Vinyl Me Please Classics

oldschoolkirby said:
The way I interpreted what @radiodead was saying was in regards to the Classics track/sub only, not in general. If that's the case, I do think it's sort of the underrated/forgotten "classics" they go for. For the Essentials sub - much less consistency to the picks, like you said.
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Two of my three best known album examples were from classics, so I think my point still stands. They have done less known artists than Al Green and the Isleys, which I think is great, even if I've found some of them underwhelming. I guess I'm less impressed with their overall curation than some.
 
Classics is pretty much straight down to marketing, and I admit I am the target audience. Before Classics I had a few jazz, soul and blues albums. It was an easy gateway and definitely opened me up to lots of artists I was familiar with name only. Especially jazz. Since getting the Archie Shepp I have been on a jazz tear, picking up many of the exclusives and curated titles they have had in the store over the last couple of years. I have been happy with the soul selections but its not really my cup of tea. I wish that there have been more blues though.

Classics works like the old Science Fiction book of the month club, a few big name acts and a few nice surprises. Reading the tea leaves on what VMP means by Classics is going to change each month, depending on what they are hoping you are going to buy.

While this months selection is interesting, unless there is some other exclusive that pops up between now and July 31, I won't be re-subscribing in August.
 
I'm not trying to convince anyone to get hyped about the album. I couldn't get excited for Willie Bobo so I traded that for some Alice Coltrane. I'm super happy with that choice! You like what you like and that's cool!

BUT! Solely for informational purposes, on the debate between 3 + 3 vs. Go For Your Guns, it's my understanding that all the songs on Go For Your Guns were written by the Isley Brothers and 3 + 3 has a bunch of songs written by other people (like James Taylor!!). Some folks might give some importance to that songwriting credit. I don't really care myself; I just really like the geee-tar in a few of the Go For Your Guns songs.
 
Honestly this is one the IB records I see bandied about the most as "the best", but that is obviously super subjective and hard to pin down for any curator. The issue with this pick for me is probably more that you can find decent OG copies for pretty cheap, and they should sound pretty decent. That said, I'm firmly in the camp that a modern AAA mastering chain, manned by a top engineer with a true master tape source can sonically shit on many of the mass produced records of yesteryear. But yes, this is starting to wade more into MoFi territory where they're releasing something that isn't rare but is improved sonically, which will make some folks question the value.
 
JonnyH said:
I don’t think most people would consider Call Me or Sings the Blues the best known albums from Al Green and Nina Simone.
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Really? What do you think is their best known?

They are certainly close to the top in the most critically acclaimed albums of their discographies. At least when I have researched those artists in my lifetime. If not first, I'd say they were the second albums I listened to of theirs. Probably Pastel Blues for Nina was first. And of course I'm Still in Love with You us up there for Al.
 
dhodo said:
Really? What do you think is their best known?

They are certainly close to the top in the most critically acclaimed albums of their discographies. At least when I have researched those artists in my lifetime. If not first, I'd say they were the second albums I listened to of theirs. Probably Pastel Blues for Nina was first. And of course I'm Still in Love with You us up there for Al.
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Maybe Wild is the Wind for Nina Simone.
 
dhodo said:
Really? What do you think is their best known?

They are certainly close to the top in the most critically acclaimed albums of their discographies. At least when I have researched those artists in my lifetime. If not first, I'd say they were the second albums I listened to of theirs. Probably Pastel Blues for Nina was first. And of course I'm Still in Love with You us up there for Al.
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Let’s Stay Together and I’m Still in Love With You both charted higher and sold more copies than Call Me.

None of the songs from Sings the Blues charted, nor did the album itself.
 
JonnyH said:
Let’s Stay Together and I’m Still in Love With You both charted higher and sold more copies than Call Me.

None of the songs from Sings the Blues charted, nor did the album itself.
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I don't know if charts in the 60s and 70s really have anything to do with which album is most well known by people who weren't even born then. There's a lot of stuff on those charts that nobody has heard of today.

I meant well known currently, most of which is due to critical acclaim since I and most people who live where radio sucks have never heard either of those artists on the radio. Hard to judge any more what is best known since most people discover old music through the internet, which is where my point of reference on these artists comes from.

Edit: I bet more people subscribed to VMP would be familiar with Sinnerman than I Loves You Porgy, for example. One was probably her highest US chart hit and one has been featured more in pop culture in the last 20 years.
 
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dhodo said:
I don't know if charts in the 60s and 70s really have anything to do with which album is most well known by people who weren't even born then. There's a lot of stuff on those charts that nobody has heard of today.

