I'm listening to "Dusty in Memphis" (Rhino Deluxe Edition) right now and I'm reminded of something that's bothered me for ages. Her vocals on many/most of the tracks has a disconcerting "telephone-like" quality. The backing tracks sound fairly wide-fidelity, but the vocals seem oddly pinched. Is this just how the tapes sound, or is it due to some processing in Rhino's part? I love the performances, but the vocal sound tries to take me out of the moment.
For the RHINO REMASTER CD with bonus tracks: It's part-"the tapes sound like crap" and part "Rhin-O-Phonic sound." The original Rhino CD sounds marginally less sibilant. The AP SACD or 45 RPM LP is where it's at. Mastered by Kevin Gray, I believe. Has the best EQ. He did the best he could with the tapes.
funny I just finished playing my Ap - gray mastered 45 rpm version 30 minutes ago, to some the best version of this classic LP and I do agree with you even on this audiophile reissue, vocals pinched a little and a little sibilant ..the musical instruments sounds much better.. still one of the best albums of all time for me....
I agree - that pressing is the best it'll ever sound, but it is just an odd recording, no two ways about it - after all these years it's kind of part of the charm - and yeah, it's a masterpiece of soulful pop singing and arranging.
By Rhino deluxe you mean the 2 disc set with an album's worth of totally unrelated tracks, I assume. If so I totally agree. She sounds like she's in a different building. I had sold my original Rhino single disc edition before I got this. Immediately ran back to the shop and bought it again. This was back in the 90s - my first experience of "new edition not necessarily better than previous one". But all those 60s southern soul studios recordings show their shortcomings digitally. Interested to know there's a SACD.
No, I mean the single-disk release with several bonus tracks. So you're saying the 2-disk reissue sounds even worse?? Yikes! Actually, the backing tracks recorded in Memphis sound pretty good to me. It's just the vocal tracks that sound odd. I don't have a SACD player, so that choice is right out, unfortunately.
I guess it's due to the vocals being recorded in a different studio than the backing tracks. The producers seem to have not made much of an attempt to match sounds or record Dusty's voice in a flattering way. She sounds like she's singing through the dashboard speaker of the AM radio in my old '64 Ford Falcon. But a wonderful record despite the sound. I've never owned any other version than this Rhino CD - I gather they all sound strange so I shouldn't knock myself out looking for one that sounds normal.
I like how it (the Rhino disc with bonus tracks) sounds. No complaints. But now I'm curious about the SACD and will seek it out!
Most of the comments here are regarding reissues. Can any comment on the quality of the original, or early, pressings?
The AP is a hybrid SACD, i.e. it has a CD-layer, so it can be played in most CD-players. You don't need an SACD-player.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. The one I prefer is the single disc Rhino/Atlantic from 1992. Remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch. The 2 disc edition (IIRC) sounds like they were aiming for more clarity, but all they succeeded in doing was making Dusty sound even more detached. A beautiful album even so. All these Southern studios made great records, but they were thinking of how they would sound on little transistor radios or dansettes. In addition, the power of these singers' voices couldn't be captured by microphones at the time. The number of times Wilson Pickett goes into overload is made painfully clear in any digital format. Vinyl mastering masks it to some extent. Plus listeners were less fussy in those days. Never heard a vinyl original of In Memphis, but expect it would sound similar to any Aretha or Elvis vinyl from that 68-69 era. I shall seek out the sacd.
The backing on Just A Little Lovin' sounds incredible on the SACD. The SACD does manage to include three bonus tracks, which is rare on an AP SACD.
I had the original Atlantic LP and I believe every CD issue except for the SACD. None of them sound great. Love Dusty, love the album, but you're never gonna get a sonic masterpiece out of it. I'm cool with that.
That's the one I have... which seems to be the one with the poorest sound, from the opinions I hear here.
No, that is by far the EU Mercury reissue from 2002 https://www.discogs.com/Dusty-Springfield-Dusty-In-Memphis/release/1040754