I agree. I find that, even when it was recorded poorly, it also had fewer microphones and all the things they do in the engineering that reduces the "aliveness" of music nowadays, that it sounds more like there are real people playing real instruments.
'There was an old album reviewed by The Absolute Sound. It was done in the 1920s and 30s and it's all a one microphone setup and these are people who play music. Some played 'fiddles,' some banjo, some guitar. What's striking is how real the music sounds. It doesn't fool me into believing it's 'live' but it sounds FAR less processed than your average CD.