The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread
- Thread starter Rudy
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Interestingly, the runout information shows "STERLING" and "RKS" (Ryan K. Smith, who mastered it).All...my...friends...
Kevin Gray cut a version of this album only a few years ago, originally a Record Store Day release, pressed on gold vinyl (either some or all versions). It sold like hotcakes since he made a switch to his mastering chain. He normally masters all of his work on his solid state cutting setup but for this one, he had been experimenting with his tube-based cutting system and rather than switch over, he cut it for the release. Once everyone found out, copies got snapped up quickly. (Keep this in mind...)
This version above was cut by Ryan K. Smith for Analogue Productions, and sounds quite good. I have to admit that beyond "Lowrider" and "Spill the Wine" (the latter with Eric Burdon), I didn't follow their music too much, as it was almost a decade before the music I listened to. Thanks to the excellent sound on this 45 RPM set, it's a keeper and I've already played much of it twice already.
Another record I picked up at the show involves Kevin Gray, this one via his Cohearent Records label. Hackensack West is the nickname given to his "studio" in California where the record was recorded. The nickname refers to the original Blue Note Records location in Hackensack, NJ, the living room where Rudy Van Gelder first recorded those albums. Kevin's "studio" is actually his living room--with his wife's blessing, they took the dive and converted the living room and dining area into a recording suite, as the dimensions were very similar to those used at Van Gelder's.
I got to chat with him a bit at the show, as I was invited to a media-only event where he was giving a presentation in the Linkwitz room. At the show, he explained that he had started working on creating a fully vacuum tube ("valve") recording and mastering system in 2005, finally completing it in 2020. He even had some vintage tube mics rebuilt (Neumann). His microphone placements are very simple, and unique in today's studios--he only uses a single mic per instrument, and choosing the correct mics for each instrument also. (The mic used for the bass, for example, is usually very bright, but for the upright bass it perfectly picks up the fingers plucking the strings.)
So, this Anthony Wilson record, entitled Hackensack West, was released only a short time ago. Wilson and the group members (John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Gerald Clayton) performed with Diana Krall in the past, so the names are familiar. It's a nice, swinging set of songs, and of course the sound quality is rich and top notch.
Unlike Kevin's first release, the Kirsten Edkins record Shapes & Sound, this one will not see a digital release. Kevin explained that the "magic" on this recording is not only via the tubes in the upstream equipment, but the tubed McIntosh amplifiers (an industrial version of the MC3500) he uses for the cutting head. Without the cutting process, part of the magic is gone.
I got to chat with him a bit at the show, as I was invited to a media-only event where he was giving a presentation in the Linkwitz room. At the show, he explained that he had started working on creating a fully vacuum tube ("valve") recording and mastering system in 2005, finally completing it in 2020. He even had some vintage tube mics rebuilt (Neumann). His microphone placements are very simple, and unique in today's studios--he only uses a single mic per instrument, and choosing the correct mics for each instrument also. (The mic used for the bass, for example, is usually very bright, but for the upright bass it perfectly picks up the fingers plucking the strings.)
So, this Anthony Wilson record, entitled Hackensack West, was released only a short time ago. Wilson and the group members (John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Gerald Clayton) performed with Diana Krall in the past, so the names are familiar. It's a nice, swinging set of songs, and of course the sound quality is rich and top notch.
Unlike Kevin's first release, the Kirsten Edkins record Shapes & Sound, this one will not see a digital release. Kevin explained that the "magic" on this recording is not only via the tubes in the upstream equipment, but the tubed McIntosh amplifiers (an industrial version of the MC3500) he uses for the cutting head. Without the cutting process, part of the magic is gone.
Adding Bob James to the library prompted an alphabetical re-set, so this morning I'm listening to Alone: Kaleidoscope by Solo Piano from 2013. This is a nice, straight-ahead solo jazz album, a mix of standards ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love", My Heart Stood Still", "It Never Entered My Mind", "Lover Come Back To Me"), as well as "Scarborough Fair" and a medley of Bob's more popular songs including "Angela". I'm about a third of the way through and enjoying it.
