Teaser & the Firecat again, & learning how to shop for LPs (long)

[PsychFan]

I've been buying up used LPs almost constantly for a few years now, on eBay and in the many shops Boston and its 'burbs have to offer. (Some of the best are real hole-in-the-wall places a lot of people don't seem to know about, where $1 records are practically leaking out of the door ... I just love finding those!)

In that time, I've learned a few things, but I've clearly got so much more to learn. I've always been a "label shopper" -- looking for the black/yellow UK Parlophone Beatle issues, the 6-eye and 2-eye Columbia pressings of Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, et al ... you get the idea.

I have to admit I haven't paid much attention at all in the past to stampers (with the exception of Columbia's, which are notably easy to read and decipher). But last week and in the past few days I've picked up my third and fourth copies of two classic albums -- Cat Stevens' Teaser and the Firecat and James Taylor's Sweet Baby James.

For a really long time, I felt I was reasonably satisfied with the pressings of these albums I'd purchased, both in NM condition: an off-white-label A&M Teaser, and a "trees"-label Sweet Baby James.

About six months ago, I had the opportunity to purchase a 5U/5U UK Island "sunray"-label pressing of Teaser, and I did. I liked it much better than the latter-day US A&M I had, but it's marred by damaged grooves on Side 2 ("Morning Has Broken" is unlistenable). Then, after reading some of the recent posts on this album (notably Humorem's), last week I purchased an earlier brown-label A&M pressing. It sounded good but slightly dull; yesterday I bought another brown-label copy with different stamper info (and noticeably smaller lead-out grooves), and it sounds COMPLETELY different, more dynamic, more natural, plenty of low end. I knew it was possible there'd be differences, but not that drastic.

I've also collected three hunter-green-label Sweet Baby James LPs recently (two with the familiar WB logo, one with a crazy "W" logo and "That's all folks" scratched in the dead wax on Side 2, which I believe is one of the earliest pressings), and comparing those has also been an eye-opener.

I guess what I've come to learn is that it pays to READ THOSE STAMPERS, folks!! Listen and learn what the good ones are. If you love a particular album and it costs 50 cents or $1 each in the used bins (as these two LPs commonly do), it is indeed worth your while to buy 2 or 3 or 4 of 'em and do the comparisons.

Just wanted to say thanks to Humorem and others who have steered me in this direction. Shopping strictly by label is a thing of the past for me now ... Another case in point on that: I have a US Atlantic pressing of Led Zeppelin II that blows me clear across the room whenever I play it. (I like it a heck of a lot better than the Classic LP I have.) It has a "75 Rockefeller" address on the label (which means it's not an early pressing). The earlier pressing has an "1841 Broadway" address on the label; I found a clean copy of this over the weekend and bought it, thinking it might be even better ... It sucks. It sounds like a bad cassette -- no punch, no dynamics, no highs. I was rather surprised and really disappointed.

So there's another LP myth debunked: earlier isn't necessarily always better. And the "country of origin" rule doesn't always hold, either ... just 'cause an album was made in the UK doesn't always mean the UK version will be better (it usually does, but not always).

I'll stop now ... But thanks to all who have offered the good ideas and advice.

[Todd Fredericks]

Good post!

Todd

[Beagle]

Originally posted by Jeff Partyka
So there's another LP myth debunked: earlier isn't necessarily always better. And the "country of origin" rule doesn't always hold, either ... just 'cause an album was made in the UK doesn't always mean the UK version will be better (it usually does, but not always).That's the key word..."usually". There are always exceptions to the rule. I think sometimes you also have to take into consideration the country of origin of the record label itself. Not very often did I have a German or UK Arista or Geffen that sounded as good as the American.

In Canada, it turns out only Arista and A&M releases were actually mastered by the person listed in the credits, unless it was a major artist like Fleetwood Mac or Pink Floyd, or a Canadian artist. If we wanted a good sounding copy of anything else, we had to buy a US import copy. I didn't realize why the US copies always sounded better until I got educated in looking for the mastering info in the lead-out groove area. At the time, I was more concerned with warped, off-centre and noisy pressings. If I got a copy without these flaws, I was happy.

