Topic: Best Pre-CD-Era LPs

[misterjones]

From those of you who have (or have heard) a variety of pre-CD LPs, I'd appreciate an assessment of the quality of the various labels (such as Yazoo, Biograph, Milestone and any others).

[banjochris]

Yazoos have the best sound and often the best notes. Discographical information isn't there, usually, but that's what B&GR is for. Stephen Calt can get a bit spiky at times but is always interesting and informational (and even sometimes accurately spiky), and the ones with notes by John Miller are packed with highly useful musical information, which should be a surprise to no one.

Biograph always seemed decent to me, too. I don't have enough OJL or Milestone to really give a good assessment. Document's LPs are pretty much just like the CDs -- good discographical info, some biographical material, sound can be good or not-so-good, depending, but you're getting all the stuff.

[Toby Walker]

I have an old Origin Jazz Library LP that has some great liner notes and was recorded incredibly well.

Yazoo and Biograph were great... I still have a ton of those LP's laying around.

[Parlor Picker]

I agree about the Yazoos. Arhoolie is a good label as well. Speaking as a Brit, American vinyl sometimes enjoyed a less-than-favourable reputation for quality over here - plenty of crackle straight off the press. Having said that, I do have some excellent American pressings as well.

[Eric Hubbard]

What everyone else said.  The old Yazoo regional LPs, e.g. Jackson Blues, Ten Years in Memphis, etc. are just superb, they are what sent me down the path of country blues guitar playing. 

[Stuart]

Yazoo gets my vote for  overall "Best," but the other labels were very good as well. OJL, Herwin, Blues Classics, Biograph, Folkways & RBF, Milestone, etc., all released solid compilations.

[misterjones]

I neglected to mention I was thinking along the lines of pre-war blues.  But it sounds like no matter how you slice it, pre-digital LPs all seem to get good marks.

I got the impression at some point Milestone might have issued its BLJ LP twice, once in the 1970s and once in the early 1990s.  I have the CD version, which was overly remastered using NoNoise.  Anyone know if the BLJ LPs are up to snuff and/or if there is a difference between the two issues?

[Stuart]

I just have two Milestone LPs (2004, 2007) and Olympic 7134. I picked up the Yazoo BLJ CD and the JSP BLJ set, but I have never compared tracks.

CF. Stefan's page: http://www.wirz.de/music/milstfrm.htm

and the AMG page: http://www.allmusic.com/album/moanin-all-over-r233766

[dj]

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Blues Classics LPs.  Looking over Stefan Wirz's Blues Classics discography, I see that I had 11 of the first 16 Blues Classics releases way back when.  Packaging was minimal, the notes ran the gamut from non-existent to pretty good, and the sound was not noticeably better or worse than that of any other label.  I guess I just shared Chris Strachwitz's taste in music. 

Also, in 1971, a miracle occurred and I found a copy of Goodrich and Dixon's Recording The Blues at a local discount store.  At that point I realized that there was a lot known about recording dates, locations, and personnel that Yazoo wasn't putting in their notes, and that label was permanently lowered a notch or two in my estimation.

Oh, and Blues Classics LPs smelled better than Yazoo LPs when you opened the shrink wrap.

What the heck - they were all put out by amateurs on a shoestring budget.  A lot of the difference in sound quality came down to whether the guy running one company (or his friends) had a better copy of a given song than the guys running the other companies.

[Mr.OMuck]

They were all great! I am particularly fond of the RBF's.

[jostber]

If you can get hold of a Herwin LP that is a safe bet, they had wonderful releases with great liner notes. To refer to Stefan's site once more: http://www.wirz.de/music/herwin.htm

Many folks are also fan of the Mamlish LP's: http://www.wirz.de/music/mamlish.htm

I like the Flyright's as well: http://www.wirz.de/music/flyright.htm

And you have the great Magpie piano series: http://www.wirz.de/music/magpie.htm

[dj]

They were all great!

OMuck makes a very good point.

[Bunker Hill]

I like the Flyright's as well: http://www.wirz.de/music/flyright.htm

And you have the great Magpie piano series: http://www.wirz.de/music/magpie.htm

Bruce Bastin's 1980s Travellin' Man series of prewar blues reissues (many compiled using 78s from his collection) were very much in the same vein as the the above - high on quality and content. Stefan also has a discography of TM.

[jostber]

I like the Flyright's as well: http://www.wirz.de/music/flyright.htm

And you have the great Magpie piano series: http://www.wirz.de/music/magpie.htm

Bruce Bastin's 1980s Travellin' Man series of prewar blues reissues (many compiled using 78s from his collection) were very much in the same vein as the the above - high on quality and content. Stefan also has a discography of TM.

Thanks, would like to check out some of these: http://www.wirz.de/music/travman.htm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I would rate Don Kent's Mamlish Records re-issue series very highly in addition to those already mentioned.
All best,
Johnm