Suggestions for Dutton Vocalion Multichannel SACD Releases

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[*]Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass 'Travelin & Carribean Cruise' (1973) This stuff reminds me a lot of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, just with less jazz and more country/bluegrass elements in the arrangements. Fun stuff maybe verging on a little cheesy but in a good way I think. As far as I know neither of these albums has ever been released on CD at all before, let alone quad SACD.

There were 11 Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass albums issued in Quad (CD-4, Quad 8 Tape) by RCA in the early 1970s when the band was popular.
So there is quite a bit of material available in 4 Channel Surround if this one sells well for Dutton/Vocalion.
 
There were 11 Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass albums issued in Quad (CD-4, Quad 8 Tape) by RCA in the early 1970s when the band was popular.
So there is quite a bit of material available in 4 Channel Surround if this one sells well for Dutton/Vocalion.

Oh please Brian, the use of the world popular and Danny Davis together is illusionary.
There has to be better material out there. The stuff is one and done material.
 
The use of the world popular and Danny Davis together is illusionary.
There has to be better material out there. The stuff is one and done material.

They were cranking out the albums in the 1970's. Popular in Country Music circles.
And a source of Surround Sound albums in the Easy Listening market, an area that Dutton/Vocalion focuses on.

Time will tell whether D/V plans more Surround SACD releases from Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass, Ray Coniff, Percy Faith, Floyd Cramer, etc. :)
 
They were cranking out the albums in the 1970's. Popular in Country Music circles.
And a source of Surround Sound albums in the Easy Listening market, an area that Dutton/Vocalion focuses on.

Time will tell whether D/V plans more Surround SACD releases from Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass, Ray Coniff, Percy Faith, Floyd Cramer, etc. :)

:yikes....not to sound disgruntled, but hopefully D~V WILL expand their musical horizons and dip their collective toes into more popular and jazzy fare. I really do have wildly eclectic taste in music but I did find the Percy Faith, Ray Coniff and Danny Davis SACDs a bit maudlin.......but unexpectedly, found the Andre Kostelanetz Music From Spain and Music of Villa Lobos among my VERY favorite disc (along with Hugo, ToP and Main Ingredient).

I also have the upcoming 5 QUAD Classical SACDs on pre~order (ALL impressive debuts on SACD) and really do applaud D~V for their exceptional masterings and quality control.

Soundtrack buffs should check out the debut of Watership Down on Stereo SACD.......REALLY impressive.....and OOP on RBCD for a long, long time.
 
I bet they are just getting started. I'm sort of excited about the prospects....


Even though I still don't have my first order that is now a month ago... :chill :violin:yikes
 
As always is the case with the reissue labels, sales will tell the tale in terms of whether or not more Surround SACDs will come - and from what artists and music category.

So far, most of the Dutton/Vocalion Surround SACDs are in Vocalion's Easy, Light and Latin category with a few from the label's Classical and Popular categories.
 
Quote Originally Posted by steelydave View Post
[*]Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass 'Travelin & Carribean Cruise' (1973) This stuff reminds me a lot of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, just with less jazz and more country/bluegrass elements in the arrangements. Fun stuff maybe verging on a little cheesy but in a good way I think. As far as I know neither of these albums has ever been released on CD at all before, let alone quad SACD.

Speaking of which, maybe Dutton could talk Herb Alpert out of the quad masters of "Whipped Cream" and "Greatest Hits". Would be a great double header.
 
I really don't know what to suggest to Dutton Vocalion since most of what they have released so far is not really to my liking (musically, that is. I can only speak for the Quad mixes if I own the SACDs.)
But since I have worked with Michael Martin Murphey before, I would certainly love for DV to release a Quadraphonic SACD of "Swans Against the Sun".

I would buy two of those for sure!

:)
 
Well with the exception of the Jeff Beck SACDs in Japan, it seems like Sony has no intention of reissuing Quadraphonic material themselves (i.e. without the help of a reissue label like AF or DV) but then again the Chicago box set from Rhino did sneak up on us out of nowhere, so like I always say, "Hope Springs Eternal!" :)

While I don't think Audio Fidelity will immerse itself headlong into releasing Santana QUAD SACDs, I wonder if Dutton Vocalion would ever consider releasing Santana. Though it's against their usual grain, Tower of Power and the Main Ingredient SACD QUADS did display a departure from their usual fare. We ALL know they'd sell a bundle if such a project ever reached fruition.

Perhaps steelydave could chime in since he's in communication with Michael Dutton.
 
