More 70's Music on Vinyl- Original or Early Pressings

[puroagave]

I just bought it. with my luck the lacquer is cut from a digital file

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141054876546?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

got it today and finished listening to all 4 sides, its a stunner! sounds more like a live mike feed than a recording. I must have listened to the red book disc a dozen times and this LP is more alive. it was recorded in studio to about 80 guest the anecdotes and small talk between songs reveals how sweet a then 23-yr old bonnie raitt must have been like - she's an incredible slide guitarist.

the pressing is dead quiet and rivals QRP - its a steal at the price, I don't know how limited it is but get 'em while you can cuz chad doesn't even sell it. 9 for sonics 10 for music.

 

[DaveyF]

Anyone here heard the original UK Atlantic pressing of Yessongs? Very impressive, IMO.

 

[Bill Hart]

Anyone here heard the original UK Atlantic pressing of Yessongs? Very impressive, IMO.

Got a UK plum YESterday. Haven't compared it to the Monarch (yet). The Monarch is very vivid and has cojones.

 

[Bill Hart]

got it today and finished listening to all 4 sides, its a stunner! sounds more like a live mike feed than a recording. I must have listened to the red book disc a dozen times and this LP is more alive. it was recorded in studio to about 80 guest the anecdotes and small talk between songs reveals how sweet a then 23-yr old bonnie raitt must have been like - she's an incredible slide guitarist.

the pressing is dead quiet and rivals QRP - its a steal at the price, I don't know how limited it is but get 'em while you can cuz chad doesn't even sell it. 9 for sonics 10 for music.

Ordered it. Thanks, Rob.

 

[hvbias]

Anyone here heard the original UK Atlantic pressing of Yessongs? Very impressive, IMO.

The UK plum Yes albums are very good. I have one of The Yes Album, smokes the overly compressed MFSL gold CD. I will need to compare it to an original US pressing one of these days.

 

[Bill Hart]

Emerson, Lake and Palmer, first album, first press UK Island pink label. Whoa!
And a whole different experience listening to this album today than back when.*


*No admission of anything re 'back when' disclaimer.

 

[mep]

Emerson, Lake and Palmer, first album, first press UK Island pink label. Whoa!
And a whole different experience listening to this album today than back when.*


*No admission of anything re 'back when' disclaimer.

Is it better than the Cotillion version? Atlantic cut off all of the bottom end on Lucky Man and Cotillion gives it you in spades. If your copy is better than the Cotillion, I'm in.

 

[Bill Hart]

Mep, I haven't directly compared them, there is probably a US pressing of this album here somewhere. I think the early Islands were great, sonically- the problem is that the pink labels tend to be a little noisy and are hard to find in great condition, short of paying very high prices for what amount to collector records. The first pressings of King Crimson on Island are pretty obscene, pricewise. The ELP album is one which is not ruinously expensive as a first pressing. The trick is then condition. I also got a pink label of Stand Up by Tull. The later pink rim issues are good, far cheaper, tend to be quieter, but don't have the richness and depth of the earlier pressings.
My previous experience with these extended to that old warhorse, Tea for the Tillerman. I had the original UHQR that I bought new and it was sonically inferior to the pink rim which I bought years later off the street from a homeless guy. I eventually got the pink label of Tea- unfortunately my copy of that is on the noisy side. (I'll have to clean it using the AD and see if it improves). I've recently bought some old Traffic pink labels to add to the pink rims I already have.
But, there are exceptions. I have an almost endless number of different pressings of Aqualung. It was also issued on Island as a pink rim; I have the old MoFi, some early Reprise pressings and the DCC. A friend brought over his WLP copy, which sounded the best. I managed to track that one down- so in that case, the earliest U.S. pressing seemed to beat the others including the Island (which, as far as I know, was never released as a pink label, only a pink rim).
PS: On the Island pink label and rim pressings, I am referring to the UK ones; they were pressed in plenty of places in Eu- I don't have much direct experience with the German copies, which - at least on other labels, can be good.
PPS: on ELP, according to one guy I trust on another forum, the matrices of the pink label and pink rim are the same, so unlike other pink label v rim, there may be little sonic difference, I don't know. (Usually the rims are cheaper).

 

[Bill Hart]

Is it better than the Cotillion version? Atlantic cut off all of the bottom end on Lucky Man and Cotillion gives it you in spades. If your copy is better than the Cotillion, I'm in.

