The CD Reissues are Wonderful.

Hi Bobberman- I want to thank you for your kind email note that you sent me earlier today. It makes me happy that you are happy. Thank You!
You are very welcome Randy. Ive always been very happy with every recording Herb Has ever made and i look forward to more when they happen.
 
"Money and sales have absolutely NOTHING to do with anything. "Bullish, Blow Your Own Horn, Herb & Hugh" and several others are all coming out."

This is great news for me from Randy, as the yet to be reissued albums are amongst my favourites, particularly, Wild Romance, Under a Spanish Moon and
My Abstract Heart.
 
Also, there are some mis-conceptions that we are waiting to see how these albums do sales-wise before we release other titles. NOT AT ALL TRUE.

My apologies for my misunderstanding on that front, as I may have perpetuated that myth, but from the information I was given, I thought that surely was the case. It's actually good to know that I was wrong and I'll certainly look forward to more reissues. I've purchased 24 of these so you can't accuse me of not supporting the program.

It is a wonderful thing to see so many Herb Alpert albums "in print", all at the same time and I sincerely hope that the effort to reach younger ears will be successful. Herb's sound is always catchy - at least it has been for me for the past 50-some years.
 
I have a former theatre employee (just off to college) who is into vinyl...I should send her one of the vinyl releases for fun and see if she digs it. Although, she's more into "alt-rock" so she might kind of roll her eyes at a TJB record, but hey, she's into vinyl so she could be just quirky enough to "get it."
 
I'm happy as a clam. Got all the vinyl with CDs and hi-res files purchased as funds allow. Now if I could just get to a concert. :cool:
 
Hi Steve- you are 100% correct. A huge amount of the really young music listeners are very, very anti hype. These are the kids embracing vinyl. These kids want truth and transparency. Like the Beatles re-releases, I just wanted these albums to be released as Herb & Jerry released them. Liner notes, song titles, cover art, etc. The only major thing I really wanted was for the sound to be as best as possible. And I think that we achieved that. Many years was spent preserving these tapes and doing digital transfers and remastering by Bernie who is part of the TJB and A&M family. We had no choice but to re-create all of the artwork as we had Zero original artwork. And 80% of these albums were created before the CD. The art was created for a huge 12x12 surface and not a small CD package. The colors, the typeface and music will never, ever, ever be as they were 50 years ago but everything that we have done is absolutely the very best that we could do with what we have. I am very proud of these albums and am happy that these are now out in the world. There is so much piracy with crappy over=priced TJB/Herb recordings all around the world that I wanted to create "Official" TJB/Herb recordings which is why I called the label HA Presents.. Also, I have read that several long time fans are unhappy with us not using plastic CD Jewel cases. When I came on board to help Herb with Steppin' Out (both he and I are very ecologically minded) we discussed cardboard packaging (which is more expensive) as opposed to the Jewel Pack and we agreed to the cardboard. Also, there are some mis-conceptions that we are waiting to see how these albums do sales-wise before we release other titles. NOT AT ALL TRUE. These releases were brought about by me. Money and sales have absolutely NOTHING to do with anything. "Bullish, Blow Your Own Horn, Herb & Hugh" and several others are all coming out. I just want to ensure that those releases sound as good as these other albums sound and I did not want to delay these re-releases because these others were not what I intended them to be. Again, I want people that are discovering the TJB for the very first time to have the same joy that I had as a kid hearing these albums in the same way that everyone here had joy and happiness hearing these for the first time 40, 50 years ago. I mean how crazy is it that we are all here 50 years later talking about drop outs on songs, extra trombone tracks on certain mixes, typos on credits, colors on CD packages, etc. This is so fantastic because we are really all here because a guy with a really cool sound on his horn picked some great songs and recorded them in a way that touched millions of people and obviously brought a whole lot of happiness and memories to all of us on this forum. For me this is a tribute to my uncle who is a rather shy, kind, generous, warm human being that has a wonderful legacy of music that deserves to be passed on to future generations.
Hi, Randy! I am brand new to this forum, although I've been watching it off and on for a few years. As a matter of introduction, I became a fan in the mid-60's. Your uncle influenced me as a 5th grader to start playing trumpet (actually cornet; they wouldn't let me start on a trumpet) in the fall of 1966. I have a vinyl and cd collection that's probably 4 to 5 thousand by now, and the very first item in my collection was !!Going Places!!. I've been a big fan ever since.

I wanted to let you know that:

(1) I love this new re-issue series on several levels: great sound quality, great reproduction of the original artwork, and affordable pricing! So far I have purchased almost half of the new re-issues and plan to complete the entire set. I'm hoping that Amazon's prices remain at $9.99 for awhile longer. Thank you for making affordability a priority! I, for one, do not take this pricing for granted.

(2) I'm thrilled that you're telling us that there will be additional releases in this series in the future! I have been guessing that perhaps Second Wind, Passion Dance, and Colors may ultimately not be included in the long-term re-issue plans because they are relatively later recordings that may require little to no sprucing up sonically. And, they've never gone out of print. I've really been hoping that everything prior to those albums would eventually be re-issued. And if those three are also re-issued, so much the better!

