{"product_id":"nilssschmi_2609-1","title":"Nilsson, Harry - Nilsson Schmilsson - Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e*NOTE:\u003c\/strong\u003e There is a slight warp that plays as a swoosh 6 times lightly at the start of track 1 on side 2, \"Without You.\" There is also a swoosh that plays 4 times \u003cu\u003every\u003c\/u\u003e lightly at the start of track 2, \"Coconut.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBig production pop like this is hard to pull off. Harry did an amazing job, but the recording is not perfect judging by the dozen or so copies we played during our most recent shootout, and the scores we've suffered through before. Let's face it: \"Jump Into The Fire\" will never be smooth and sweet; neither will \"Down\" on side one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis RCA pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records rarely even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn't showing signs of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to \"see\" the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the studio with the Harry Nilsson, this is the record for you. It's what vintage all analog recordings are known for -- \u003ci\u003ethis sound\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, 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 maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of Nilsson Schmilsson 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:%221971%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1971\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\u003ch3\u003eOne of His Best\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSon of Schmilsson and the album simply titled Harry are two other superb Nilsson records that both come highly recommended. Harry is my favorite of them all, perhaps because it was so different from anything that I'd ever heard up to that point (I was 15 at the time). A Little Touch... is also a personal favorite, with the great American songbook done in Nilsson's inimitable style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the way, if you get a chance to see the documentary \"Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?),\" you should definitely check it out. Most of us here have seen it by now and it's a ton of fun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat We're Listening For On Nilsson Schmilsson\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\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 for the guitars, horns and drums, not the smear and thickness common to most LPs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTight, note-like bass with clear fingering\u003c\/strong\u003e -- which ties in with good transient information, as well as 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 players.\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\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhill (That's Two L's) Brown\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI recently looked up the engineer for the album and am rather shocked that I never paid much attention to his body of work before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe assisted on some amazing sounding records, many that we've auditioned and some that we've done Hot Stamper shootouts for and know to be superb recordings:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArthur Brown - Crazy World of Arthur Brown\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJoe Cocker - With a Little Help From My Friends (Superb)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSmall Faces - Ogden’s Nutgone Flake\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTraffic - Mr Fantasy (WOW! The Best of the Best)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRolling Stones - Beggars Banquet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSteve Miller Band - Sailor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSpooky Tooth - Spooky Two (Superb)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd these are a sample of favorites he engineered:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJeff Beck - Rough and Ready\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRobert Palmer - Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRoxy Music - Manifesto\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first and third can be superb, the other two merely good in our experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eVinyl Condition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMint Minus Minus 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 later 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 that is a key part of the appeal 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 Must Own Rock Record\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe consider this album Harry's \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22rock-masterpiece%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMasterpiece\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e that belongs in any serious rock collection. Others that belong in that category can be found \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22core-rock-collection%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nilsson, Harry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67625048211752,"sku":"nilssschmi","price":179.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/nilssschmi.jpg?v=1789927065","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/nilssschmi_2609-1","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}