Over the years I've acquired Classic 60's-70s Rock, Soul & Jazz CD twofers from the UK label BGO Records to add to my collection. Off the top of my head I believe I have all of their Savoy Brown releases, with some Spirit, Steppenwolf, Mountain, Poco, Billy Preston, Boz Scaggs, John Hiatt and others. So far I've been pretty happy with the sound quality & packaging. And they seem to take their customer service seriously. I purchased a handful of sealed ones the other day from some large vendor at the Austin Record Convention. When I got home the first one I opened had a missing disc. I thought I was probably screwed but I emailed customer service at BGO and they promptly sent me a replacement at no charge. That good service put them back on my radar screen and got me thinking about buying more. (See, record companies, good customber service does pay off!) Anyone have BGO favorites they could reccomend? Also, please feel free to mention any that should be avoided. Any input would be much appreciated! *P.S. - Hooray! After years of standing on the sideline as a non member soaking up all the wisdom from this place I finally got off my *** and joined and hopefully made a worthwhile post. Oh yeah, and I guess it probably goes without saying around here....Steve Hoffman's a god! His reccomendations on the A.P. Nat King Cole SACDs and RCA Living Stereo SACD collection were on the money.
I have a Jackie DeShannon CD on BGO that sounds terrible - heavily noise reduced poop. Unlistenable. I have a few of their Johnny Rivers 2-fers - they are ok. Listenable.
Thanks on the ARS. I'm not at home but I think the Poco twofer I have is Crazy Eyes & Deliverin'. I haven't listened to it in a while but as I recall it sounds pretty good.
Talking of good service (and I think I've mentioned this before in a similar thread), back in the pre-interwebs I was after a CD of Modern Times by Al Stewart. The Sony/Epic release was discontinued, so I wrote to BGO asking if they had any left of their release, which my record shop said was also deleted. They wrote back saying sorry, they were indeed all gone. About 2 years later I had a letter saying they'd found a copy in the back of a filing cabinet and did I still want one? They sent it to me free of charge. Not bad eh? I wonder if these days it would happen. I mean, my letter (which would be an email) probably wouldn't be filed so assiduously and without filing cabinets, maybe a CD wouldn't be lurking with my name on it?! Anyhow, I've always had a soft spot for the company. That said, some of their latter day releases have suffered from poor dynamic range. I'm sorry I can't give details as they wouldn't stay in my library for long. Some have been really nice, so its a case by case deal. The Robin Trower 2-fers are among the good ones. I remember I did a big Bridge of Sighs shoot-out and the BGO is still my favourite.
I like the Poco BGO CDs. I like the label and grab 'em whenever I see them in the used bins. I also buy new releases of my favorites. Good stuff.
I picked up a twofer of Joe Ely's Musta Notta Gotta Lotta and the otherwise-unavailable-on-CD Hi-Res, but I don't think I've listened to it yet. I had an old MCA CD of Musta... and a needle-drop of Hi-Res, so I don't know how the BGO disc sounds.
Thanks Bill I have the UFO 2-fer discs they are a good alternative to the more expensive early Japan pressings. The Fogelberg discs are also done very well.
Don't Turn Your Back On Me / This Is Jackie DeShannon http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Turn-You...52426666&sr=8-1&keywords=jackie+deshannon+bgo
The BGO Suzi Quatro I have is damn good. Ian Mathews stuff is bad. Felt cheated. Anyone heard the Ike & Tina Turner reissues?
I have a few Quicksilver Messenger Service on BGO that sound as good as they can. The Three Dog Night are a mixed bag. I don't mind though because in many cases it's either get the BGO or nothing at all. At least they release albums that would otherwise be OOP.
The Robin Trower 2 for 1 of Twice Removed from Yesterday/Bridge of Sighs sounds very good. Excellent detail and definition in the guitar tracks. Warm,analog vinyl sound,although quite noisy and hissy. The Pat Benetar BGO In the Heat of the Night/Crimes of Passion has a tight punchy sound like the original vinyl. UFO No Heavy Petting/Lights Out also very good mastering job.
Years ago, I had Don Mclean sign his self titled BGO disc after a concert (standing by his rented car) and he commented that they did a nice job on the production.
My experience with this label is very good indeed. They've stuck with ADD transfers all along, not riding the compression and "over remastering" train. To my ears, their 1990 release of Argent's début album sounds wonderful, so does their Gentle Giant releases, to name a few. I recommend this label.
Thanks everyone for the input! These are now on my BGO want list: New Riders of the Purple Sage Quicksilver Messenger Service Poco Atlanta Rythym Section Robin Trower UFO Argent Gentle Giant James Gang Joe Ely Dan Fogelberg Chuck Berry Don McLean Suzi Quatro
