Nina Simone's Little Girl Blue by AP

for some reason I find this a well recorded album for its period, I have an original mono that sounds pretty amazing...the wide stereo version doesn't thrill me as much, but it's ok. A stunning debut.

 

I think, those who are coming to this album for the first time with the AP stereo are hearing a wonderfully enjoyable album, terrifically recorded and laid down to vinyl by AP. Those who hear an original mono hear the same album but with a much better spatial presentation.

 

Yes I guess, I did find it unusual for her vocal to be panned to the left - years of hearing the norm that is often most instruments to the left and vocals to the right on similar 'wide' stereo recordings - I really like this one though, I'm sure the mono will also be wonderful - I was sceptical about the Kind Of Blue mono re-issue being all that compared to the stereo, but I was pleasantly impressed!

The AP just sounds so wonderfully natural - and it's a superb pressing.

 

What's hilarious about the mix is that on the solo instrumental pieces the piano is moved over to the left channel where her vocal was.

 

Yes, I noticed that too!

 

I just opened my AP stereo 33 Little Girl Blue and giving my immediate real time reaction....what they said....what everyone has said previously on this thread...you nailed it and I totally agree. Sonics better on this one than my worn VG-VG+ mono original but I'm with the majority that the mono hangs together better than stereo. Maybe I have something hooked up wrong because Nina's vocal is coming out of my right side (facing me) rather than the left as everyone has stated. Or is this a stage right/stage left thing ? It's all good though and I'm pleased with everything about the quality of this release,really well done and my first experience with AP and Elusive Disc....fast shipping and great packing!!!

BTW,I summed to mono on the Marantz 2252B for a few tunes and while it deflates the overall sound if I bump the volume up a notch or two it makes it acceptable. I'll probably listen both ways in the many plays to come. Why didn't they mix the vocal to the middle? That one small detail keeps it from being just about perfect.

 

I tried summing it to mono when I got mine last week and the trade off is to big unfortunately. The volume plunges and so does the fidelity. It's a lousy stereo mix but the sound is great. Wish they had put it out in mono but I can live with it. Superb album.

 

Yes, you have cables going from L to R and R to L somewhere. When you're sitting down facing your speakers, Nina's voice should be coming from the speaker on your left.

 

Then it would have sounded to much like… mono. It's just like with all the treble in second half 80's CDs. You put it in because you can, not because there's a need for it. It's "modern".

 

I listened 3 times thru last night...some kind of wonderful! Where does one go next in the Nina LP catalog,title/pressing, or is this her crowning achievement?

 

I would buy any/every other Nina Simone title AP or anyone else would put out on a well mastered SACD.

 

Having gone on a bit of a Nina bender the past year or so... I'd say the next step is Nina Sings the Blues, if you don't have any other Nina. There's a Vinyl Me Please pressing mastered by Ryan K. Smith that you should keep an eye out for, but that's the next album to get. There's also a Pure Pleasure pressing, but I haven't heard it, and the general opinion on PP is that they're fine until something better comes along. The other ColPix albums have mostly been done by Pure Pleasure and Speaker's Corner. I picked up the PP Forbidden Fruit as it has an extra disc of songs from a contemporaneous recording session and am pleased with it.

There's also a box set of her Phillips albums that just came out that's pretty good quality—though not up to AP—or you can get the records in that set individually.

Just be warned that Nina's catalog is... scattered. She redid songs a lot, and she's got great songs on just about every record, but duds on just about all of them, too. I think Little Girl Blue and Sings the Blues are probably as close as she gets to solid, top-to-bottom classic albums. But ...At Town Hall, ...At the Village Gate, Forbidden Fruit, I Put a Spell on You, Pastel Blues, and Wild is the Wind are all worth checking out, and almost everything through the late 60s has at least one or two great tracks on it.

 

Off subject but the Four Women Phillips CD box set is wonderful. And I buckled and ordered this first LP

 

Pirate Jenny is phenomenal from the Phillips Concert album. Worth the price of admission.

 

My Pure Pleasure copy of this has a different title.

It's "The Original.......And Best Of Nina Simone"

But it has "Little Girl Blue" on the back cover and of course track listing for LGB

 

I must have left/right issues as my other upstairs rig was the same, vox right. My main one downstairs was OK, on left. Does it really make any difference or is it like Jimi playing a right hand Strat flipped over? Music still comes out of it. I probably hear left anyway although I'm right handed. I used to work as a bank teller many years ago and all the other tellers said I counted left handed because I held the stack of bills in my right and peeled them off with my left. I didn't get that but sure enough they all did it the other way. My dad trained me to be a switch hitter in baseball and that worked to my advantage by staying in the line up instead of riding the bench.

 

What is Vinyl Me Please label?

 

It's a subscription record service. You sign up and get one record a month in a pressing custom-made for VMP. Most of the time it's a repress of whatever mastering/pressing is currently available, but sometimes they commission a pressing just for themselves. The Nina Simone Sings the Blues pressing is one of those. You can likely find a copy on eBay/Discogs if the subscription doesn't interest. I don't know if they let non-subscribers purchase from the store, but you can also buy back-catalog copies of previous releases, as long as they have them on hand.

 

Interesting. I looked on Discogs for it a couple of days ago and didn't see it listed.

 

It only matters if it matters to you. Symphonic recordings would likely sound odd though if you're used to an orchestra being laid out in a typical fashion.

 

I've been listening to the AP reissue almost daily since I got it and it's a beautiful obsession as Van says. I want a good mono copy but they seem to be going in the $60-100 range. I'm hoping there is mono in the works by AP for a lot less dough.

 

As I get more familiar with the AP, I have to agree totally with you. This recording is majestic.

 

Again, I do not want to get lost in the hyperbole, but this is one of a very few albums where the "speakers disappear"...

 

Best $30 I ever spent on a vinyl reissue.

 

Recently snagged a pristine Bethlehem red-label mono, the sound is wonderful, but I still believe the AP beats it in clarity and dynamics. Luckily the mono I found has not been chewed by old carts over the years and still sounds smooth! I am glad to have both, this is such a wonderful album.