{"product_id":"coltrselft_2409-2xx","title":"Coltrane, John and Johnny Hartman - Self-Titled - Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003eVintage covers for this album are hard to find in exceptionally clean shape. Most of the will have at least some amount of ringwear, seam wear and edge wear. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis could very well be the greatest collaboration between a horn player and a singer in the history of music.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI honestly cannot think of another to rank with it. Ella and Louis has the same feel -- two giants who work together so sympathetically it’s close to magic, producing definitive performances of enduring standards that have not been equaled in the sixty plus years since they were recorded. And on the better copies, or should we say the better sides of the better copies, RVG’s sound is stunning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHats off to \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22rvg%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRudy Van Gelder\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e. Here’s an album that justifies his reputation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 70s reissue LP has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern pressings rarely begin to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving done this for so long, we understand and appreciate that rich, full, solid, Tubey Magical sound is key to the presentation of this primarily vocal music. We rate these qualities higher than others we might be listening for (e.g., bass definition, soundstage, depth, etc.). The music is not so much in the details in the recording, but rather in trying to recreate a solid, palpable, real Johnny Hartman singing live in your listening room. The better copies have an uncanny way of doing just that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you exclusively play modern repressings of older recordings (this one is now over 60 years old), I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but less than one out of 100 new records do, if our experience with the hundreds we’ve played can serve as a guide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman Have To Offer Is Not Hard To Hear\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe most Tubey Magic, without which you have \u003ci\u003ealmost\u003c\/i\u003e nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl pressings offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%221963%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1963\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNatural tonality in the midrange -- with all the instruments having the correct timbre\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTransparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional studio space\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo doubt there's more but we hope that should do for now. \u003ci\u003ePlaying the record is the only way to hear all of the qualities we discuss above,\u003c\/i\u003e and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCopies with \u003cstrong\u003erich lower mids and nice extension up top\u003c\/strong\u003e did the best in our shootout, assuming they weren't veiled or smeary of course. So many things can go wrong on a record. We know, we've heard them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTop end extension\u003c\/strong\u003e is critical to the sound of the best copies. Lots of old records (and new ones) have no real top end; consequently, the studio or stage will be missing much of its natural air and space, and instruments will lack their full complement of harmonic information.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTube smear\u003c\/strong\u003e is common to most vintage pressings. The copies that tend to do the best in a shootout will have the least (or none), yet are full-bodied, tubey and rich.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For on John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEnergy\u003c\/strong\u003e for starters. What could be more important than the life of the music?\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Big Sound\u003c\/strong\u003e comes next -- wall to wall, lots of depth, huge space, three-dimensionality, all that sort of thing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen \u003cstrong\u003etransient information\u003c\/strong\u003e -- fast, clear, sharp attacks, not the smear and thickness so common to these LPs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTight note-like bass\u003c\/strong\u003e -- which ties in with good transient information, also the issue of frequency extension further down.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNext: \u003cstrong\u003etransparency\u003c\/strong\u003e -- the quality that allows you to hear deep into the soundfield, showing you the space and air around all the instruments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThen: \u003cstrong\u003epresence and immediacy\u003c\/strong\u003e. The musicians aren't \"back there\" somewhere, lost in the mix. They're front and center where any recording engineer worth his salt -- the aforementioned Rudy Van Gelder -- would put them.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eExtend the top and bottom\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003ci\u003evoila\u003c\/i\u003e, you have The Real Thing -- an honest to goodness Hot Stamper.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom the Liner Notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou are immediately struck by Hartman’s dark satin lyricism in \"They Say That Falling In Love Is Wonderful.\" His voice, always a perfectly tuned instrument, is unobtrusive and relaxing, heavy in quality but almost without tremolo, which makes Hartman unique among the big-voiced boppers. His enunciation is impeccable (you’ll hear every word on this record), which makes him unique among all male singers. He respects the word, adapts his vocal embellishments to the value (in meaning and sound) of the word: which makes him unique among everybody.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Players\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJohnny Hartman – vocals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22John-Coltrane%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Coltrane\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e – tenor sax\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22McCoy-Tyner%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMcCoy Tyner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e – piano\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJimmy Garrison – double bass\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22Elvin-Jones%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eElvin Jones\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e – drums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus and maybe a bit better is about as quiet as any vintage pressing will play, and since only the right vintage pressings have any hope of sounding good on this album, that will most often be the playing condition of the copies we sell. (The copies that are even a bit noisier get listed on the site are seriously reduced prices or traded back in to the local record stores we shop at.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose of you looking for quiet vinyl will have to settle for the sound of other pressings and Heavy Vinyl reissues, purchased elsewhere of course as we have no interest in selling records that don't have the vintage analog magic of these wonderful recordings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you want to make the trade-off between bad sound and quiet surfaces with whatever Heavy Vinyl pressing might be available, well, that's certainly your prerogative, but we can't imagine losing what's good about this music -- the size, the energy, the presence, the clarity, the weight -- just to hear it with less background noise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Vocal Masterpiece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe consider this duet album a Masterpiece. Others that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22vocal-masterpiece%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Coltrane, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52390226919720,"sku":"coltrselft","price":249.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/coltrhartmann.jpg?v=1724602392","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/coltrselft_2409-2xx","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}