{"product_id":"tayloonema_2601_3_5xx","title":"Taylor, James - One Man Dog - White Hot Stamper","description":"\u003cp\u003ePlay \"Chili Dog\" here, one of our favorite tracks, and note not only the clarity and spaciousness, but the \u003ci\u003epunch\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003elife\u003c\/i\u003e of the music. This song is supposed to be fun. The average compressed, dull copy misses the point entirely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen skip on down to the hit at the end of the side, \"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,\" another favorite track for testing. There's a lot of bass in the mix on this track, but the best copies keep it under control. When it gets loose and starts blurring the midrange, the vocals and guitars seem 'blocked.' The better copies let you hear all that meaty bass, as well as into the midrange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne Man Dog, like many early WB pressings, has a tendency to be dull and opaque. (Most side twos have a real problem in that respect.) When you get one like this, with more of an extended top end, it tends to come with much more space, size, texture, transparency, ambience and openness. (Of course it does -- \u003ci\u003ethat's where much of that stuff is\u003c\/i\u003e, up high.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost copies don't have nearly enough of it, but thankfully this one does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/search?q=tag:%22tubey-magical-acoustic-guitars%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTubey Magical acoustic guitar\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e reproduction is superb on the better copies of this recording. Tons of Tubey Magic can be heard on every strum, along with richness, body and harmonic coherency that have all but disappeared from modern recordings (and especially from modern remasterings).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat The Best Sides Of One Man Dog 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:%221972%22\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1972\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\u003eHey Mister, Got a Hot Side One?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have a Hot side one for One Man Dog, you will know it in a hurry. The guitars and congas will leap out of your speakers at the beginning of \"One Man Parade.\" If they don't, forget it, move along to the next copy and keep going until you find one in which they do. There are plenty of subtle cues to separate the White Hot copies from the merely Hot, but if the sound doesn't come to life right from the get go, it never will.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(The same is not true for side two however. The first track is a bit dull on even the best copies, so don't lose hope if your first track sounds rolled off. They almost all do -- this copy fares better than most, however. \"One Morning in May,\" the second track and the one featuring Linda Ronstadt on background vocals, is a much better test, as is track three, \"Instrumental II,\" the one with the lovely bells.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSide Two Has Bells\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince side two tends to be dull, we paid a lot of attention to the bells on \"Instrumental II\" to help us get a handle on the top end. Sure enough, those bells are key to the better copies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Fanfare\" is one of the few songs here with horns, so it became another key track. The horns need to have bite and texture, with the best copies really bringing out the breath in the sax. Any smearing or dulling of the sound and the horns go south in a hurry, along with the rest of the instruments.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWe Love One Man Dog\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is not a false note to be found on side one: it's brilliant from start to finish. Side two is almost as good, and we love the Abbey Road-like medley that makes up most of it. The song \"Someone\" is a bit out of place, but the rest of it is pure James Taylor Magic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4 Stars from Better Records. (Everyone else can shove it.)\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 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","brand":"Taylor, James","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51846281134376,"sku":"tayloonema","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0257\/3415\/2295\/files\/tayloonema.jpg?v=1769537265","url":"https:\/\/better-records.com\/products\/tayloonema_2601_3_5xx","provider":"Better Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}