Your Not-So-Obvious Best Fidelity LPs

Great stories @tylermunns to go along with the great recommendations!  Thanks for those.  It almost seems like we're beating the system when we can find amazingly recorded LPs for $5 or less.  Pretty much no money for a treasure trove of audio bliss. 

@simonmoon

Thanks for remindng us about the Nonesuch label. Although not sonically consistent throughout its catalog, when those guys got it right, they produced recordings that still stand up to many of today's best. And the fact that the NS catalog included so much new music -- many  pieces by modern composers that were never recorded in any form elsewhere -- is icing.  Lots of unique material available used online at modest prices.

 

And for something completely different, how about a thread *warning* people about "not-so-obvious LOWEST fidelity LPs"?

 

To start the ball rolling, I nominate the Sony Legacy reissue of "Jimi Hendrix Experience Smash Hits," remastered from original 2-channel "master tape" by Bernie Grundman and pressed at QRP.  It's horribly brittle, actually unlistenable on a system that leans (much less older Class D amplification). I have numerous Hendrix original pressings & reissues that include many of the same tracks, and the difference is painfully obvious. Caveat this one.

One of my favorite records is one I found in the $1.00 section of a used record store.  It is the very first recording of Ariel Ramirez's "Missa Criolla." (first Vatican approved mass in the vernacular following Vatican II).  The recording is on the Phillips label (the copy I found was on Argentinian Phillips, which is particularly appropriate because Ramirez is from Argentina).  The music is fantastic and the sound of the recording is quite good too.  There are many copies available for as little as $2.00 or so:

 

Sorry, one more: larryi mentioned those live Carnegie Hall Belafonte LPs.  
I have to concur.  
Also, Belafonte recorded the song “My Old Paint” in ‘63, and this vocal track is on my short list of “All-Time Best Sounding Vocal Tracks.” 

It’s fun getting an LP because you like the music and being really surprised how good it sounds.  

I found an original U.S. ‘Frisco Mabel Joy by Mickey Newbury for 25 cents at a thrift store about a decade ago.  
The sound quality almost seemed like a joke, i.e. “I can’t actually be hearing what I’m hearing right now.” I knew the music was tremendous, but the idea that the engineering/mastering would be so good seemed like a joke.  
One of those thrilling, “holy s**t!!” moments.

I got an original U.S. 12” single of “Cat People” by Giorgio Moroder / David Bowie years ago for peanuts. I didn’t listen to it, just bought it. Years later I had a very good music setup, for some reason decided to throw that 12” on and sat there amazed at what I was hearing.

I remember playing an original US pressing of Neil Young’s Harvest I had just bought (with the ‘fuzzy’ texture sleeve and the cool inserts, got it for real cheap) and going, “whoa! Didn’t expect this!” I remembered the CD I had as a teen (I wasn’t around in the vinyl days…I’m 41) as being unremarkable sonically. Not this puppy.  

Same thing with an original US Berlin by Lou Reed. Loved the CD as a teen.  
Got a cheap original vinyl copy in my 30s. Lou’s voice was this big, three-dimensional apparition, sitting right there in the center, felt like I could reach out and touch it, the instruments were big, rich, lush and grand and clear. Didn’t expect all that.

And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo was one of my favorite albums in high school. I got an original vinyl pressing (this one was not cheap) a few years ago at Amoeba. I remembered the 2000 CD sounding alright. This, however, was really something.

