Suggestions for Dutton Vocalion Multichannel SACD Releases

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steelydave

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I wonder if what AF has been doing with quads is catching the attention of others in the music world...

I'm not sure if the impetus was external (ie AF's recent quad reissues) or internal but it seems like whoever's in charge of the catalog division at Sony (who own all this RCA stuff as well) has finally realised that mining their catalog a little more deeply and broadly than they have in the past is basically like 'money for old rope' to use a British expression. Maybe they finally reached the saturation point (sales wise) with reissues of Kind Of Blue and Take 5 and decided they were going to look a little deeper in to the vault.

I really hope these discs are successful for Vocalion because there are a ton of titles they could do between the RCA and Sony catalogs - they've hit most of the major RCA artists with this initial release, but both Mancini and Montenegro have tons of other quad releases and a lot of them are great fun. Yeah, it's not as cool and doesn't rock like some of the stuff that AF has put out, but the sound quality and surround mixes are impeccable. One of the fun things for me about getting in to quad was finding (and enjoying) a lot of artists that were never on my radar and the Mancini and Montenegro quads definitely fall in to that category. I especially love Mancini's 'Symphonic Soul' album from 1975 so I hope Vocalion can at least get to that one. I'm not sure what their access to the Sony easy listening catalog is like, but there are plenty on that side too including Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Percy Faith, and Ray Conniff amongst others - between those 4 artists alone I wouldn't be surprised if there are near enough 40 quad mixes.
 
I'm not sure if the impetus was external (ie AF's recent quad reissues) or internal but it seems like whoever's in charge of the catalog division at Sony (who own all this RCA stuff as well) has finally realised that mining their catalog a little more deeply and broadly than they have in the past is basically like 'money for old rope' to use a British expression. Maybe they finally reached the saturation point (sales wise) with reissues of Kind Of Blue and Take 5 and decided they were going to look a little deeper in to the vault.

I really hope these discs are successful for Vocalion because there are a ton of titles they could do between the RCA and Sony catalogs - they've hit most of the major RCA artists with this initial release, but both Mancini and Montenegro have tons of other quad releases and a lot of them are great fun. Yeah, it's not as cool and doesn't rock like some of the stuff that AF has put out, but the sound quality and surround mixes are impeccable. One of the fun things for me about getting in to quad was finding (and enjoying) a lot of artists that were never on my radar and the Mancini and Montenegro quads definitely fall in to that category. I especially love Mancini's 'Symphonic Soul' album from 1975 so I hope Vocalion can at least get to that one. I'm not sure what their access to the Sony easy listening catalog is like, but there are plenty on that side too including Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Percy Faith, and Ray Conniff amongst others - between those 4 artists alone I wouldn't be surprised if there are near enough 40 quad mixes.

I'd love to have some of the Mathis content:)
 
A good find. I remember the album Upswing on Vocalition Multichannel SACD years ago.
Interesting focus on the RCA Quad easy listening recordings - lots of potential titles there from Henry Mancini, Hugo Montenegro, Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass, Floyd Cramer and more....

An encouraging development.
 
Wow. Great find there. Interesting development, all of a sudden these old lost quads are coming back from the dead!

AND as "two-fers" to boot!

I know it's amazing and so cool! I don't think that they will sell as well as Alice Cooper and The Doors but it's great additions to the incoming arrivals.

I mentioned in a post not long ago - wondering about the possibility of new two-fers of 70s quad, remember.
 
I'd love to have some of the Mathis content:)

As we speak, I'm listening to Johnny Mathis' wonderful multichannel SACD Christmas Album. It really sounds fantastic. :51banana:

Since the current SACD price is prohibitive, you can at least experience a taste of Mathis' singing in a rousing rendition of O Tannenbaum on the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album (VERY highly recommended) still available inexpensively @ AmazonUS http://www.amazon.com/Mannheim-Stea...Mannheim+Steamroller+DVD~Audio&tag=acleint-20 DVD~Audio MLP 5.1 w/free RBCD
 
As we speak, I'm listening to Johnny Mathis' wonderful multichannel SACD Christmas Album. It really sounds fantastic. :51banana:

Since the current SACD price is prohibitive, you can at least experience a taste of Mathis' singing in a rousing rendition of O Tannenbaum on the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album (VERY highly recommended) still available inexpensively @ AmazonUS http://www.amazon.com/Mannheim-Stea...Mannheim+Steamroller+DVD~Audio&tag=acleint-20

How would you rate the sound quality of the Mathis disc?
 
No I don't have it....but I will be looking for it now...

Clint, addenda to the quality of the Mathis Christmas Disc: For what it's worth, it was mixed/mastered into 5.1 by Doug Sax and James Guthrie which is probably why it sounds so good (great bass extension, as well).

Too bad it's so damn expensive. Perhaps the price will dip AFTER Christmas!

I REALLY wish Vocalion would mine some of Mathis' earliest releases like Chances Are and Heavenly.........wouldn't even care if they're MONO. One can only wonder what shape the master tapes are in since on various JM Greatest Hits compilations, his early HITS do sound a bit 'ragged.'
 
The label and the UPC match up.

It also lists "Digital Sound" as the label which if you click onto that will also bring ALL those DTS discs to the forefront. They still have Band On The Run "in stock" for (gulp!) $199.00!

BTW, if any of you are Lyle Lovett fanboys, this ["Joshua Loves Ruth"] is by far one of the VERY best sounding DTS 5.1 discs IN THE UNIVERSE http://www.tower.com/joshua-judges-ruth-lyle-lovett-cd/wapi/105760539

A simply amazing album with GREAT songs and amazing 5.1 immersion!
 
It also lists "Digital Sound" as the label which if you click onto that will also bring ALL those DTS discs to the forefront. They still have Band On The Run "in stock" for (gulp!) $199.00!

BTW, if any of you are Lyle Lovett fanboys, this is by far one of the VERY best sounding DTS 5.1 discs IN THE UNIVERSE http://www.tower.com/joshua-judges-ruth-lyle-lovett-cd/wapi/105760539

So the Mathis DTS CD(First Time Ever I saw your face) is another quality disc?
 
So the Mathis DTS CD(First Time Ever I saw your face) is another quality disc?

Absolutely STELLAR and some of the songs are breathtakingly beautiful. A slam dunk!

Not to spoil the 'moment' and to get somewhat back on track, Mathis has 8 surround SQ albums which would be ripe for potentially 4 Vocalion two~fers. I am listing all the surround albums and if you scroll down to the "M's" you will see the JM albums mixed for surround (QUAD) http://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadpall.htm

Johnny Mathis "In Person" (SQ Vinyl) is a double album and would probably contain most of his early hits, as well. Track Listing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mathis_in_Person:_Recorded_Live_at_Las_Vegas
 
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