Rolling Stones Some Girls

[NealW]

wanted some advice on a copy i saw recently at a store. its 180 gm remastered by Bob Ludwig and released by Virgin (still sealed). is this any good??

first of all the chances of me picking up an original UK or US pressing are remote as i live in south africa so trashing it won't help my cause but i'm not sure if this is worth it. if it is from a digital remaster i certainly will avoid but if its fairly good i will look into it. i have some original UK pressings (their second album and thru the past darkly) which are amazing and some quite good ones in US pressings of Goats head soup (very good) and sticky fingers (so so) i would like to add some more as the other stones i have are terrible.

also wanted to ask about some EMI reissues (180gm) for their 100yr celebration, i saw the waterboys "this is the sea" which says from the orginal analogues tapes etc again advice is welcome.

[Paul Chang]

Neal,

If it is the "LMITED EDITION" HQ-180 pressed by RTI in the USA, by all means avoid it.

FYI, IMO
analog remaster != good sounding
digital remaster != bad sounding

BTW, how's it going in Cape Town? Do you think the Boks can beat the Wallabies again in this year's Tri-Nations? Go All Blacks!

[NealW]

so are you saying this is a digital remaster?? i think it is the same record that you mention but from reading the back of the LP it just said remasterd by bob ludwig no mention of it being digital or analogue.

as for the boks mmm we will have to see some major improvements but we have changed coach which is a good thing; but without a flyhalf to run things how can you win consistently. there is some nice talent coming through however just not in that key position.

[Humorem]

Originally posted by Paul Chang

If it is the "LMITED EDITION" HQ-180 pressed by RTI in the USA, by all means avoid it.

FYI, IMO
analog remaster != good sounding
digital remaster != bad sounding


Indeed, it is awful!

Just to pick a fight:

analog remaster != nobody knows until they play it
digital remaster != see above

TP

[mazort]

I am in the market for "Some Girls" (the record).

What version should I look for?

I don't have an Stones records and think I should. That's the one I think I might like the best, but since we're on the subject and the gurus are on-line, what else is totally bitchin' re the Stones?

[Humorem]

Sticky Fingers, original american is hot.
TP

[NealW]

i have an american pressing but don't know if its original what is the catalogue # (don't have one of those fancy books to tell me). also have an american copy of goats head soup which is fab and the best i have is their second album mono UK pressing (underneath the boardwalk is awsome).

what do you think tom are the early albums better to have UK pressings.

[Sckott]

Please keep away from all of the RTI stones reissues. They all suck suck suck suck. And they suck too.

I'm not just saying "bad cut" or "bad EQ", they're just flat out POOR! Sticky Fingers, Some Girls, Exile - Suck suck suck.

I have an original Exile American. Best I've heard on vinyl specifically. Other "reissues" like subsequent Atlantics, CBS's - Not as good. The CBS's had a great cut and clean vinyl, but there's no life there. Beam us up, Scotty!

No, don't think it was digial remastering that made the RTI's poor. It was sloppy production and a huge waste of everyone's time & money too. The packaging must have made people at Virgin go nuts to get it done right (because the packaging on Exile for instance was impressive) but the disc inside you might as well use for Rover's throw-toy. I doubt that he would find it tasty though.

Tom can fight with me on this one, but I really like my Japanese ESS pressing of Some Girls (ESS-81050). OBI says "Rock And Roll Is Here to Stay As Long As The Stones Roll On!" and the cover is in its original "banned" format with Lucille Ball snaps and all. The sound isn't as harsh as the US pressing (if you can believe it) and the actual vinyl is really suprisingly quiet, even for a Japanese issue. It's an EMI. That album for me was always sonically hot in the top end. This pressing isn't, and does keep an open feel to the sound with a smoother midrange.

Although because the nature of this record has always been "sonically weird" I wouldn't be suprised if Steve says some of it was recorded with flopped polarity. I'd totally believe it. Paris studios couln't have sounded that bad....?

[NealW]

i have an american pressing but don't know if its original what is the catalogue # (don't have one of those fancy books to tell me). also have an american copy of goats head soup which is fab and the best i have is their second album mono UK pressing (underneath the boardwalk is awsome).

what do you think tom are the early albums better to have UK pressings.

[Paul Chang]

Originally posted by NealW
so are you saying this is a digital remaster?? i think it is the same record that you mention but from reading the back of the LP it just said remasterd by bob ludwig no mention of it being digital or analogue. The RTI HQ-180 Small Girls indeed has this fine print on the back cover: Remastered by Bob Ludwig for Gateway Mastering Studios. I pulled this and my early 1980's (original?) UK Rolling Stones/EMI CUN 39108 (A2U hand/B-2 machine) for comparison.

