What's Playing Now

[Fritz The Cat]

Gentle Giant - Three Friends
(1972, Columbia)

This is the original german pressing. The US cover art is the same as from the first European "Gentle Giant" LP cover. The vertigo swirl is very sougth after in Europe. It's a cult object. This one is the first concept album by GG.
Album concept: Three school friends grew up to become a road digger (track A3 " Working all day"), an artist (track B1 "Peel the paint"), and a white collar worker (track B2 "Mister class and quality"). They can't understand each other's lifestyles no longer. The music is astounding, ranging from raucous rock to exquisite choral work. It ends with the stunningly beautiful title song.
This german pressing has to be heard loud to develop optimal dynamics. Those original pressings used to be mastered in low intensity. How does it work with your US pressing concerning the dynamics?

[Fritz The Cat]

My birth was too late for the original pressing. I didn't have the money to get one in the 70ties. I didn't want to buy one in the 80ies. Today I won't pay hundreds of SFr. for an acceptable 60ies version. This is not my piece of cake. I bought this 1987 UK pressing in the 90ies. Wonderfully direct metal remastered from a digitally remastered original tape. Matrix inscriptions: YEX 178 8-1-1 and
YEX 179 7-1-1-. Superb dynamics. Ringo holds his head while seeing the price i've payed then. Listen to the ingenious swinging bass playing in track A4 " Nowhere man" and to the masterf ul precise guitar fills and solos by George Harrison in track B1 "What goes on". And after listening to the guitar solo on track B7 "Run for your life": turn the LP and listen the whole album once again while paying attention to all the bass playing. After that, once again, you have to listen to the drumming and percussion effects. It's fun. Thank you George Martin. Stunning!!!

[Fritz The Cat]

The Beatles - Rubber Soul
(1965, Parlophone) UK




recycled pictures. a mid '70s issue that I purchased new then.

interesting WSJ piece on the 50th of this record.

You may be proud about this pressing! From 1987, if the matrix inscriptions are as following in my next post. IMHO a superb mastered one.

[Fritz The Cat]

Not original. Warner Reissue of 3 tracks from 1959 LP "Three faces of Chico" with Eric Dolphy on alto sax. 5 tracks are from 1963 LP "A different journey" with Charles Lloyd on sax. Guitarist Gabor Szabo contributes high-speed bop solos and rhythm work influenced by his native Hungary's folk music (Cit.:AllMusic). Good german "That's Jazz" special pressing. Printing error: length of track B3 "One Sheridan Square" is not only 3:10, but in fact 13:10.

[Fritz The Cat]

Jazzy Stuff. Listen to track A3 "Trio" with Idris Muhammed drums and a beautiful hammond by Charles Earland.

[Fritz The Cat]

Big voice. Newly formed Thunderbirds. Mo Witham guitars with additional help from Albert Lee. Produced by Mike Vernon. Listen to the beautiful female voice contributing the backing vocals: Carol Forbes. Good german pressing. Non plus ultra for a sunday evening. The thrill is gone away......

[Fritz The Cat]

Penguin Café Orchestra - Music From The Penguin Café
(1976, Editions EG) STERLING in the deadwax




Brian Eno, exec. producer

What do you think about this kind of music? Valium surrogate?!

[SpeakerLabFan]

Neil and the Horse - Rust Never Sleeps

Which one ist the misprint? The song of the US pressing is about a bird?

I think the song is referring to farming equipment - "wheat thrashers":

They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew.

[SpeakerLabFan]

Penguin Café Orchestra

What do you think about this kind of music? Valium surrogate?!

ha. definitely ambient but I like the playing and the production.

[SpeakerLabFan]

Brew Moore - s/t
(1956, Fantasy) OJC reissue




from the KPLU-FM library. w/ Vince Guaraldi, piano.

[SpeakerLabFan]

Gentle Giant

This is the original german pressing. The US cover art is the same as from the first European "Gentle Giant" LP cover. The vertigo swirl is very sougth after in Europe. It's a cult object. This one is the first concept album by GG.
Album concept: Three school friends grew up to become a road digger (track A3 " Working all day"), an artist (track B1 "Peel the paint"), and a white collar worker (track B2 "Mister class and quality"). They can't understand each other's lifestyles no longer. The music is astounding, ranging from raucous rock to exquisite choral work. It ends with the stunningly beautiful title song.
This german pressing has to be heard loud to develop optimal dynamics. Those original pressings used to be mastered in low intensity. How does it work with your US pressing concerning the dynamics?

it's a disappointing pressing - not a standout, dull in comparison to the GG imports that I have. I know how impressive this music can be.

Rubber Soul

You may be proud about this pressing! From 1987, if the matrix inscriptions are as following in my next post. IMHO a superb mastered one.

I'm too lazy to go upstairs and look up the matrices but I do recall that they begin with the YEX prefix. Nice description, yes the bass is standout on this record!

[SpeakerLabFan]

10cc - s/t
(1973, UK) US release, STERLING in the deadwax




I'm not sure why 10cc's clever songs are interesting to me, while I get bored with a lot of Zappa's stuff. The approach seems similar especially here with the doo-wop throwbacks.

[SpeakerLabFan]

The Nighthawks - Rock 'n' Roll
(1983, Varrick/Rounder) MASTERED BY Frankford/Wayne in the deadwax




covers of Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon, Lowell George, Jagger/Richards. interesting to see that these guys played with John Hammond and members of Muddy Waters band.

[Fritz The Cat]

Brew Moore - s/t
(1956, Fantasy) OJC reissue




from the KPLU-FM library. w/ Vince Guaraldi, piano.

Concerning track A2 "Nancy with the laughing face": Fritz the Cat with the sad face while listening to this LP. What is this music made for? One acceptable track B5 "Song without words" Ramsey Lewis solo on Steinway Concert Grand. Without Nancy, sadly. The rest is musak to my ears.

[Fritz The Cat]

Soundtrack. Dedicated to Gil Evans, The Master. John Scofield acoustic guitar on title track. Earl Klugh classical guitar on track B3 "Claire". Tranquilizing or a little bit boring? Because of the synthies?
What do you think about this one?