Digging through miles of “Easy Listening” vinyl LPs at a record store, LPs that had been on this massive shelf in the back room for decades, inches of dust on them, (the kind you ‘taste’ while sorting through), I found a bunch of original ‘60s Sinatra LPs. In terms of sound quality, September of My Years (I was able to score at least one copy of both the mono and the stereo, for a grand total of some $2 or something) was stunning. The record store guys saw me a lot, so they were cool about giving me deals. I would go in there and they’d say, “hey, this came in and I thought of you, so I set it aside.” It was a bunch of original ‘50s & ‘60s-era Sinatra LPs. I came to find that I should never be surprised by the sound quality of those Capital & Reprise LPs.  
But that initial exposure to both the original mono and stereo copies of September of My Years was just blow-yer-hair-back great. The music, obviously speaks for itself. Incredible.  
There must not have been much of a market for those LPs, as those guys darn near gave them away. There was once an original ‘57 mono of In the Wee Small Hours on the shelf for some $8 or something. Pretty good condition, sounded real fine after a thorough cleaning via Audio Intelligent 3-part /16.5 vacuum machine.  
He even gave me a discount on the sticker because I one 1 or 2 other LPs in my stack.  
Went and saw on Discogs it goes for upwards of $200.

Mahler123 mentioned Joni Mitchell. 
I have early copies of all her LPs from ‘68-‘75 and they all sound great. I’m particularly impressed with the sound of The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

There are a lot more but I’ve gushed too much.

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is commonly cited as a great sounding album.  It has, to me anyway, great music and pretty good sound, but, it is not their best sounding album (there are also too many issues of the album to sort through, the one I like is a German quadriphonic version that I heard only playing in stereo, but it beat out the Mofi version and the original US release).  To me, "The Wall" is their best sounding album and "Wishing You are Here" is another great sounding album.

Paul Simon's "Graceland" is another often cited great sounding album, and I agree on the assessment.  

I know people have gone off the deep end criticizing MoFi One-Step records because they were made from digital masters.  I don't agree with the critics; every one of the One Steps I heard were good sounding regardless of the choice of masters.  

I really like "At Seventeen," and consider its good sound as a bonus.  Her "Breaking Silence" album is even better in recording quality, but I still prefer "At Seventeen."

More pop/rock albums with good sound:

Warren Zevon (self titled)

Chris Isaak "Heart Shaped World"

Thomas Dolby "Aliens Ate My Buick"

Kraftwerk "Electric Cafe"

 

Janis Ian 'At Seventeen'.

 

The Eva Cassidy album is one of the greatest live albums ever recorded—beautiful sound and great performance.  I have the Toneff album and I agree about it being a great sounding album.  The My Funny Valentine and the Moon’s a Harsh Mistress tracks are particularly nice.

@itsjim 

I agree with you on Journey to Love--also very good sound.  I was at Paul Heath Audio on N. Clark St. in Chicago and brought that album with about 1977.  One of the Bull's players (Johnson--6'11") came in and wanted to know who that album was.  We listened to the whole first side together and he loved it as much as I.  He was not a starter then and only was on the team a couple years.  It was pretty cool though.

larryi,

I absolutely agree with your observation on Sheffield recordings.  The thing I like most about them is no "engineering" or audio manipulation of what was played.  It's a direct path from a single point stereo mic to the cutting lathe.  As often as possible (which isn't often) I like to hear what was played, rather than some engineer's impression of what he thinks it should sound like.

I like those you added, particularly Kate & Anna - I have a couple copies.

I like several of those (haven't heard the others) on Dorkwad's list, especially Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley".

Only a couple others to mention at this time because there are too many:

Stanley Clarke's "Journey to Love" (with Steve "In Gadd we trust" on drums).  A favorite of mine for almost 50 years.

Radka Toneff - "My Funny Valentine" ..from the album Fairytales (Odin Records1982).  Other than a Miles Davis instrumental, (imnsho) you haven't heard MFV until you've heard this one.

and last, but not least - The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Donald Johanos) - Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances Op 45 - VOCALISE OP 34

 

 

 

 

 

 

While folk music is far from my favorite genre and the several truly great sounding albums I am about to list are not musically my favorites, they are nonetheless enjoyable and the recordings are stunning; it must be the Carnegie Hall venue:

"Belafonte at Carnegie Hall," 1959 RCA

"Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall," 1960 RCA

"Weavers Reunion at Carnegie Hall 1963" Vanguard and Analogue Productions reissue (I have both, the AP version might be slightly better).

