Vinyl Me Please Classics

Chris V said:
I was curious, what classics picks did people like the best over the last 12 months or so?

Otis Redding was fantastic, but after that I found myself disappointed by Albert King and McCoy Tyner (and skipping Erroll Garner and The Bar-Keys entirely), so I took a break from this sub around the time of the price increase. I did grab Donny Hathaway at some point and liked it.

Is there anything else that others have been particularly impressed by? I'm wondering about The Hawk Flies High or Dreams. I know they are sold out, just wondering about streaming or eventual re-presses.
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I rank them in tiers.

Tier 1 (Actual Classics worth seeking out): Dreams > Aretha > Otis > Donny >
Tier 2 (Minor albums by Top Tier Talents) : McCoy > Sonny Rollins > Herbie > Hawk >
Tier 3 (Interesting, but not for me) Leon Ware > Erroll > Isaac Hayes >
Tier 4 (Worth a stream, but shouldn't have been Classics selections): Patrice > Frederick Knight > Albert King > Bar-Keys
 
December_boy said:
Hi Nathan. I really don’t get what you’re hearing. The vocals are practically unlistenable. The band sounds a peg or two above a bar band. Just about. But the voice... god it’s awful. Of all the great blues options from that year, this truly is bottom rung.

Love as always...
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Yeah, I didn't grab Musselwhite. I thought it was fine - great musicianship - but only the title track and the Christo Redemptor stood out for me, so I passed. Also, even thought it's not fair, I got my hopes up for Magic Sam, so when it wasn't it, it was a bit of a let down.

I took the $ I would've used on it as an add-on and spent it on SRV - In Step (33 AP Version)...a Blues album I'd rather have in my collection.
 
TCell said:
I rank them in tiers.

Tier 1 (Actual Classics worth seeking out): Dreams > Aretha > Otis > Donny >
Tier 2 (Minor albums by Top Tier Talents) : McCoy > Sonny Rollins > Herbie > Hawk >
Tier 3 (Interesting, but not for me) Leon Ware > Erroll > Isaac Hayes >
Tier 4 (Worth a stream, but shouldn't have been Classics selections): Patrice > Frederick Knight > Albert King > Bar-Keys
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I agree with this other than I'd have McCoy in Tier 1. Otherwise, spot on (though I dug the Leon Ware, it's placement is accurate)
 
wmeugene said:
I agree with this other than I'd have McCoy in Tier 1. Otherwise, spot on (though I dug the Leon Ware, it's placement is accurate)
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Aretha, Otis and Albert King for me were all really enjoyable. I dropped out after McCoy or Erroll I think so I missed Dreams, Sonny, Herbie and Donny. I'll have to stream Dreams as I've never even heard of it!
 
Bsdmr2 said:
Aretha, Otis and Albert King for me were all really enjoyable. I dropped out after McCoy or Erroll I think so I missed Dreams, Sonny, Herbie and Donny. I'll have to stream Dreams as I've never even heard of it!
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dreams and donny are stone-cold killer albums. dreams in particular is amazing. the LITA version is good but inferior (not AAA, IIRC it's digitally sourced) and has "bonus" tracks and the sleeve is not nearly as nice as the VMP. I missed mr hands and sonny rollins but i wouldn't say i'm missing sonny rollins if you get my drift. i'm definitely keeping an eye out for mr hands though
 
I listened to Musselwhite today.

Went into it completely blind. He's not a musician that I am familiar with at all and to be honest after seeing the feedback here I was expecting a pretty poor album. Maybe it's because I was expecting the worse but I actually really enjoyed it. I saw some comments here saying that the audio quality is bad but it's certainly not on my copy. Yes the vocals are not as clear as the instruments and as a result, I would never call it a great example of recording quality, but it was certainly better than others from the series. The music/genre is something that I am not familiar with, but as an outsider to it I really like it.
 
Selaws said:
I listened to Musselwhite today.

Went into it completely blind. He's not a musician that I am familiar with at all and to be honest after seeing the feedback here I was expecting a pretty poor album. Maybe it's because I was expecting the worse but I actually really enjoyed it. I saw some comments here saying that the audio quality is bad but it's certainly not on my copy. Yes the vocals are not as clear as the instruments and as a result, I would never call it a great example of recording quality, but it was certainly better than others from the series. The music/genre is something that I am not familiar with, but as an outsider to it I really like it.
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Yeah, it’s a pretty great album and I can imagine this audiophile pressing would sound very much different to the audio on Spotify! I’m looking really forward to giving it a spin!
 
Chris V said:
I was curious, what classics picks did people like the best over the last 12 months or so?

Otis Redding was fantastic, but after that I found myself disappointed by Albert King and McCoy Tyner (and skipping Erroll Garner and The Bar-Keys entirely), so I took a break from this sub around the time of the price increase. I did grab Donny Hathaway at some point and liked it.

