Yes, LH is right by Sterling. I thought I included that before but I guess I forgot. LH and RD look to be stamps. The RD is written sideways and is very faint, halfway out from the label edge. Everything else is written in the same direction as the grooves. Even the stuff that is sometimes hand etched, looks to be stamped as it is so perfect. It is much larger than all the rest and is the same number as the jacket and label with A-3u added. Hope this helps. And yes, the inner sleeve is blue paper with pink lettering.
Showing 35 responses by billpete
From the link you provided, it looks like I have the second version of the second release 1972. It matches the wax A-3u and B-3u. Everything else matches as well, gatefold etc. It remains my best sounding copy, at least as I recall. I have no idea if my copy is "correct", "corrected" or ? It always sounded very good to me. Fooling around with some new gear so will have to give them all a listen to see what I think. There may be 1 or 2 that I've never even played. |
If I had more than 2 copies, I would consider it. I only have the one on Island from the original stuff. I need to try the A&M dbx copy to see if it is different. I may have never played it, can't remember. I wish the 180g was playable. It might have been a good one. Need to see if it's possible to fix an off center drill hole. For whatever reason, TFTT is one record that I have more of than any other. It is one of my favorite albums, that's for sure. To say what is an absolute favorite, I could not do. I have 4 or 5 copies of Tori Amos, Under the Pink. In the beginning, it seemed hard to track down a decent copy, even on pink vinyl and new/sealed. I have 3 or 4 of them and not one is perfect but one is the best, (quietest). It's a shame because it is such a good recording. Had a black vinyl copy but was a totally washed out version of the original. Gave it away. I generally have multiple copies of anything that I am likely to play a lot, such as my reference LP's. Can never have too many. :) Happy listening to you as well. |
I'll try to get to it tonight. Still evaluating new gear so lots of listening ahead. I have no idea as to why things went the way they did. It would seem that Cat/Yusef was very much involved so no idea how things could have gone so haywire. I know damn little of the recording industry or how it works. You and others here know a great deal about it so I read on and enjoy all the chat. I'm happy to have stirred this up and have learned a great deal. Thanks to all. |
OK, so I gave the dbx copy a listen last night. It is undoubtedly one of the worst recordings that I have ever heard in my life. It may be the worst. For starters, there is a loud hiss that you can hear even over soft passages of music. It is present for the entire recording and stops to dead silence between tracks so you know it is recorded hiss. If it is tape hiss, it is the worst and loudest I have ever heard. I thought I had a tube going bad or something until it got past the first song and went dead quiet. Furthermore, it sounds very thin and tinny as though it was recorded in a large trash can or something. Has an almost echo quality, that sounds terrible. His voice is nearly unrecognizable, instruments as well sound terrible. There is a level of detail that shows at times but it all sounds terribly unnatural. The only reason to own a copy of this that I can think of would be to illustrate to people just how badly it can go. It is a terrible injustice to Cat Stevens and I'm shocked that it ever made it to the stores. It is the only copy I've ever seen but I would certainly never look for another one either. It will stay in my collection but only as a pure novelty item. My wife heard it with me and agreed from the very beginning, that this was something truly awful You would have to hear this for yourself to believe it. My son showed up about halfway through it and he was shocked to hear that it was vinyl. He knows the album well, just not this copy. On the bright side, it is a perfect example, not a single tic or pop on all of side one. None of us had a desire to hear side two. Unbelievable. So..........went to the Island copy immediately after. The strength and clarity of his voice was back. The bass was back, the clarity of the guitar was back. The drums sounded more real. I tried to pay particular attention to the drums and cymbols since our drummer friend @bdp24 told us that they missed the mark. I have to admit cymbols were very faint if you heard them at all. Something I had never noticed before, simply not knowing what to look for. I still feel that this recording is better than the others, 1000% better than the dbx copy. I will check the other A&M copies next. As I said before, they used to be my reference point and I never found them to be lacking in anything. I'll post my findings. New gear, new details still being discovered. |
