4 New Surround Sound SACD Albums from Dutton Vocalion (Aug 2017)

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
OK... after receiving my latest batch of DV discs, I had to go back and round out my collection... here's what I've got so far (some are still on the way):

Swingle Singers
Hugo Montenegro (Godfather)
Pure Prairie League
Musicmagic
Illuminations
Ray Davies (Excorcist etc)
Jimmy Castor Bunch
Henry Mancini 6 Hours Past sunset
Michel Legrand Twenty songs Of The Century

Are there any surround stunners I'm missing? (classical, too... as long as it has a true surround mix and not ambience)

Nice list, makes me realize how many I need/want.
All I have is Montenegro's "Other By Brothers & Scenes and Themes"
Embarrassing really, but I've been focusing on completing my Analogue Productions Blue Note SACD set.
If I accept the new job offer in front of me I'll have an extra few $$ a month to spend.
There's at least 8 on my for "for sure" list with another half dozen "maybes" (Mancini and/or Cramer)
 
I've been having a Dutton afternoon.... The four new titles came today and am finishing up my first listen to 'em all right now. I had never heard any of these albums in any format before. I am familiar enough with Santana and Return to Forever, but had never heard these specific albums. I only knew Pure Prairie League from "Amie" (which isn't featured here) and I had never heard of Jimmy Castor before. My first impressions:

Santana/Coltrane: Nice mix and I really enjoyed the music. It's a side of Carlos' playing that I wasn't aware of. Sort of left-field for him and I like to hear him stretching out. A stellar cast of musicians with him on this one.

Return to Forever: Another great mix, but I am a little less enthusiastic about the music. Don't get me wrong, it's still quite good, I think I just wasn't digging the vocal stuff that much. The playing is of course fantastic. My bias probably comes from loving Romantic Warrior so much. I was hoping I would like this as much. Although I prefer the previous album, this still has many stellar moments.

Jimmy Castor: This is probably my least favorite of the bunch. He's clearly a great player, but the tunes just weren't hitting home with me much. The album is divided into the first half with vocals and the second half all instrumentals. I liked the instrumental stuff more. It's the closest I'll probably ever get to Procol Harum in surround sound. (He covers "A Whiter Shade of Pale".) Of the four new titles, I was also least impressed with the quad mix on this one. Didn't seem to have the separation that the others did.

Pure Prairie League: I wasn't expecting to enjoy this at all. I'm not a big country-rock fan, and "Amie", while in no way a bad song, is just one of those songs that I've heard enough for one lifetime and don't need to ever hear again. First, the mixes here are excellent. Pure discrete 70's goodness. As for the music, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. A few tunes seem a bit too silly to me, but mostly I think they strike the right balance between country, rock and pop.

Dave, your liner notes are excellent. For someone who is a newbie to all of this music, your words are an excellent introduction to these old LPs.

Mr. Dutton, the mastering on these is quite nice. These 40 year old mixes come to life beautifully on these SACDs.

While I may not get much mileage out of one or two of these, I am more than happy to have purchased them and support DV's efforts. It's great that there's a company willing to dust off the old quad tapes and bring them back to life. Hopefully the series does well enough that DV can eventually afford to issue some titles from the Sony catalog that might be more expensive to license like some of the more popular Santana titles or even the Billy Joel quads.

I need a few more listens and then I will vote in the polls.

Bravo DV!
 
And with D-V stating upfront that Return to Forever - "Musicmagic" is a more limited number (than usual) reissue, I took that to mean 1,000 copies and it's gone. We'll have to see how long it lasts in the catalog.
 
Last edited:
And with D-V stating upfront that Return to Forever - Musicmagic" is a more limited number (than usual) reissue, I took that to mean 1,000 copies and it's gone. We'll have to see how long it lasts in the catalog.

Especially since MusicMagic was Columbia's very last SQ Disc and unfortunately, RTF only released one of their albums in QUAD.

Oh well, there's always the recent Audio Fidelity Stereo SACD of Musicmagic [which sounds great but is EASILY eclipsed by D~V's QUAD SACD].

Hopefully, if Musicmagic sells out D~V will release some Weather Report in QUAD!
 
And with D-V stating upfront that Return to Forever - Musicmagic" is a more limited number (than usual) reissue, I took that to mean 1,000 copies and it's gone. We'll have to see how long it lasts in the catalog.

Could be.
The licensing of an album is usually for a set period of time or a specific number of copies.

In the case of Musicmagic, it could very well be the latter.

Another example of why it is best to buy reissues you are interested in as soon as they are released vs. waiting until later.
 
Could be.
The licensing of an album is usually for a set period of time or a specific number of copies.

In the case of Musicmagic, it could very well be the latter.

Another example of why it is best to buy reissues you are interested in as soon as they are released vs. waiting until later.

Wise advice.
I've we've all been caught (many times in my case) waiting a bit too long on a desired release.
And then poof......it's gone and your paying triple the price (or more) on eBay
 
I ordered the new 4 titles on July 28th, and they arrived 2 days ago, August 19th. Not too bad. I didn't opt for tracking, so I took the slowest route. :)
 
I only ordered one of the new ones--Illuminations--along with Tower of Power. Order placed August 6th & received (from Herts, UK, via Switzerland) here in far Northern California today, August 22nd. Pretty quick, all things considered. Can't wait to hear them.
 
For those still on the fence about purchasing Santana/Coltrane's Illuminations, I came across this interesting review on AmazonUK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073HVV2RC/?tag=hraudio-21 [read review at bottom of page]

Amazon reviewer 'Beatlenik' is right on the money, IMO, in his description of D~V's fantastic QUAD SACD remaster.

Hopefully, D~V will release the QUAD remaster of Santana's equally transcendent collaboration with virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin LOVE, DEVOTION & SURRENDER!
 
I only ordered one of the new ones--Illuminations--along with Tower of Power. Order placed August 6th & received (from Herts, UK, via Switzerland) here in far Northern California today, August 22nd. Pretty quick, all things considered. Can't wait to hear them.

I ordered the newest 6 SACDs on Aug. 5, and received them today! Not bad at all. I had to run out to work the night shift so I won't be able to listen to them until tomorrow and really listen until the weekend.

But I am happy to support DV's quad line of popular and rock orented releases. Thrilled that we have more surprises to look forward to. And praying for a real rock evergreen or two. Can't wait for the Sept. announcement from DV.
 
For those still on the fence about purchasing Santana/Coltrane's Illuminations, I came across this interesting review on AmazonUK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073HVV2RC/?tag=hraudio-21 [read review at bottom of page]

Amazon reviewer 'Beatlenik' is right on the money, IMO, in his description of D~V's fantastic QUAD SACD remaster.

Hopefully, D~V will release the QUAD remaster of Santana's equally transcendent collaboration with virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin LOVE, DEVOTION & SURRENDER!

Thanks for that link, and I share your hope for LDS in surround.

For those of us alive and aware when Carlos Santana took a new direction in 1973, these album covers telegraphed the message loud and clear.

The Woodstock / West Coast Santana turns from his past and looks toward the light.
Next thing you know, he's cut his hair short [shocking for the time], and embraced a new spiritual and musical path with his friend "Mahavishnu" Johnny Mac.
Illuminations soon followed, first of three solo albums credited to "Devadip" Carlos.

Steelydave's excellent liner notes are informative in that regard, as well.

36713319436_65bfd9204c_o.jpg
 
Back
Top