Again, these recordings prove that stereo recording techniques have not improved since those times.

@paulietunes 

You're welcome!

@dorkwad now that's a list!  Totally agree on the ones I own as well.  I was just listening to side B of Dreamboat Annie last night.  I have a repress of Tumbleweed but it sounds fantastic.  Looks like I may have some more items in the shopping cart soon.

itsjim, 

We agree on Sheffield D-to-D recordings, although I find some of the music to be so-so.  The same goes with other D-to-D recording companies, such as M & K Realtime.  I like the other non- D-to-D records you recommend, particularly the "What's New" suggestion.

I have a few more suggestions of records with both good sound and music:

Kate and Anna McGarrigle (self titled)

Hubert Sumlin: "Blues Party"

Cowboy Junkies: "Black-Eyed Man"

Deep Purple--Made in Japan

Supertramp--Crime of the Century

Michael Franks--Passion Fruit

Loggins & Messina--Full Sail

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Eva Cassidy--Live At Blues Alley

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee Jones--Girl At Her Volcano

Poco--Legend

Janis Ian--Breaking Silence

Tanika Tikaram--Sweet Keeper

Nylons--One Size Fits All

Chris Isaak--San Francisco Days

Neil Young--Live At Massey Hall

Elton John--Tumbleweed Connection

Chris Jones--Roadhouses & Automobiles

Basia--Time & Tide

Heart--Dreamboat Annie

Eagles--Hotel California

 

Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays--Wichita Falls

Marcus Miller--Free

Marcus Miller--Silver Rain

Stanley Clarke--East River Drive

Stanly Clarke

Gregory Porter--Be Good

George Benson--Bad Benson

Michael Hedges--Beyond Boundaries

Kenny G--New Standards

Herbie Hancock--River

Anne Bisson--Blue Mind

Josefine Cronholm--Wild Garden

Ozone Percussion Group--La Bamba

Manhattan Transfer--Extensions

Christian McBride--Gettin’ To It

Michael Franks--Time Together

Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass--Big Band Jazz

GRP Fusion

Weather Report--Heavy Weather

 

Alison Krauss--Forget About It

Sandi Patti--More Than Wonderful

Dianne Reeves--Never Too Far

Dianne Reeves--Quiet After the Storm

Vanessa Fernandez--Use Me

Sade--Promise

Mannheim Steamroller--Fresh Air (all albums)

Stevie Ray Vaughn--Double Trouble

Lyle Lovett--Joshua Judges Ruth

The Wallin’ Jennys--40 Days

Luther Vandross--Dance With My Father

 

Again, all albums good music in addition to the great sound.

Bob

 

 

 

Out of so many, just a very few of my favorites:

Any of the Sheffield Labs, Direct-to-Disc recordings of 3-4 decades ago. (they're all over the internet at ridiculously low prices)

Linda Ronstadt - "What's New" (with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra)

Jennifer Warnes - "Famous Blue Raincoat" (or anything else she's done)

Tower of power - "Live and in Living Color"

Stephan Grappelli / Barney Kessel - "I Remember Django"

Oscar Peterson - "We Get Requests"

If you want to immerse yourself in great controversy, google "hot stamper" or the company selling these records--Better Records   The claim is that, even within a particular issue of an album, there are certain stampers that are better than others and the resulting pressings are the ones to covet.  Some hot stampers go for thousands of dollars. 

I have not bought any of these hot stampers myself.  However, long before hot stampers became a thing, a friend played two very clean versions of a particular record--both original pressings, both with same covers, dead-wax markings, etc., yet one sounded much more alive and vibrant.  Were the two records from different pressing plants?  Was this an example of a "hot stamper" vs. an ordinary stamper?  I don't know, but, sort of thing adds more complications when hunting down versions of favorite albums.

Great sound AND good music do not often go together in a single record.  This is an example of one record having both:

Richard and Linda Thompson:  "Shoot Out the Lights" Hannibal Records.

I'm really loving all of these suggestions.  Please keep 'em coming!