After you brought this to my attention, I did a bit of reading on dbx albums. It seems that many enjoy them with the proper gear and it may be preferred over Dolby. I'm not likely to take that step.but never say never. When I had Dolby on a cassette deck, I never used it as it seemed to me to take away from what I started with. There was a time when I taped every album when it was new, put it away and listened to the tapes to preserve the LP's. Haven't done that in many years. I am much more careful with the records these days. Well cared for, they can last a lifetime. In the case of this record, I assumed it was just something that was done in the recording process, not thinking I would need "proper gear" to listen to it. They (dbx pressings) are few and far between so I guess it never became a "big thing" or at least not the norm. Thanks for setting me straight though. |
Cleeds is often correct, he'd probably say always. :) I am always amazed by the knowledge base here, yours included. I thoroughly enjoyed your explanation. I remember 8 track days and how they littered nearly every highway as the decks would eat them while going down the road. I had one in my car almost as soon as they came out. They didn't sound bad but cars might not have been the best place for them and laying sideways lent itself to channel overlap or bleeding over, whatever you guys would call it. My dad had one in his home stereo. I moved to cassette before ever getting 8 track in a home system. Less trouble, sounded good and I also had one in a new Taurus in 89. I guess CD's were just getting started about then. I don't think I ever had a piece of gear that would decode dbx and the TFTT is the only dbx record that i think I've ever owned. I believe I probably bought it as new/sealed around 20 years ago. It still has the cello on it and is in perfect condition. There is a store tag that says PS 1058. If I had paid attention, the label on the cello says that you need a dbx decoder to play this record. I find that hilarious, I just thought it was the worst recording ever. I do see that some people collect and love them and I saw the copies for sale used at $100 or so. I also found something, a pink label Island copy (says first pressing) in the UK and it looks to be NM at least. It was about $150, shipped to the US. I had to have it. It will be interesting to hear it after all this info. I also see some remasters on clear vinyl with Island label. I may get one of those sometime. I guess you just can't have too many copies of TFTT. :) |
I will let you know as soon as I have it. Probably a couple weeks out. I also have some 45rpm remasters. They sound really good but agree, it's a pain to have only 2 songs to a side or so. I have a few 33's that only have 2 or 3 when they have been made into double LP's. Easier to make maybe? Not sure. Just got an Alan Parsons one like that on clear green vinyl. It is really well done. |
Not sure if I've ever had a CBS CX LP but it doesn't sound familiar. I do have a fair amount of LP's that just sit in the collection though so you never know. When CD sounds better than LP, something went wrong. I have a few that way myself but it's very rare. One that comes to mind is Alice In Chains, Jar of Flies. It's on clear colored vinyl, double album and is completely washed out compared to the CD. I don't know why. It wasn't cheap either. |
Umbrella was a surprise to me. All thrift store finds. Really good recordings and pressings. Have one that I won't really listen to, not my kind of music but I had to admire that it was well recorded "crap". Sheffields are really good, have a few. Didn't know Original Source but have quite a few DG's. Always good. Going to have to look for AP stuff. It keeps coming up and I can't think of any that I have. |
I have thought about that regarding inner groove distortion. Especially when it is common to leave a best song for last. Not always but it is common so that thought is probably the main reason. I don't always hear IGD but sometimes it is evident. Not sure how or why that could be. You'd think the physics of it would make it a constant. Just sayin" And yes, Alan Parsons being an AE, is very particular and it shows. This new album of his "Time Machine" is really very good. Probably not new at all but new to me. I hadn't bought a new AP album in many years. Glad I picked this one up. New/sealed around $30, money well spent. |
Don't have most of yours but we all have our go to's. It's been interesting and I'm glad to see how many appreciate Tea For The Tillerman. It is one of my all time favorites. Doesn't see as much play as it used to but every now and then, gotta hear it. :) First enjoyed 55 years ago, just as good today as it was then. Lots of us going through our collections to see which ones we have, learning more and being inspired to seek out more. All good stuff. Happy listening to all |
