Dutton Vocalion - what's essential?

[privateuniverse]

The Earth Wind & Fire disc is my favorite so far.

 

[GOS]

 

[JohnN]

The Earth Wind & Fire disc is my favorite so far.

Enjoy this too.

 

[wavelength]

The Main Ingredient - Euphrates River

 

[Scott65]

All that has been recommended so far is worth getting. The Rick Derringer disc (all American Boy and Spring Fever) is in my opinion a must have disc too.

 

[steelydave]

Here's my short list (I even have some titles I haven't even cracked open yet to hear - Bad Doggie!!!)
*Would love to see what @steelydave's list is (probably not cool to Dave, but hey I'm just sayin' right!)

Well of course, all the D-V quad SACDs are like my children and I don't love any one more than any other, but there are definitely a few that have gotten more plays than others:

The O'Jays - Survival/Family Reunion - the quad mixes are so perfect, and so close to the stereo versions in terms of instrument/vocal balances that they could've easily released the SQ as a single inventory LP and nothing would've been lost. If 70s soul is your bag, it doesn't get better than this in my opinion. Honourable mention to Billy Paul's War of the Gods - his lead vocals are a bit of an acquired taste, but if they do it for you, you have to own that disc.

MFSB - Philadelphia Freedom - similar comments to the O'Jays mix, but maybe even more exciting (in a way) musically because it's an instrumental album, and so the musicians can let loose in a way that the wouldn't be able to on all the other PIR albums where they were playing in service of a vocal arrangement. The two Dexter Wansel tracks are particular standouts for me.

The Guess Who - Road Food/#10 - I understand if you have a sentimental attachment to their '69-'71 "hit era" this might not be your kind of thing, but for me these are my two favourite GW albums. I kinda went on at length about it in the liner notes, but I love the kind of weary, white knuckle vibe of these two albums - I really think they'd really matured as songwriters by this point, and this is (musically) the most talented lineup the group ever had. Some of the vocal harmonies on these albums are just mindblowing, and Mike's remastering really makes them shine. Road Food for me is a 10, and #10 is a 9, only because it has the lead vocal mixed into all four speakers. Honourable mention to the Greatest Hits Vol. 2/Rockin' disc - aside from Road Food, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is the only quad mixed by Brian Christian, the band's engineer of choice, and it's the only other quad with lead vocals mixed in the front speakers. There are a couple of minor instrument balance issues in the mix, but I still think it sounds better than the stereo mix. Rockin' is also an underrated record - the band's gnarliest album by far, I think it would be seen as more of a classic if it had maybe one or two more "Guess Who-sounding" original numbers in place of the covers they did.

Poco - Cantamos/Seven - I'm sure this one has already been raved about plenty, but if this isn't the best sounding disc that D-V have done thusfar, it's definitely up there. I wasn't really familiar with these albums before working on the liner notes but since then it's become one of my most played discs. Don Young's quad mixes blow the stereo versions out of the water - it's funny because quad always had that kind of reputation that the guys doing the mixes were the also-rans who weren't good enough for stereo 'hit record' mixing, but if you look through Young's quad credits, I'd argue that many of his remixes are better than the stereo versions - these two, the Jeff Beck ones, and Rick Derringer to name but a few. Speaking of which...

Rick Derringer - All American Boy/Spring Fever - @fredblue raved about this mix for years, and I didn't really give it much time because I could never get my hands on the Q8, unwilling to spend $75+ for it on eBay. But he's totally right, Don Young's quad mix is almost like an "audiophile remix" - it's clearer with better instrument separation, and has a far greater dynamic range than the stereo mix, which I'm guessing was done to sound good on AM radio at the time. Obviously that was the right decision because it made the album a hit, but 40 years later the quad mix is the one best suited to the kind of listening we do now. Spring Fever is alright, but it suffers from that boxy sound that seems to plague a lot of mid-70s New York recordings, I'm thinking of bands like Aerosmith and Blue Oyster Cult. There are a few great tracks on there though, including Rock, Walking the Dog, and He Needs Some Answers.

Other ones that I find myself returning to regularly include Chase Pure Music and Blood, Sweat & Tears New City (both for the phenomenal horns) and Main Ingredient Euphrates River - those later-era RCA quad mixes (Pure Prairie League is the same) are so accomplished, and unburdened by any matrix quad compatibility mixing decisions, that I think you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart from a good modern 5.1 mix from Steven Wilson or Elliot Scheiner.

Also I wanted to mention that I love the fact that the opinions on "best disc" in this thread are so varied - I think it shows how good of a job D-V are doing in both variety and quality that there aren't one or two obvious winners that everyone picks above all others.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Many thanks for all the varied and detailed replies, guys. As Dave mentions above; it's a credit to D-V that everyone's "best" dics are so varied. I'm really excited to have discovered DV, albeit somewhat surprised that it's taken me so long .

I'll spend some time today re-reading everything and compiling my next order for Monday!

