Offered for sale is a copy of the U.S. 180 gram true stereo pressing of Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys.
This limited edition 1999 pressing represented the first time the album had ever been released in true stereo.
About this copy: This copy of Pet Sounds is a 1999 U.S. 180 gram vinyl pressing on the Capitol label of an album that was originally released in 1966.
The cover is M- and is still in the original shrink wrap. A sticker on the wrap indicates that it’s the album’s first stereo release and that it’s pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
The disc is M- and looks unplayed. Clean disc!
A nice copy of a classic LP. Sounds good in stereo, too.
Background: Pet Sounds, released in 1966, is generally regarded as the best Beach Boys album, and one of the great rock albums of all time. While not a big seller when first released, the album has grown in reputation over the years and has never gone out of print.
The best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, Theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more. It wouldn’t have been a classic without great songs, and this has some of the group’s most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes which evoke both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well).
In 1965, Sergio Mendes and his trio conducted their first out-of-Brazil experiment: They recorded in L.A. for the first time in what proved to be their first major move into the U.S. market and their embrace of the new bossa nova sound. Accompanying the Mendes band were then-great vocalist Wanda de Sah and guitarist Rosinha de Valenca. This is deeply swinging bossa; it is crisp and pops out at the listener in every conceivable way. It features exotic and pioneering rhythmic work, smooth accessibility, and sophisticated melodies, many of which were written by the hottest talents in Brazil…. This stands with Mendes’ best work from Brazil and is truly one of his American highlights.
Offered for sale is a UK stereo pressing of Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66.
The first 1966 pressing was on the Pye label; this is the second issue on A&M.
About this copy: This copy of Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 is 1966 UK pressing on the A&M label.
The flipback cover is VG++ and close to M-, with slight wear on the flaps on the back cover
The disc is M- with one or two spindle marks on the labels, but no marks on the vinyl. Clean disc!
A nice copy of a terrific LP. This is the best-sounding pressing of this album that we’ve ever heard. It’s much better than the 1983 Mobile Fidelity issue.
Background: Released in 1966, Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 was the ninth album by Brazilian pianist Sergio Mendes, and the first to feature his Brasil ’66 band.
The album reached #7 on the U.S. album charts, becoming one of the biggest-selling Bossa Nova albums ever. This well-recorded album has long been a favorite of audiophiles.
After bouncing around Philips, Atlantic, and Capitol playing Brazilian jazz or searching for an ideal blend of Brazilian and American pop, Sergio Mendes struck gold on his first try at A&M (then not much more than the home of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and the Baja Marimba Band). He came up with a marvelously sleek, sexy formula: dual American female voices singing in English and Portuguese over a nifty three-man bossa nova rhythm/vocal section and Mendes’ distinctly jazz-oriented piano, performing tight, infectious arrangements of carefully chosen tunes from Brazil, the U.S., and the U.K.
Equinox continues the scrumptiously winning sound that Sergio Mendes cooked up in the mid-’60s, this time a bit more fleshed out with John Pisano’s guitar, a slightly thicker texture, and even an imitation sitar (this was, after all, 1967). Again, the mix of American pop tunes old and new and Brazilian standards and sleepers is impeccable (although it didn’t yield any substantial hits), and the treatments are smooth, swinging, and very much to the point. … Lani Hall’s star was just rising at this time, and it is her cool, clear voice that haunts the memory most often. Like its predecessor, Equinox is exceedingly brief in duration, yet not a motion is wasted.
Offered for sale is an original UK stereo pressing of Buffalo Springfield Again by Buffalo Springfield.
About this copy: This copy of Buffalo Springfield Again is a 1968 UK stereo pressing on the red and plum Atlantic label
The cover is VG+ with slight discoloration on the back cover and a few minor lamination cracks. The back cover has six lines of text below the Atlantic logo in the top right hand corner.
The stereo disc is VG, with a number of scuffs on both sides, but no significant marks. It plays well.
A nice copy of an album that’s quite hard to find as a first pressing.
Background: Released in October 1967, Buffalo Springfield Again was the second of three albums by Buffalo Springfield.
The album reached #44 on the U.S. album charts, though it’s generally regarded as the band’s best album.
Due in part to personnel problems which saw Bruce Palmer and Neil Young in and out of the group, Buffalo Springfield’s second album did not have as unified an approach as their debut. Yet it doesn’t suffer for that in the least — indeed, the group continued to make major strides in both their songwriting and arranging, and this record stands as their greatest triumph. …Although a slightly uneven record that did not feature the entire band on several cuts, the high points were so high and plentiful that its classic status cannot be denied.
The hype-laden title undoubtedly refers to Sergio Mendes’ move to America two years before this album’s release, settling in Los Angeles, where this record was made. Clearly he was out to make it big in the U.S.A., for this album tries to move a bit away from Brazil by spotlighting Mendes’ jazz and pop piano against the elaborate charts of Clare Fischer, Bob Florence and Dick Hazard. …Though an encouraging step forward, Mendes’ first big strike was still several months away.
Offered for sale is an original U.S. stereo pressing of The Hottest New Group in Jazz by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
About this copy: This copy of The Hottest New Group in Jazz is a 1959 U.S. pressing on the “six eye” Columbia label.
The cover is VG+ with light general wear. The disc is VG++ and close to M- with a couple of very faint hairlines. Clean disc!
A nice copy of one of the best jazz vocal albums ever made. Great recording, too.
Background: Originally released in 1959, The Hottest New Group in Jazz was actually the fourth album by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, a vocal group that took jazz instrumentals, added lyrics to them, added some interesting harmonies, and produced some terrific LPs that have long been admired by jazz aficionados.
Offered for sale is a original U.S. stereo pressing of Showtime by James Brown.
About this copy: This copy of Showtime is 1964 U.S. stereo pressing on the Smash label.
The cover is VG+ with slight edge and corner wear.
The disc is VG+ with a couple of moderate sleeve scuffs and a few spindle marks on the labels, but no significant marks. It’s a fairly clean LP that plays well.
Background: James Brown was not only a good entertainer, but he was a smart businessman, too. Due to a loophole in his contract with King Records, Brown found a way to record simultaneously for Smash Records, though his titles for Smash didn’t generate the hits that his King LPs did.
Showtime, released in 1964, presents itself as a live album, though the cover never claims that it’s a live album. It’s not; it’s a “fake” live album consisting of new studio recordings with an overdubbed audience.
A transition album. James Brown’s contract with King Records had a few more legs, and the Godfather of Soul was handicapped in what he could wax for Smash Records, his new label. Hence, an album of remakes enhanced — or marred — by overdubbed applause. Some apparently don’t have a problem with overdubbed applause, judging from the lofty prices record collectors ask and get for a copy. Brown does his best retooling on Louis Jordan’s “Caledonia,” “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,” and “Somebody Changed the Lock on My Door.”
