Direct-to-Disk, Yeah, Baby

I was first exposed to Direct-to-Disk in 1973 when a friend played the second Sheffield disk, "Lincoln Mayorga and Friends, vol. II." A couple of years later I was working at an audio store in SoCal where I picked up that album and vol. III that introduced brass. We played the Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker album so much as a demo record there that I ended up not buying that one.

Since then I've picked up a Buddy Rich D2D called "Class of '78" to go along with my new turntable last March, and then another Sheffield, "Tower of Power Direct."

Suddenly this past week I've had two D2Ds come through the door. The first was one I didn't know existed, Buddy Rich and Mel Torme, "Together Again for the First Time." I got it off eBay from a UK vendor to accompany a rare Pat Metheny Geffen pressing of 1990's "Question and Answer." Lemme tell ya, on this album, Mel is IN the Room!

Then yesterday I discovered a huge antiques emporium on the floor above my local Burlington Coat Factory outlet. It's like a permanent flea market of purveyors of old stuff. That includes LPs, and sifting through one vendor's collection, I came across Sheffield's "The King James Version" D2D of Harry James orchestra for $3. Took it home and spun it, and Yowzah! This may be the best-sounding LP I have. The clarity and transparency are absolutely stunning, and as I've mentioned, I have 6 other D2Ds and am well-exposed to others. But this one is fat, rich, lush, clear. It helps that I love big band swing.

Les DeMerle was the drummer on this. I saw him in a drum clinic the same year this album was made and he's a monster.