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

Speakers Corner / Stax S719 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl 

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

AAA 100% Analogue  - Limited Edition -  Audiophile Mastering - Pressed  at Pallas  

 Speakers Corner 30 Years Pure Analogue   This LP is an Entirely Analogue Production

Their famous studio on McLemore Avenue had a unique raw sound that was represented in the recordings. This set them apart from their competitors at Motown Speakers Corner Records has done a stellar job in re-mastering The Soul Of A Bell to 180-gram vinyl. The unfiltered essence of Stax is present and the mix is balanced Sound 4.5/5 Audiophileaudition

It was as though William Bell had been born specially to impress us with the musical style that prevailed in his birthplace, Memphis. The story of his life certainly makes one sit up and take notice. Many years before his debut album was released on the now-legendary Stax label, Bell wrote songs for the independent label and contributed to the original sound of the South.

His simply constructed (in the very best sense) music with its emphasis on demanding lyrics, such as the hit "Everybody Loves A Winner", is highly appealing to sensitive souls. And it gets even better. With "You Don't Miss Your Water" Bell wrote a classic example of a down-to-earth country-soul number with a whistling organ and broad waves of sound on the winds. Unlike the emotional Wilson Pickett, for example, Bell cultivated a more moderate form of expression. Instead of breathless staccato, his music flows along at a more even pace that does not shy away from grave and ponderous retrospection ("I've Been Loving You Too Long"). Sensitive words follow to the strains of a seething organ ("Nothing Takes The Place Of You") and in a sluggish yet clearly articulated statement ("Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye").

As a contrast, there are also powerful, and rocking catchy numbers such as "Eloise", while the pulsating rhythm and colourful background singing in "Never Like This Before" explores new territory. But as it should be, every single number has its own story to tell.

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

All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: January and May 1967 at Stax Studios, Memphis (TN)
Production: Jim Stewart

Musicians:
William Bell, vocals
Joe Arnold, alto saxophone
Andrew Love, tenor saxophone
Wayne Jackson, trumpet
Booker T. Jones, keyboards
Isaac Hayes, keyboards
Steve Cropper, guitar
Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass
Al Jackson, Jr., drums

Selections:
Side 1:
1. Everybody Loves A Winner
2. You Don't Miss Your Water
3. Do Right Woman - Do Right Man
4. I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
5. Nothing Takes The Place Of You
6. Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
Side 2:
1. Eloise (Hand On In There)
2. Any Other Way
3. It's Happening All Over
4. Never Like This Before
5. You're Such A Sweet Thang

AAA 100% Analogue   This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head 25 Years pure Analogue

 

MADE FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES

AAA 100% ANALOGUE - PURE ANALOGUE AUDIOPHILE MASTERING

We use the Original Tapes and work with only the Best Mastering Studios Worldwide

180 GRAM VIRGIN VINYL  PLATED & PRESSED AT PALLAS GERMANY

Faithful Reproduction of the Original Artwork and Labels

LIMITED EDITION Released in Limited Quantities

All Licences and Mechanical Rights Paid

 

                                      

 

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!