(3) It's obvious that you're heavily into the marketing aspect of this re-issue program, and I'm happy to see all the work that's taking place!

(4) I LOVE the poster of the re-issue series! It pops up every morning on my fb feed. Wish I had one of those!

(5) While I'm digging the re-issue cds, I'm also really digging Steppin' Out, In The Mood, and Come Fly With Me! The artistic and technical record-making skills on those three albums are astounding to me. And especially for someone of Herb's age. I realize, however, that it's not just one man, it's a team. And you're a vital part of that team. Thank you for your vital role in both the newer music, as well as keeping the older music alive!

I hope my first post here was acceptable. I'll try to not go on so long in future posts. Since I've followed Herb's career for over 50 years, I kinda had a lot to say.
 
"Bullish, Blow Your Own Horn, Herb & Hugh" and several others are all coming out. I just want to ensure that those releases sound as good as these other albums sound and I did not want to delay these re-releases because these others were not what I intended them to be

I kinda scratched my head on this one. As these albums came out years later than the old TJB, I would assume that these '80s masters were pretty good to begin with. Just wondering if the new HAP copies will sound significantly better than my original A&M copies. Also, I was one of the victims of a "Beyond" bootleg CD, but I've gotta say... it sounds decent in it's own right. Kinda wondering how they managed to manufacture those bootleg copies of an album that was [to my knowledge] never released on digital audio to begin with. But that's another discussion. At any rate, I'm simply wondering whether it's worth it to spend the extra $ on duplicates. Everybody's on a budget nowadays, ya know! :wink:
 
Steve's right. BEYOND came out on CD officially in Japan. It took me years, and several bootlegs, to finally get an official one, but they can be had. You just have to be diligent in your searches.

The reason the bootlegs SOUND just fine is that they are straight digital copies from the real thing. The bootleggers just always manage to get something slightly wrong. In this case it was a misspelled word on the label, wrong fonts, wrong logos, etc. Other aspects were really good, like the inserts.

I can say that every time I've compared one of the new HAP remasters with older CDs, the HAP's usually have a fuller, more rounded sound than the early attempts at digitizing. To us oldtimers, BEYOND is one of Herb's "newer" albums. In reality, it's already 36 years old. That's as old as THE LONELY BULL tapes would have been in 1998, when this board was just in its infancy.
 
What's being referred to as "Digi-Pak" is, really: "UNI-PAK" (like when -cheaper- gatefolded Lp's had the record tucked in an inside pocket facing the "gutter" of the jacket...but the cover -itself- was often a thin posterpaper instead of a slick over cardboard).
 
Thanks to Harry and Steve for satisfying my curiosity over the "BEYOND" CD. Now it all makes sense to me. The bootleggers knew that it wasn't available in the U.S., so they jumped on the opportunity to make a fast, under-the-table buck. Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed my digital copy for quite a few years now. But it kinda bugs me that the copy I obtained was produced through nefarious sources. Thankfully, the new HAP release of the album should greatly reduce or nullify the chance of anyone else being ripped off the way I was. Regardless of whether I notice the sound quality improvement, I might just buy the new release, even if for no other reason than having a legitimate, licensed copy.
 
For years i had the clean vinyl copy and used it to make needledrop cds and it worked out fine and now with the actual authorized CD version it completes that cycle i plan to keep them all needledrops and actual CDs because of the increasing rarity of the albums that will become obvious as i believe the vinyl format will Fade away again and eventually the CD format will follow suit sadly. But you just never know.
 
I must say that I like the cardboard packaging for the CDs. There's enough plastic junk spread around all over the place. I have bad luck with jewel cases. Mine tend to break- not just crack but shatter. Also you sometimes get those trays that won't let go of the CD. Gee, that's annoying. After I broke a couple bones in my arms some years ago, my hand strength just isn't what it used to be.
 
I must say that I like the cardboard packaging for the CDs. There's enough plastic junk spread around all over the place. I have bad luck with jewel cases. Mine tend to break- not just crack but shatter. Also you sometimes get those trays that won't let go of the CD. Gee, that's annoying. After I broke a couple bones in my arms some years ago, my hand strength just isn't what it used to be.
I also like the cardsleeves of the new HAP series just fine! The less breakable plastic, the better imho. And I'm guessing that it's cuts the cost a bit, too.
 
Also you sometimes get those trays that won't let go of the CD.
One trick I've used is to push down in the center of the hub, which on most cases should cause the outer diameter of the hub to pull inward. That should release the disc.

One case I really disliked was the "lift lock" cases that Mobile Fidelity was using. The tray was hinged and the hub had a locking mechanism with a small arm that would release the disc when the case was opened. Only, I have always found it a major pain to deal with.

220px-Liftlockcdcase.jpg


For my more recent SACDs, Mobile Fidelity now uses something similar to a mini LP jacket, with the disc inside of a soft plastic sleeve.
 
One trick I've used is to push down in the center of the hub, which on most cases should cause the outer diameter of the hub to pull inward. That should release the disc.

