mainstream records
various artists (mainstream records) - the message. soul, funk and jazzy grooves from mainstream records - ace records
according to wikipidia the mainstream records back catalogue was sold to legacy records (part of sony) in 1993 .
mainstream records, inc. 1700 broadway n. y. 10019 usa (address not longer active )
iirc, mainstream had a
time series
for rereleases of time material .
sings and swings organ, gloria coleman ltd. , 1971, mainstream mrl 322
that stuff was first released on time, iirc, shad' s label before mainstream .
record company that owned the mainstream records label. distributed the labels of bob thiele' s flying dutchman productions, ltd. from 1969 to 1971 .
mainstream records was an independent label, founded in 1964 by veteran producer bob shad. shad was producing jazz (charlie parker), blues and r & b; material since the 1940s, and started several record labels before mainstream, including time records, brent records, and emarcy. on mainstream he both reissued his old material from commodore records and time records, and produced new recordings from shelly manne, dizzy gillespie, roy haynes, buddy terry, and pete yellin. in the late 1960s, the label released big brother & the holding company' s first material (feat. janis joplin), as well as the amboy dukes' first albums, featuring ted nugent. mainstream was also distributing flying dutchman records and continued issuing soundtracks and new jazz material through to 1978, when it folded .
mainstream records, inc. 1700 broadway n. y. 10019 usa older address: m. r. i 1290 avenue of the americas, new york, n. y. 10019
sizes of records in america and the uk are generally measured in inches, usually represented with a double prime symbol, e. g. a 7 - inch or 7″ record. 45s are generally 7″ records. lps were 10″ records at first, but are now usually 12″ records .
15 years exile on mainstream 15 years jug fulla sun 15 years a friendship what a coincidence! not only shows the history of exile on mainstream a deep connection with scott
wino
weinrichs cv, the album also marks... ... read more
also appears as
mainstream
only. label founded in 1964 by bob shad, who also ran the sittin' in with, jax, jade, shad and time records (3) labels. mainstream issued many new recordings such as the first records by janis joplin and ted nugent, though also reissued many of the titles from the shad and time records catalogs. among the titles reissued were the 10 titles in earle brown' s contemporary sound series, to which they added 8 more titles. in the early 1990s, bob shad' s daughter tamara shad revived the mainstream label to reissue a number of the jazz and blues recordings from the label on cd. in 1993, sony acquired a large portion of mainstream' s catalog for reissue .
the antikaroshi present their third album on exile on mainstream, their most meticulously crafted album yet... .... read more
bob shad’s mainstream records is one of the great unsung us independent labels of the 60s and 70s. shad, who made his name as an executive at mercury, set up on his own in the early 60s and debuted mainstream a few years later. over the next decade the imprint covered jazz, latin, psychedelic rock, soul and funk. in recent months, across the various ace labels, we have started to focus on the mainstream repertoire. we’ve done our bit at bgp with the deep jazz compilation “a loud minority” and the alice clark “complete studio recordings” cd, both greatly enhanced by wonderful photographs from the mainstream archive .
this is an excellent recording, but it' s not the type of music i associate with mainstream. i wonder how it came about .
i' ve e - mailed ace to ask whether they intend re - issuing any complete jazz and / or soul albums from the mainstream catalogue .
then came dynaflex, which were records pressed with the least amount of vinyl in history. the resulting number of warped and noisy lps was unprecedented, at least for classical music records .
we want sounds has a new release coming up: a compilation of rare spiritual jazz and funk culled from bob shad’s mainstream records label. shad produced more than 800 records in his 40 year career, working at numerous labels such as his own emarcy, brent, shad and time records, as well as decca and mercury. musicians he worked with include art blakey, sarah vaughan, max roach, oscar peterson and cannonball adderley, alongside such composers as john cage, karlheinz stockhausen, luigi nono, morton feldman and iannis xenakis, not forgetting the likes of lou reed and janis joplin. he set up mainstream records in 1967 and then a few years later mainstream red lion, which ran through the 1970s and featured artists like buddy terry and hadley caliman. shad recorded until 1978 when at 58 he decided to close down his label and move into film production in los angeles .
end of level boss return to the fray with their 3rd album “eklectric”, released via exile on mainstream records. continuing in their all - consuming search for twisted riffs, the london based band returned to the analogue domains of earth terminal studios... read more
as faar as hadley' s work goes, the first mainstream album was... eh... but iapetus... i continue to represent for iapetus .
i wonder if there is enough blue mitchell or harold land stuff on mainstream to make a mosaic select? wondering too if there would be interest in it if there was .
discogs doesn' t show much of a gap, if any, from the 60s into the 70s for mainstream, although the 70s were clearly the heyday for the label .