Two more spectacular recordings that I have heard, and own, only in reissued versions:

1)  "Satchmo Plays King Oliver"--1960, Audio Fidelity (original issue), Classic Records reissue.

2)  "Alternate Blues" (Gillespie, Terry, Hubbard, Peterson)-1980, Analogue Productions reissue.

ZZ Top Deguello

Another Bernie Grundman masterpiece. Turn up "Fool for your Stockings" and listen to what your system can do.

+1 Curtis Mayfield Live - love it. John Hyatt, Crossing Muddy Waters is a good one and I like David Bowie, Hunky Dory too

Buddy Guy - A Man and The Blues on Vanguard - from the 60’s when he was playing a grittier, more sparse style. 
 

Jakob Dylan - Seeing Things

Ian Dury - New Boots and Panties

In classical

Haendel Duetti et Cantate Da Camera on Harmonia Mundi is one I keep coming back to along with...

The Film Music of Ingmar Bergman (Mozart, Chopin, Handel, Scarlatti) by Kabi Lareti on Proprius - difficult to find now and unfortunately Proprius's vinyl was never very good even when new. But the recording is outstanding.

For classical music, consistently very good sounding records were produced by the label Lyrita (exclusively British composers); I have never heard even a so-so Lyrita.  For 1950-60’s, RCA and Mercury recordings are also mostly good.  Some of the best chamber music recordings I’ve heard came from a very obscure East German label called NOVA.

When I want to show that stereo recordings have not really improved since the late 1950’s, and early 1960’s, I play some original “six eye” Columbia records, such as, Duke Ellington’s “Blues in Orbit” or Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five.”  Both of these have been reissued a number of times but sound best in the original version.

When I want to show how good mono recordings sound, I play Sonny Rollins’ “Saxophone Colossus”.

Curtis Mayfield 'Live'.

Most Jeff Beck.

Most Frank Zappa.

For classical, just about anything on the Proprius and Arkiv labels. 

 

 

@larryi   Ditto for Three Blind MIce and Yamamoto Trio's "Midnight Sugar."

I also find many direct to disc records to deliver superb sound (the master lacquer is cut live and direct from the mixing board without an intervening tape recording).  Sheffield Records and M & K Realtime made many good sounding examples.  I particularly like M & K’s Bill Berry Allstar “For Duke” record and their Earl Hines “Fatha.”  Sheffield examples include Thelma Houston’s “I’ve Got the Music in Me” and Amanda McBroom’s “Growing Up in Hollywood Town.”  
I also like jazz recordings from the Japanese label East Winds (e.g., Great Jazz Trio’s “Direct From LA”).  Another spectacular Japanese company is Three Blind Mice (try the Yamamoto Trio “Midnight Sugar”).

Great suggestions and thank you @jwei and @dorkwad 

I love my copy of Bill Evans Live at the Village Vanguard.  I’ll have to check out the Montreux album.

Best of Three Dog Night

Blood Sweat and Tears (original)

Hope by Hugh Masekela

The Raven by Rebecca PIdgeon

Jazz at the Pawnshop

Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival

Loggins & Messina--Native Son

War--Why Can't We Be Friends

Checkfield--Distant Thunder

Blood, Sweat & Tears II

 

All the music is good too.

@kerrybh I've hear that SRV album and it's really fabulous.  Plus I need a better copy of Abrades than the one I currently own.

Grant Green - Idle Moments

Santana - Abraxas

Stevie Ray Vaughan- Couldn't Stand the Weather 

Leonard Cohen - Live in London 

The Impex pressing of Jennifer Warnes "The Well" is pretty nice, as is Famous Blue Raincoat mentioned earlier (also Impex).

 

 

Thanks for that @larryi I see that in Discogs.