Is there anything else that others have been particularly impressed by? I'm wondering about The Hawk Flies High or Dreams. I know they are sold out, just wondering about streaming or eventual re-presses.
Click to expand...

I echo the immense love for Gabor Szabo that has been displayed, but I disagree with some of the non-love for Frederick Knight. I thought I would enjoy the listen and be done, but it's actually one of my favorite Classics releases from the last 12 months.
 
Selaws said:
I listened to Musselwhite today.

Went into it completely blind. He's not a musician that I am familiar with at all and to be honest after seeing the feedback here I was expecting a pretty poor album. Maybe it's because I was expecting the worse but I actually really enjoyed it. I saw some comments here saying that the audio quality is bad but it's certainly not on my copy. Yes the vocals are not as clear as the instruments and as a result, I would never call it a great example of recording quality, but it was certainly better than others from the series. The music/genre is something that I am not familiar with, but as an outsider to it I really like it.
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I gave it a try and had no issue with it. Of late though I’ve been trying to get a feel for exactly how often (if ever) records will get played after the first listen and with this, while I quite enjoyed the stream, I just couldn’t see it coming back off the shelf after the first play so dropped out.

But it’s certainly not the stinker a few have perceived it to be
 
Andy said:
I did have that on cassette many years ago :)
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I had to go back and listen to what it actually sounded like. It actually holds up quite well, maybe it will pop up in the Classics AOTM later in the year. :unsure:



On cogs the cassette single has recently sold for £8 (I really wish I had kept all the cassettes I had)

www.discogs.com

Bruce Willis - Under The Boardwalk

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1987 Cassette release of "Under The Boardwalk" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
 
Andy said:
I had to go back and listen to what it actually sounded like. It actually holds up quite well, maybe it will pop up in the Classics AOTM later in the year. :unsure:



On cogs the cassette single has recently sold for £8 (I really wish I had kept all the cassettes I had)

www.discogs.com

Bruce Willis - Under The Boardwalk

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1987 Cassette release of "Under The Boardwalk" on Discogs.
www.discogs.com www.discogs.com
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Maybe I was distracted by the waistcoat, but I did NOT expect him to whip out the harmonica at the end.
 
yukbon said:
And thus the musselmeh connection
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Rowan said:
I gave it a try and had no issue with it. Of late though I’ve been trying to get a feel for exactly how often (if ever) records will get played after the first listen and with this, while I quite enjoyed the stream, I just couldn’t see it coming back off the shelf after the first play so dropped out.

But it’s certainly not the stinker a few have perceived it to be
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If it's any indication of how off base these Musselwhite haters are (who I just don't think are really blues fans), Allmusic rating of the album is 5 stars: Tennessee Woman - Charlie Musselwhite | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic
 
MadLucas said:
I echo the immense love for Gabor Szabo that has been displayed, but I disagree with some of the non-love for Frederick Knight. I thought I would enjoy the listen and be done, but it's actually one of my favorite Classics releases from the last 12 months.
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I dig that album as well, though I'm not a huge fan of his kinda corny falsetto vocal on a lot of songs. The ones where he sings in his normal voice I tend to like a lot more besides the title track. "Friend" is a great tune.

I actually think the Isaac Hayes record was a big underrated one, and I spin that one more than most ROTMs from the past year. It's pure funk bliss with incredible sound quality/mastering. It's basically like Shaft light, and if you love the Shaft album then you'll love Tough Guys. The opening title track on that one is kinda cheesy but the rest of the instrumental tracks are really rad.
 
keylime_5 said:
I dig that album as well, though I'm not a huge fan of his kinda corny falsetto vocal on a lot of songs. The ones where he sings in his normal voice I tend to like a lot more besides the title track. "Friend" is a great tune.

I actually think the Isaac Hayes record was a big underrated one, and I spin that one more than most ROTMs from the past year. It's pure funk bliss with incredible sound quality/mastering. It's basically like Shaft light, and if you love the Shaft album then you'll love Tough Guys. The opening title track on that one is kinda cheesy but the rest of the instrumental tracks are really rad.
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I’ve really fallen in love with the Tough Guys album and also spin it pretty regularly. It’s perfect for when I’m in the mood for Shaft, but don’t want to sit through a double LP.
 
keylime_5 said:
If it's any indication of how off base these Musselwhite haters are (who I just don't think are really blues fans), Allmusic rating of the album is 5 stars: Tennessee Woman - Charlie Musselwhite | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic
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I dig the blues, I do not dig these blues. Delta or very electric please. JLH? yes. Muddy? yes. Buddy, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Albert and BB King? yes yes yes yes maybe (BB is a sometimes thing). Even Jimi's electric rock-ified :blues album is a favorite.

I'll give Musselwhite a third listen in a month or so, but right now, especially the vocals (although the band itself too), I am not feeling it. I'm not hating on it, if you dig it, I am glad you got (or found if it's new to you) an album that you dig, which apparently has fans and bona fides behind it.
 
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