Johnny Cash - American Records "Unearthed" Vinyl Box Set. 3rd November 2017 Release Date

At least the mastering should be right then. Would be nice to find out if both US and EU versions were pressed at the same plant. Maybe there's more info in the deadwax, (stamped) numbers or such.

 

It could be that EU pressings weren't ready at the time. I think the EU version was released on a later date.

 

Yes, I can vouch for this too with my US copy. LP#1 is the worst offender. Two of the LPs even have - I'm not really sure how to describe this as it is the first time I've ever encountered it and I have plenty thousands of records - sort of jagged vinyl edges, one so sharp I feel I could cut my finger on it. So yeah, mastering sounds wonderful, but lousy job at the pressing plant. Also, there are a few mistakes in the book. Of course, that doesn't affect the music, but it's a shame no-one bothered to proofread it (or if they did, s/he didn't do a very good job). A bit sloppy; I mean, if you're going to put out such a fantastic set, at least do the job properly...

 

I wish I’d seen all of the comments on pressing quality before I placed my order. Based on the previous American Recordings LPs I expcected at least similar quality control. Mine should be arriving in a day or two. Sounds like it’s pretty unlikely to get nine good discs in one box. I guess I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

 

My set did come today. Wow, what a package is all I can echo here. This was an ambitious release. Could have been seen through a bit better. Luckily, my vinyl all looks great. After cleaning, there's light right channel surface noise throughout. The sound is stellar however and the content priceless. This kind of mild noise often diminishes after a few plays on multiple cartridge-tonearm set ups. Fingers crossed still. This could be such a treasure.

My fifteen year old son came down as I started through the set and said, "That's Johnny Cash, what an awesome voice", and he quickly rattled off a few favorite Cash songs. Granted, the kid's name IS Sam Hall.

 

I've been through the whole set now. (I'm off work this week) Based on the aforementioned problems of others I have to say I got pretty lucky here. Perfectly quiet? No. But as I start through the second time it does seem to be improving. (Dehorning new vinyl, especially when roughly produced, does have some merit). None of the vinyl is warped and there are no visible defects of any significance. I'm satisfied. The mastering and sound quality never fail to be anything but top notch IMO. Nice job by CB yet again.

I can't comment on mistakes in the book due to self professed ignorance I guess. What I can say is that this is an impressive package. The whole cloth wrapping of everything is a step beyond what had to be done. This was clearly an attempt to put out an archival release to honor a somewhat flawed gem of a man. They may have just missed the mark. Apparently, they could have picked a better pressing plant. I still applaud the effort and would recommend the vinyl box to any fan with the caveat that you may have to get a couple to end up with a satisfactory set or have the patience to play through it a few times to see how it settles out. Worth the trouble in my estimation. One of my favorite releases of the year.

As an aside, the box is oversized for sure. Don't expect this to fit on a standard shelf designed for records (13.5 inches high).

 

Out of town over the weekend, but I’ll follow up this week. There are (at least) two silly errors as far as I remember. Many people may not care, which is fine as it is all about the music in the end, but I used to work in print/publishing/magazines so sloppy mistakes in liners, booklets etc... really bug me because it really isn’t that hard to get someone competent to check these things.

The other thing which really irked me was how small the typeface was on the LP labels. Could easily have been printed at a legible font size. (My eyesight is still pretty decent, but I can barely make out the track names on the LP labels.)

More anon.

 

I am not qualified to make judgements on mistakes relating to the music; rather the mistakes I spotted are things that caught the eye of someone with a background in publishing. One typo is on the initial page of text in the "Unearthed Text" book...penultimate line refers to CDs not LPs. Suggests to me text was simply copied & pasted from the files used for the original CD version. It's a basic mistake, which should have been caught by a proofreader, and one that you could say sets the tone for the sloppiness that some have found in the physical production - not the mastering! - of the whole set, coming as it does in the very first sentences someone is likely to read. The other typos are hardly worth mentioning, as they are things like the incorrect font used for the word "Glenn" in the track listings ("Unearthed Volume Five" page) in the book/binder that houses the LPs. But I know from experience that these are just the sorts of mistakes a half-decent proofreader would quickly identify. Given how much has gone into producing the whole set, I think it's a shame that a higher level of quality control was not applied in regard either to the production of the LPs themselves, or to ensuring the accompanying written material was snafu-free.

I realise this may all seem trivial, but if you're going to do a job, and then ask people to cough up northwards of $200, then please do it right first time around. Still, it sounds so fine and is so handsome looking that most people will surely be able to overlook the imperfections...even if I can't

 

Nope, B0025730-01 is also written on the blurb sticker, so must be the catalogue number. That leaves nothing (LP1-x RE-1) to figure out where were pressed.

 

I’m really pretty happy with mine but agree the quality control should have been better. I think I’m good but I’ll still get a sinking feeling if this set is reissued again in a few years pressed at QRP like the Hendrix Purple Box was. That set is pressed to near perfection.

 

They surely did a good job. My copy is flawless. Not a single click/pop. 7 perfect slices of vinyl.

 

On Amazon UK a customer complains about this being pressed by GZ, with fingerprints all over. I wonder how he/she could tell, because some people here couldn't report details about the pressing plant. GZ is known to use their stamp in the dead wax, so it could mean that the US version is pressed elsewhere.

Does anyone have the EU version and can post some needed dead wax info on catalog numbers, and the 'CB' initials? Thus far we only have info in this thread on boxsets that came from the US, with no info on where it was pressed.

 

I'm very satisfied with my set. I was a little afraid after reading some posts about the QC on the set but I was lucky I guess. I ordered mine from Canada so I guess mine is the US version. The vinyl doesn't look great though, it has the some of the flaws I associate with GZ, fingerprints that can't be removed, visible scratches, uneven edges etc. But besides some repeated minor pops on The Caretaker (it has some visible scratches on that side) it plays pretty much perfectly all the way through.

It's been amazing to go through this great set again. The music is amazing and I'd say it's just as essential as the original American albums. It's amazing that he managed to record all this amazing and timeless music during his last years!
I remember John Carter Cash saying that there are 4-5 albums worth of unreleased material from the American sessions a couple of years ago (I think it was around the release of Out Among The Stars...). I also think Rick Rubin has mentioned there will be at least one more American release in the future. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an Unearthed II set.

 

I pulled the trigger.
On Amazon UK it's now £174 GBP. Worth the risk, and, of course, fingers crossed that my copy isn't that bad. You mostly hear/read feedback when it's faulty, so I wonder how many good copies are out there in Europe.
I decided to do it, because Amazon has very good customer service, and it's easier for me to deal with than a US retailer, especially when I would have to return something, which can be a hassle.