More Elton - favor needed

High quality analog dubs?

If my memory serves, some of the Cinram discs are the same as their US counterparts, while others aren't. Or maybe they are all different. I should really go do some tests...

 

Read an article years ago on what the author called "bit transparency". In it he exposed that there are many recording equipment that resample, even if resampling is not chosen or not even a stated capability.

During the Lp era, there was a happy-go-lucky attitude about duping, curring and pressing. One can guess that with digital the same attitudes continue but with the added "validation" that bits is bits and digital is perfect.

There should be a standard for CD production similar to THX for theathers. But no one cares, as Frank said.

 

Yes, please do Grant. That's a biggie in the puzzle! How about "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and "Better Off Dead".

Also, could you do the MCA Caribou too. Even though, I don't currently own the other two -- someone else might. How about "Dixie Lily" and "Ticking"?

thanks,
Dave

 

Grant, does the early Japan pressing of Tumbleweed have the correct stereo imaging?

David, I acquired a GH 2 today. MCA Canada, Cinram pressing. If you need a sample, let me know.
In two days I may have access to a '95 Mercury issue of Caribou.

 

No I think the channels are reversed. Is that what you mean?

I've got the first (made in Japan) pressing of GH2, so I can post the results of that too!

 

No I think the channels are reversed. Is that what you mean?

I've got the first (made in Japan) pressing of GH2, so I can post the results of that too!

 

DJM - Capt. Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy (West Germany)

Someone Saved My Life Tonight – peak level 94.3%

Better Off Dead – peak level 74.5%

MCA – Caribou (Japan)

Dixie Lily – peak level 100%

Ticking – peak level 85.8%

MCA – Greatest Hits Volume II (Japan)

The Bitch is Back – peak level 83.5%

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – peak level 96.8%

 

Thanks Grant -- Another piece of the puzzle solved.

From my Polydor of CF:

Someone Saved My Life Tonight - 94.3%
Better Off Dead - 74.5


So, once again the DJM and the Polydor are clones. The MCA the different one.

 

So, the moral is, in most cases, those DJM pressings are actually pretty worthless, huh? That is, there's no point in searching them out, as the Polydor issues are (again, in most cases) the same.

 

So far, with the exception of the 1970 "Elton John" album, that would be true.

(The internal artwork on the "Empty Sky" DJM has some different things from the other two though)

 

...unless you're a collector and want the original DJM pressings

 

That is a good point too. For some, there *is* a certain aesthetic value of holding original, import pressings. I wonder how plentiful these discs are in used shops in Germany (and the titles that were exported for sale in the UK shops)? Probably no big deal for our German and British friends -- kinda like how the old MCA's and Polydors seem to grow on trees here in US used shops.

Though, I must say, the DJM artwork/cover shot of "Honky Chateau" is pretty washed out, color-wise.

 

It's pretty hard to find the original MCA pressings. All you find here in central Ohio are the Elton US pressed MCA CD's with the el cheapo artwork

 

That's, unfortunately, true here in Northeast Ohio too. So far, the only full-artwork, original MCA's I was able to score 'round these parts were "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (now proudly owned by another member of this board) and "Madman Across The Water" (which I kept). Someone else also steered me toward an original "Don't Shoot Me" which I must confess to passing on : )

Though, in all honesty, I only *really* began this little anal-retentive exercise about 4 months ago. Who knows how many I let slip away before that!

 

Hi Ed,

In most cases they were the "el cheapo" MCA's that I used -- either the solid pinkish/purple backed versions, or the "Compact Disc, Compact Price" grid versions. In a couple of places, I even tested BMG and CRC Polydor pressings --they too being consistent.

Though in a few cases, as mentioned above, I was able to use original full artwork MCA versions. For the heck of it, you could always rip a couple of tracks off of your MCA version of GYBR with Exact Audio Copy and let us know your results. I can then compare it to the other pressings. That would give us an even more definitive answer with regard to different, *slight* issue variations. : )


Dave

 

David/Lukpac,


Thanks for your replies. It looks like the only DJM that I will really need to find is the self-titled disc, otherwise, it appears that the Polydor of "Madman..." will suffice. By the way, David, I did happen to find relatively cheaply, the original DJMs of GBYBR, and as you stated, it does match up exactly to my original MCA "Manufactured In Japan" CDs.



Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

It might be nice to get 3 or 4 of the DJMs for the collection. Now that David's run pretty much all of the comparison's, as Luke said the DJM's are no big deal. People on eBay shouldn't be charging big bucks for them. Except for EJ, at this point, the Polydor's are all the same.

My three copies of TC each have a different shading with the album cover. I don't have my vinyl here to compare, but I prefer the Japanese Paper Sleeve. It looks to be the closest to the original LP artwork IIRC. The Polydor is a lighter shade of brown/yellow and the MCA is very dark.

Same up here in Calgary Grant. I don't think I've ever seen a full package MCA version of any of the early Elton John CDs. My Tumbleweed is an el-cheapo with "Compact Disc Compact Price" ad on the back page of the insert. The tray card is light brown.

MCA Canada - Greatest Hits Volume II
1. The Bitch Is Back
4. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Manufactured by Cinram. Interesting result. Same as the early Japanese
pressing. So some Cinrams are clones, others are???? who knows?

 

See if I ever do you a favor again!

 

Tumbleweed Confusion

Okay, so are all CD versions of Tumbleweed
Connection "reversed" from the Lp versions?
So far, all concerned in this thread have
reported, with respect to Love Song, that
Elton's voice is in the left channel--my
budget MCA CD is the same. On my early UNI
Lp (from 1971) his vocal starts on the right.
Also, I have a DJM Lp that also has this.
Do later Lp pressings have the left side
vocal lead, like the CDs?

Another pecularity with the DJM Lp--it's
running order is not the same. It has the
same booklet (stapled into the center of
the gatefold, not loose as with the UNI),
but the track order follows the listing on
the back page:

Side 1:

Ballad of a Well-known Gun
Talking Old Soldiers
Son of Your Father
Country Comfort
Amoreena

Side 2:

Burn Down the Mission
Love Song
My Fathers's Gun
Come Down in Time
Where to now St. Peter?

Makes you wonder which of these track orders was
originally intended, and why it was changed.

--Roger

 

Re: Tumbleweed Confusion

Hi Roger,

The Mo-Fi and '95 remaster CD's are correct. The Japanese cardboard,
"mini-lp" series CD also used the '95 remastering. So, it too is correct.

I believe, it's also been mentioned on this board before that the original LP mix of TC, in general, had some differences from all CD versions too. I remember someone here mentioning double-tracked vocals, in places, on "Where To Now, St. Peter?" on the LP. ????

Also, as I noted the other day, the DJM "Tumbleweed" CD is the only disc in that series that appears to have an "ADD" SPARS Code. Misprint...or something else entirely?

Dave

 

On the old MCA LP, "Where To Now St. Peter?" has the chorus double-tracked and the lead guitar is mixed different.

Joe

 

On the left are Your Song and Honky Cat from a Columbia House GH1, pressed in Japan. On the right, the same two songs from an original MCA Canada Cinram pressing of To Be Continued.

 

I'm really enjoying this thread and even wanting more for an Original Elton John -Self Titled DJM Cee Dee!... I absolutely love that LP...

 

Rock of the Westies

I scored this in Tennessee over the weekend.
Here's the results for anyone interested:

MCA – Rock Of the Westies (Japan)

Medley – peak level 100%

Grow Some Funk of Your Own – peak level 91.3%

Hard Luck Story - peak level 91.6%