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Speakers Corner / RCA LSP-2328 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue 

Mastered by Willem Makkee -  Pressed at Pallas - 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 30 Years pure Analogue

"This LP isn’t just one of Elvis’ best LPs, it’s one of the best (and best-recorded) gospel sessions of all time.Dennis Davis HI-FI + Sound 9/10 Music 9/10"

Elvis, like his fellow Sun Records veteran Johnny Cash, had a deep and abiding religious commitment (which did not get in the way of their earthly pleasures!) and love of gospel music. Each of them released religious records interspersed with their more popular fare. This was the first of Elvis’ three gospel records, released in 1960 as his sixth LP. Some of Elvis’ songs were originally intended as songs of religious praise, but the words worked equally well as love songs. Two such numbers from this session (‘Surrender’ and ‘Crying In The Chapel’) were held back and hit big as chart singles. The record charted well and eventually went platinum. And with good reason. Scotty Moore on guitar, Hank Garland on guitar, Floyd Cramer on piano and Elvis at his prime add up to outstanding music, and Elvis was one of the greatest gospel singers, channeling the same energy that sent teen girls swooning into religious music.

 Whatever you think of the  content, this is among Elvis’ greatest efforts and one of his best-recorded LPs. Presley’s Nashville recordings for RCA of this period stand as some of the best popular recordings ever made, and Speakers Corner’s Willem Makkee has succeeded in delivering all the freshness of the original.  Dennis Davis HI-FI + Sound 9/10 Music 9/10

Almost everyone loves gospel songs. After all – it is inspirational music about good news and hope and warms the heart without demanding religious belief. But what in God’s name makes these songs so enjoyable? Why are they music to one’s ears? Is it because of the simple yet unique melodies, the soft or rocking grooves, or the prayer wheel-like verses that are sung alternately by a soloist and chorus? Elvis fans might well be able to answer this question just by taking a quick look at the cover, while other more undiscerning lovers of black folk spirituality would say that this is a well-produced, professional album that cannot be equalled.

Elvis lets his young, flexible voice swing sonorously here, lightly and airily there, all the while supported by a top-notch vocal backing group. The rich vocal harmonies are sung with true passion, and it is certainly no coincidence that one is reminded of the sound of the Golden Gate Quartet. In one moment the voices soar to celestial heights, in another they plunge down to a deep rumbling bass, not to forget the soft and springy rhythm section. his LP isn’t just one of Elvis’ best LPs, it’s one of the best (and best-recorded) gospel sessions of all time.

 

20 Years pure Analogue

 

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

 

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.