Quad LP/Tape Poll Papa John Creach: Papa John Creach [CD-4/Q8]

[sjcorne]

Papa John Creach (1971) was the Jefferson Airplane violinist's debut solo LP and sole quad release, originally issued on quad 8-track in the United States (as part of RCA's original 'PQ8' series) and CD-4 LP in Japan. The album features guest appearances by Grace Slick, Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, and other noteworthy musicians.

Grunt R4P 5024 [CD-4 LP] PQFT-1003 [Q8]
Discogs links: Q8 / LP
Wiki for the album: Papa John Creach

Side 1

1. The Janitor Drives A Cadillac
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Papa John's Down Home Blues
4. Plunk A Little Funk
5. Danny Boy

Side 2

1. String Jet Rock
2. Over The Rainbow
3. Human Spring
4. Soul Fever
5. Everytime I Hear Her Name

 

[sjcorne]

This one was an interesting surprise - I was expecting a fairly-conservative quad mix with elements mixed to all four speakers at once (as is typical of these early-70s RCA titles, such as The Guess Who's American Woman or The Friends Of Distinction's Grazin'), but that's actually not the case. Papa John's vocals and violin are typically isolated in the front speakers, while drums, bass, horns, and piano frequently appear partially or entirely in the rears. It's also a surprisingly dynamic recording with some really quiet passages (check out the last minute or so of "Danny Boy"), which are slightly marred by the high noise floor on both LP and tape. I attached rear channel samples from the same section of "Human Spring" on both the CD-4 and Q8 below, they sound very close in terms of front/back seperation.

 

[Quad Linda]

8. My impression of this was about the same, except my expectations were high for the mix. It didn't disappoint! It was early '73 and I had bought all the other JA/solo Q8's and generally liked the mixes. Liked Creach's fiddling on the Bark Q8, so I expected an above average performance. That didn't disappoint either. My only concern was the material. 7. Better than expected there, too. An all around winner!

Q8 is my most listened to copy and among my more listened to Q8's. I rebought this on a CD. Bought Filthy on 2ch LP back in the day and it never really hit me. Never bought any other Creach (all 2ch). On a later CD-4 release, I also enjoyed his fiddling on Red Octopus.