Something interesting I noticed about Kevin's catalog numbering.
The first release was CR-AV-2201, Shapes & Sound, released in 2022. This one is CR-AV-2301. 23 is the year, 01 is the number of the release during that year. As busy as he is with cutting LPs, I doubt he would have many releases during a calendar year.
"AV" has to be "all-valve," as it says on the jacket. And CR of course denotes the initials of the label.
Finished Bob James' Alone: Kaleidoscope by Solo Piano and loved it. Now playing Bob James & Keiko Matsui's Altair & Vega from 2011.
rbisherw
Well-Known Member
What is the best CD release of "Touchdown"?
Have been looking for years.
I only have a version on Qobuz and it doesn't sound too bad. Not sure which CD release it might correspond to.
I have an Audio Fidelity SACD called Bob James in HiFi. The cover art is absolutely wretched, but the sound is about as good as it can get. And honestly, I hear little difference between the Qobuz versions of "Touchdown" and "Angela" from the Touchdown album, and the SACD version.
I can understand the confusion, as there have been various releases by different distributors. James owns his masters. They were originally distributed by Columbia in the US (CK 35594), then I see a Warner-distributed reissue in 1995. Koch Entertainment reissued it in 2005 (apparently "remastered") and the same in 2015 but through Red River Entertainment. These don't even touch on the import versions. The streaming version is via evosound, another distributor. (His Feel Like Makin' LIVE! is via the same distributor.)
My guess is that this will probably sound like a mid 70s album no matter who released or remastered it. As long as nobody jacked up the EQ, buried it under noise reduction, or applied brickwall compression, I'd wager they are fairly close, based on what I'm hearing of the SACD version.
Do I recommend the SACD hybrid? It's good as an overall compilation, but not worth the going rate of $45. (Worth picking up if you see it for $15 in a used record store.) And it only has those two tracks from Touchdown.
As luck would have it, the rabbit hole was calling.
The title track "Sign of the Times" had heavy rotation on our local jazz station, but the album never really clicked with me since I bought it on one of those bad-sounding Mastersound half-speed remasterings that CBS put out back in the day, where it always had a very strange and "thick" sonic quality to it.
This CD version does sound better, and I only just now noted that it is a Rod Temperton project (he wrote three of the six songs), so it actually reminds me a little of a Quincy Jones production from the same era.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
I have the Warner Tappan zee version ( issued on CD in the 90s) it still sounds very good to me The original Vinyl version on Columbia Tappan Zee is also very good ( there might be a Columbia CD version of touchdown but I have never seen one otherwise I would have grabbed it) your mileage may vary though but at this point Bob James owns The Tappan Zee Label and it was distributed by the aforementioned labels and several others since the 90s I recommend you try the earliest versions as they are closest to the original sound
Bob James & Keiko Matsui's Altair & Vega is sublime. It leans more classical than jazz, but it's just lovely.
Like Bob James, I'm hot and cold on Neil Diamond, and originally only put Moods in my Apple Music library. Fixed that this morning and am now listening to Beautiful Noise and really enjoying it.
I'm sure there will come a time where I find Neil too syrupy and trying too hard. I wonder if it'll be at the same point that I thought it back in the day.
Like Bob James, I'm hot and cold on Neil Diamond, and originally only put Moods in my Apple Music library. Fixed that this morning and am now listening to Beautiful Noise and really enjoying it.
I'm sure there will come a time where I find Neil too syrupy and trying too hard. I wonder if it'll be at the same point that I thought it back in the day.
Same here. I like the Bang! era recordings (basically two LPs worth), am lukewarm on the Uni output (it varies between brilliant and, um, not so brilliant as the years went on), yet the Columbia era recordings I can't tolerate listening to. (There's your "syrupy.") I seem to gravitate towards the music he made when he was hungrier. Which kind of makes sense, as even his earliest hits on Bang! are ones that he still performed in concert decades later, whereas the most recent albums were almost always forgettable.
Hot August Night is probably his towering achievement--his best material, a nearly perfect presentation, plus the concert and album established him as a top tier entertainer who became a perennial major concert draw in decades to come. I don't listen often, but it's always an experience like no other, one of the few live albums I like.