seems like a lot of the mainstream recordings always sounded kind of off. i was just listening to the dave hubbard the other day, and the sound was pretty ghastly .
mina and' the 10th victim' from 1966 notwithstanding, the primary focus here is on mainstream' s mrl 300 series of contemporary jazz, which ran from 1971 to 1976 .
records are generally sold through specialist shops, although some big chain stores also have record departments. many records are sold from stock, but it is normal to place special orders for less common records. stock is expensive, so only large city center stores can afford to have several copies of a record .
can' t answer your specific question re cd releases, but there are quite a few mainstream titles available for online listening on spotify. they appear to be mostly listed as
copyright < year > mainstream records ,
which is different than most of the sony titles i have seen. those are listed as
copyright < year > sony music entertainment .
i would guess that most of the ones on spotify are there because they were reissued on cd at some point .
mr shad is an intreresting producer. he made some fine mainstream sessions. akaik, none of them are masterpieces. i welcome corrections - and i do know about hadley' s recordings .
now, with the release of 24 cds, tamara shad - - shad' s daughter - - and her business partner, humphrey walwyn, have revitalized the mainstream label. the line became inactive after shad' s death, except for the occasional reissue, such as max roach and clifford brown' s
daahoud ,
originally released on mainstream but issued on mobile fidelity last year .
in almost the same vein as mainstream, how about cameo (or cameo / parkway) for a couple of fine maynard ferguson albums... were there other jazz releases on that label ?
picked up that harold land' new shades. .' on vinyl some years ago and it is predictably good. i find the mainstream recordings a bit thin and' gloopy' in the bass though .
the antikaroshi present their fourth album on exile on mainstream, making their own existence a topic and questioning their approaches in a much more self - referential attitude than ever before... ... read more
marie´s sister´s garden
is the second full - length offering from seminal doom evangelists voodooshock and their first release for exile on mainstream records. four long years since the release of their debut album certainly proves their doomy work ethics, however you will know it´s been well worth the wait once you hear this... read more
music lovers collect music that happens to be in the form of records. the records are irrelevant unto themselves, being just a necessary means to an end. their ultimate objective is to possess and enjoy the music. meanwhile ...
yes, there are a lot of good mainstream dates left to reissue. buddy terry, harold land, galper, mike longo, barry miles, hadley caliman, charles mcpherson, johnny coles, charles kynard, etc .
( important note -
collectors
have never acknowledged any technological advancements in the production of records after around 1965. )
tempo
is diarios second full length album, recorded by the mighty uwe rumeyke, sound visionary extraordinnaire from leipzig. we at exile on mainstream records are stoked about diario and convinced velocitysounds, diario´s original label to release
tempo
in association with us .
tempo
represents a leap forward for the band a... read more
1. classic records reissues (both 33 and 45 rpm) - these are, by far, the best sounding mercury pressings. unfortunately, only six records were ever released by classic. three of them (ravel, prokofiev and stravinsky) are among the very finest sounding records ever made by anyone. every audiophile (with a turntable) should have these
big three
.
though he owned several small labels in the' 40s and was head of artists and repertoire at mercury and affiliated labels in the' 50s, shad, who died in 1985, would probably like to be remembered for his mainstream line .
both the microgroove lp 33 1 / 3 rpm record and the 45 rpm single records are made from vinyl plastic that is flexible and unbreakable in normal use. however, the vinyl records are easier to scratch or gouge, and much more prone to warpage .
climax community
, darsombra' s 2012 release on exile on mainstream records, brings daniloski' s familiar epic arrangements, with a different feel of dynamics and speed than his previous efforts - but don' t be mislead: with 3 songs and clocking in at 45 minutes, this is a record to dive into and exist within... ... read more
there were also a small batch of
longer playing
records issued in the very early 1930s. a handful were issued by columbia on a special 18000 - d series, and labels like crown and perfect also issued a few 10
records playing nearly 5 minutes long .
the older 78 format continued to be mass produced alongside the newer formats into the 1950s, and in a few countries, such as india, into the 1960s. for example, columbia records last reissue of frank sinatra songs on 78 rpm records was an album called
young at heart
, issued november 1, 1954. as late as the 1970s, some children' s records were released at the 78 rpm speed .
in spite of their flaws, such as the lack of portability, records still have enthusiastic supporters. vinyl records continue to be manufactured and sold today, especially by independent rock bands and labels, although record sales are considered to be a niche market composed of audiophiles, collectors and djs. old records and out of print recordings in particular are in much demand by collectors the world over. (see record collecting .) many popular new albums are given releases on vinyl records and older albums are also given reissues as well, sometimes on audiophile grade vinyl with high quality sleeves .