So, on my way to something else, I found a copy on Cotillion, with the 1841 B'Way address, in my stacks. Record looks like it was never played. I'll clean it up and give it a whirl against the pink label when I get a chance.

 

[mep]

So, on my way to something else, I found a copy on Cotillion, with the 1841 B'Way address, in my stacks. Record looks like it was never played. I'll clean it up and give it a whirl against the pink label when I get a chance.

Cool. Let me know what you think.

 

[Bill Hart]

Yes, Margaret, that is a minty W7 copy of Astral Weeks. The WLP of Aqualung ain't too shabby either. The pink label John Barleycorn is something I've been looking for. All of these arrived today. (Ironically, my parcels from US mail are supposed to be 'held by postmaster' right now because of regular delivery screw-ups). I'm not complaining....

 

[Bill Hart]

Probably my favorite Tull record, overall (though there are tracks on Benefit and Aqualung that I love):

 

[MylesBAstor]

View attachment 11757 Probably my favorite Tull record, overall (though there are tracks on Benefit and Aqualung that I love):

I always thought Benefit was underappreciated; it was also the first Tull record I ever bought back in HS.

 

[Bill Hart]

I always thought Benefit was underappreciated; it was also the first Tull record I ever bought back in HS.

Yep, Martin Barre's almost muffled sounding Les Paul has a unique quality. I think Aqualung had just come out when I saw them in Pittsburgh; Mountain opened. Whoa!

 

[mep]

I saw them in concert in Louisville around 1971 and it was an awesome concert.

 

[Bill Hart]

I saw them in concert in Louisville around 1971 and it was an awesome concert.

Aside from Ian Anderson's stage antics (which were admittedly cool) and the whole olde english minstrel thing, they had an amazing ability to go from light to dark, from melodic to crushing distortion, from delicate to 'heavy.' That, to me, is one of the key things that makes music interesting- the contrasts, which create tension, surprise, drama and resolution. I never got into the 'rock opera' thing (ala Tommy) except for Ian Gillian's singing in Jesus Christ Superstar, but I think that 'long form' rock "opera" was a way of creating a counterpart to classical music to achieve the same thing -movements with markedly different styles, instrumentation, scale and loudness, sharing some underlying theme. Unfortunately, at least in my estimation, it didn't work very well in rock. (I guess people really like The Wall by Pink Floyd, but I somehow don't think of that as being as pretentious as Tommy). Whatever. My real point was that those contrasts that Tull was able to achieve (Led Zeppelin could do this well, too) made it engaging and is probably what makes the music endure. (Think about why Stairway to Heaven- god I can't even believe I mentioned those words- is such an iconic rock anthem- starts out softly, builds, gets very heavy).

 

[puroagave]

Aside from Ian Anderson's stage antics (which were admittedly cool) and the whole olde english minstrel thing, they had an amazing ability to go from light to dark, from melodic to crushing distortion, from delicate to 'heavy.' That, to me, is one of the key things that makes music interesting- the contrasts, which create tension, surprise, drama and resolution. I never got into the 'rock opera' thing (ala Tommy) except for Ian Gillian's singing in Jesus Christ Superstar, but I think that 'long form' rock "opera" was a way of creating a counterpart to classical music to achieve the same thing -movements with markedly different styles, instrumentation, scale and loudness, sharing some underlying theme. Unfortunately, at least in my estimation, it didn't work very well in rock. (I guess people really like The Wall by Pink Floyd, but I somehow don't think of that as being as pretentious as Tommy). Whatever. My real point was that those contrasts that Tull was able to achieve (Led Zeppelin could do this well, too) made it engaging and is probably what makes the music endure. (Think about why Stairway to Heaven- god I can't even believe I mentioned those words- is such an iconic rock anthem- starts out softly, builds, gets very heavy).

I saw tull in the very early 80s when their popularity was In a decline. I'm a tull fan but recognize they garnered little praise by rock critics of the day, tull and the british prog/metal movement provided endless fodder for the spoof rocumentary "Spinal tap" i'm a generation younger than you, so I missed most of the 70s super groups live in their heyday - I was a mere 10 yrs old in '75! by the time I could drive or bum rides at 14-15, john Bonham had to go and die (I was in HS then) so there went my big plans to see Zep (later saw them as Plant & Page in the '90s). Keith Moon died just before I got to see the who (I saw them later with Kenny in his place). I made plans to see ac/dc's follow up tour to highway to hell when its reported bon scott had just croaked. then ozzy left Sabbath, by the time I got to see them Dio had taken his place. when I finally got to see ozzy's new band this hot new guitarist, randy rhoads, dies in a plane crash - talk about poor timing. when the '80s rolled around '70s rock bands were clichés and yesterdays news. the only group that had staying power were the stones. them and maybe floyd were the only post '70s super groups that could still sell out stadiums.