[Edit] I'm quite intrigued by the Chet Atkins titles, mainly because I'm reading Steve Howe's autobiography at the moment and he's clearly besotted by him!

 

[windhoek]

Already mentioned but my top picks are Daphnis et Chloé by Tomita and Shostakovich 5 by Ormandy

 

[fredblue]

well here's some of my DV Quad favourites

there are more i just ran out of room to take a pic there are so many of them!!

from L to R,

Top row : Donald Byrd "Black Byrd", Percy Faith "New Thing", Ray Conniff "The Happy Sound Of", Henry Mancini "Symphonic Soul", Best Of Guess Who Volume II, Buddy Miles & Santana

2nd row : Santana & Alice Coltrane "Illuminations", Michel Legrand "Twenty Songs Of The Century", Swingle Singers "Four Seasons", Guess Who "Road Food & #10", Pure Prairie League "If The Shoe Fits & Two Lane Highway", Hugo Montenegro "Rocket Man"

3rd row : Weather Report "Tale Spinnin'", Deodato 1 & 2, Herbie Hancock "Sextant", Charlie Rich "Behind Closed Doors & Every Time You Touch Me I Get High", George Benson "Body Talk", Hugo Montenegro "In Wonder-Land"

4th row : Johnnie Taylor "Eargasm", B W Stevenson "Calabasas", Poco "Cantamos & Seven", Miracles "Love Crazy", Art Garfunkel "Breakaway", Hues Corporation "Rockin' Soul & Love Corporation"

5th row : Rick Derringer "All American Boy & Spring Fever", Chase "Pure Music", Blood Sweat & Tears "Mirror Image & New City", Don Sebesky "Giant Box", Art Garfunkel "Angel Clare", Return To Forever "Musicmagic"

Bottom row : O'Jays "Survival & Family Reunion", MFSB "Philadelphia Freedom", Harold Melvin "Black & Blue / Wake Up Everybody", Earth Wind & Fire "Spirit & That's The Way Of The World", Tower Of Power "There Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now", Billy Paul "360 Degrees Of.. & War Of The Gods".

 

[Scott65]

Honourable mention to Billy Paul's War of the Gods - his lead vocals are a bit of an acquired taste, but if they do it for you, you have to own that disc.

The Billy Paul two-fer is another of my favourites. It's marked as "limited edition" so might be best to acquire it sooner rather than later.

 

[Scott65]

Another of my favourites is the Helen Reddy two-fer and the Lynn Anderson one as well.

I intend to collect them all eventually - they are great value.

 

[JediJoker]

My favorites (in quad) so far have been:

• Angel Clare, Art Garfunkel: I rate this a 10/10, demonstration disc. I don't even much care for the stereo mix, but the quad is a master class and super fun.
• Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now, Tower of Power: It's a four-corner mix, for the most part, which works better here than on some other albums. Not the best from ToP, but still good and a fun listen.
• Tale Spinnin', Weather Report: Bruce Botnick quad mix, and a very good one. Early Weather Report pre-Jaco Pastorius; interesting stuff.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

well here's some of my DV Quad favourites

there are more i just ran out of room to take a pic there are so many of them!!

View attachment 54405

from L to R,

Top row : Donald Byrd "Black Byrd", Percy Faith "New Thing", Ray Conniff "The Happy Sound Of", Henry Mancini "Symphonic Soul", Best Of Guess Who Volume II, Buddy Miles & Santana

2nd row : Santana & Alice Coltrane "Illuminations", Michel Legrand "Twenty Songs Of The Century", Swingle Singers "Four Seasons", Guess Who "Road Food & #10", Pure Prairie League "If The Shoe Fits & Two Lane Highway", Hugo Montenegro "Rocket Man"

3rd row : Weather Report "Tale Spinnin'", Deodato 1 & 2, Herbie Hancock "Sextant", Charlie Rich "Behind Closed Doors & Every Time You Touch Me I Get High", George Benson "Body Talk", Hugo Montenegro "In Wonder-Land"

4th row : Johnnie Taylor "Eargasm", B W Stevenson "Calabasas", Poco "Cantamos & Seven", Miracles "Love Crazy", Art Garfunkel "Breakaway", Hues Corporation "Rockin' Soul & Love Corporation"

5th row : Rick Derringer "All American Boy & Spring Fever", Chase "Pure Music", Blood Sweat & Tears "Mirror Image & New City", Don Sebesky "Giant Box", Art Garfunkel "Angel Clare", Return To Forever "Musicmagic"

Bottom row : O'Jays "Survival & Family Reunion", MFSB "Philadelphia Freedom", Harold Melvin "Black & Blue / Wake Up Everybody", Earth Wind & Fire "Spirit & That's The Way Of The World", Tower Of Power "There Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now", Billy Paul "360 Degrees Of.. & War Of The Gods".

...are there any that you don't have?