in the 1970s successful musicians sought greater control, and one way they achieved this was with their own labels, though normally they were still operated by the large music corporations. two of the most famous early examples of this were the beatles' apple records and led zeppelin' s swan song records
exile on mainstream is proud to re - release two of the band´s previous milestones in super - limited runs, mainly as a present to the fans who haven´t been able to get their hands on these two releases. the first round goes to a collaboration... read more
in 1958 the first stereo two - channel records were issued�by audio fidelity in the usa and pye in britain, using the westrex
45 / 45
single - groove system. while the stylus moves horizontally when reproducing a monophonic disk recording, on stereo records the stylus moves vertically as well as horizontally .
i found this urltoken which is as likely complete as can be... looks like 1969 was the only really
off
year, the only release being a best of for the amboy dukes (just think - both ted nugent & janis joplin recorded for mainstream !) .
but what' s up with this? mainstream made its debut in the 1960s, then seemed to go kinda quiet for a while, then came back with that new look (and bad engineering) in the early 70s. what caused to off time? or am i wrong about that ?
this phonograph cylinder dominated the recorded sound market beginning in the 1880s. lateral - cut disc records were invented by emile berliner in 1888 and were used exclusively in toys until 1894, when berliner began marketing disc records under the berliner gramophone label. the edison blue amberol record was introduced in 1912, with a longer playing time of around 4 minutes (at 160 rpm) and a more resilient playing surface than its wax predecessor, but the format was doomed due to the difficulty of reproducing recordings. by november 1918 the patents for the manufacture of lateral - cut disc records expired, opening the field for countless companies to produce them, causing disc records to overtake cylinders in popularity. production of amberol cylinders ceased in the late 1920s. disc records would dominate the market until they were supplanted by the compact disc, starting from the 1980s .
the lps are available on the 2nd hand market for mostly reasonable prices. i have the harold land lps, the charles mcpherson, and the kynard. pretty good. i don' t think i' ve seen mainstream titles on domestic cd, although it seems some of their title were issued on cd .
mainstream records released over 100 lps in the 300 / 400 series between 1970 and 1974. many releases in the series are jazz albums but the series does also include some blues, easy listening and rock albums. there are gaps in the list especially towards the end of the series. these represent either albums i have failed to identify or catalog numbers that were not used. when available the
see more details
link leads to a page with a track list and musicians information .
this is their third album and second for exile on mainstream: recorded in late 2005. it´s focus remarks a consequent development from the previous album and shows the band at the peak of their expressional stages. again you can dig into layers of sound, different levels of intensity and the power... read more
a gramophone record (also vinyl record, vinyl, phonograph record, or simply record) is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the center of the disc. (some commercial - use only records ran the groove from the center to the edge of the record .) gramophone records were the primary medium used for commercial music reproduction for most of the 20th century. they replaced the phonograph cylinder as the most popular recording medium in the 1900s, and although they were supplanted in popularity in the late 1980s by digital media, leaving mainstream by 1990, they continue to be manufactured and sold as of 2008. gramophone records remain the medium of choice for many audiophiles, and specialist areas such as electronic dance music and hip hop. type of record
early disc records were made of various materials including hard rubber. from 1897 onwards, earlier materials were largely replaced by a rather brittle formula of 25% shellac, a filler of a cotton compound similar to manila paper, powdered slate, and a small amount of a wax lubricant. the mass production of shellac records began in 1898 in hanover, germany, and continued until the end of the 78 - rpm format in the late 1950s .
unbreakable
records, usually of celluloid on a pasteboard base, were made from 1904 onwards, but they suffered from an exceptionally high level of surface noise .
unbreakable
records could be bent, broken, or otherwise damaged; but not nearly as easily as shellac records. decca introduced vinyl
deccalite
78s after the second world war, but other labels would restrict vinyl production to the newer 33 and 45 formats .
exile on mainstream is not a label easily pigeonholed, yet there´s a spirit running through connecting each artist, a strong connection towards harder tunes and slow moving rock perhaps? whatever it is, exile arepurveyors of true underground music with a strong diy identity. presented here on worship the riff is a selection... read more
i imagine most people at sony don' t even * know * they own it. still, mosaic has been busy with sony - owned material, so maybe we' ll see some mosaic mainstream sets down the line. that would be nice. they could do a sarah vaughan box, maybe a maynard ferguson one .
