180g 200g 45rpm Box Sets.

Howlin Wolf - The London Sessions - 180g LP

Product no.: CH60008

£22.95

Price includes VAT, plus delivery

Available delivery methods: UK Tracked with Signature, Airmail Standard, UK Express, Airmail Tracked with Signature, UK Standard

Description

SORRY - SOLD OUT

Speakers Corner / Chess CH-60008 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue

Pure Analogue Audiophile Remaster - Pressed at Pallas Germany - Limited Edition

AAA 100% Analogue This Speakers Corner LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Vey strongly recommended - HIFI + Review

This is the classic teaming of master and student. In 1971 when Howlin’ Wolf met Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wynam, Charlie Watts and Ian Stewart for this recording, the Wolf had long been established as one of the all-time blues greats.

His accompanying cast was a literal Who’s Who of white British rockers. Not that the Wolf was impressed. He apparently was somewhat skeptical of the idea of recording with white Brits, as one can see in some of the cover photos. But the music tells quite another story. Captured were fantastic versions of "Sittin’ On Top Of The World," "Little Red Rooster" and "Killing Floor" among other Wolf standards.

With the sixties British blues boom, which included acts such as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, early Fleetwood Mac, and The Rolling Stones, a number of attempts were made to record the original blues masters such as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker (actually the tradition was continued in the nineties by John Lee Hooker with his "The Healer" project) with some of the young upcoming 'white' blues players. Unfortunately many of the projects lacked real impact (usually the recordings were done on the cheap, over short periods, with most of the young musicians simply too intimidated by their idols to offer any real creative input), however these sessions with the great Howlin' Wolf proved to be one of the exceptions.

Although pushing 60, and suffering from heart and kidney problems, the 'Wolf' was still in imposing form, and with backing musicians including his own superb guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Eric Clapton (one of the main catalysts of the sessions – along with producer Norman Dayron), Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, Stevie Winwood, plus numerous drop in guests, the resulting sessions produced 'blues gold'.

Apparently Howlin' Wolf was somewhat skeptical of the idea of recording with white Brits, as one can see in some of the cover photos. But the music tells quite another story. One is always wiser after the event!

1971 Olympic Sound Studios, London, von Glyn Johns

Produktion: Norman Dayron

Vey strongly recommended - HIFI + Review

Musicians:

Eric Clapton,

Steve Winwood,

Bill Wyman,

Charlie Watts.

Selections:

1. I Ain't Superstitious

2. Poor Boy

3. The Red Rooster

4. Worried About My Baby

5. Do The Do

6. Built For Comfort

7. Sittin' On Top Of The World

8. Highway 49

9. What A Woman

10. Who's Been Talking?

11. Rockin' Daddy

12. Wang-Dang-Doodle

20 Years pure Analogue

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head 20 Years pure Analogue

Are your records completely analogue?

Yes! This we guarantee!

As a matter of principle, only analogue masters are used, and the necessary cutting delay is also analogue. All our cutting engineers use only Neumann cutting consoles, and these too are analogue. The only exception is where a recording has been made – either partly or entirely – using digital technology, but we do not have such items in our catalogue at the present time

Are your records cut from the original masters?

In our re-releases it is our aim to faithfully reproduce the original intentions of the musicians and recording engineers which, however, could not be realised at the time due to technical limitations. Faithfulness to the original is our top priority, not the interpretation of the original: there is no such thing as a “Speakers Corner Sound”. Naturally, the best results are obtained when the original master is used. Therefore we always try to locate these and use them for cutting. Should this not be possible, – because the original tape is defective or has disappeared, for example – we do accept a first-generation copy. But this remains an absolute exception for us.

Who cuts the records?

In order to obtain the most faithful reproduction of the original, we have the lacquers cut on the spot, by engineers who, on the whole, have been dealing with such tapes for many years. Some are even cut by the very same engineer who cut the original lacquers of the first release. Over the years the following engineers have been and still are working for us: Tony Hawkins, Willem Makkee, Kevin Gray, Maarten de Boer, Scott Hull, and Ray Staff, to name but a few.

At the beginning of the ‘90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the reissue policy was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC Compact Classics, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and others, including of course Speakers Corner, all maintained a mutual, unwritten code of ethics: we would manufacture records sourced only from analogue tapes.

Vinyl’s newfound popularity has led many other companies to jump on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source from which to master: CDs, LPs, digital files and even MP3s.

Even some who do use an analogue tape source employ a digital delay line, a misguided ’80s and ‘90s digital technology that replaces the analogue preview head originally used to “tell” the cutter head in advance what was about to happen musically, so it could adjust the groove “pitch” (the distance between the grooves) to make room for wide dynamic swings and large low frequency excursions. Over time analogue preview heads became more rare and thus expensive.

So while the low bit rate (less resolution than a 16 bit CD) digital delay line is less expensive and easier to use than an analogue “preview head”, its use, ironically, results in lacquers cut from the low bit rate digital signal instead of from the analogue source!

Speakers Corner wishes to make clear that it produces lacquers using only original master tapes and an entirely analogue cutting system. New metal stampers used to press records are produced from that lacquer. The only exceptions are when existing metal parts are superior to new ones that might be cut, which includes our release of “Elvis is Back”, which was cut by Stan Ricker or several titles from our Philips Classics series, where were cut in the 1990s using original master tapes by Willem Makkee at the Emil Berliner Studios. In those cases we used only the original “mother” to produce new stampers.

In addition, we admit to having one digital recording in our catalogue: Alan Parsons’ “Eye in the Sky”, which was recorded digitally but mixed to analogue tape that we used to cut lacquers.

In closing, we want to insure our loyal customers that, with but a few exceptions as noted, our releases are “AAA”— analogue tape, an all analogue cutting system, and newly cut lacquers.

60 Years Pallas

Audiophile Vinyl - Made in Germany For over 60 years the family business in the third generation of the special personal service and quality "Made by Pallas" is known worldwide. Our custom PVC formulation produces consistently high pressing quality with the lowest surface noise in the industry. Our PVC complies with 2015 European environmental standards and does not contain toxic materials such as Lead, Cadmium or Toluene. Our vinyl is both audiophile and eco-grade!