While I don't think Audio Fidelity will immerse itself headlong into releasing Santana QUAD SACDs, I wonder if Dutton Vocalion would ever consider releasing Santana. Though it's against their usual grain, Tower of Power and the Main Ingredient SACD QUADS did display a departure from their usual fare. We ALL know they'd sell a bundle if such a project ever reached fruition.

Perhaps steelydave could chime in since he's in communication with Michael Dutton.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that anything Santana is outside of DV's price point.
There probably is a very big difference in price trying to license Santana's recordings as compared to just about anything else DV has released thus far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I know that my suggestion seems like an unlikely candidate for a Quad SACD release. Chacksfield Plays Simon & Garfunkel & Jim Webb and Chacksfield Plays Bacharach are two superb album by Frank Chacksfield And His Orchestra are superbly engineered albums containing classic Pop songs all of which are served in an astoundingly smooth and discrete Quad mix. The only problem is that these two album have already been released as Stereo CDs by Dutton/Vocalion in the late 2000's. Unless these were best sellers that became out of print quickly, I doubt that the label would serve these albums to their customers a second time. Who knows. I for one will dream of such a SACD.


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I've just realized that I'd posted about Pop albums in a Classical thread. My apologies. I'll be more careful next time. :)
 
I've just realized that I'd posted about Pop albums in a Classical thread. My apologies. I'll be more careful next time. :)

Simon, of ALL people, you are forgiven. I have quite a few of those London Phase IV releases on QUAD open reel [QR] and I can attest to their sterling sonics but doubtful that Universal [UMG] who now controls the London Phase IV catalog will be interested in striking a deal with D~V. Tis a shame of course, since those multitrack Phase IV masters are languishing in the dusty Universal vault.

BTW, a slew of those old Phase IV recordings have been reissued as RBCD TWO~FERS and they don't sound half bad [for 16/44.1], and yes some of them were mastered by none other than Dutton~Vocalion. So, JUST MAYBE.........
 
I don't post reviews too often, but I thought it would be worthwhile to listen to, and post short reviews of some of these lower profile D-V discs because the majority of them are from obscure enough quads that people don't know them, or what the mixes are like.

So this the first one I thought I'd do..

You can see the tracklist above, it basically compiles a lot of MOR hits from 1973 and 1974, and rearranges them for an orchestra. The arrangements are pretty conventional for the most part with the strings playing the lead melodies supported by horns and percussion, but there are a few tracks that were pleasant surprises. There's something hilariously incongruous about a gigantic orchestra playing 'Popcorn', and I liked the way they figured out how to mimick the chucka-chucka wah-wah guitar on 'Love's Theme' using only orchestral instruments too. I think the arrangements are slightly better on vol.2, there are a few toward the 2nd half of the album that are a little more daring or unconventional which was nice because after 15 songs or so the album was getting a little 'samey'. There are a few moments where you can tell the classical musicians are struggling to find the right feel for pop and rock rhythms and phrasing, but it's never so much that it detracts or distracts, it's more just interesting to observe.

The sound quality throughout is phenomenal - this may be an album of pop covers done as a commercial cash grab, but it's still recorded with all of the professionalism that made RCA one of the worlds leading classical labels. The dynamic range is enormous too, there are a couple of moments where things go from very quiet to very loud in the blink of an eye, and because I wasn't fully paying attention it actually startled me. Mike Dutton's expertise with remastering orchestral music really shines here, when I was listening to this I kept thinking about how awful it must have been for these guys to spend all this time making high quality recordings only to have the public be listening to them on something as crappy as 8-track tape.

The mix is very discrete, but it's not like a Columbia mix where you get loads of isolated sounds in one rear speaker, or things swirling around the soundfield. It's very much a 'surround' mix, as you feel wrapped up in it. The strings are generally in a horseshoe around you, with the lead/melody part in the front and the background stuff on the sides and in the back. Horns are similar but often pushed more toward the rear. Percussion tends to be in stereo across one side wall, ie. front left and rear left or front right and rear right.


This kind of stuff probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you do like it you can't do much better than a release like this - two full albums and an audiophile remastering for £10!

Using rtbluray's rating scale:

Content: 1/3 (A lot of these songs I feel are kinda dull, if this had been an album of Funkadelic covers on the other hand...)
Surround Mix: 2/3 (Discrete, well balanced, but not socks-blown-off)
Fidelity: 2.5/3
High-Res Disc: 1/1

So my final rating is a strong 6.5, although your personal experience may be higher or lower depending on how much you like the song choice.

