Never Have Seen This Thad-Mel Solid State Cover Before!

[JSngry]

I've only always ever seen this one:

[Chuck Nessa]

Never saw it. Is us a US issue?

[marcello]

I"ve never seen that cover either, or this one:

[Chuck Nessa]

That's the first.

[JSngry]

I"ve never seen that cover either, or this one:

That's the first.

That's the one I've got, bought it ca. 1974-75. Didn't come across the later version until years later (which means nothing, really, because UA had pretty much purged the SS catalog IIRC, and what you found in the mid-70s was "already there"...)

As for the cover in the first post, I don't know its origin. Just came across it online. It looks older, the font & everything, like the Jones/Lewis albums w/Ruth Brown & Joe Williams

I"ve never seen that cover either, or this one:

That's the first.

That's the one I've got, bought it ca. 1974-75. Didn't come across the later version until years later (which means nothing, really, because UA had pretty much purged the SS catalog IIRC, and what you found in the mid-70s was "already there"...)

As for the cover in the first post, I don't know its origin. Just came across it online. It looks older, the font & everything, like the Jones/Lewis albums w/Ruth Brown & Joe Williams

[Spontooneous]

The cover design was pulled after Lorraine billed Sonny Lester for the use of the Vanguard's stepladder.

[JSngry]

The cover design was pulled after Lorraine billed Sonny Lester for the use of the Vanguard's stepladder.

Seriously?

[Dan Gould]

Must be true - that definitely looks like the view of the east side of 7th Ave, directly across from the Vanguard.

No, wait a minute, I might be wrong.

[Spontooneous]

I was jesting about the stepladder. Or was I?

Never seen that cover. I've always seen the same one you've seen.

Maybe an early issue, pulled for having an unreadable title and a silly photo?

[sidewinder]

I"ve never seen that cover either, or this one:

UK United Artists LP issue also has that design.

[ASNL77]

I"ve never seen that cover either, or this one:

UK United Artists LP issue also has that design.

Correct. I've got that version too. Sound is not too rotten!

[sidewinder]

The Thad & Mel vinyl Mosaic set sounds better - sans reverb !

[JSngry]

Missed the Mosaic (dammit), but in my experience, "modern" big band w/o some kind of reverb (even it it's just hall sound) gets pretty claustrophobic pretty fast. Did the SS studio recordings have some kind of natural reverb? Seems like they would, since they don't sound really tightly, inndividually miked.

[Chuck Nessa]

Going from memory, the SS releases had excessive "show biz gloss" added. Don't have the Mosaic, only a couple of discs reissued on BN and they sound fine.

[Larry Kart]

In the producer's note at the end of Mosaic set, Cuscuna speaks of Malcom Addey's remixing of the master tapes as "eliminating a lot of ... tape hiss, compression, and artificial echo." Chuck's "show biz gloss" is how I recall the sound of SS releases I heard.

[JSngry]

I've got the SS issues, and "gloss", yeah, that's right. What I was wondering about was what was left after that gloss was removed.

[Larry Kart]

I've got the SS issues, and "gloss", yeah, that's right. What I was wondering about was what was left after that gloss was removed.

I'll check and report.

[Larry Kart]

Did some sampling of the Mosaic, and I'd say that the four-track Vanguard recordings, original engineers either Phil Ramone or Addey, were miked rather closely (no doubt of necessity) and thus when remixed as Cuscana describes above, sound quite clear and have considerable punch (Richard Davis!) but are a tad dry. The following "Central Park North" studio date, recorded in eight track and originally engineered by Don Hahn, pretty much leaps out of the speakers, though I have heard big band recordings that have more room ambience. A&R Studios apparently was not Columbia's 30th St. Studio. Don't have any SS originals to make that sort of comparison.

[Teasing the Korean]

I am obssessed with Sonny Lester. Gotta love a guy who had a label as cool as Groove Merchant, and who also did "How to Strip for your Husband" and "How to Belly Dance for your Husband" albums.