this band has been high on our wishlist for a while and after we saw them wiping the floor with the crowd as support for the mighty unsane earlier this year we couldn´t hold back: this cd contains the songs of flu. id’s previously released 10 - inches on interstellar records and modus operandi records - completely remixed and remastered and... read more
the beast that is the end of level boss is driven by a complete and all - consuming need for riffs. for ´inside the difference engine´, their second album with exile on mainstream, the band present themselves as a structure stronger than ever, tighter than tight, and burning to lay their noise across... read more
by about 1910 bound collections of empty sleeves with a cardboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as
record albums
that customers could use to store their records (the name
record album
was printed on some covers). these albums came in both 10
and 12
sizes. the covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them .
it is a historical fact that rca, through a publicized corporate policy, both cheapened and altered their records (all for the worse) from the late 1960' s and on .
let' s say, using easy to understand numbers, that decca will press 10, 000 records on a run, with 3, 000 staying in the uk (decca) and 7, 000 going to the us / canada (london). let' s say each stamper has a
life
of 1, 000 records, so 10 stampers are required to complete the entire run. according to this poster, the first 300 records pressed on each stamper would be a decca, while the remainder (700) would be a london. stop !
many of philips and telefunken classical music box sets have thin pieces of foam to take up empty space and keep the records in place. i' ve recently found that this foam is now disintigrating into dust. this dust may get into the grooves of the records, so i would, very carefully, remove all the foam. it can be replaced with similar sized cardboard .
the earliest rotation speeds varied widely. most records made in 1900 / 1925 were recorded at 74 / 82 revolutions per minute (rpm). however a few unusual systems were deployed. the dutch philips company introduced records whose rotational speed varied such that the reproducing
needle
ran at a constant linear velocity (clv) in the groove. these records also, unusually, played from the inside to the outside. both of these features were to be emulated by the modern day compact disc. the london science museum displays a philips clv record marked as
speed d
.
such 78 rpm records were usually sold separately, in brown paper or cardboard sleeves that were sometimes plain and sometimes printed to show the producer or the retailer' s name. generally the sleeves had a circular cutout allowing the record label to be seen. records could be laid on a shelf horizontially or stood upright on an edge, but because of their fragility, many broke in storage .
of the 122 releases in mainstream' s mrl series, about 20 are repackages or reissues of 50' s and 60' s recordings which shad still had rights to. that leaves us with 100 lps, most of which were risk - taking, original efforts of artists who were passed - over by the major labels (having deigned them unworthy and unprofitable) .
pacific jazz “trees” – examples of how material from 10″ records were selectively migrated to 12″, including the overdubbing of chet baker’s singing with bill perkins or jimmy giuffre solos. let history be the judge .
in the late 1970s the anarchic punk rock movement gave rise to the independent record labels. these were not owned or even distributed by the main corporations. in the uk, examples were stiff records who published ian dury and the blockheads and two tone records, label for the specials. these allowed smaller bands to step onto the ladder without having to conform to the rigid rules of the large corporations .
in the uk, sales of new vinyl records (particularly 7 inch singles) have increased significantly in recent years, [ 35 ] [ 36 ] somewhat reversing the downward trend seen during the 1990s .
however, vinyl' s lower surface noise level than shellac was not forgotten, nor was its durability. (shellac records are very fragile .) in the late 30' s, radio commercials and prerecorded radio programs being sent to disc jockeys started being stamped in vinyl, so they would not break in the mail. in the mid - 1940s, special dj copies of records started being made of vinyl also, for the same reason. these were all 78 rpm. during and after world war ii when shellac supplies were extremely limited, some 78 rpm records were pressed in vinyl instead of shellac, particularly the six - minute 12 - inch (30 cm) 78 rpm records produced by v - disc for distribution to us troops in world war ii. in the 40' s, radio transcriptions, which were usually on 16 inch records, but sometimes 12 inch, were always made of vinyl, but cut at 33 1 / 3 rpm. shorter transcriptions were often cut at 78 rpm .
helpful discussion. i don’t know much or indeed anything about other european tax policies, however in the uk, as i understand it, the tax on records was a percentage of their wholesale price, irrespective of their size. (granted the price varied with size). it varied from budget to budget according to the national rate of purchase tax charged on “luxury goods”, which records were classified as .
also in the late 1970s ,
direct - to - disc
records were produced, aimed at an audiophile niche market. these completely bypassed the use of magnetic tape in favor of a
purist
transcription directly to the master lacquer disc. also during this period ,
half - speed mastered
and
original master
records were released, using expensive state - of - the - art technology. a further late 1970s development was the disco eye - cued (tm) system used mainly on motown 12 - inch singles released between 1978 and 1980. the introduction, drum - breaks or choruses of a track were indicated by widely separated grooves, giving a visual clue to djs mixing the records. the appearance of these records is similar to an lp, but they only contain one track each side .