Going through old classical part of my collection. I came across a 3 record set on Vanguard Op. 3 from 1964. Says L'ESTRO ARMONICO Op.3 Vivaldi with Chamber Orchestra of The Vienna State Opera, Mario Rossi conductor. Not sure where I got it but probably a thrift store find. The records are very stiff like old 78's. They do say LP so I guess they are 33rpm? Each record is in a gray paper sleeve with Vanguard recordings in white lettering and some white artworks. No jacket other than a clear plastic envelope that is marked Simply Vinyl S160 vinyl LP. Also says Classic Albums, 160g virgin vinyl pressings. The outer sleeve can't be original, has a web address. simplyvinly.com. The records are stamped Rock Valley College, which was a Jr college back in the day, now part of NIU. They must have sent all their records to a thrift shop at some point. Just glad I never made that mistake.:) |
Most of my classical collection is made up of very old records (50's 60's and 70's) and a few cds. I would pick them up at garage sales and thrift stores, looking for certain labels, artists and conductors whose name I recognized. I was amazed at how many perfect copies and even sealed copies of very old records that I would find. I found that quite a few even very old recordings could actually be very good. Most of my newer stuff will be Telarc, Crystal Clear or any other D2D that I could find. Quite a lot of Deutsche Gramaphon too RCA had several different types, dynagroove and red label maybe were their premium ones? RCA probably ruled back in the 50's and 60's. Columbia was around but their recordings were not very good. Look at an old Columbia and the grooves all look identical and thin, zero dynamics. Look at the Telarc 1812 Overture and you can literally see the cannon blasts. Can be tricky to track. EMI can be very good and some are EMI/Angel, also can be good. London Phase 4 and London ffrr are both good. Decca also. I'm not a real classical aficionado like yourself but I grew up listening to it and have a fair collection of classical LP's that I listen to from time to time. The bulk of what I collected in classical was organ music, pipe organ that is and Virgil Fox is my favorite organist. Pipe organ is excellent to test your stereo system. No other single instrument even comes close in the range of what it can do and nothing plays deeper bass other than possibly some modern digital synthesizer. Theoretically, I suppose digital can reach lower than anything but the lowest I've ever heard (felt) recorded was 16hz from a pipe organ. I don't think my speakers can quite get there but they do reach 18hz and that's pretty close. Cd's cut off at 20hz, still very low but not quite as low as some vinyl. No idea about what streaming can do, possibly no limit? I don't know. Sorry to ramble. |
Great story. You must have been the talk of every airport you went through. :) Quite a trip. Doubt I'll find the Benjamin Britten LP in my collection but you never know. I still have my father in law's collection to look through. I gleaned the important stuff on first glance "The Crepitation Contest", can be enjoyed on even the most modest of systems. :) He actually had a fair amount of mostly classical, maybe 200-300 or so. Still boxed up from moving to Missouri 12 years ago. I've taken notice of KEF Reference speakers as they have about the same range as my AR9's. Being newer, they are likely to do it better but I don't know. I did a search to find full range speakers that matched or exceeded the original Teledyne AR9's. It's a small crowd and the prices usually range from slightly above 10k to 300k. Out of my league. KEF 107 and R107's can be had (used) for less than 2k. They might be a consideration if I ever decide to move from the AR's. They are now on my radar. There is a pair on ebay right now that I would have to think about if I hadn't already spent so much in the last month or two............and I'd like my wife to stay. :) I have to research this exotic piano. 108 keys? I've never heard of such a thing. Not doubting you, I'm just surprised to hear of such a thing. I had a square grand that only had 66 keys. It was very ornate but sonically not so good. I used to sit across from a Steinway concert grand every Sunday when I was a kid. My dad played the pipe organ and a woman played the Steinway. They were both very good and I'll never forget the sound of either. I also lived in my grandfather's farmhouse with my wife after we were first married, mid 70's. He had a self contained pipe organ in the house, also an upright piano that he hand built. I didn't play well but played some. I wish I'd taken it more seriously when I was a kid. Hated piano lessons because of the childish crap we had to play. I wanted to play classical music. Too short sighted to learn the basics. |
I finally got to hear the pink label Island copy of TFTT. I think it's safe to say that it is the best version that I have and I now have about 7 copies in 6 versions. Still waiting for a German pressed Island copy. Maybe that will be enough. :) At any rate, the details are more clear on this pink label copy than they are on my others. It is very easy to hear the pick and the plucking of guitar strings. The dynamics are also stronger, drums more real, making the listening experience a more "live" feel. His voice seemed to be quite well done in every version and is on this as well. I'll have to direct compare with some other copies over time but I am very pleased with this copy. Was also very clean, only one pop on side one, hopefully a speck that I can clean away, otherwise it is easily a NM copy. If you ever find a pink label copy, I'd encourage you to pick it up if you can. The clarity and the dynamics do stand out more so than the rest of them, making it a nice addition to the collection. I also picked up the Matthew and Son double album. Have not heard it yet. |
