fairport on vinyl

I have both and am delighted with them.

I don't have Dusty in Memphis on vinyl though - only CD, but what a great recording nonetheless.

I've purchased a few '4 men with beards' records so far, imo they sound poorer in general depth of vinyl quality from the original record label pressings.
The worst one i had was Fairport Convention - 'What We Did on Our Holidays' which didn’t dig deep in a vibe sense, and was so pippy and poppy it went back for refund.
So now i avoid the '4 men with beards' record label.

The best Fairport Convention vinyl I have for pressing quality is a 'The History of Fairport Convention' double album on 'Island' record label which (perhaps luckily) has no surface noise at all and the quality lets the music 'vibe' naturally though wonderfully grin factor ten lovely.

Imo it's a case of buy the older but better sounding pressings which may or may not have someone else’s wear and tear surface noises, or buy newer release record labels which are brand new but with slightly muffty pressings… you know when something isn’t quite right, like washing your feet with your socks on… not that i do that mind you.

Another FC record that needs a special warning is this shocker…



Maidstone 1970: on the 'Vinyl Lovers' label (released last year i think)
Although the record itself is a fine example of perfect record manufacturing, the recording on it is a very grubby and very distant historical reference. It's difficult to tell how good the music really is being so distant, leaves you just wanting to be there... instead of 2 miles away.

Andy said:

quote:

I noticed that both Liege & Lief and Unhalfbricking are available on 180g on the 4 men with beard label. I was just wondering if anyone could comment on the quality of pressing?

Andy, i can't comment on these two albums, my experience with the '4 men with beards' has changed my mind about buying them. But if you do go ahead and buy them, i hope i'm wrong and you enjoy them anyway.

Music as good as this deserves the best manufacturing quality imo.

Debs

quote:

The best Fairport Convention vinyl I have for pressing quality is a 'The History of Fairport Convention' double album on 'Island' record label which (perhaps luckily) has no surface noise at all and the quality lets the music 'vibe' naturally though wonderfully grin factor ten lovely.

I have that too and it is exceptional; I've been very lucky with the '4 men with beards' records so far, but agree What We Did on Our Holidays is not as clean cut as it should be, but I didn't experience any severe pops and crackles: I guess it is very difficult to predict the quality of each individual record with some labels.

The Maidstone album is just a poor recording whatever medium it is on. I also have Fairport Unconventional which cost far too much and, Ribbon Bow apart, is dreadful beyond words.

So probably best advice is buy from a supplier with a good returns policy - Amazon works fine in this respect and I really like Rockbox (in the UK) and All Your Music (superb mail order service from California).

ATB Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

The best Fairport Convention vinyl I have for pressing quality is a 'The History of Fairport Convention' double album on 'Island' record label which (perhaps luckily) has no surface noise at all and the quality lets the music 'vibe' naturally though wonderfully grin factor ten lovely.

I have that too and it is exceptional; I've been very lucky with the '4 men with beards' records so far, but agree What We Did on Our Holidays is not as clean cut as it should be, but I didn't experience any severe pops and crackles: I guess it is very difficult to predict the quality of each individual record with some labels.

The Maidstone album is just a poor recording whatever medium it is on. I also have Fairport Unconventional which cost far too much and, Ribbon Bow apart, is dreadful beyond words.

So probably best advice is buy from a supplier with a good returns policy - Amazon works fine in this respect and I really like Rockbox (in the UK) and All Your Music (superb mail order service from California).

ATB Rotf

Yes sometimes you just get a poor individual pressing - I have had ones of Automatic for the People and White Chalk over the last year or so. Didn't know about those specific websites so thanks very much for that. Not bad prices too.

Cheers

Andy