At the last Capital Audiofest, I spent a lot of time hanging out with and helping Phillip O'Hanlon, who was exhibiting Graham speakers.  He is known for his vast and eclectic collection of LPs.  I brought for him to hear a record from my collection that he immediately went on line to purchase from Discogs.  It is David Peabody's "Americana" collection of folk music (Peabody is an Englishman who is a big fan of American folk music).  This record is quite cheap on Discogs, but, it is incredibly well recorded  I use the track "Sewing Machine Blues" as one of my standard demonstration tracks.

One of the best sounding records I've ever heard is ABC's 'Lexicon of Love' and its amazing production by Trevor Horn; for me, it's right up there with 'Aja' if not even better; I'd sure like to see a UHQR double-45 of this one.... 

Thank you @simonmoon !  I'm going to order a couple of these.

@simonmoon

Thanks for sharing about those Nonesuch LPs. Even though I’ve been a classical LP collector since the ’70s, I wasn’t aware of that series, although I’m not a fan of atonal or serial compositions. Are any of them more tonal?

I have often sung the praises of a series of recordings made by Nonesuch back in the 70's. Some are called "Spectrum New American Music". 

These recordings are quite amazing with regards to soundstage, imaging and the preproduction of other spatial cues. 

If you want to hear what a realistic, natural sounding soundstage sounds like, these recordings will do that. I can easily imagine getting up from my listening seat, and walking into the soundstage among the musicians. 

I listen to plenty great sounding rock recordings, but recordings like these are qualitatively on a different level.

And the thing is, these were a budget label when they were released. Not in the least bit considered "audiophile".

Musically, YMMV, since these tend to be pretty 'thorny' and atonal sounding (I love it!).  

They all tend to  have this visual format:

 

@mgattmch thank you!  I’m enjoying this, too, and hopefully this post will continue to receive more recommendations.  Good to spend the winter getting exposed to different music and building up the collection with great recordings.  

What a great post paulietunes, interesting and thought provoking. Thanks to bigtwin, I listened to Miles Davis In A Silent Way last night (via Qobuz), never heard this record before, absolutely fantastic! I am going to make my way through everyone's recommendations. The joy of finding new music.

@roadwhorerecords @grislybutter @czarivey thank you for those contributions!  Hope to get to hear some of these on my system in the near future.

Who else has some suggestions for us to hear?

Frank Zappa's "Thingfish" 

Robin Thrower's "For Earth Below"

Al DeMeola's "Scenario" 

@paulietunes cool thread!
Most of my great quality records are Decca or some German pressing, like the ones I listed. 

Not so obvious, but, indeed, records pressed and released in the 90s may have the best mastering and sound and here’s my list of such:

Sasha and John Digweed -- Northern Exposure

David Bowie -- EarthLing (original 1995 release on vinyl)

Depeche Mode -- Ultra (original 1997 release on vinyl)

Stan Getz -- Appasionado

Bohren & Der Club of Gore -- Midnight Radio (1995 release on vinyl and CD)

The last one mentioned is an incredible nearly 3 hours album done mainly on low frequencies and with very slow tempo like around 30bpm.

Some of those records above may have 4-figure price if not now, then in the very near future.

 

Thank you so much @bdgregory ​​​​@hertzhead 

Much appreciated!

Shostakovich: Symphony #9, on Everest label (SDBR 3054).

I believe Everest recorded to 35mm sproketed magnetic tape. Really robust format. Recently listened to it and I was amazed at the recording and playback quality.

Grateful Dead: Reckoning. The Acoustic Sounds reissue.

Live, acoustic set. Excellent recording by Dan Healy.

Legrand Jazz. The Impex reissue.

Beautiful recorded in 1958 at the famed Columbia 30th St. studio.French arranger Michael Legrand assembled various jazz musicians including Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ben Webster to perform his arrangements of jazz standards.

@czarivey hmmm….not to me.  I get that this is subjective and not factual.  I was just trying to stay away from the usual, Hell Freezes Over, Aja, DSOM, Live in Paris sort of albums that we usual see with these kinds of threads.  
 

Happy to see some different submissions and looking forward to some more.  I’m sorry these are not novel to you but perhaps there will be in subsequent posts.