More 70's Music on Vinyl- Original or Early Pressings

[Bill Hart]

JT was his first release for Columbia in 1977. He was with Warner from 1969 until then. First label was Apple in 1968.

Thanks. It's been quite a while since i've listened to him, but my memory was that Gorilla wasn't a great sounding record (on vinyl) despite the wonderful songs; the Greatest Hits album was terrific- all standard issue stuff, ie not audiophile reissues. And JT was a demo quality record in many respects. If Sweet Baby James is from the Warner era, isn't that Green Label or Green with the W7?

 

[Frank750]

Thanks. It's been quite a while since i've listened to him, but my memory was that Gorilla wasn't a great sounding record (on vinyl) despite the wonderful songs; the Greatest Hits album was terrific- all standard issue stuff, ie not audiophile reissues. And JT was a demo quality record in many respects. If Sweet Baby James is from the Warner era, isn't that Green Label or Green with the W7?

Green. You're right about Gorilla. I have in on a Nautilus Super Disc and that's not all that great either. Most of his Columbia releases are pretty good though.

 

[Bill Hart]

Decided I needed to listen to Loggins and Messina, Sittin' In. I have an old copy somewhere from back in the day. Finding it is another matter. So I just bought a UK first pressing, fairly cheaply. I've had pretty good luck with some of the UK Columbia pop records from this era.
It's frightening, but I was actually hearing a disco tune in my head in the last 24 hours- "I Love the Nightlife." Pretty scary that I actually thought about buying that.

 

[mep]

You know that you have too many records when you give up trying to find the one that you want to play and just buy another copy.

 

[jazdoc]

It's frightening, but I was actually hearing a disco tune in my head in the last 24 hours- "I Love the Nightlife." Pretty scary that I actually thought about buying that.

Scary? That's not scary. Scary is having a buddy over last night and realizing you have original and MSFL copies of Gordon Lightfoot's 'Sundown'. What's downright frightening is how much we enjoyed 'em.

 

[Bill Hart]

You know that you have too many records when you give up trying to find the one that you want to play and just buy another copy.

I am usually a very organized person- compulsive, in fact, but the idea of organizing all these records has been overwhelming. I finally started, now that I have more time, but it feels a little like shuffling deck chairs until I have the space to really sort through them and shelve them by category, and then, by artist, performance or label. I did decide to go through some of the shelves and start pulling out 'junk'- stuff that has no value, musically or for resale. That will at least make some room in the meantime. I have been pretty impressed by the sonic differences in some of these 'early' pressings- those Green Labels seem to sound better than the later Palm Tree labels on Warners; the earlier the better on the Columbias too. One bridge I won't cross yet is to what extent I get rid of duplicate copies. It would scare you to know how many different copies of the Rickie Lee Jones first album I have. (At least with respect to records I have listened to in the past year or two, I've tried to segregate the 'best' copies I have). At some point, I'll probably sell off some of the stuff that does have value to fund- you guessed it- more records!

 

[Bill Hart]

Scary? That's not scary. Scary is having a buddy over last night and realizing you have original and MSFL copies of Gordon Lightfoot's 'Sundown'. What's downright frightening is how much we enjoyed 'em.

Doc, I found the Gordon Lightfoot yesterday in the stacks when I was looking for something else, and set it aside in a pile for cleaning and listening.

 

[mep]

Scary? That's not scary. Scary is having a buddy over last night and realizing you have original and MSFL copies of Gordon Lightfoot's 'Sundown'. What's downright frightening is how much we enjoyed 'em.

Nothing wrong with Sundown.

 

[Bill Hart]

Jim Croce. Lot's of good songs. The bulk of the hits seemed to have been released pothumously.

 

[Frank750]

George Harrison 1971

View attachment 11232

 

[hvbias]

Bill, many of the original Vertigo label UK pressings are superb. Same for many of the Island and Bronze labels. However, pricing on many of these LP's is now also VERY high.

Agreed, Vertigo mastered their music very well. I have the first 4 Sabbath albums on UK Vertigo swirl label as well as the first Uriah Heep. Great sound quality on all of them. I bought them before the demand for them shot way up, but they were still the most I've spent on vinyl. That Vertigo label is too cool to look at; I had to have them

On some of them the same stampers were used into the space ship label era. Those are much cheaper.

i didnt care for Chad's 200g pressing of Fragile and he claims his smoks all versions. he took this effort personally as it one of his fave all-time rock albums. i know another collector that likes the Uk plum pressing but admits its not a great recording.

The QRP 200g version is a different mastering from the earlier 180g version pressed at RTI. I don't mind the sound of the 180g version, but an early US pressing mastered by George Piros is also excellent, but different.

To add to the list:

Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East (Pink Capricorn), self titled (yellow Atco, pressed at Monarch), Idlewild South (yellow Atco, pressed at Monarch). IME no CD or LP reissue compares to those originals.

