The Scorpio mystery

[Pim]

Now I’ve got a few of these in my collection, mostly bought when I was unaware of this ‘label’ called Scorpio. But everytime I listened to them I did notice that they did not sound great and different from all Blue Note records with a date of release. I’ve got two questions about them:

1. How does this thing work? Are these legit? I mean they violate every US copyright law don’t they. But Scorpio is based in the US. How do they get away with it?

2. Did they also do this with other labels than Blue Note? I recently bought an undated reissue of Jimmy Heath’s ‘On The Trail’ and don’t like the sound at all. It has that same weird empty and flat sound.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Pim

[JSngry]

Here ya' go: https://vinyldiscovery.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-primer-on-rhinoscorpio-jazz-reissues.html

[sidewinder]

I’ve a few of them. Funnily enough, I was impressed with the sound on Sun Ra’s ‘Strange Strings’ - which I assume is a Scorpio. Mind you, that may say more about ‘Strange Strings’..

Edited December 28, 2020 by sidewinder

[jazzbo]

I think I have one, Tyrone Washington "Natural Essence." Strangely it sounds a lot like the first TOCJ cd does. (Well, that strangely was ironic--my guess is that cd is the source for the LP).

[pglbook]

I also have a few Scorpios  in my collection - Sun Ra, Coltrane, Ramones, etc. I bought them new a few years ago at my local record store. Scorpio reissues lps on 180gram vinyl and reproduces the original album cover art. In fact, "Scorpio" is not listed anywhere on the lp label or cover. I was told by a very knowledgeable record dealer that one can spot a Scorpio record by the large black/gold "180 gram" label on the shrinkwrap. The Scorpio reissues are ubiquitous. They market 180 gram vinyl as being better sounding than non-180gram lps (which is nothing but marketing nonsense). However, most Scorpio reissues are merely needle drops. The sound is not bad on the Scorpio reissues but I have learned to avoid buying them. I spend money on records to have something that sounds better than a CD, not to have a needle drop lp that sounds the same as a CD.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by pglbook

[Pim]

8 hours ago, JSngry said:

Here ya' go: https://vinyldiscovery.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-primer-on-rhinoscorpio-jazz-reissues.html

Thanks!

[Teasing the Korean]

In the late 1990s/early 2000s, Scorpio was doing vinyl reissues of some rare Columbia LPs.  I bought at least five of these.  They do not sound at all like they are sourced from vinyl.  I was told at the time that the LPs were mastered from digital tape copies provided to Scorpio by CBS/Sony or whatever the company was at that time.

[Bluesnik]

On 12/28/2020 at 9:31 PM, JSngry said:

Here ya' go: https://vinyldiscovery.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-primer-on-rhinoscorpio-jazz-reissues.html

Very good article.