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Saturday Spins
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| Posted on January 28, 2023 at 15:42:18 | ||
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Posts: 1814
Joined: January 24, 2000 |
Nancy Sinatra- Lee Hazelwood / Start Walkin Nancy and Lee Nancy- Boots B'52s Self Titled 2nd pressing Sterling Mastered without bar code I recently purchased a 180g remastered 2LP greatest hits package of Nancy Sinatra Lee Hazelwood- Start Walkin'. Sure it is cheezy, kitschy even, but also has some sonic merit and brought a smile to my face. The best way to describe the reissue would be to think of it as the soundtrack to the next Tarantino movie. Nancy's biggest hit was These Boots Are Made For Walkin', with that famous bass line and groove. Several other songs have a similar underpinning, as if Nancy and Lee wanted to see if the magic dust would work on other songs. They did have several hits together after all and many of them are in this collection, along with a few minor songs. The reissue is squeaky clean, and obviously from a digital master. Soundstage is wide, and you can hear the LA Wrecking Crew in action. The mix is cleaned up, vocals are distinct and securely placed in space. There is a lot of L/R separation that was typical of the era. Bass is clean and tight, but not very deep. HF extension is clean. There are lots of little details and ambience cues that are clearly heard now but were inaudible coming from an AM radio or scratchy 45. There is room echo and some boom/ambience to give the listener a sense of the recording space. For comparison I also listened to "Nancy and Lee" (Stereo 1G/1E pressing) and "Boots" (Mono likely a first or early pressing). These 2 albums include about half of the titles in the reissue allowing for easy comparisons. Nancy and Lee sounded a bit muddy, but had a tighter stereo spread. Voices were a little buried at times, clear as a bell at other times. Bass weight and HF extension were about the same as on the reissue, which surprised me. I wonder if the digital remaster was taken from the final mix tapes rather than the session masters ? There was some echo/phase effects included that mostly detracted from what you hear. Boots in mono is the way to listen. Echo and Phase issues were non existent. Everything was firmly anchored to the center, with vocals clear and upfront, with a Spectorish wall of sound behind her. The Wrecking Crew did a nice job backing Nancy on this one. The material includes Boots, and several covers...like "Day Tripper" as interpreted by the Wrecking Crew. I keep mentioning them because they are as much a part of this recording as Nancy. She was close miked, and you could hear some breath around her vocals. While going from Nancy Sinatra to the B52s would seem like a genre leap, it really isnt. Again there is some camp and kitsch to what they did 40+yrs ago.... This LP has been part of my life since high school. Their first appearance on Saturday Night Live, then their performance at the Capital Theater were amazing ! The girls could hit all of those high notes ! Then into college where the LP became an integral part of fraternity party mix tapes. Back then we listened and liked it because it was joyful party music, played by people who were clearly having fun. They were in on the joke ! Listening 40+yrs on with different ears highlights that this was a well recorded LP for its time. It was recorded live in the studio, by musicians playing real instruments, without autosync. Just the band in a studio in the Bahamas, with Chris Blackwell behind the controls. You can clearly hear the studio. Musicians are firmly anchored relative to one another. There is space and placement of singers front to back and side to side. Their chops are minimal....maybe 5 chords anchored to a 4/4 surf/monsterbilly beat, but they achieve a lot with a little. Listening today reveals lots of sonic details that we were oblivious to back in the day....little tingles of cymbals or maracas, faint or trailing ooos and ahhs from the girls etc. This is not an audiophile audition LP. However you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of this LP, and thoroughly enjoy the musical content. What did you listen to today ?
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