Scorpio Reissues

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by hipster006, Jun 12, 2007.

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  1. hipster006

    hipster006 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pottsville,PA,USA
    Is anyone familiar with this company? They have been doing exact reissues of numerous Atlantic lps as well as Latin jazz and obscure psychedelic lps. Most recently they are reissuing the Mainstream psych lps.What are your views on sound,mastering etc? i have been buying these at record shows for $6-9 each.Thanks.
     
  2. jblock

    jblock Senior Member

    Location:
    Connecticut
    I only remember the Scorpio that used to release unauthorized live recordings. Are these legitimate releases?
     
  3. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    They are definitely no frill items, probably from digital sources. That said, some of the titles they've reissued are of insanely rare (and thus expensive) titles, and I'd never have heard them if it weren't for them.
     
  4. lou

    lou Fast 'n Bulbous

    Location:
    Louisiana
    Are these legitimate reissues that can be purchased on line? If so, give us a link.
     
  5. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    They are legitimate, but they are not marketed as Scorpio. They are exact replicas of the original releases. Same labels, no bar codes. I see them in record stores all over the place.
     
  6. sharedon

    sharedon Forum Zonophone

    Location:
    Boomer OK
  7. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Not the same outfit.
     
  8. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    The Scorpio you're talking about are a wholesaler, not a label or manufacturer. They have been known to contract out a pressing run (or several hundred) of material that they then wholesale out to record stores. They also buy up warehouses full of records from defunct chains and so on.

    Quality varies, but it never seems to be above mediocre. Some new product is made in Eastern Europe; it's hard to tell.

    One suspects they're able to license and do this simply because the other record companies and owners think they're crazy and don't charge much. That may change if Warner appear above the radar with the new vinyl series. A while ago Sony/Columbia were touting a vinyl reissue program, which quietly vanished.

    Incidentally, the Scorpio sourced vinyl sells very well in the local stores.
     
  9. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    check the links that are posted above. there's been lotsa conversation on this. the overall consensus is that while notall titles sound spectacular, more often than not stuff sounds at least pretty decent, if not downright good. and as it's been pointed out, much of this stuff is really rare(like blue note titles). so for $10, you end up getting original artwork, original labels, flat pressings, and pretty good sound, not to mention amazing music. not a bad deal if you ask me.
     
  10. bonjo

    bonjo Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    This is definitely NOT what you're getting. In my experience, these things sound like they were mastered straight from the CD. The vinyl is cut too hot, so that loud passages distort, and the pressings are not particularly quiet. The album covers look nice, but if there are back cover liner notes the text always appears muddy and gives away that the whole thing was done on the cheap.

    So...yes, these are nice if you simply have to own a vinyl copy, or if the CD version is impossible to find, but otherwise I don't see the point.
     
    John Brookbank likes this.
  11. hipster006

    hipster006 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pottsville,PA,USA
    i think you may be wrong about being mastered from cd sources as much if not most has not been available on cd. the rarer blue note titles,ie; lee morgan-candy,numerous mobley's and the latin soul/jazz titles have no prior cd releases.the wholesale price on most of the lps is $6.for the colored vinyl and 180 gram lps-$7-9.to my ears most sound pretty good but i wanted to hear from those of you who are heavily involved in mastering to know if my ears need a cleaning or not! thanks for all the responses.
     
  12. bresna

    bresna Senior Member

    Location:
    York, Maine
    I'd like to hear from someone in that company's mastering chain. I've been told by someone in the Blue Note family that these LPs are made from digital masters. However, only someone at the Scorpio group could say for sure.

    As for any Scorpio-pressed Blue Note titles not having been in print on CD, I don't know of one. Lee Morgan's "Candy" has been in and out of print on CD for decades and all of the Mobley dates are still available on CD in the Mosaic box.

    Kevin
     
  13. ashlee5

    ashlee5 Senior Member

    I just don't know why the labels allow Scorpio to sell their stuff as if they're directly from the original labels. I've seen the Blue Notes and the Columbias that look like reasonable facsimiles that could end up fooling people if stored sealed for some years.

    I can already see the ebay listing thirty years from now where a seller says he has the sealed copy of Jackie McLean's Capuchin Swing with the New York address that looks like the original but cannot say for sure since he cannot open it and have it devalued. :)

    It'd be like how some collectors are now getting fooled by the boots from the 1970s (Face to Face by the Kinks, for instance) that look close to the originals. I'm sure it was much easier to tell boots from originals back then.
     
    John Brookbank likes this.
  14. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    well, as in many things in this hobby of ours, to each his own. but i've listened to a lot of these pressings(especially the blue notes) and compared many of them to original blue notes, and reissues from classic. and the problems that you describe is simply not the case with many of these pressings. again, do they sound as good as the originals. of course not. are they as good as the $30 classic's? in some cases, there is not that much difference. but i know there are others on this forum that have bought many of these and been very pleasantly suprised. hopefully they will add to this thread. but i still say that it's hard to go wrong for the price.
     
  15. bresna

    bresna Senior Member

    Location:
    York, Maine
    Vinyl.com seems to be affiliated with Scorpio. Their FAQ uses the terms "us", "we" and "our". A key note in the FAQ:

    Are these LP's audiophile recordings?

    No. Though some of our albums have been remastered from original analog tapes and could be considered audiophile quality, most are not. Unless stated otherwise, it should be assumed that our reissues have been digitally remastered (usually) from a digital audio tape/D.A.T. provided to us by the label.
     
    John Brookbank likes this.
  16. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    It's not easy; but buyers beware. Sometimes these fool the pricers in local stores where they'll appear in bags on the wall at $20 when the current 'new' ones are in the bins at $7.99. Sometimes the 180g ones get mistaken for APOs or the like (I missed out on a Speaker's Corner Love Supreme because I thought it was the current Scorpio copy.. so you can be too paranoid..)

    If it's a long time since you've seen an original, or don't have one, or don't have all your faculties operating you might buy the new one. It will be more difficult in twenty years.

    Vinyl.com seems to match the Scorpio reissue stuff I've seen. I'm sure they're sourced from all over the place, and don't have 'one' cutting, plating and pressing pedigree. It's still a business - anyone with the reproduction license can send a company a tape or digital master and get them to cut it and process it how you want (lacquer, stampers, production run with artwork..)
     
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