personal note - i can now provide a link to the above mentioned document, which proves, beyond any doubt, that decca and london records were made from the exact same master. here it is :
... so that the listener at home who really listens, and he' s the only sort of listener we make records for, will have an aural picture in front of him .
anyway, i' ve never gone wrong with the second label and have almost the whole run of original everest recordings with it. do try to track some of them down - the' corroboree' will knock your socks off! it' s worth mentioning that most of their records are of surpassing artistic value - evidently they let their amazing roster of talent (goossens, stokowski and sargent in particular) call the shots with results that surpassed many of their projects with more mainstream labels. you' ll never hear an everest performance that sounds studio - bound or
canned .
having honed his craft in countless bands over the years, first and foremost exile on mainstream' s own end of level boss, the tone of a distorted electric guitar was never going to release it' s grip on harry armstrongs ever more eclectic taste, even though noisepickers sound was planned to be a more piano - driven, dark blues idea... . read more
this is an extensive listing of the finest sounding records i' ve ever heard, primarily (though not exclusively) of classical music. most of them are not expensive, if you can find them! i also mention and discuss a number of overrated and expensive records to avoid. each lp on the list has a short description of its sonic qualities (with the exception of
the honorable mentions
) .
this is their second album and the first one for exile on mainstream. it was released in early 2004 and claimed massive endorsement by fans and press around the world: resonant atmospherics juxtapose a driving rain of space rokk tremulation. fans of kinski, don cab, & desert sessions will
get
what they give. a true must - have for all fans... read more
how people can truly believe there can be progress in only the playback of records and not in their mastering and pressing remains a total mystery to me. this manner of thinking is completely irrational, if not degenerative .
during the reign of the communist party in the former ussr, records were commonly homemade using discarded medical x - rays. these records, nicknamed
bones
, were usually inscribed with illegal copies of popular music banned by the government. they also became a popular means of distribution among soviet punk bands; in addition to the high cost and low availability of vinyl, punk music was politically suppressed, and publishing outlets were limited .
it is inevitable that there will be disagreements and controversies concerning which records, pressings, labels etc sound the best. it is unavoidable considering tastes, lp conditions, audio systems, recording philosophies, emotional attachments etc. etc .
the only practical advantage decca has is in their (early) box sets, where the records can be played in chronological order, without constantly changing lps. this is in contrast to their (early) london equivalents, which were meant to be used with
automatic
turntables, which had records
stacked
above the platter. later box sets, for both decca and london, are the same, and can be played in chronological order .
let us start with some historical facts, first - all of the decca and london records we are discussing were pressed in england for around 25 years, and then for around 5 years after that in holland. further ...
the collectors, and the dealers, were closer to the truth than i realized back then. however, their ignorant contention that all of these records are essentially
worthless
, is just more self - serving and egotistical nonsense .
have you noticed that many of the records listed sound even better if the absolute polarity is reversed? this applies to sheffield, harmonia mundi, rca, chesky, london / decca. i noted that earlier belafonte at carnegie records were less dynamic - compressed than later versions. i live in germany and bmg has
remastered
the belafonte, shrinking the soundstage depth, removing the beauty and the softness of harry' s voice. a terrible
improvement
right after the introduction of the 10” lp format, the east coast companies started a vast program of re - issuing old 78 rpm material. blue note’s first 10” lp album (5001) was mid - forties mainstream jazz, followed by a monk album with material from the late forties. ditto for prestige: prlp 101 was a compilation of tristano and konitz tracks from the forties, followed by a stan getz compilation from 1949. many similar compilations followed on both labels and also on savoy. interesting as these records may be, i will exclude them from this study. the subject i wish to focus on is “what happened to the records made by the independents especially for the 10” lp format, after the transition to the 12” album format was a fact? ”. also must be excluded leased masters from european companies, such as vogue and metronome, over which the lessees had no permanent control .
record collectors collect records that just happen to have music on them. the music itself is basically irrelevant to them. their ultimate objective is to possess the record which, from their perspective, is some form of a
trophy
.
addendum 1: i' ve heard the original pressings of many everest records, and none of them even approached the sound of these reissues. worse, they used cheap vinyl, which was unacceptably noisy, even for its own day .
further - the jazz records by columbia, miles davis etc. , are a totally different story. the early pressings are noticeably superior and are worth hunting down and paying the price premium. the recent reissues, by classic records, are still preferable (overall) to any pressings i' ve heard from the past, but my experience in this area is very limited. many people, who are both objective and with more experience than i have, still prefer the originals .
sony bought mainstream because it released the first big brother and the holding company album, and columbia wanted to add it to their janis properties. they pretty much ignored the catalog except for repackaging some sarah vaughan & carmen mcrae albums (both were at their peak during those years). it appears that some titles have been released through the japanese p - vine label. i love charles mcpherson' s today' s man, with great ernie wilkins charts .