One case I really disliked was the "lift lock" cases that Mobile Fidelity was using. The tray was hinged and the hub had a locking mechanism with a small arm that would release the disc when the case was opened. Only, I have always found it a major pain to deal with.

220px-Liftlockcdcase.jpg


For my more recent SACDs, Mobile Fidelity now uses something similar to a mini LP jacket, with the disc inside of a soft plastic sleeve.
I hated those Lift lock cases and still do they were not very protective or secure and i as a precaution had to open them very slowly so the disc wouldn't fly out of it or get scratched.
 
I hated those Lift lock cases and still do they were not very protective or secure and i as a precaution had to open them very slowly so the disc wouldn't fly out of it or get scratched.
True. I usually fumbled the discs trying to get them out. More avid buyers used to tell me I'd get used to it. Me? I'd just transfer everything to a standard jewel case and be done with it...
 
One trick I've used is to push down in the center of the hub, which on most cases should cause the outer diameter of the hub to pull inward. That should release the disc.

One case I really disliked was the "lift lock" cases that Mobile Fidelity was using. The tray was hinged and the hub had a locking mechanism with a small arm that would release the disc when the case was opened. Only, I have always found it a major pain to deal with.

220px-Liftlockcdcase.jpg


For my more recent SACDs, Mobile Fidelity now uses something similar to a mini LP jacket, with the disc inside of a soft plastic sleeve.
Hmmm. I've never had a problem with the MFSL lift-lock cases. In fact, they're far and away my favorite cd case that utilizes plastic. Having said that, there is a little trick to get the lift-lock to function correctly. When you open the front of the jewel case, open it all the way. It will open a little more than 180 degrees. So, open the lid all the way, which will allow the lock to release. The cd can then be lifted by its edges out of the tray very easily. There's no need to touch the plastic in the center hole of the cd at all. And, of course, open the lid all the way again to place the cd back into the tray. Then, close the lid for the mechanism to re-lock with the cd in place. I have MFSL versions of Jethro Tull's Living In The Past plus the first two cds of The Moody Blues' core seven albums. All of the these have the same lift-lock mechanism which works great for me.
 
It's a non-issue now, since I moved to storing things on a music server. :wink: I just felt that the lift-lock cases were too fussy and led to fumbling--I rarely laid a case down to allow it to open 180 degrees. 99% of the time I would open them about 90 to 135 degrees or so (holding it with my left hand) to take the disc out and put it right into the player, then set the case down somewhere, closed. It's more like having to unlearn an old habit, I suppose. If I owned and played more of them, I probably would have felt differently.
 
It's a non-issue now, since I moved to storing things on a music server. :wink: I just felt that the lift-lock cases were too fussy and led to fumbling--I rarely laid a case down to allow it to open 180 degrees. 99% of the time I would open them about 90 to 135 degrees or so (holding it with my left hand) to take the disc out and put it right into the player, then set the case down somewhere, closed. It's more like having to unlearn an old habit, I suppose. If I owned and played more of them, I probably would have felt differently.
It's a non-issue now, since I moved to storing things on a music server. :wink: I just felt that the lift-lock cases were too fussy and led to fumbling--I rarely laid a case down to allow it to open 180 degrees. 99% of the time I would open them about 90 to 135 degrees or so (holding it with my left hand) to take the disc out and put it right into the player, then set the case down somewhere, closed. It's more like having to unlearn an old habit, I suppose. If I owned and played more of them, I probably would have felt differently.
Well, okay. Perhaps others may benefit from my explanation. Either way, the MFSL lift-lock is still my all-time favorite cd holder, and the card sleeve (absolutely no plastic - i.e., the new HAP series) is my second favorite. I, too, store a lot of cd music on my computer, but I still handle cds and their various types of containers.
 
Is the new HAP version of S.R.O. significantly improved over the Shout! Factory version? I've looked through this and other threads to see if this has answered. My apologies if I have overlooked it.
 
Is the new HAP version of S.R.O. significantly improved over the Shout! Factory version? I've looked through this and other threads to see if this has answered. My apologies if I have overlooked it.

Personal opinion is that, yes, S.R.O. is an improvement over the Shout! issue. It's not a dramatic difference, but like all the others sounds more round and closer to analog.
 
Personal opinion is that, yes, S.R.O. is an improvement over the Shout! issue. It's not a dramatic difference, but like all the others sounds more round and closer to analog.
Thank you, Harry! I plan to get it soon. I was in 5th grade at Christmas of 1966. My parents bought our family our first-ever record player for Christmas that year. It was a cheap hi-fi and we loved it. They also bought each of us our first record. I already loved HA & The TJB from the radio and tv, so they bought me the Mame / Our Day Will Come single. My first-ever record! I had a birthday a week later, and received my first-ever album, !!Going Places!!, which I requested due to Tijuana Taxi and Spanish Flea. So, those records are pretty special to me. Unfortunately, as is documented here on a separate thread, those recordings from S.R.O. have sounded distorted throughout their cd history, especially when listening to them through headphones. I've been hoping that they could be improved for the HAP series. So far I've been purchasing the HAP cds that were not included in the Signature Series. I'll soon be purchasing some of the cds that were included in the Signature Series. Again, thank you!
 
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