Well, thanks to this forum, I once again " discover " something that only took 33 years !?!?!? With all the hubbub bub about Some Girls, I pulled my copy out this morning, and did what I've been doing since joining here...read the deadwax before cleaning, and...yep, you guessed it...yet another RL I wasn't aware of !!!! One of these days I need to pull out all the ones I'm aware of, and see how many I've got !?
Apologies if this has already been mentioned but: Ten Wheel Drive with Genya Ravan - Brief Replies Sterling RL in deadwax
I don't think anyone has seen this one yet. Drinkin TNT n' Smokin Dynamite. Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. With Bill Wyman on bass. I noticed when I pulled it out to play Friday night... RL in the deadwax. With the STERLING stamp. But, UK press only. The US press has some stampings I don't recognise. No need to say which sounds better. This was a performance at the Montreux Jazz festival in 1974, Bill Wyman on Bass, Pinetop Perkins on Piano. Bill arranged for the whole show to be recorded and only got around to getting the tapes mastered in 1980 or 1981. At Sterling, by, it seems, the master. But, strangely enough, only the UK press. It's a great performance. If anyone out there has "Back to Accoustic" and wonders how these two sound really live together, this LP is great.
Get close by The Pretenders. Masterdisk RL on side 1. My copy is German pressed. Bought it when it was released and I remember thinking back then that this sounds pretty good. And that was looong before becoming aware of how different one pressing can sound to another...
Here's a strange and fun one: 1910 Fruitgum Company "Juiciest Fruitgum" Buddah 1969 This one has RL and handwritten SS (ala the band and zeppelin II) and a "sterling" stamp.
Bill Connors' "Of Mist and Melting", on US (Warner Brothers) ECM, is cut by Bob Ludwig. I liked it so much I even forgot that I am not an ECM fan and that I can't stand the way Jan Garbarek is recorded, repeatedly, on this label!
I picked up a US pressing of Keith Jarrett's The Köln Concert on ECM yesterday, and it has STERLING RL on sides 1 and 3, and STERLING on the other sides (and the handwriting on the matrix numbers on all sides looks similar to me). Sounds great. Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, given the popularity of that album. Seems Mr Ludwig cut a fair few records for ECM back in the day.
This one really shocked me and I have not found it mentioned elsewhere in the thread. The only thing that even made me think to look at the dead-wax was that I was listening to the vinyl and wondering if it was a Porky Prime cut as the vinyl mastering seemed kind of "dark" for lack of a better word. My original import copy of Humble Pie "Town & Country" is an RL cut. The same etchings as my LZII. Large RL followed by the SS denoting Sterling Sound. I was blown away but I must say that this is one of my least favorite RL cuts. Everything is very nice but the top end seems to be rolled off to an uncharacteristic degree. Less open sound-stage than I am used to with a Ludwig cut vinyl.
It appears further back in the thread but beware, at one point people were adding to a faulty list so find the last list that was compiled. I would say that in my experience I have heard few different vinyl masterings on the same project that better the Ludwig cuts. Let me be clear however that this is just my opinion and I am ONLY talking about vinyl cutting when I make the above statement. My own post just a bit back is the exception to my rule as I actually prefer the top end and soundstage on the domestic A&M re-issue of "Town & Country" that was part of the "Lost & Found" double LP. Having said that I really like the bottom end on the RL cut.
I wonder if the list could be made a sticky in this forum--once it's cleaned up and official? Would be a cool resource.
The thing is if I see RL in the deadwax and I like the music, I usually pick it up. A lot times if I see RL in the deadwax of something I haven't heard, I will pick it up and let it be my first exposure to the music. It's kind of similar in regards to Kevin and Steve mastering a title I like as I will grab it immediately. Similarly, I have let some of their masterings be my first exposure to the a particular title or artist.
Two Pat Metheny records that were mastered by Robert Ludwig have been mentioned in this thread, but not the "The Falcon and the Snowman", "Still Life talking" and "Letter from Home" which were also mastered by him at Mastersound. Btw: "The Falcon and the Snowman" is one of the most terrific sounding LPs I ever heard.
I saw a copy of Misfits yesterday that had Masterdisk RL on one side and Masterdisk sf (Sam Feldman, I presume) on the other. It was a bit manky looking so I didn't buy it. Might go back for it if I'm feeling frivolous with my money.
I just played a copy of Crowded House's Temple Of Low Men that I had found sealed a few years ago and finally got around to opening. Man, does it sound good! RL. Makes me wish I'd bought the LP when this came out instead of the CD. It could be that I've never given the CD a serious listen through headphones (can't recall) but what I heard through them tonight was really nice, including little things I'd never noticed before.
Found an interesting old Nonesuch LP yesterday that happens to be a Ludwig: "Kingdom of the Sun - Peru's Inca Heritage" Field recordings from the late 60's by David Lewiston. Has RL in the deadwax. Still in print (but with a less cool cover): http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/peru-kingdom-of-the-sun-the-inca-heritage Very nice field recordings of really complex Peruvian mountain music - harp, flute, pan flute etc. Sounds great!
I searched this one and it did not come up.. Walt Michael and Tom McCreesh - Dance Like A Wave Of The Sea Front Hall Records FHR-017 - Masterdisk RL on both sides
Eric Martin Band - Sucker For A Pretty Face - Elektra 80238-1 Masterdisk RL in dead wax side 1 with matching print on side 2