I'd read a few reviews saying his "back to roots" Rick Rubin-produced record 12 Songs was good, but even that one didn't grab me. Sony's copy protection crippled sales of the CD, however, and copies were recalled. By the time Sony rereleased the album on a standard CD at the end of that year, the momentum was lost. I need to give this one another spin one of these days.
Boondoggle
New Member
Last purchase was Ticket to Ride - Carpenters over the weekend on vinyl. Shame it wasn't a better seller when it came out as "Offering"
Nemily
"I'm goin' way down south to Baton Rouge, tonight"
I was infatuated with Neil Diamond’s writing at one point. I just stopped putting him in rotation some time ago.
Beautiful Noise, however, is an album I keep at arm’s length. I haven’t tired yet of the deep cuts and I really like Beautiful Noise the song.
The hidden gem for me is If You Know What I Mean. I consider this as being his best work and even of the best songs ever written by any artist. He really captures a heart wrenching regret (Diamond revealed this one is true).
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
I have this one too I love the opening track "Hypnotique" one of the Rod temperton compositions plus " the Enchanted forest" and the funky title track "Sign of the times" this was and still is one of his more Adventurous albums in my opinion
As luck would have it, the rabbit hole was calling.
The title track "Sign of the Times" had heavy rotation on our local jazz station, but the album never really clicked with me since I bought it on one of those bad-sounding Mastersound half-speed remasterings that CBS put out back in the day, where it always had a very strange and "thick" sonic quality to it.
This CD version does sound better, and I only just now noted that it is a Rod Temperton project (he wrote three of the six songs), so it actually reminds me a little of a Quincy Jones production from the same era.
Someone at Rolling Stone back in the day summed Neil up as "lighter than Dylan, moodier than Bacharach".
Fair, if reductive.
The only Uni/MCA albums I ever owned (or listened to all the way through) were Moods and Hot August Nights, so this will be fresh listening for me.
Neil stepped off a curb in front of a bus with Johnathon Livingston Seagull (or that's how I remember it), so it'll be interesting to see if, at 50-plus years distance, it sounds any better to me.
Serenade and Beautiful Noise were favorites even then. I remember feeling like it was getting icky from I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight on. We'll see if I still feel that way.
I did listen to his 1988 album Best Years of Our Lives yesterday and was surprised at how good it was. That's probably a keeper, too.
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Absolutely. It and "Home Is A Wounded Heart" are just achingly beautiful and sad.
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Listening to Neil prompted me to start reconsidering some of the artists I just outright blew off while building my Apple Music Library---acts that I had sort of labelled "singles artists"---the ones whose hits I didn't mind hearing on the radio, but didn't consider worthy of a deeper dive.
Carly Simon was on that list, apart from Torch, which I have a serious soft spot for, so I put her in the mix and listened to Another Passenger (1976) yesterday, which I'm pretty sure I never listened to at the time. And it's really good. Major credit to Ted Templeman's production.
Just started Anticipation, and the first two songs being the title track and "Legend In Your Own Time" (which, from airplay in Southern California at the time, you would have thought was bigger than #50), it's off to a strong start.
Carly Simon was on that list, apart from Torch, which I have a serious soft spot for, so I put her in the mix and listened to Another Passenger (1976) yesterday, which I'm pretty sure I never listened to at the time. And it's really good. Major credit to Ted Templeman's production.
Just started Anticipation, and the first two songs being the title track and "Legend In Your Own Time" (which, from airplay in Southern California at the time, you would have thought was bigger than #50), it's off to a strong start.
I came to like Neil Diamond sometime around 1969 with his "Sweet Caroline" song. I actually bought the 45 and liked the b-side too, "And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind." These days, I've really had it with "Sweet Caroline" and how its been appropriated at baseball games and other large gatherings. When confronted with the song in these days, I refuse to participate in the "bum, bum, bum's" and the "so good!'s"
My next encounters with Neil Diamond were the hit radio singles of "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Soolaimon", the latter was a song I liked well enough to go out and buy the album that contained it, TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT. I liked that album's concept of a full suite of songs on the second side.