 

[Bill Hart]

I saw tull in the very early 80s when their popularity was In a decline. I'm a tull fan but recognize they garnered little praise by rock critics of the day, tull and the british prog/metal movement provided endless fodder for the spoof rocumentary "Spinal tap" i'm a generation younger than you, so I missed most of the 70s super groups live in their heyday - I was a mere 10 yrs old in '75! by the time I could drive or bum rides at 14-15, john Bonham had to go and die (I was in HS then) so there went my big plans to see Zep (later saw them as Plant & Page in the '90s). Keith Moon died just before I got to see the who (I saw them later with Kenny in his place). I made plans to see ac/dc's follow up tour to highway to hell when its reported bon scott had just croaked. then ozzy left Sabbath, by the time I got to see them Dio had taken his place. when I finally got to see ozzy's new band randy rhoads had died in a plane crash - talk about poor timing. when the '80s rolled around '70s rock bands were clichés and yesterdays news. the only group that had staying power were the stones. them and maybe floyd were the only post '70s super groups that could still sell out stadiums.

They were killer in their heyday. I went back and looked up the date of the show I attended; it was Oct, 1970, before the release of Aqualung, but they played songs from that album. I remember Jon Evan doing the piano parts to Locomotive Breath, and that light/heavy thing on the acoustic guitar when Martin Barre comes in stinging on his Les Paul on "My God."
Production values were pretty low then, no fancy staging or lights (other than lo-rent light shows). Zep was trashed by the critics too, which only proved something- I forget what
The added allure was that you hadn't already heard this stuff- recycled- in different forms- it felt fresh. That's part of the quest I'm on now, of finding the right pressings -they are more vivid and deliver more of the life of the music. Problem is of course condition and in some cases price. (Check UK first pressings in King Crimson "In the Court" on Island- it's easily in the same ballpark price-wise, perhaps even more, than the UK first press Harvest (solid blue triangle) DSOTM). (I've stayed away from that one, but have several early Harvest UKs- the best sounding being A3/B3- and one copy was actually cheap. Sometimes, you get lucky!)
I could never find a Zep 1 that sounded good- and yes, I have the Classic, albeit at 33, not 45 rpm. I finally got turned on to a Monarch pressing from 1969, which actually sounded good- it was basically a terrible recording. Not all the tracks sound great, but some of them punch through, with real bass and don't sound like they are 3 generations down. The one I heard over my system was a friend's- an original press done on Monarch at the time of release. The one I bought- from another forum member if memory serves- is a later (74) Piros pressed at Monarch; I haven't dragged my friend back with his copy to compare them. That's one of the reasons I'm so blown away by those early Black Sabbaths on Vertigo (though I never went to hear Sabbath then or in any later incarnation).
FWIW, you missed a good era. When I looked at some of the lists of concerts that were in town in 69, 70, 71 all the acts were on tour- and I lived in a "B" or "C" tier city then- Pittsburgh, Pa, not NY or LA. I still missed a bunch of acts I would have dearly loved to see in their heyday. But, the vinyl lives on. I'll post one more, separately, though it's not really a 1970's record.

 

[Bill Hart]

OK, here's one more. I was huge into Van Morrison on St. Dominic's Preview, the Street Choir album, some of Tupelo Honey and parts of Moondance back in the early 70's. Some I had on Warner green labels, but never really focused on Astral Weeks- it was a little too folky/less soulful. On my other favorite forum, the choice pressing was acknowledged to be the early W7. Bought several cheaply, that bore the W7 mark on the jacket, but they turned out to be later pressings. Finally got a minty one, early pressing. Sonically it is just a marvel. Has the air, warmth, bass and other attributes of an 'audiophile' quality classical record, but with Van singing, it's just great. Highly recommended:

 

[puroagave]

Bill, what i (and you) need to do is take a trip to the UK and go on a vinyl hunting expedition. the ~$15 per LP shipping charges are getting old