps the biggest benefactor of the format is vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, who could purr or growl. Southern rock at its finest, this LP closed with the aching, majestic ‘Free Bird’ — here, it overwhelms, filling a side. Sublime.” — Sound Quality: 95% — Ken Kessler, Hi Fi News, June 2018 “The idea of two-disc, 45 RPM 180-gram audiophile LP reissues of Lynyrd Skynrd’s first and next-to-last studio albums, each selling for $55, may seem an odd mix of high-brow sound with low-brow music, but doubters should suspend judgment until they hear the results. … such classics as the riff-rockin’ ‘Gimme Three Steps,’ the power ballad ‘Simple Man,’ and the, um … immortal (or is that unmercifully deathless?) ‘Free Bird’ have a previously unheard clarity and depth. No longer do the guitars of Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Ed King all run together in a sonic wash. A new level of definition makes Ronnie Van Zant’s always surprisingly good vocals even more so. … As is usual with Analogue Productions reissues, the heavyweight packaging is lush — and the pressing quality, from AP sister company Quality Record Pressings, is excellent. Best of all, these editions are the final sonic words on these albums. … These albums have never sounded better, and it’s not much of a leap to say they never will.” — Performance = 4/5; Sonics 4/5 — Robert Baird, Stereophile, May 2017 What would American southern rock be without the scorching sounds of Lynyrd Skynyrd? Analogue Productions and Quality Record Pressings have already brought you exceptional reissues of Second Helping and Nuthin’ Fancy. Back to the well then, we go, for two more Skynyrd favorites — the epic Gimme Back My Bullets and the band’s bluesy, hard-rocking 1973 debut Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd. Remastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, our Analogue Productions reissue of Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd is the ultimate in luxurious reproduction and unbeatable sound. 180-gram plating and pressing by Quality Record Pressings, and a tip-on Stoughton Printing jacket round out the package. The undeniable youthful hunger of Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd pumps through the subtly witty songs, all strongly rooted in Southern heritage and working-class values. Independent of the most-requested tune in history, Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd bleeds red, white, and blue and encapsulates the wondrous dichotomies of Southern rock. Months before Lynyrd Skynyrd enjoyed the privilege of recording its debut, the band entered its seventh year of playing juke joints and assorted dives in a bootstraps effort to land a deal. During a residency at a hardscrabble Georgian club, the group’s rambunctious rock, swaggering attitude, blue-collar determination, and country-reared cadence caught the ear of producer/musician Al Kooper. The rest is history. Kooper inked the ensemble to his new imprint and hustled everyone into a Georgia studio for sessions that occurred March through April 1973. It’s at the Studio One space that Lynyrd Skynyrd flashed scampering tempos, cutting give-and-take riffs, loose barroom lines, and off-the-cuff vocalese that entirely separated its approach from that of the more jazz-styled affairs of the Allman Brothers Band. Confederate flags, empty whiskey bottles, cocked pistols, rotgut habits, scorned women, and prodigal drifters populate the songs, nearly all written from first-person perspectives that add to their genuineness. Prophetic touches – twinkling piano notes, soaring mellotrons, a one-off harmonica – provide ideal complements to the intertwined guitar melodies and singer Ronnie Van Zant’s comfortable gruffness and way of expressing local customs.