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Categories BLUES SOUL R&B Mississippi John Hurt - Today - 180g LP
Mississippi John Hurt - Today - 180g LP
Product no.: VSD79220
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Pure Pleasure / Vanguard - VSD-79220 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue
Limited Edition - Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering
Mastered by Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray at AcousTech Mastering - Pressed at Pallas Germany
AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only, from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head
Featured in Michael Fremer's Heavy Rotation in the December 2006 Issue of Stereophile! SOUND 8/10 MUSIC 8/10 Michael Fremmer
Decide for yourself whether The Lovin’ Spoonful took their name from Mississippi John Hurt’s “Coffee Blues” (not to mention the tune for “Darlin’ Companion”) but fans of Taj Mahal will have no doubts about this gentle soul’s influence on Taj when you hear this earlier take on “Corrina, Corrina” and compare it to Taj’s on The Natch’l Blues
Hurt’s brand of soothing Mississippi-born country/folk blues doesn’t have the slashing, searing immediacy of Son House’s, nor does he traffic in that level of direct pain, but the charm is undeniable as are his finely tuned storytelling abilities.
Like House, Hurt was also “rediscovered” in the early ‘60’s blues revival, and he too played Newport, where his simple, direct style spoke a truth missing in the pre-digested commercial drool fed the boomer generation on commercial radio.
Hurt’s blues are of the resigned, not angry variety, though they speak to power with equal authority. Hurt’s skillful acoustic finger picking is attraction enough, but add to that his velvety vocal delivery and disarming directness and you have a mood altering direct communication with a time long gone, aided by a pleasingly simple and direct recording.
The miking or EQ accentuates the lower guitar strings in a way that will excite lower midbass speaker and room resonances. If you hear “boom” don’t blame the recording.
Otherwise, it's an simply miked, honest recording of a guy playing a guitar and if your system is up to the task, Mississippi John Hurt will play for you in your living room.
Hurt freshens some familiar tunes and brings immediacy to some new ones in this charming set that yields warmth and comfort in place of the usual bluesy pain.
Though the jacket proclaims "Taken from the Vanguard CD "Today" (VMD 79220), rest assured the LP was cut from analog tape.
SOUND 8/10 MUSIC 8/10 Michael Fremmer
Today is Mississippi John Hurt's first and finest studio release since his "rediscovery" on his Avalon farm by folklorist Tom Hoskins in 1963. Eclipsed possibly only by his earlier 1928 Sessions, this album shows a more mature Hurt picking his way through standards and originals after the Depression years and Hurt's fall into obscurity before the folk revival of the 1960s. It shows, however, that all that the great bluesman has lost is years; his voice retains its characteristic Buddha-esque warmth and it is still difficult to believe that there is just one man playing on the seemingly effortless guitar work.
The music on the album comes from a variety of different influences, from the fun and poppy "Hot Time in Old Town Tonight" and "Coffee Blues," to the bluesy standards "Candy Man" (Hurt's most famous song) and "Spike Driver's Blues" to the soulful spirituals "Louis Collins" and "Beulah Land." Hurt's tranquil guitar work -- mixing country, Scottish folk, and Delta blues -- strings all of the songs along the same simple and elegant thread. Hurt himself never could explain his guitar playing, as he used to say, "I just make it sound like I think it ought to." Regardless, that sound, along with a mellow and heartfelt voice, wizened here by decades, combine to make Today an unforgettable whole. A truly essential album of the folk revival, unrivaled in its beauty and warmth.
"Based upon the diversity of music, quality of product and their extraordinary rate of progress, Pure Pleasure Records is our re-issue record company of the year (2005)." - hi-fi+
Selections:
1. Pay Day
2. I’m Satisfied
3. Candy Man
4. Make Me A Pallet On The Floor
5. Talking Casey
6. Corrina, Corrina
7. Coffee Blues
8. Louis Collins
9. Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
10. If You Don’t Want Me, Baby
11. Spike Driver's Blues
12. Beulah Land
Pure Pleasure Records
The Restoration of the Art of Sound
180g Vinyl Mastered From The Best Available Sources
At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records. During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped 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 to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.
A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.
We should like to emphasize that Pure Pleasure Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production. To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.
There really is nothing quite like it. It’s the touch, the feel, you have to stop and stare, the cover, the real thing, even the smell.
Its tangible, you can feel it, see it, study it, muse/dream over it, it’s real, someone has spent hours and hours over its construction and presentation. Pure Pleasure Records is just that, Pure Pleasure and that is what it has set out to be.
The music and the physical record. Something to keep, treasure, admire and above all enjoy.Of course with vinyl it’s not just a record, it’s the cover, the sleeve notes, you are holding a unique package, produced by craftsmen.
Pure Pleasure Records bring you vinyl albums of quality Jazz - Blues - R+B - Soul - Funk, remastered by some of the best engineers in the world and pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl at what is probably the best pressing plant in Europe
Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering - Plated and Pressed at Pallas in Germany on 180 Gram Virgin Vnyl - Released in Limited Quantities
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