Little Richard Penniman - The Best Of Speciality?

Anyone know the best cohesive set that was done for Little Richard? It's on my grocery list this week... Rhino? Ace? Specialty?

 

Sckott,

I like the Specialty set over the Rhino. I have not heard the Ace set. I also have the Specialty box as well that includes Larry Williams, Sam Cooke and host of other R & B acts including Little Richard, of course.

Bob

 

speaking of Little Richard, I have several singles by Larry Williams, Percy Mayfield, and others on the specialty label that sound fantastic--but my 5 or 6 little richard singles on specialty sound a bit dodgy. I wonder if they were e.q.'ed for 78 and they kept making singles off that same tape, or if that mattered.

 

The first generation tapes were used on the Specialty "Essential Little Richard" comp which was mastered by Little Walter DeVenne. The masters sounded great to begin with.

 

My rhino Little Richard is from 1985.
(produced for CD release by Bill Inglot.
Digital prep and tranfers by Bill Inglot & Ken Perry at K-Disc LA

all mono, 'cept Bama Lama Bama Loo, which is in Stereo.

1985! that's a long time ago!

 

What about the "Georgia Peach" and "Shag on Down to the Union Hall" sets on Specialty? How's the sound on those?

lschwart

 

They probably sound good. Little Walter does good work. I got some of the doo wop CD's he did for Relic records.

 

Steve,

Thanks - another CD to purchase!

Bob

 

Is the Ace CD in print?

 

Mike,

According to their website, yes!


www.acerecords.co.uk


There are several choices available!

Bob

 

Supposedly so. http://www.acerecords.co.uk

http://216.15.202.119/cgi-bin/searc...tTitle=&cmdSearch=Search&site=Search+by+Label

What, Bob you can type faster than me? Oh, maybe you're on your DSL line at work

 

Excellent!

Sckott - Bob & me both

It's a nasty habit...!

 

Sckott,

T1 line!

Bob

 

There are several ways to go here. The Ace comp is probably the best example of the actual master tape sound; THE GEORGIA PEACH was mastered by Gordon Skene and Kirk Felton, and Billy Vera did the production work; he and Skene worked on those early '90s Vee-Jay discs that went out of print so fast. That one's a good survey of the classics. For a fly-on-the-wall take on the sessions, Specialty's 3-CD Little Richard box is also good fun, with a great booklet and session info.
I agree with Steve that Little Walter does compress things, but for me it works, if only because he tends to deal in mono tapes, real vintage stuff, and wants that 'old sound,' rather than the best possible sound off the masters. That is, he goes for pure authenticity, rather than offer the full-range sound from the masters. Not everybody digs that, of course, but his Relic work I found to be very enjoyable.

ED

 

I'm not quoting the man, so let me rephrase that. I think what he's after is for something like Maurice Williams' "Stay" to have the same dynamics and tone of a mint Herald 45 or 78; nothing more and nothing less(though he's the guy to ask; shame he doesn't visit the Forum, but I get the impression the critics of his work really bug the hell out of him). I think he deals with stereo tapes differently; his work on the Rivieras and the RAGING HARLEM HIT PARADE CDs is indicative that he does care about sound quality, a lot. And, to be fair, he's worked with some pretty rough tapes through the years from some obscure labels. In fact, I thought he ran into trouble when he did stereo work, like the Relic Belmonts disc. As much as I enjoy the stereo, it actually sounds too unauthentic at times, too clean, as odd as that might seem(and it sure doesn't sound compressed at all, what is stereo--pretty wide, full sound). I still get a kick out of it--who woulda thunk "Tell Me Why" would ever turn up in real stereo--but compared to the original Sabina/Sabrina 45s, well....I didn't toss out my copy of CARNIVAL OF HITS, put it that way. Compressed or not, those 45's really cook, and that's the sound I remember, and would have preferred.
But, as the old cliche goes, never look a gift horse in the mouth, and Walter has turned up some pretty interesting stuff over the years. Like you, he cares about his music a lot; everybody in the business should be a fan as well as what their actual job is. I always liked that about him.

ED

 

Of the various ACE comps., which is the one to get? The website lists four compilations in addition to the 6 disk Specialty Box and two 3 cd sets ("Specialty Sessions" and "Three Original Specialty Albums").

lschwart

 

Okay, Steve, the gauntlet has been thrown...any chance YOU could work on some of those tapes? Some of that stuff, I'm not sure I've ever heard it any other way. An enticing thought....especially that Belmonts' stuff. You've worked on a lot of things...a Herald/Ember or Coed comp might be a nice addition to the canon...

ED

 

I believe the disc referred to is 22 CLASSIC CUTS[Ace CDCH 195]from 1986.

ED

 

For some reason, 22 Classic Cuts has been downgraded to just "Classic Cuts," with two tracks thrown out. Not two of his best-known or beloved recordings, but it brings to question whether they remastered the CD as well. Just a heads up.

 

Yes, Ace's website says the older disc always outsold the newer one, so they keep both of them on board. Weird.

Trying to find a mail order for this ACE title might be a little tough, but I'm glad to hear what you had to say Steve. You're ablsolutely right, and I subscribe to that train of thinking. Hell, after hearing Vintage MCA you did with Steppenwolf and Fontella Bass, that blows me away constantly.

The master tapes were done with vigor and liveliness. That's what makes listening so much fun.

 

I hear ya, Steve. And I don't mind you 'riding me'; I need a push or kick every now and then, and I can take it--it's the masochist in me
Point well taken on the Holly--or Haley, for that matter. Both of those were a revelation to me, and probably the two big reasons I became a fan of yours. And the VINTAGE MUSIC comps. On occasion I have to remind newcomers you had nothing to do with Vols. 11-20 beyond choosing the tracks(am I right on that?). You had left MCA by the time the tapes were assembled, and it was obvious they didn't always use what you had in mind. Didn't remaster it the way you would have, either.

ED