these people, in effect, do not recognize any technological advancements in mastering or pressing records. they don' t even acknowledge any enhanced technical skills (the normal
learning curve
) by the mastering engineers, due to their increased knowledge and experience .
in 1925, 78. 26 rpm was chosen as the standard because of the introduction of the electrically powered synchronous turntable motor. this motor ran at 3600 rpm with a 46: 1 gear ratio which produced 78. 26 rpm. in parts of the world that used 50 hz current, the standard was 77. 92 rpm (3000 rpm with a 38. 5: 1 ratio), which was also the speed at which a strobe disc with 77 lines would
stand still
in 50 hz light (92 lines for 60hz). thus these records became known as 78s (or
seventy - eights
). this term did not come into use until after world war ii when a need developed to distinguish the 78 from other newer disc record formats, an example of a retronym. earlier they were just called records, or when there was a need to distinguish them from cylinders, disc records. standard records was also used, although the same term had also been used earlier for two - minute cylinders .
7. during this entire 30 year period, not even one of the engineers had the courage and integrity to inform the public and the press as to the deliberate sonic sabotage of the records being sold to the public. that' s not all ...
one comment on your various lists, if i may. i note a dearth of recordings of' standard' 18th / 19th century orchestral repertoire. on a label like argo that' s expected - it was used for the more esoteric music. but the mainstream decca and emi labels offered far more discs of beethoven, brahms, mozart, tchaikovsky et al than they ever did of the mainly 20th century (with some pre - baroque) repertoire that features so preponderantly in your lists .
i have to admit that i have never been as impressed with the original rca recordings as much as the best i' ve heard from the other classical record labels. i still feel that decca, emi and mercury, produced superior recordings (and eventually records) .
when i first began to surf the internet, it wasn' t long before i discovered numerous posts and articles touting the superiority of decca over london pressings (of the same recording). according to its proponents, this
superiority
was
universal
, with absolutely no exceptions, no matter when the records were pressed. however, i knew from my personal experiences that this claim was demonstrably false (i sold new and used records in my former store for many years and had heard literally thousands of decca and london lps) .
i have closed many disputes over this issue, even to very hardcore decca collectors, some of which also have offered me substantial amounts of money to buy this proof (some of them were dealers of classical records, so i think they had destruction in mind) .
however, the earliest pressings will usually be in questionable condition, and remember that they used inferior vinyl and were noisy to begin with. what a dilemma! it was all supposed to be solved with the new reissues from classic records, but only 6 ever came out .
for example, when king oliver' s creole jazz band, including louis armstrong on his first recordings, recorded 13 sides at gennett records in richmond, indiana, in 1923, one side was 2: 09 and four sides were 2: 52 / 2: 59 .
straight ahead hard bop, with not - unattractive 70' s trappings of electric piano (george cables) and guitar. i am quite happy with it. stanley clarke on bass - he played on a lot of mainstream label sessions in that period, for whatever reason - lenny white on drums, bill hardman on trumpet, and some players i' m not otherwse familiar with - bill washer on guitar and ray moros on tenor sax. recommended if you enjoy that era where things were being stretched. i do .
not even the finest columbia records approach the sonics of any high quality rca or mercury, let alone the best from decca and emi. they' re noticeably dirty, noisy and unnatural sounding, especially in the high frequencies, compared to the better recordings, let alone the best .
developmentally, much of the technology of the long playing record, successfully released by columbia in 1948, came from wide range radio transcription practices. the use of vinyl pressings, increased length of programming, and general improvement in audio quality over 78 rpm records were the major selling points .
personal notes - well, it looks like one more decca / london pressing fantasy has been shattered. this time it is the myth that the london phase four records had some sort of equalization added to them to please the
unsophisticated taste
of north american listeners. in fact, i have to admit that i believed this myth myself (and even posted it as a
fact
, which i' ve now corrected). as it turns out, after an internet search, i couldn' t find one bit of hard evidence supporting this myth. there are only the same
expert opinions
and unsupported anecdotes that i fell for myself a couple of decades ago. worse, these opinions came from the same dead - enders who still promote the now fully discredited theory that decca classical records were mastered and pressed differently than london classical records .