I've been doing similarly. Sorting into groups that I am likely to listen to, those that I will never listen to and so on. The biggest part of the collection is probably ones that I used to listen to but grew tired of, or that have too much noise etc. I still need to trim the listening room group since many are duplicates. I have ones that I listen to and others that are just part of the collection and have been replaced by better copies. I keep finding more "audiophile copes" that I wish I'd never bought as they miss half of the music, compared to an original. There was a period when I though these new 180g and 200g copies were better but more times than not, they are not at all. I did listen to my Opus 3 records. I appreciate the recordings but it's an odd mix of music. Some I like and some, not so much. One is all in Swedish, female vocalist. My grandparents would probably have appreciated it as they would understand it. :) They are really good recordings. |
The pink label is the best that I have. The next best is the pink rim Island but it shares some of the same characteristics as the A&M's. It's as if it's a version of the A&M's but done better, if that makes any sense. Any Island records that I have are always better in some ways than their US releases. I always thought it was the best but only because I never heard what it could or should sound like. If @bdp24 hadn't brought it to my attention, I'd never have noticed as I had nothing better to compare it to. If my 180g had a properly centered hole, I might have found it to be better than the A&M's, as these reissues were "touted" to be. This has been a real learing experience for me and I've picked up a number of things to add to the collection. |
Chris Thanks, that's pretty interesting. That song is the first on Side B of the record that I have. It's different than the other Opus 3's, in that the jacket is rough paper, not glossy like the others. The recordings are very revealing of a live performance. They don't seem to miss anything. I appreciate that. Bill |
OK, so I got to hear the German Island pressing of TFTT. It is solid blue label, not pink. One side has a dark blue label and other side has a light blue one, kind of odd. It has the same issues as the pink rim Island. Loss of detail. The solid pink label Island is the best I've heard yet. The collection is probably not complete yet. Crazy how that can be but there are others that I'd like to hear. It is rather amazing how many versions there can be of a given album. Into the hundreds. This has been a great learning experience for me. Thanks to all. |
Some great info. Thanks. Now, I have more to look for. I do not have Mona Bone Jakon. I think I had it on 8 track or possibly cassette ages ago but it is no longer in my collection. It was not a favorite of mine, as I recall or I would have replaced it long ago. My other favorites would be Catch Bull at Four and Buddha and the Chocolate Box. I just picked up an Island copy of Catch Bull at Four and look forward to comparing it to my A&M copy. Others that I have are The World of Cat Stevens on Decca. Very Young and Early Songs on Deram/London Matthew & Son two album set on Deram/London Cat Stevens Greatest Hits on red vinyl A&M Teaser and The Firecat on Island, two copies Catch Bull at Four A&M and now an Island copy Back to Earth promotional copy A&M Buddha And The Chocolate Box A&M Izitso on A&M Numbers on A&M 7 copies of TFTT, Island original pink label, Island pink rim, Island German blue label, two A&M copies and the off-center re-issue from Universal and the A&M dbx copy. I think that's it but often adding more. I'm going to have to check the other albums to see if I find any similar issues. Most are A&M but I always thought they were well done. Have more to compare now so will be interesting. I've certainly learned a great deal on this subject. Thanks for all the info. |
I recently read about the TB and the hospital stay. It said that he wrote over 40 songs while there. I don't know why I didn't know any of this stuff way back when. You'd think it would have been big news but it was also a time when my life was moving very quickly and I didn't pay much attention to things around me. I do plan to give MBJ another chance. I hope to have all of his different original albums at some point. I often find that things I used to like, I now wonder why and things that I didn't like seem OK or good. Funny how that goes. Kind of like the Joni Mitchell albums. I probably had them for over 50 years and don't remember listening to them before recently. Two of them were really good. This has been an adventure and a big pleasure for me as well. Many thanks to you and all who had input. Great stuff. |