 

[fredblue]

...are there any that you don't have?

oh there's loads i haven't got! mostly Classical & Opera but also some Easy Listening and Musicals.

i'd like to have got more but like so many i've been going through the old financial wringer due to covid (and things were already a bit tight before that tbh) so have had to cutback on the hobby.. but hopefully things will turn around and pick up soon. here's to a good outcome for us all

 

[Scott65]

oh there's loads i haven't got! mostly Classical & Opera but also some Easy Listening and Musicals.

i'd like to have got more but like so many i've been going through the old financial wringer due to covid (and things were already a bit tight before that tbh) so have had to cutback on the hobby.. but hopefully things will turn around and pick up soon. here's to a good outcome for us all

I havent bought any of their classical releases but have thought about doing it. Problem is 1. I have to be in the mood to listen to classical and 2. Threre's quite a few of them. A happy problem though.

 

[MrSmithers]

If you like the Tomita titles you may also like this title from DV? Dr Teleny's Incredible Plugged-in Orchestra/Ettore Stratta & the Baroque Pops - Stolen Goods & Viva Vivaldi. It's not essential at all but it's quite fun and wacky!


Also a great resource for polls/store is the DV switchboard.
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...-pop-rock-70s-quad-reissue-switchboard.26753/
Personally I love all the DV quad titles issued! But here's some of my absolute faves...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Black & Blue/Wake Up Everybody
Poco - Cantamos/Seven
MFSB - Philadelphia Freedom
Art Garfunkel - Breakaway
Earth Wind & Fire - Spirit/That’s The Way Of The World
The O’jays - Survival/Family Reunion
Hugo Montenegro - Love Theme From The Godfather/The Good Bad & The Ugly
Billy Paul - 360 Degrees/War Of The Gods
Rick Derringer - All American Boy/Spring Fever
The Guess Who - All
The Raiders - Indian Reservation/Hard & Heavy
Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway/If The Shoe Fits
Blood Sweet Tears - Mirror Image/New City
BW Stevenson - My Maria/Calabasas
Henry Mancini - The Return of the Pink Panther/Symphonic Soul

Hopefully more to come soon...

 

[ar surround]

The Guess Who - Road Food/#10 - I understand if you have a sentimental attachment to their '69-'71 "hit era" this might not be your kind of thing, but for me these are my two favourite GW albums. I kinda went on at length about it in the liner notes, but I love the kind of weary, white knuckle vibe of these two albums - I really think they'd really matured as songwriters by this point, and this is (musically) the most talented lineup the group ever had. Some of the vocal harmonies on these albums are just mindblowing, and Mike's remastering really makes them shine. Road Food for me is a 10, and #10 is a 9, only because it has the lead vocal mixed into all four speakers. Honourable mention to the Greatest Hits Vol. 2/Rockin' disc - aside from Road Food, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is the only quad mixed by Brian Christian, the band's engineer of choice, and it's the only other quad with lead vocals mixed in the front speakers. There are a couple of minor instrument balance issues in the mix, but I still think it sounds better than the stereo mix. Rockin' is also an underrated record - the band's gnarliest album by far, I think it would be seen as more of a classic if it had maybe one or two more "Guess Who-sounding" original numbers in place of the covers they did.

I have to second your recommendation, Dave. I bought this twofer because I needed to order a sixth disc as to not violate @GOS 's law. I was really surprised at how much I like these albums and glad that I got them. I still need to get Greatest Hits Vol 2/Rockin'...along with a pile of others.

 

[Scott65]

If you like the Tomita titles you may also like this title from DV? Dr Teleny's Incredible Plugged-in Orchestra/Ettore Stratta & the Baroque Pops - Stolen Goods & Viva Vivaldi. It's not essential at all but it's quite fun and wacky!
View attachment 54417

Also a great resource for polls/store is the DV switchboard.
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...-pop-rock-70s-quad-reissue-switchboard.26753/
Personally I love all the DV quad titles issued! But here's some of my absolute faves...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Black & Blue/Wake Up Everybody
Poco - Cantamos/Seven
MFSB - Philadelphia Freedom
Art Garfunkel - Breakaway
Earth Wind & Fire - Spirit/That’s The Way Of The World
The O’jays - Survival/Family Reunion
Hugo Montenegro - Love Theme From The Godfather/The Good Bad & The Ugly
Billy Paul - 360 Degrees/War Of The Gods
Rick Derringer - All American Boy/Spring Fever
The Guess Who - All
The Raiders - Indian Reservation/Hard & Heavy
Pure Prairie League - Two Lane Highway/If The Shoe Fits
Blood Sweet Tears - Mirror Image/New City
BW Stevenson - My Maria/Calabasas
Henry Mancini - The Return of the Pink Panther/Symphonic Soul

Hopefully more to come soon...

I have all those discs and they are great.

 

[GOS]

Hopefully more to come soon...

YES! I eagerly await word on what titles DV has up their sleeves. Whoopee!

 

[fredblue]

YES! I eagerly await word on what titles DV has up their sleeves. Whoopee!

there may be an exceptional batch, when we least expect it!
a potential case of expect the unexpected with no exceptions and no expectations

(hopefully sooner rather than later i've got DV withdrawal symptoms!!)