Official: I am becoming a Scorpio Records junkie!

With all the hoopla of Jazz reissues out there, vinyl seems to be the one format that gets the most scrutiny. 180g, 200g rising off the platter like a gargantuan double-stuffed Oreo. Those Blue Note freaks don't let up and I can't blame them. With prices for original 'deep groove" vinyl going well beyond $600++, it's a wonder that Classic Records hasn't done more titles than one of the quietest underdogs in the industry today: Scorpio Records.

Something has to be said for a label that has no web presence and yet a HUGE catalog of Jazz, R&B, Rock. Covers are glossier than most original Atlantic and Blue Note titles, cuttings are strong and clean, and the price is right: Around $10 each. I was skeptical since many vinyl junkies poo-poo these off and on. I bought a few and then I started ordering them like nutty.

What's in that picture is almost half of the reissues I've bought in the past 50 days. Some of the best vinyl reissues aside from the Fantasy $10 stock reissues. I love em!!

Enter SHF member (and eBay powerseller) Seth Frank: "They've become very popular and I move quite a bit of them. Classic Records has a nice product, but when you consider you can buy 3-4 Scorpios for the same price, it's kinda hard not to try em!" I had a very informative and friendly conversation with Seth, as he is familiar with our forum. Who isn't?

I personally started with a few accidental purchases. Hank Mobley's "Dippin'" and "soul Station", the Ramones Debut 180g and Ornette Coleman's "Shape Of Jazz To Come." Inexpensive, wonderful sound. Something that literally competed with both originals and more expensive imports like those Pathe' Marconi Blue Notes from years past.

"The covers are made by Ross Ellis in Montreal and the discs are cut and made at Rainbo records in Santa Monica. One of the oldest plants still in existence" says Bill Douglas of Vinyl.com.

So I'm almost nearing the end of what's available in the Scorpio arsenal, including the Velvet Underground, Marvin Gaye (What's Goin On?) and I'm curious if their cutting of Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions" will beat a Kendun original - something that shouldn't be hard to do.

Folks, if your vinyl money is low and you're looking to get some of the best Blue Notes without paying a huge mint, try a few of those and you WILL NOT be disappointed.

Here's where you can get them.

www.vinyl.com
www.soundstagedirect.com - or find Seth's eBays under "sealed Blue Note" on a simple search.


*A benefit-free endorsement.

 

Very cool titles. Bobby Hutcherson's DIALOGUE is one of my favorites.

I don't recognize the Blue Note of the chess player -- which title is that?

 

Good Move by Freddie Roach. #4158. Features "Wine, Wine, Wine". Wish they had "Mo' Greens" and "Down To Earth".

Still a great title. Mobley and Blue Mitchell are in on the session.

 

I thought you meant the b**tleg label. Count me in on THAT one.

 

Sckott,

Thank you very much,

Seth

shameless plug ebay name is soundstagedirect

 

Love those Reid Miles covers. I've always wondered if Mosaic (or someone) could license the cover art and sell museum-quality reprodution flats.

 

Yer welcome Seth. Hope you get your phone fixed.

Ron, I'm actually quite shocked how Ross Ellis did up these covers, especially the front ones. The back covers are kinda "copied", but it's very sharp color printing and the glossy coat on these puppies make ya wanna drool.

I don't own any LP Mosaics. I'd think one of the things they could do is put the full cover on the booklets at the very least, do they?

 

No, the booklets are identical for the CDs and LPs. That's why even the two-disc sets still come in a LP-sized box.

I e-mailed Mosaic about the possibility of reissuing classic Blue Note covers on LP-sized flats, similar to the promotional flats records stores used to receive to promote new titles. I think a series of reproductions, one dozen titles to a box, would sell.

 

I have to disagree.

I have the Moby Grape debut on Scorpio and it sounds like poop (not surpising given the source, but still...). I also have a few of the Miles Davis titles (ESP, MFV), and they sound ok at best. And when I asked on this forum a few months back about their Dylan reissues, I was told to avoid them at all costs.

I agree that the glossy covers are nice...

 

I have the 180g Moby Grape and it sounds great to me, but the Dylans CAN be bettered elsewhere, true.

The Moby Grape isn't cut / manufactured by the same people as the Blue Note/Altantics above.

 

So these are legit, licensed for release by EMI/Capitol? Mastered from what? Digital source?..I've seen them around but always thought they were boots....I have seen Ornette atlantics but thru 'Rhino' in the vinyl issue...

 

Yep same ones. Cut at Rainbo. Yes, Capitol has the titles licensed out. No boots.

They're just done straight. No 180g or expensive cutting "tube" jobs. But they sound wonderfully analog. They don't sound like the RVG CDs tho!

 

I thought these were digital sourced though...and to be avoided...

 

I seriously don't know what they're sourced with.

I know most of the Blue Note sound NOTHING like CD counterparts I own. Neither orignals or the new RVGs. They're done intelligently though. Some original Atlantics can be noisy as all hell? Ya know what I mean....

 

It sounds like I'm listening with the treble cranked to 11 and the bass at -11 when I play the Moby Grape. The 'Vintage' cd is much better, even though it has the annoying studio chatter bits. And the Miles Davis titles sound kind of muffled to me. Maybe I just don't like their mastering on Columbia titles.

The only Blue Note I have from Scorpio is All Seeing Eye. It sounds pretty good, but I always assumed it was digitally sourced. I was happy just to have a clean copy on vinyl!