byg records was founded by fernand boruso, jean - luc young and jean georgakarakos in the late 60' s. the now legendary status of byg is mainly based on some fifty excellent free jazz and experimental records by mostly american artists released under the actuel - series. as the 60' s progressed towards the seventies the interest of major labels in free jazz started to fade away, creating a need for a new output for many american artists and their music. as a result many leading musicians visited or moved entirely to europe, where it seemed that free jazz and jazz in general, were more appreciated than in the usa. paris was often the place of action for the ex - patriate free jazzers, where there was always demand for live performances and people running labels willing to record your music for a release. byg was one of these. most of byg' s actuel - records are excellent free jazz discs, but they did release something else too: a couple of mev' s improvised electronic albums, some progressive rock albums and a record by pierre marietan and terry riley. there are other byg records around, apart from the actuel - series, but they are mostly reissues of pretty straight forward jazz discs .
while records are generally pressed on plain black vinyl, the album itself is given a much more ornamental appearance. this can include a solid color (other than black), splatter art, a marble look, or transparency (either tinged with a color or clear). some examples of this can be seen to the right. one of the most well known examples of this technique is the white vinyl repressing of the beatles' white album. labels record companies organised their products into labels. these could either be subsidiary companies, or they could simply be just a brand name. for example, emi published records under the his master' s voice (hmv) label which was their classical recording brand, harvest for their progressive rock brand, home to pink floyd. they also had music for pleasure and classics for pleasure as their economy labels. emi also used the parlophone brand in the uk for beatles records in the early 1960s .
a reader sent me a letter with more useful advice for finding the best pressings of decca / london classical records, when an actual direct listening comparison is not possible (which is the case 99% of the time). below is the relevant part of his letter, with some minor editing and my bold :
they are somewhat
euphonic
and
forgiving
in character, like a vintage tube amplifier. they lack fine inner detail, and are also a little homogenized, even at low volume levels. they are somewhat veiled compared to the finest records, and their sound - floor is barely above average. they have an easily noticeable problem with speed stability, which may drive some sensitive listeners crazy. finally, they lack that
alive
and
immediate
quality that the finest records possess. still, quite a good score overall though, so all (but one) of them will be placed in the honorable mentions * .
unlike rca and mercury, amongst others, decca had virtually the same engineers mastering their records over a long period of time. you can check this out by looking at the inner label where you will see their designations :
g
,
w
,
y
, etc. what does this mean ?
by 1938, when milt gabler started recording on january 17 for his new label, commodore records, to allow longer continuous performances, he recorded some 12
records. eddie condon explained :
gabler realized that a jam session needs room for development .
the first two 12
recordings didn' t take advantage of the extra length :
carnegie grag
was 3: 15 ;
carnegie jump
, 2: 41. but, at the second session, on april 30, the two 12
recordings were longer :
embraceable you
was 4: 05 ;
serenade to a shylock
, 4: 32 .
both the ct records have cover pictures from the same photo session, obviously. geez, they could have asked him to bring a different shirt and take off the hat so they didn' t look so cheap !
let' s just grab another pic - - no point in hiring a photograper again ...
on your website you write about late british deccas: these records are difficult to distinguish from the other decca / london' s. however, they do have a shinier, darker vinyl compared to the earlier pressings. the record labels also look a little more' modern' and the printing appears in better' focus' .
i have been planning this for years, it' s not something that just happened ,
tamara shad said .
i couldn' t do it myself, but when i met humphrey, who was used to running a record company (walwyn was head of bbc records from 1968 to 1986), i decided to proceed .
most informative! taxing records in the uk even went back to the 78 era. i have a number of british 78s with tax stamps on them. as you say, this later became the va tax. by 1953, i had turned my attention to buying modern jazz on 10 - inch lp and still have most of the records i bought. i learned early on to take care of my lps. although i did purchase certain reissues, i mostly concentrated on what was new on the labels that have been mentioned here. three of my favorite artists when i was in high school were tristano and konitz on prestige, konitz on storyville, and mingus and roach on debut .
the development of quadraphonic records was announced in 1971. these recorded four separate sound signals. this was achieved on the two stereo channels by electronic matrixing, where the additional channels were combined into the main signal. when the records were played, phase - detection circuits in the amplifiers were able to decode the signals into four separate channels. there were two main systems of matrixed quadraphonic records produced, confusingly named sq (by cbs) and qs (by sansui). they proved commercially unsuccessful, but were an important precursor to later
surround sound
systems, as seen in sacd and home cinema today. a different format, cd - 4 (not to be confused with compact disc), by rca, encoded rear channel information on an ultrasonic carrier, which required a special wideband cartridge to capture it on carefully - calibrated pickup arm / turntable combinations. typically the high frequency information inscribed onto these lps wore off after only a few playings, and cd - 4 was even less successful than the two matrixed formats .
since most vinyl records are from recycled plastic, impurities can be accumulated in the record, causing a brand new album to have audio artifacts like clicks and pops. virgin vinyl means that the album is not from recycled plastic, and will theoretically be devoid of these impurities. in practice, this depends on the manufacturer' s quality control .
that being said, i believe that the finest records, meaning the most
real
and
natural
, were made by rca until the middle to late 1960' s. i find their early pressings usually superior to their rivals' equivalents, but they still could not match their rivals' later (and better) pressings mentioned above .
in this age of superficial celebrity and trivia, deep knowledge and scholarship may be undervalued, but not here at ljc. because these 10 - inch records are so beautiful, i have posted them at full screen resolution: they are enduring physical artefacts which merit your fullest appreciation. i just wish i had more, this is the beautiful music .