By the 70s the musicians were in close to open revolt over having to play these albums of pop arrangements (remember that the Boston Pops is, as I understand it, the Boston Symphony with each musician moved up one chair and the first chairs excused). I really hope Dutton releases more of Fiedler's recordings of more interesting repertoire (his Dvorak 9th Symphony or Shchedrin arrangement of Carmen would both be great choices).

I got this as part of a bunch of Dutton discs, but I haven't gotten to listen yet. I suspect listening won't change my impressions.
 
By the 70s the musicians were in close to open revolt over having to play these albums of pop arrangements (remember that the Boston Pops is, as I understand it, the Boston Symphony with each musician moved up one chair and the first chairs excused). I really hope Dutton releases more of Fiedler's recordings of more interesting repertoire (his Dvorak 9th Symphony or Shchedrin arrangement of Carmen would both be great choices).

I got this as part of a bunch of Dutton discs, but I haven't gotten to listen yet. I suspect listening won't change my impressions.

If my memory serves me, the Boston Pops was a CASH COW for both the label, RCA and the BSO as they were extremely popular at the time and were even featured on numerous television broadcasts, etc.

The D~V two~fer in question is meh, IMO and the two I cited in my above post [Stardust/Pops Round~up] were actually well done and were quite popular at the time.

For people "who hated classical music" the Boston Pops was somewhat of an anecdote but I agree, Fiedler was a much more capable conductor and the BSO a wonderful orchestra whose talents were compromised by the formation of the POPS orchestra.
 
If my memory serves me, the Boston Pops was a CASH COW for both the label, RCA and the BSO as they were extremely popular at the time and were even featured on numerous television broadcasts, etc.

The D~V two~fer in question is meh, IMO and the two I cited in my above post [Stardust/Pops Round~up] were actually well done and were quite popular at the time.

For people "who hated classical music" the Boston Pops was somewhat of an anecdote but I agree, Fiedler was a much more capable conductor and the BSO a wonderful orchestra whose talents were compromised by the formation of the POPS orchestra.

The Boston Pops has always been a cash cow, but it was especially so in those days I think...which is why the show went on even as the musicians grumbled.

I don't know if I'd call this or the discs you prefer "classical music for people who hate classical music" - it's popular music played by an orchestra (not to deny that D-V should release it of course). The fantastic Pops Caviar and Hi-Fi Arthur Fiedler Living Stereo SACDs are probably the best example of the light classics that fit perfectly into the "classical music for people who hate classical music" box.

As I've said a number of times on threads here, probably the best example of such music from the quad era is the 2-volume Fantastic Philadelphians recordings, which RCA made in part of demo material for quad with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
 
If my memory serves me, the Boston Pops was a CASH COW for both the label, RCA and the BSO as they were extremely popular at the time and were even featured on numerous television broadcasts, etc.

The D~V two~fer in question is meh, IMO and the two I cited in my above post [Stardust/Pops Round~up] were actually well done and were quite popular at the time.

For people "who hated classical music" the Boston Pops was somewhat of an anecdote but I agree, Fiedler was a much more capable conductor and the BSO a wonderful orchestra whose talents were compromised by the formation of the POPS orchestra.

By the way, according to the discography, in addition to the classical releases and the already-released 70s albums, the following were also released on Q8: Music From the Million Dollar Movies, Up, Up & Away, and Best of the Boston Pops (which has tracks from some of the albums you mention).
 
My top secret informant in the Dutton organisation - we'll call him Michael D. to protect his identity - has told me that there are more popular music quad titles of all varieties in the pipeline. So hang tight, reinforcements are coming, they just have to fit in the work on these discs around their recording and mixing sessions for the original classical stuff that they release as well.
 
My top secret informant in the Dutton organisation - we'll call him Michael D. to protect his identity - has told me that there are more popular music quad titles of all varieties in the pipeline. So hang tight, reinforcements are coming, they just have to fit in the work on these discs around their recording and mixing sessions for the original classical stuff that they release as well.

Deep Dutton? :)
 
My top secret informant in the Dutton organisation - we'll call him Michael D. to protect his identity - has told me that there are more popular music quad titles of all varieties in the pipeline. So hang tight, reinforcements are coming, they just have to fit in the work on these discs around their recording and mixing sessions for the original classical stuff that they release as well.

That's most exciting news Dave! It's thrilling to know we'll be treated to more Dutton Magic in the coming months. :)

Thank you for efforts and recommendations! (y)
 
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