The RTI has the UK beat on one aspect - the quieter vinyl. That's it. Listening to it (RTI) really scared me. The bloated bass brought back the haunting memory of somebody messing with the tone control knobs of my amplifier.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18596#post18596
But this time the tone controls were in the bypassed position. The dead wax areas on both sides of the RTI are wider and it was cut not as hot as the UK but I heard stronger bass from the RTI with the same volume setting - stronger but muddier, like coming through a muffler. The band sounded like playing behind a layer of veil.

The UK has noisier surfaces and plenty of ticks and pops. But it sounds more lively compared to the RTI. The drum and bass guitar have more solid punches. Vocals and guitars are clearer, sans the veil heard on the RTI. I could easily hear the difference in Far Away Eyes and Beast of Burden on side two, where Mick Jagger's voice and Ron Wood's pedal steel and slide guitars come alive.

My UK copy may not be the best out there. But it beat the RTI version hands down. (I have another copy of CUN 39108 with unknown country of original but didn't have time to compare it this time.)
as for the boks mmm we will have to see some major improvements but we have changed coach which is a good thing; but without a flyhalf to run things how can you win consistently. there is some nice talent coming through however just not in that key position. What has happened to Jahnnie DeBeer? Need a flyhalf? Somebody please teach Butch James how to tackle correctly without taking the opponent's head off! The first five is a tough position to fill, but not as tough as the scrum half, speaking from my own experience. ;)

[Paul Chang]

Originally posted by NealW
i have an american pressing but don't know if its original what is the catalogue # (don't have one of those fancy books to tell me). Neal,

I happened to have a "fancy book" - Rock Records by Terry Hounsome, 3rd Edition, 1987. It lists Some Girls as:
(a) Some Girls 1978 Rolling Stones GB US COC 39108

The GB version should be CUN 39108. Please keep in mind that record companies often "recycled" the original catalog numbers on later generation pressings. You have to look at the stamper numbers too. However, the bottom line is, original or remaster, analogue or digital, the vinyl that sounds good is the most important part.

[NealW]

we have a great young scrumhalf coming through just wait and see. i'm sure he will take over from joost.

thanks for the thoughts on the RTI copy, only problem is finding imports of any description for the stones as most people had south african copies, which are without a doubt the worst vinyl's of all time (actually there is worse a zimbabwe copy of "hot rocks").

you guys don't know how lucky you are the only plus side for me is that on odd occasions i get real deals as there isn't much of a sub culture buying and selling LP's so you won't believe the price i pay.

[count.d]

All you need to look for with the Some Girls lp is find the original "banned" cover. This has the cutouts showing girls in every window rather than the censored version where there is pink,yellow,etc.. blocking out some of the faces.

I recently bought a sealed copy USA coc 39108 and it sounds excellent.

If you struggle to find a decent copy, I have a new/sealed copy LIMITED EDITION" HQ-180 pressed by RTI,Virgin.

Make me an offer!

[Uncle Al]

FWIW, my local vinyl merchant had 3 or 4 used copies of the "unbanned" cover selling for about $5 - $7 each. I didn't bother to check the condition, as I already own a copy - but I did inquire as to why he didn't mark up the price due to their collectibility. He told me they must have sold 2 or 3 million copies before the revised cover was released, and they really were not that rare at all.

[NealW]

thats the one i can get hold of and which everyone has warned me not to get

[Sckott]

Originally posted by Uncle Al
FWIW, my local vinyl merchant had 3 or 4 used copies of the "unbanned" cover selling for about $5 - $7 each. I didn't bother to check the condition, as I already own a copy - but I did inquire as to why he didn't mark up the price due to their collectibility. He told me they must have sold 2 or 3 million copies before the revised cover was released, and they really were not that rare at all.

The average price of the unbanned cover should be about $10 or less. No, they weren't rare at all. Concidering how many LPs were made before the hammer came down, most plants exausted their original copies of the inner cover before they started blocking things out in pink n' yellow. There's copies to be had all over the world. In my little crappy neighborhood I know where I can get 2 of them, if that's any indication. :rolleyes:

[J Epstein]

Note that the original issue was released with several different color combinations in the stripes on the front cover. It's been so long I forget exactly how many and what they were, but some of them were sort of faded-pastel-looking compared to the ones that were always available afterwards.

There was a nice Dutch pressing on orange vinyl as well as the ones mentioned so far.

One of the best tracks released from those sessions was on the B-Side of "Shattered" and on the comp "Sucking In The Seventies": "Everything Is Turning To Gold."

If you can find a boot of "Claudine" which I think was also from the Some Girls sessions, jump on it - that track SMOKES.

-j