Armed with this new information of what to look for, I now have about 5 or 6 copies of so many albums that my basement is completely clogged. My project now is going through them and keeping the best sounding copy. The rest will go in the Blue Box for recycling.

Another thing, very often it's a case of finding that great sounding original copy only to be confronted with the gruesome fact that I grew sick of the album 10 years ago. I play it once, go "OK it's better" then file it forever.

Ah, the fun of LP trolling. Nothing like it.

[Humorem]

Originally posted by Jeff Partyka
I've also collected three hunter-green-label Sweet Baby James LPs recently (two with the familiar WB logo, one with a crazy "W" logo and "That's all folks" scratched in the dead wax on Side 2, which I believe is one of the earliest pressings), and comparing those has also been an eye-opener.

Some trivia: the first pressing is cut by Bill Lazerus. It has Lazerus in the dead wax. Know how we know? RP looked him up in the phone book and called him! Told us the whole story.

Stamper numbers on this album? They are all over the place. Look for "hi james"; those can be amazing. But more than anything, buy all the originals you can find, DD them, and listen. You will find magical copies.

First thing I listen for is less transistory grain while still having enough highs. Many copies are too lean and grainy, few are dull. First track should sound the best, downhill after that.

And the album before is every bit as good OR BETTER IMO.

Jeff, you are embarking on a journey that will last a lifetime. You will find better sounding versions of most of your favorite records if you pursue your present course: the trial and error method of record collecting. Listening for yourself.

And don't throw away all your rejects. As your stereo improves, and your ears become better trained, you will find that some records that didn't make the cut will begin to have qualities you didn't appreciate fully before, and you may find, like I have many times, that they end up being your favorites.

And even though it's bad for business to say so, few of the 180 gram records (except for Steve's, still awe inspiring to this day) will end up on the top of the pile. A few. Ten or twenty. You'll have 200 amazing $2 records by the end of the decade if you keep trying, and that is money well spent!

Congratulations on seeing the light. Have your audiophile friends bring over their audiophile records and beat the socks off their LPs with your $2 finds. It's the most fun you can have in audio, just watching their jaws drop.:D

TP

[PsychFan]

Originally posted by Humorem
And the album before (James Taylor) is every bit as good OR BETTER IMO.

I just picked up a US Apple pressing of this recently, but gave it only a cursory listen. I'll have to give it a good listen soon ...

And don't throw away all your rejects. As your stereo improves, and your ears become better trained, you will find that some records that didn't make the cut will begin to have qualities you didn't appreciate fully before, and you may find, like I have many times, that they end up being your favorites.

I do plan to keep the "rejects." I just have to hide them somewhere, because my wife is already starting to raise her eyebrows when she ventures into the listening room and sees half a dozen copies of the same LP scattered everywhere ... :)

[Angel]

I remember Steve telling us that he went through 15 different stereo LP's of Ella Fitzgerald's "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charley", and all were different, with varying quality. All within the first two years of its release. Crazy!

[peter]

Hi:

All this stuff can drive you crazy! I recently
got a US original Neil Young/Comes A Time LP, with
"Lotta Love" listed as the last song on the LP
jacket and playing as the last song on the LP too.
And it sounds FANTASTIC. I have NEVER heard ANY
domestic Reprise LP sound this dynamic. It almost
sounds like a different mix. I also found a U.S. copy of Traffic's Low Spark on a pink rim Island label, but made by Capitol, with Capitol
mastering info in the dead wax and an "SW" prefix catalogue number. This too sounds great, though
quite different from my two UK original pink rims or my German pink rim. Help, anyone

[Dob]

Originally posted by Humorem


It's the most fun you can have in audio, just watching their jaws drop.:D


My most memorable "watch their jaws drop" experience was in 1985, when I bought Sony's landmark D-5 Discman. What a fabulous product! Up until then CD players were about a grand and they were full size units. The Discman was walkman sized and cost $300 retail.

I used to take that D-5 everywhere and hook it up to the systems of everyone I knew, almost none of whom would be considered "audiophiles" (and hardly any of them were familiar with CDs). They never knew their mid to lo-fi systems could sound so good (and I didn't either, to tell the truth), especially from such a tiny box! The whole experience really opened my eyes as to the importance of a high quality sound source.