The Jimmy Castor Bunch - Dimension 3 Hybrid Multichannel SACD by Dutton Vocalion

Dutton/Vocalion does it again!

This underrated 70's Soul classic is now available as a Quad/Stereo hybrid SACD.

You can order directly from the label.

I'm looking forward to hearing the Quad mix in pristine sound.

 

I lived with this album for quite a while when I was writing the liner notes for it, and I was surprised at just how good it was. Castor is no Luther Vandross as a vocalist, but he has a real charm and his signature sense of humour is fully apparent. The biggest surprise on this album is his sax playing - the whole second side of the original LP is a series of instrumental (mostly cover) songs and Castor reveals himself to be a really great soulful sax player in the mould of King Curtis.

As far as I know, this new SACD is the first digital release of this album in any form - no Japanese CDs, no Spotify, no iTunes, etc. It's a real hidden gem and an interesting transitional album between Castor's earlier RCA work (Troglodyte (Cave Man) etc.) and the stuff he'd record for Warner Bros. in the following years like Bertha Butt Boogie etc. Definitely worth a listen if you like early 70's R&B and soul music.

More info here: Vocalion August SACD Release - duttonvocalion.co.uk

 

loved this one just from the CD-4 QuadraDisc, absolutely cannot wait to hear it in discrete surround sound from the mastertapes!!

 

Other than his couple of hits I know none of his material, but I like King Curtis' sax anywhere it can be found, I'll try this out - what with the low prices this label is able to charge, it's a no-brainer really. Ordered!

 

I just ordered this And a few of their other SACD's. Great prices and forgotten about titles! If @fredblue says the original Quad mix is great, then it's a fact!

 

oh yes its a solid surround mix, originally engineered to show off the CD-4 format and as good as it is on QuadraDisc, the presentation on the SACD is on a whole new level. there are no flashy 360 degree pans or anything like that but some fun front to back interplay. on the vocal tracks there are lead vocals in all 4 channels so its not a wham bam super separated type of mix like some of those early Columbia jobs but its still a lot of fun as befits some of the slightly wacky tunes.. as I sat in the sweet spot and started reading the liner notes, the first horn blasts kicked in like some kind of fanfare as if to say "hey, you! listen to this!" with sound quality I'd never heard before from this album, my face just opened up into the biggest grin.. put simply it sounds lovely.

 

I cannot wait to hear it!! Really looking forward to the Main Ingredient SACD as well!

 

oh that's a good one too, though i didn't enjoy it as much as the Tower Of Power SACD the label released at the same time, which is one of my most played surround discs of the last wee while.

 

Hmmm.....maybe I will order the Tower SACD and grab the Legrand at the same time! Are there any of their easy listening or classical titles you would recommend for surround hounds who don't usually listen to those genres?

 

so far these are their SACDs that have impressed me the most from a surround pov;

Tower Of Power - Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now,
Return To Forever - Musicmagic,
Pure Prairie League - 2-fer,
Swingle Singers,
Hugo Montenegro - Neil Diamond & Stevie Wonder 2-fer covers albums,
Hugo Montenegro - Others By Brothers,
Hugo Montenegro - Godfather,
Percy Faith - Chinatown,
Michel Legrand - Twenty Songs Of The Century

 

the Classical stuff I struggled with really, though I need to give it all a 2nd crack as its far from my default (rock & pop) listening and I ought not dismiss any of it out of hand as its out of my comfort zone.. everything else has sounded great and/or had impressive surround mixes, the titles I've been less knocked out by have largely been the RCAs of Perry Como, Danny Davis, Floyd Cramer, etc but not because there's anything intrinsically wrong with them they just don't excite in the same way as the peppier material somehow.. that said there's not been a real dud yet and in a relatively short space of time they've released in excess of 30 Multichannel discs, several with 2 albums per disc, that's pretty good going and right now from what little's been hinted at the rate of releases shows no sign of abating, they're seemingly on a roll..!

 

Thanks! Maybe I'll add the Percy Faith and a Hugo SACD to my order!

 

The stereo sacd layer is sublime.