I followed his output through the next albums, MOODS, STONES, and HOT AUGUST NIGHT. When the SEAGULL thing came out, I kind of shied away from that, but managed to grab SERENADE and BEAUTIFUL NOISE from the radio station.
To this day, I still count "Soolaimon" as my favorite of all of his records and was happy that a latter-day compilation (2014) when he went to Capitol Records, called ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS, put on the full "Soolaimon" song without cutting it short for the segue that was on TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT.
Neil's catalog is full of "fake" albums that his prior record company would put out to capitalize on his success. He started out with Uni (MCA), and after his switch to Columbia, MCA flooded the market with all kinds of albums compiled from his Uni days. It looks almost like there are more Neil Diamond compilations than there are Carpenters compilations!
My next encounters with Neil Diamond were the hit radio singles of "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Soolaimon", the latter was a song I liked well enough to go out and buy the album that contained it, TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT. I liked that album's concept of a full suite of songs on the second side.
I followed his output through the next albums, MOODS, STONES, and HOT AUGUST NIGHT. When the SEAGULL thing came out, I kind of shied away from that, but managed to grab SERENADE and BEAUTIFUL NOISE from the radio station.
To this day, I still count "Soolaimon" as my favorite of all of his records and was happy that a latter-day compilation (2014) when he went to Capitol Records, called ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS, put on the full "Soolaimon" song without cutting it short for the segue that was on TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT.
Neil's catalog is full of "fake" albums that his prior record company would put out to capitalize on his success. He started out with Uni (MCA), and after his switch to Columbia, MCA flooded the market with all kinds of albums compiled from his Uni days. It looks almost like there are more Neil Diamond compilations than there are Carpenters compilations!
GDBY2LV
Well-Known Member
His first label was Bang Records in the 1960’s. There has been much trouble between his 3 record companies over the decades to the copyrights to release those early hits, and recordings from that era on any newer compilations released. That’s why there are live versions of the hits, instead of the original recordings on the box sets. My favorite is Moods. So many great songs on that album. Then Stones, followed by Taproot Manuscript. I started getting burned out after The Jazz Singer soundtrack. His Columbia albums were okay, but not like the Uni/MCA era. I was fortunate to see him in concert a couple of times. The grand opening of the Aladdin Theater in LV in 1976, and then again in my hometown. We had front row seats. We had the much loathed Ticketmaster at my store, so usually great access to concerts in the 90’s, early 2000’s.
I could never figure out the various versions of the song "Shilo". Some are mono, some stereo. Some have a toy piano interlude, some have a real piano. Some have a different lead vocal from Neil. And they seem to show up differently on the many compilations out there. I'm guessing that an original version belonged to "Bang" maybe a different one to Uni/MCA? A re-recording for a Columbia comp? Almost like Richard Carpenter remixes.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
I for one have my favorite Neil diamond the hits are always enjoyed but for me a few deep tracks are also big favorites and are diverse such as the Columbia era Skybird and Be Mine tonight along with Turn around and All I really need is you. And from the Uni Era "Until it's time for you to go". And Stones. These are just a few examples but like others I have my Favorites I never needed Neil Diamonds complete discography I also like the Jazz singer too there's always something for everyone in this
Short version: Bert Berns, who owned Bang records, flooded the market with Neil's old stuff when Neil went to Uni. Some of it he tinkered with. In "Shilo"'s case, he overdubbed background vocals to make the original track sound more contemporary years later. And, like A&M and a lot of others back in the day, mono mixes and stereo mixes were often two entirely different things.
Neil ended up buying his masters back.
I think my preferred version is the stereo one that's on the MCA comp HIS 12 GREATEST HITS. It's only problem is that it's the shortest at 2:57 - probably why radio liked it! Somehow the other versions sound 'wrong'.
It's on this GLORY ROAD comp too:
Mark-T
Well-Known Member
I think Barry's jazz and standards albums are terrific. I do have a soft spot for One Voice, however.Don't judge.But it's the one Manilow album I can listen to. 40 years old. I feel like an antique.
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