"Public Domain" vinyl

[m10]

Saw this in HMV Oxford Street today - an album I'm not familiar with but I'm a big Oscar Peterson fan so I bought it. (For £10.99)


image by noch_einmal, on Flickr

Turns out it's a very early Verve/Clef album recorded around 1950-1. My interest was piqued as it's an album of duets with Ray Brown on bass.

It seems to be on the DOL label, and there's a web address vinylology.ru. The website is in Russian, but you can pick out some other label names including Doxy and Vinyl Lovers. The sleeve claims HQ virgin vinyl 140g. The image and text seem to be original but the Verve Records and "Hi-Fi" logo are missing. Rear liner notes look to be original too. As far as I'm aware, this has never been issued on CD by PolyGram/Universal (although there is some kind of special edition for the thick end of fifty notes on Amazon).

I'm going to resist the urge to pull the album up on Spotify and give this its first play on the Tecchie when I get home. I'm excited to hear it but, googling, I realise there may be some issue with these "grey" reissues from material that is now in public domain. Anyone here have any experience with such reissues?

[EDIT: On an unrelated note it's quite a joy to buy vinyl from a store. As well as HMV, I also visited Harold Moores Records where I picked up some nice looking classical vinyl including a Kathleen Ferrier Brahms that I'm quite excited about.]

[keiths]

Not come across DOL, but Not Now Music are a well-known 'grey' reissues label. I have their Miles Davis 'Kind of Blue' and it's frankly dire.

[m10]

I'll report back when I've played it. Thanks.

[m10]

So, I finally played this last night and I'm unsure. What does it sound like? It sounds like a recording made in 1951. It reminds me of other Verve monos in terms of piano sound and tone - ever so slightly boxy and with not an awful lot of air around it, but very pleasing. The other Verve monos I have are on CD, though - so I don't know if there's any extra magic on an original vinyl. The bass end is present and correct - Ray Brown sounds great on this album.

A little distortion on some tracks on the loudest passages/transients - this may be vinyl related. The record is fairly heavy, but was a little dusty out of the sealed packet.

What I would say though is that I'm thrilled to have the album in my collection and a bit chuffed that it's on vinyl. Anyone expecting an audiophile wonder would likely be disappointed but this is a pretty nice LP.