New Analogue Productions Nat King Cole vinyl: "Mixing directly to 45 RPM lacquer" adventures!

In looking at the current top sellers over at Acoustic Sounds I was slightly disappointed, though not really surprised, that St. Louis Blues has the least number of pre-orders of any of the upcoming SACDs. So I thought I'd make a small plea for this great album.

I understand that these discs are not cheap and most of us will not be getting every album. That being said, St. Louis Blues deserves to be much better known. This is nothing against any of the other albums, all of which are masterpieces, but this 1958 classic is the pinnacle of the Cole-Riddle relationship. It is their Songs for Swingin' Lovers.

Any fan of Cole, Riddle, and the Capitol sound should own St. Louis Blues.

Thanks.

 

Couldn't agree more. I only have the mono LP. Looking forward to hearing the stereo version.

 

i cant make up my mind what format to order at the moment. as i dont have surround sound, the 3 track bit doesn't apply, so vinyl or cd...not sure yet...I will get st. louis blues for sure though

 

It's win-win, obviously, but even with the 3-track out of play the ability to hear the close-miked mono version really makes the cd attractive.

 

so the mono version is the redbook layer?

 

I'm getting the SACD. I have three identical B&W CDM 9NT speakers that I can arrange to do a three-channel set up. I did it for a few of the Living Stereo SACD's and it was enlightening. Of course, my family hates me because the center speaker blocks the television.

 

Sorry, got ahead of myself a bit. The mono is included on the sacd layer.

 

as all good center channels should do IMO....

 

Good. I stand corrected then.

 

I've not pre-ordered any of these yet (as I'm not sure of the benefit given that they are likely to trickle out at a snails pace over the next year at the same price as the pre-order price) but intend to buy them all once they are released.

 

I did my part by pre-ordering all of them.

A big chunk of money for someone who is currently unemployed, but the staggered release schedule makes this financially do-able.

And I should point out that by pre-ordering all at once it takes you over the $250 threshold needed to get free shipping.

So in effect it's almost like a mini subscription.

 

If you pre-order the whole batch, do you pay in advance or are you only charged as they ship? Free shipping still in effect even with multiple shipments?

 

Only charged as they are shipped.

I asked the same question about multiple shipments, especially since they are pre-orders, not back orders. Have spoken to 2 different people, they both said "yes", no cost for the shipping.

In fact, they were the ones who brought up the free shipping scenario. I hadn't clued in until then.

 

At the Acoustic sounds site every one of these releases is in the top 25. No other artist or group is anywhere close to having 7 albums in the top 25. And The Nat King Cole Story set is now up to number 3. Might it even challenge Brothers in Arms, that classic (and much better known) album by one of my favorite groups of all time, Dire Straits? I doubt it, but you never know--after all, the NKC Story doesn't even come out until June!

Top 50 Sellers
in Hybrid Multichannel SACD
1. Night Beat
Sam Cooke
2. Brothers In Arms 20th Anniversary (import)
Dire Straits
3. The Nat King Cole Story
Nat "King" Cole...

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/6..._Nat_King_Cole_Story-Hybrid_Multichannel_SACD


But since this all started EMI has started to have problems, and there's a chance that the problems might even take down the house that Nat helped build. I read a story that said the whole thing might be sold to Warners for pennies on the dollar. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I'm guessing not so good. In any case, it's a good guess that if things fall financially and legally into some kind of limbo for Capitol it won't be good for little audiophile releases like this, no matter how successful.

And there are still more great Nat King Cole albums beyond these 7 that await in the Capitol vaults. Today I was listening to one of these other albums, Welcome to the Club--a great jazzy, bluesy album of songs where Nat is backed by none other than the Count Basie atomic orchestra. Here's what music critic and author Will Friedwald writes about this album in one of his books on NKC:

"Cole only made a handful of all-swinging, big band vocal albums, most of which were collaborations with arranger Billy May. This fine set, however, was arranged by Dave Cavanaugh and utilized what was essentially the entire Count Basie band (minus its contractually-obligated leader)....

Tender on the torch tunes and bitingly abrasive on the swingers, Cole is even more all over his 'horn' than he was in the days when he made his living with his mouth shut. His intonation surpases any male singer, and virtually any vocalist this side of Ella Fitzgerald. His interpretation—not just of lyrics, since he makes the melodies move his own way at the same time—renders crystal clear any story that he elects to tell....

Throughout, Cavanough uses Basie's trademark orgiastic brass surges for punctuation, periodically contrasting them with feather-light tinkling from the piano bench. So much is happening in both the background and the foreground that not only do the charts make the most out of their 150 seconds or less of duration, but the band gets to assert its basic Basie-ness even in what amount to 30-second 'instrumental refrain' sections....

Welcome to the Club continues to resound with the royal majesty of a once-in-a-lifetime meeting between a Count and a King." (Stardust book, p. 123, 141-142)

This great album, however, is fairly rare. And the original Nat-all-on-the-left-speaker stereo mix is not that good, in my opinion, and they only fixed about half of the tracks on the Bear Family set (and even some of those "fixed" ones sound either slightly murky or slightly harsh to my ears).

