I've been stumbling upon more lps mastered by Wally Traugott lately...... The thing to look for is "Wally" written in the dead wax/trail off vinyl, in case you're new to spotting these. His mastering is the best vinyl version of Boston's first album that I own (I sold the MFSL record shortly after I found a $2 copy mastered by him ). He also mastered Saturday Night Fever on vinyl (found one last week) I also found his name in the dead wax of a Demo version of "California Jam 2". Haven't listened to it yet. The funny thing about that one is he is not listed on the cover anywhere. So.....What other Wally mastered albums should I be keeping my eyes out for??
They do indeed. I made sure to grab every one from Pet Sounds through 20/20. They're all worth hunting down, musically and sonically.
One of the earliest 45's to bear his signature that I know of (an abbreviated "Wly" through 1977), was Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December" (Capitol 3746). Of his 1970's lacquers, this was one of the few he cut on the "H/J" Scully lathe; most of his cuts were done on the post-1969 "F" Neumann lathe. Among my 45's with his distinctive signature (a partial list) also include: - "Memories" (B-side of "Amie") by Pure Prairie League (marked PB-10184-B Wly F-3) - Paul McCartney/Wings singles: "Jet" (Apple 1871), "Band on the Run" (Apple 1873; A-side only), "Junior's Farm" (Apple 1875), "Listen to What the Man Said" (Capitol 4091), "Silly Love Songs" (Capitol 4256) and "With a Little Luck" (Capitol 4559). - "Long Time" by Boston (my "More Than a Feeling" copy was cut by Ken Perry) - "Whodunit" by Tavares (Capitol 4398) - "Magic" by Pilot (EMI 3992)
I REALLY second that! The Pet Sounds LP sounds wonderful and only cost me $5 for a mint copy. I wish I had bought the other ones also. Arrrggghhh.
yes, he does! great thread; thank you for starting it, geoman076. i'll chime in with Charlie Daniels Band - Million Mile Reflection (Epic, 1979). it's the only way to hear 'Devil Went Down to Georgia'! 'Chicken in the bread pan a-pickin' out dough, Granny does your dog bite--no, child, no.'
I'll second that. Just found one this week, cut by Wally on both sides with "mastered by Capitol" along side his signature. The song Mississippi also sounds better than ever.
Thomas Dolby - The Flat Earth To this day, it's one of my best-sounding LPs. I love it, especially since it's a little more "organic" Dolby compared to the debut record. Boston - Boston (if you can find a copy with "Wally" on both sides!) Duran Duran - just about any of them
The Kenny Rogers 20 Greatest Hits vinyl with 10 songs squeezed onto 1 side of the LP sounds a little bit better than the CD of this 1983 compilation, and it was mastered by Wally. Wally did a good job considering he did this instead of putting the comp on 2 LPs.
In its "son of a bitch" album version at that. The 45 uses "son of a gun" instead, and on CD, comps such as Billboard Top Pop Hits 1979, the Time Life Contemporary Country comp with this track on it and the Columbia Country Classics: Americana CD also uses the "son of a gun" version. Everything else uses the album version.
IMO none of the Saturday Night Fever CD issues match the original vinyl cut by Wally. Not even the MFSL.
Retired in the early 90's. AFAIK. The newest Wally-cut vinyl I own is Richard Marx' 'Keep Coming Back' 45 from 1991. -Aaron
I think I have a second or later issue of The Band, Stage Fright, mastered by Wally (or is it Bernie?). If it is by Mr. Traugott, I will do a comparison test with the original cut by Mr. Ludwig, and report back in a couple of days.