2. early pressings - from the late 50' s to the late 60' s. these records are very rare and expensive, and don' t sound very good. they are (like the early london' s) veiled, distorted and lack bloom, inner detail and dynamic shading. any middle to late pressing will sound much better .
although the technology used vacuum tubes and today would be described as
electronic ,
at the time it was referred to as
electrical .
a 1926 wanamaker' s ad in the new york times offers records
by the latest victor process of electrical recording .
it was recognized as a breakthrough; in 1930, a times music critic stated
most informative! taxing records in the uk even went back to the 78 era. i have a number of british 78 by 1953, i had turned my attention to jazz on 10 - inch lplabels with tax stamps on them. as you say, this later became the va tax. by 1953, i had turned my attention to buying modern jazz on 10 - inch lp and still have most of the records i bought. i learned early on to take care of my lps. although i did purchase certain reissues, i mostly concentrated on what was new on the labels that have been mentioned here. three of my favorite artists when i was in high school were tristano and konitz on prestige and mingus on debut .
due to the nature of the medium, playback of
hard
records, eg: lps, causes gradual degradation of the recording. the recordings are best preserved by transferring them onto more stable media and playing the records as rarely as possible. they need to be stored on edge, and do best under environmental conditions that most humans would find comfortable. the medium needs to be kept clean, but use alcohol only on pvc or optical media, not on 78s. the equipment for playback of certain formats (e. g. 16 and 78 rpm) is manufactured only in small quantities, leading to increased difficulty in finding equipment to play the recordings. (this
gradual degradation
is more noticeable on some discs than others. in fact it is possible to have forty year old records that sound as new and brand new discs with pops and tics. how the records are handled and the equipment on which they are played as well as the manufacturing process and quality of original vinyl have a considerable impact upon their wear .) where old disc recordings are considered to be of artistic or historic interest, record companies or archivists play back the disc on suitable equipment and record the result, typically onto a digital format which can be copied and converted without any further damage to the recording. for example, nimbus records uses a specially built horn record player [ 32 ] to transfer 78s. however, anyone can do this using a standard record player with a suitable pickup, a phono - preamp (pre - amplifier) and a typical personal computer. once a recording has been digitized, it can be manipulated with software to restore and, hopefully, improve the sound, for example by removing the result of scratches. it can also be easily converted to other digital formats such as dvd - a, cd and mp3.
mainstream records was an american record company and independent record label founded by music producer bob shad in 1964 . mainstream 's early releases were reissues from commodore records . its catalogue grew to include bob brookmeyer , maynard ferguson , jim hall , helen merrill , carmen mcrae , jimmy raney , zoot sims , clark terry , and sarah vaughan . janis joplin , with big brother and the holding company , first appeared on mainstream . in 1978 mainstream closed . bob shad died in 1985 . in 1991 , the label was restarted by his daughter , tamara , and humphrey walwyn , the former head of bbc records . it was bought by legacy in 1993 . 
mainstream records was an american record company and independent record label founded by music producer bob shad in 1964. mainstream's early releases were reissues from commodore records. its catalogue grew to include bob brookmeyer, maynard ferguson, jim hall, helen merrill, carmen mcrae, jimmy raney, zoot sims, clark terry, and sarah vaughan. janis joplin, with big brother and the holding company, first appeared on mainstream. in 1978 mainstream closed. bob shad died in 1985. in 1991, the label was restarted by his daughter, tamara, and humphrey walwyn, the former head of bbc records. it was bought by legacy in 1993.
mainstream records was an american record company and independent record label founded by music producer bob shad in 1964. mainstream's early releases were reissues from commodore records. its catalogue grew to include bob brookmeyer, maynard ferguson, jim hall, helen merrill, carmen mcrae, jimmy raney, zoot sims, clark terry, and sarah vaughan. janis joplin, with big brother and the holding company, first appeared on mainstream. in 1978 mainstream closed. bob shad died in 1985. in 1991, the label was restarted by his daughter, tamara, and humphrey walwyn, the former head of bbc records. it was bought by legacy in 1993.