On the NKC year by year thread, Steve Hoffman himself said that they found and organized the original three track tapes for this album (were they thinking about doing this one too?).

Anyway, I know I'm probably dreaming, but I'm obviously lobbying for an Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds/Steve Hoffman release for this one too...

Welcome To The Club
Recorded 6/30/58, 7/1&2/58
Nat Cole - Vocals
Dave Cavanaugh - Arranger
Lee Gillette - Producer

1. Welcome To The Club
2. Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere
3. The Blues Don't Care
4. Mood Indigo
5. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
6. The Late Late Show
7. Avalon
8. She's Funny That Way
9. I Want A Little Girl
10. Wee Baby Blues
11. Look Out For Love
12. Madrid

 

No other fans out there for Welcome to the Club? I bet there are, but they're just being quiet.

Anyway, I'll continue for one more post with my little wishful campaign for more Nat King Cole releases from analogue/acoustic/hoffman & co.

Beyond Welcome to the Club, I think we could add 5-6 more titles and call it a day. Then, most of the great NKC from the magnetic tape era would be in print with fine audio quality. Even Nat King Cole fans don't think that everything Cole did was great, and his last few albums are pretty much his weakest, imho, even though each of them has a few good tracks. (And sometimes more than a few, his last album L-O-V-E is really pretty good.)

My picks would be the wonderful live set, recorded at the Sands between 2 and 5 in the morning one day in 1960. It was Nat's third concert of that night, and his voice is rough--maybe too rough for the polish expected from him, because this set wasn't released until after his death. But I really enjoy it for its raw honesty and warmth. It's a great set--not a lot of unforgettables or mona lisas here, just Nat doing some of his favorite but today lesser known numbers. He even does one nice little piano solo. And the bonus track, left off the original album, is a hilarious 7-minute epic where Nat parodies rock and roll and himself at the same time. At one point you can tell he's on the verge of just laughing. It really shows his sense of humor, which is not well known. It's an essential track to me--one of my top 20 probably when it comes to Nat King Cole. I like all the tracks, but I'm also esp. fond of the wistful I Wish You Love...Classy and classic concert. Boy did he and other people of that era work hard for their living...

1. Ballerina
2. Funny (Not Much)
3. The Continental
4. I Wish You Love
5. You Leave Me Breathless
6. Thou Swell
7. My Kinda Love
8. Surrey with the Fringe on Top
9. Where or When
10. Miss Otis Regrets
11. Joe Turner Blues
12. Mr. Cole Won't Rock & Roll

The other albums are pretty self explanatory--although you could certainly make a case too for Sings for Two in Love and The Magic of Christmas--except for that pic of the Nat King Cole Story, which everyone knows has already been done and has been climbing the charts.

What I'm suggesting in my rich fantasy life is that a Nat King Cole Story Volume 2 be put together. I know it's not likely to happen, but the guy recorded something like 900 tracks during his 22 years at Capitol. And even this expanded Story has 38 tracks--and so only about 4% of what he did. You could pick another 4-5% for a two SACD set and still just be dealing with the creme de la creme of NKC stuff--tracks like L-O-V-E, China Gate, Raintree County, a selection of the great Nelson Riddle singles and other singles, a few choice album tracks, etc. It could be a set that was just as killer as the original, and maybe more so because most of the stuff hasn't been played so much, and some of it is just practically unknown. I think to avoid duplication you wouldn't put on it tracks that are on albums already coming up SACD, like After Midnight.

Well, that's it, my little fantasy suggestion of where to go next, if there is a next.

And even if there is no next I'll certainly treasure the SACDs and 45 rpm LPs that are coming up.

 

Fremer says some nice things about a NKC test pressing in the March Stereophile.

 

Any chance you can find a quote?

 

Ben...

 

Yes, I saw that one, which was great. I think that was in the Feb. issue, but I'm not sure. I was wondering if there was a new review in the March issue of the albums actually to be released in that month--Love is the Thing and The Very Thought of You.

 

how are the collector's choice 2 fers?

 

From the article by Fremer:

Note: This is from a review of Vandersteen 7s so he is describing both the pressings and the quality of the speaker but I think its clear Steve and team did a terrific job in his opinion.

 

I should add that if the LPs are anything like the DSD masters I heard at the Super Audio Center then they will be spectacular.

 

They are ok. Not great. Not terrible. Just ok. Good value for the money.

But these new ones are going to blow away everything that's ever come out before. They will be worth it if you have decent speakers. I'd say try one, and see what it's like. Might get you hooked...

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/6...le-Love_Is_The_Thing-Hybrid_Multichannel_SACD

 

I think I saw your nice review on that other thread a while ago, but if you get a chance could you remind me which album you heard, and repeat a few of your thoughts about it sound wise? Thanks in advance...