Yes - Close to the Edge. US original on B'way label, also George Piros. I am forgetting many other bands, I will leave it at that for now

 

[MylesBAstor]

Agreed, Vertigo mastered their music very well. I have the first 4 Sabbath albums on UK Vertigo swirl label as well as the first Uriah Heep. Great sound quality on all of them. I bought them before the demand for them shot way up, but they were still the most I've spent on vinyl. That Vertigo label is too cool to look at; I had to have them

On some of them the same stampers were used into the space ship label era. Those are much cheaper.



The QRP 200g version is a different mastering from the earlier 180g version pressed at RTI. I don't mind the sound of the 180g version, but an early US pressing mastered by George Piros is also excellent, but different.

To add to the list:

Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East (Pink Capricorn), self titled (yellow Atco, pressed at Monarch), Idlewild South (yellow Atco, pressed at Monarch). IME no CD or LP reissue compares to those originals.

Yes - Close to the Edge. US original on B'way label, also George Piros. I am forgetting many other bands, I will leave it at that for now

Irony is George Piros hated (he never minced words and was known for cussing a blue streak) hated rock music. But he pretty much mastered the best version of every album he touched

 

[Bill Hart]

I've been on a good streak here:
a Piros Close to the Edge and a Porky/Piros Fragile, both in M- condition;
a Uk first pressing of Loggins and Messina Sittin' In (haven't compared to a domestic 2 eye);
found an early (not first) of Dark Side A3/B2 UK Harvest.
A Warner green of Sweet Baby James (still with original shrink and "our price" label);
an "RL" of Houses of the Holy;
a very early UK pressing of Physical Graffiti.
Plus a whole bunch of the early Elton albums on early DJM UK pressings.
I have been busy!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I've been on a good streak here:
a Piros Close to the Edge and a Porky/Piros Fragile, both in M- condition;
a Uk first pressing of Loggins and Messina Sittin' In (haven't compared to a domestic 2 eye);
found an early (not first) of Dark Side A3/B2 UK Harvest.
A Warner green of Sweet Baby James (still with original shrink and "our price" label);
an "RL" of Houses of the Holy;
a very early UK pressing of Physical Graffiti.
Plus a whole bunch of the early Elton albums on early DJM UK pressings.
I have been busy!

Just played my "green label Warner" last night. Showing it's age and wouldn't mind a somewhat better copy. What a great record!

 

[Bill Hart]

Found a WWA pressing of Paranoid which has the Vertigo matrix numbers struck-through in the deadwax. Sounds amazing. Fraction of the cost of a big swirl and was in mint condition. Sabbath was always noise in the background of the early 70's- playing out of those 'vans'- remember how people tricked out vans with shag carpeting, water beds, big sound systems (with 8 track players, of course) and the rest of the paraphernalia of the era? Never really focused on Sabbath musically. Now, in my old age, I'm diggin this stuff, so it's not really nostalgia, per se, but it does bring back more than a whiff of the times.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Found a WWA pressing of Paranoid which has the Vertigo matrix numbers struck-through in the deadwax. Sounds amazing. Fraction of the cost of a big swirl and was in mint condition. Sabbath was always noise in the background of the early 70's- playing out of those 'vans'- remember how people tricked out vans with shag carpeting, water beds, big sound systems (with 8 track players, of course) and the rest of the paraphernalia of the era? Never really focused on Sabbath musically. Now, in my old age, I'm diggin this stuff, so it's not really nostalgia, per se, but it does bring back more than a whiff of the times.

 

[jazdoc]

Found a WWA pressing of Paranoid which has the Vertigo matrix numbers struck-through in the deadwax. Sounds amazing. Fraction of the cost of a big swirl and was in mint condition. Sabbath was always noise in the background of the early 70's- playing out of those 'vans'- remember how people tricked out vans with shag carpeting, water beds, big sound systems (with 8 track players, of course) and the rest of the paraphernalia of the era? Never really focused on Sabbath musically. Now, in my old age, I'm diggin this stuff, so it's not really nostalgia, per se, but it does bring back more than a whiff of the times.

Congratulations! Could you post a pic of the labels with matrices? Thx...

 

[Bill Hart]

Congratulations! Could you post a pic of the labels with matrices? Thx...

I don't have a good camera, but i will try- worst case, i can type the matrix info. Right now, listening to the first pressing of Bloody Sabbath on WWA. I also tracked down a couple copies of Master of Reality and the self-titled record. The trick, aside from price, is condition, obviously. Somehow, I don't think of Black Sabbath fans in the 70's as the most fastidious individuals, but maybe i'm just stereotyping heavy metal stoners.

 

[Bill Hart]

Congratulations! Could you post a pic of the labels with matrices? Thx...

Well, that was a giant pain in the ass- I guess i not only need a real camera, but a good work surface with an illuminated magnifying glass on a stand. Anyway, here are a few pics. You should be able to detect both the WWA matrix number as well as the strike out of what is the old Vertigo matrix. They are: 6360011 1Y/2[inverted triangle] 420 and flip side, same, except 2Y:

 

[jazdoc]

Sorry Bill -- thanks for doing that. I've listened to a friend's original Vertigo pressing with big swirl...one of the best recordings I've ever heard. The musicianship is incredible. Tommy Iommi is incredible on this LP.