Here in the UK at least, and despite complex changes in the laws of the countries that make up the UK, "The Lonely Bull" album is currently out of copyright and therefore as a public domain item it's been 'digitally remastered' and reissued in download-only form by a number of opportunist labels. First up, it's a version from Fine Elegant records at £5.49........
The spirit of competition is alive and well here, so you could also choose the version from Putlabel for £6.49...
Wonder where they got the photo. Actually .... is it Herb or a lookalike? Oh wait, here's another one, from Sector Records at £6.49. Amazon say this one was released by Sector Records in 1962. Really?
Classy image, eh? Is that it? Not at all - you might want to try Jazz Archives Records. The 'cover' is 'stickered' "Original artist. Original recordings digitally remastered". How much? Did you guess? £6.49....
Not finished yet. Serious Class Records (with the same pretend sticker as the above) offer "The Lonely Bull" for ...... ahem .......£6.49
There's a release from AP Music at the surprising price of ...£7.49. Phew - must be good, eh?
Love the bull. Worth the extra quid. Now for another £7.49 you could have this highly original album from Strings & Things. The album is "Mexico"...
....but I think you'll find it's "The Lonely Bull" with the track order changed so that it starts with 'Mexico'. Hey, that's a great idea. Let's pass it on to We Love Jazz Records who could do the same thing for a mere £5.49...
How do they do it for that money? Incredible! But our friends at The Blue Bridge Records have had an even better notion. Juggle the tracks again and start with 'Never on a Sunday' and, hey presto....
....and that's yours for just £5.49. Wonderful things downloads - you can change the order of tracks every morning if you want. So how much for the High Coin version? (High Coin is the UK label that handles the official Signature series)....... £5.99 to you.
Where would we be without Amazon, eh? Now the serious bit. If I wanted (and believe me, as owner of a record label I've thought about it) I could issue the album as well. Perhaps for £4.99. So where do the masters come from, you will undoubtedly ask. Has Herb gone nuts and given them to every guy who turns up at the Gallery and asks? No - the key is in the 'digitally remastered' bit. Because all these guys had to do was take a vinyl of the album, copy it into a computer, frig around a bit with the equalisation and - there you are, a new digital recording that YOU own. The download market here is swamped with reissues of discs from 1959, 60, 61, 62 - some are superb (there's a company in the Netherlands who are quite superb at producing remasters that are much better than the originals) and some have been noise reduced so much that they sound like they're comin' down a telephone line.
But be aware and be wary, Cornerites. There's a lot of BULL out there.........
The spirit of competition is alive and well here, so you could also choose the version from Putlabel for £6.49...
Wonder where they got the photo. Actually .... is it Herb or a lookalike? Oh wait, here's another one, from Sector Records at £6.49. Amazon say this one was released by Sector Records in 1962. Really?
Classy image, eh? Is that it? Not at all - you might want to try Jazz Archives Records. The 'cover' is 'stickered' "Original artist. Original recordings digitally remastered". How much? Did you guess? £6.49....
Not finished yet. Serious Class Records (with the same pretend sticker as the above) offer "The Lonely Bull" for ...... ahem .......£6.49
There's a release from AP Music at the surprising price of ...£7.49. Phew - must be good, eh?
Love the bull. Worth the extra quid. Now for another £7.49 you could have this highly original album from Strings & Things. The album is "Mexico"...
....but I think you'll find it's "The Lonely Bull" with the track order changed so that it starts with 'Mexico'. Hey, that's a great idea. Let's pass it on to We Love Jazz Records who could do the same thing for a mere £5.49...
How do they do it for that money? Incredible! But our friends at The Blue Bridge Records have had an even better notion. Juggle the tracks again and start with 'Never on a Sunday' and, hey presto....
....and that's yours for just £5.49. Wonderful things downloads - you can change the order of tracks every morning if you want. So how much for the High Coin version? (High Coin is the UK label that handles the official Signature series)....... £5.99 to you.
Where would we be without Amazon, eh? Now the serious bit. If I wanted (and believe me, as owner of a record label I've thought about it) I could issue the album as well. Perhaps for £4.99. So where do the masters come from, you will undoubtedly ask. Has Herb gone nuts and given them to every guy who turns up at the Gallery and asks? No - the key is in the 'digitally remastered' bit. Because all these guys had to do was take a vinyl of the album, copy it into a computer, frig around a bit with the equalisation and - there you are, a new digital recording that YOU own. The download market here is swamped with reissues of discs from 1959, 60, 61, 62 - some are superb (there's a company in the Netherlands who are quite superb at producing remasters that are much better than the originals) and some have been noise reduced so much that they sound like they're comin' down a telephone line.
But be aware and be wary, Cornerites. There's a lot of BULL out there.........