I meant well known currently, most of which is due to critical acclaim since I and most people who live where radio sucks have never heard either of those artists on the radio. Hard to judge any more what is best known since most people discover old music through the internet, which is where my point of reference on these artists comes from.

Edit: I bet more people subscribed to VMP would be familiar with Sinnerman than I Loves You Porgy, for example. One was probably her highest US chart hit and one has been featured more in pop culture in the last 20 years.
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The 2009 remix of Sinnerman also charted for Nina Simone. It’s one of her highest charting songs. So I agree that people would be more familiar with it.
 
Personally I do think most people would put Let's Stay Together as the most iconic Al album, but Call Me is better and a very close contender for popularity as well IMO. I don't think Call Me was some inspired decision based on the best Al album, it was just the one that most people were unlikely to have since neither Fat Possum or VMP had for pressed up some dubious quality crap reissue of it at that point. I also think its curious its the only Al title Speaker's Corner got around to issuing in a proper audiophile issue. The story of how the tape was stored from the VMP blog post seemed horrifying to me, makes me wonder if the rest of the masters are in a dumpster somewhere.

Also just thinking with a desire to get more into AAA mastering from quality sources, I wonder if Classics is essentially going to start leaning into more mainstream music like the IB and Al picks just because the sources are there. Except for some UMG music I guess cuz you know... 🔥
 
zombie.modernist said:
Personally I do think most people would put Let's Stay Together as the most iconic Al album, but Call Me is better and a very close contender for popularity as well IMO. I don't think Call Me was some inspired decision based on the best Al album, it was just the one that most people were unlikely to have since neither Fat Possum or VMP had for pressed up some dubious quality crap reissue of it at that point. I also think its curious its the only Al title Speaker's Corner got around to issuing in a proper audiophile issue. The story of how the tape was stored from the VMP blog post seemed horrifying to me, makes me wonder if the rest of the masters are in a dumpster somewhere.

Also just thinking with a desire to get more into AAA mastering from quality sources, I wonder if Classics is essentially going to start leaning into more mainstream music like the IB and Al picks just because the sources are there. Except for some UMG music I guess cuz you know... 🔥
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I’m all for them leaning towards more obviously classic Classics picks when it’s Al Green quality. You can’t beat a top level record at a decent price with brilliant music. I think 3 + 3 is THE Isley Brothers classic. That Lady, Summer Breeze, The Highways Of My Life, that album is a stone classic. It might be a bit over familiar to some but it’s all killer.
 
dhodo said:
It's a record that is still in bargain bins with some good music on it.
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That's my main qualm with this pick. It's a good record (though not as good as 3+3), but I see no reason to pay > $10 for it. Easy swap.

Murfocakes said:
I think 3 + 3 is THE Isley Brothers classic.
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This. And just to contradict myself, I would totally have kept a Classics reissue of this album (despite it being a bargain-bin record, too), because I can't get my hands on a copy where "That Lady" doesn't skip. Clearly everyone who owned the album played the shit out of that track.
 
bettim84 said:
This. And just to contradict myself, I would totally have kept a Classics reissue of this album (despite it being a bargain-bin record, too), because I can't get my hands on a copy where "That Lady" doesn't skip. Clearly everyone who owned the album played the shit out of that track.
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That's one reason to get these kinds of reissues. These popular dollar bin records can be hard to find in a VG+ condition with no groove wear. Plus I would expect to to be a superior copy if it is an RKS cut if you're into audiophile stuff at all, which is where I think the value for this comes in. Obviously this album is one that just doesn't command a lot of value so it really is cheap to rinse and repeat purchases to find a good copy, but I still think for those looking for a copy this is a better choice. For a while before this revival hit hard, classic rock records used to be $3-5 at a lot of places and I used to sneer at lots of MoFi, AF, AP style reissues. I finally caved in and started buying them when the OG copy prices rose to around $20-25 for common rock records and realized I was missing out a lot on sound quality and low surface noise. I will say there are some albums I just don't care enough about to get an audiophile issue of over a cheaper dollar bin copy.
 
bettim84 said:
That's my main qualm with this pick. It's a good record (though not as good as 3+3), but I see no reason to pay > $10 for it. Easy swap.



This. And just to contradict myself, I would totally have kept a Classics reissue of this album (despite it being a bargain-bin record, too), because I can't get my hands on a copy where "That Lady" doesn't skip. Clearly everyone who owned the album played the shit out of that track.
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Nothing on Go For Your Guns is That Lady level. Nothing!



Few songs are. That song is fucking awesome.
 
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