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@tomic601, I have to warn you that though the ARK recordings are very special (the inner detail---you can distinctly hear each voice in the choir---and transparency captured by Fulton, along with the sound of the church pipe organs, is stunning), the music is local-to-Fulton Minnesota amateur church choirs singing hymns. The material and performances may not float your boat ;-) .

@viridian, "Willin" is a great song. The first version I heard was in 1971 on the s/t Seatrain album (their second), and it remains my favorite. Cool choice by Steve of a song to cover! His live performance with The Del McCoury Band at The House Of Blues in Hollywood at the time of the release of their collaborative album is one of my all-time favorite shows. He and the band all stood around a single large-diaphragm mic, the player or singer being featured at any given moment stepping closer to the mic, then backing away when that moment had passed. 3- and 4-part harmonies, world-class Bluegrass musicians and songs!

IMO the first LP anyone should buy is any ol’ direct-to-disk. Not for the musical content (many of them are not good in that regard), but because of their INCREDIBLE sound quality! On the other hand, doing so will set the bar so high that most other LP’s will thereafter sound mediocre in comparison.

As for good music in good sound, those two criteria are all-too-often mutually exclusive; a lot of my favorite music was unfortunately recorded indifferently or worse. But there are exceptions: A Meeting By The River on Water Lily Records (featuring the playing of guitarist Ry Cooder); Shoot Out The Lights by Richard & Linda Thompson; Where’s The Money by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks; The Band (aka the brown album) by, duh, The Band; My Life by Iris Dement.

For Classical: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons by The English Concert directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock (CRD 1025), or any of his harpsichord recordings on that same UK label; any LP on Harmonia Mundi USA. (lots of Baroque). Holst’s The Planets conducted by Sir Adrian Boult (E.M.I. ASD 2301); Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra with Fritz Reiner conducting The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA); any of the LP’s on the ARK label out of Minnesota, recorded by speaker designer Robert Fulton.