Topic: Skip James remastering - Black Swan

[JoeCigueno]

I have been enjoying the Black Swan remastering of the 1931 session. Compared to the remastering on the Yazoo and JSP releases, the Black Swan is to my ears much clearer and more immediate.  The CD info indicates a September 2022 issue date. Not sure if these remasterings have been available before somewhere else.  This has been an ear opener for me... I have relied on the Yahoo for years, first on LP then on CD.  You can sample the remastering via the link below. Enjoy!

https://www.prostudiomasters.com/album/page/150094

[joe paul]

Thanks for the tip - I like some of the Black Swan reissues, the Blind Lemon Jefferson for example.
That said, I took a quick listen to Illinois blues and I'm So Glad and I can't say I'm onboard with all the noise reduction, not for me. It cleans up the crackling but it's very artificial sounding.
The Yazoo and the John Tefteller Blues Calendar versions are still the best as far as I'm concerned.

[Blues Vintage]

They did a similar thing over at Pristine Audio around 2009;


SKIP JAMES - Yola My Blues Away
https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/pabl009

This were the other releases (early blues) that I know of;

ROBERT JOHNSON Legendary Blues, Volume 1 - PABL001
ROBERT JOHNSON Legendary Blues, Volume 2 - PABL002
TAMPA RED The Man With The Gold Guitar - PABL003
MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT The Man From Avalon - PABL004
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON That Black Snake Moan - PABL005
CHARLEY PATTON Dirt Road Blues - PABL006
BLIND BLAKE No Dough Blues - PABL007
BLIND WILLIE MCTELL Searching The Desert For The Blues - PABL008
ROBERT JOHNSON Phonograph Blues - PABL010


For the remasterings on both labels I'd say, the quality seems better but somehow suck the life out of it.