Vintage LP Record Reissues From Back In Their Time. Why Did Companies Do That?

October 4, 2024

#498

Gentle reader, 

I'm 68 years old as I write this. This is the 498th article I have written for this blog. When I started doing this, it was just something different to do. I had no idea that anyone would be in the least bit interested in what I had to say. But, you do. 

All that being said, one of my (and countless millions of other music lovers) favorite things to do is look through records and CDs in thrift stores. Some places they are called charity shops. These shops and stores are a great alternative to setting things you no longer want out for the trashman to take away and they keep them out of the landfill. 

My first LP, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, was given to me by my big sister, Marcia back in the early 1970's. I did not have a way to play it then, being in my early teens and too young to have a job. Still, it was nice of her to do so.

Back then, I was not interested in building a record collection. As I said, I had no way to play music. At some point in time later on, one of those plastic "suitcase" record players came my way. It was so bad, that like so many, I glued a penny to the top of the tonearm, hoping that it would sound better. 

It was nowhere nearly as nice as this one, an image of which I just found on the Internet. Mine was lime green, all plastic and the speakers were on the edges of the suitcase. The record player portion folded up inside, between the speakers to make it look somewhat like a suitcase. To me, it was a rite of passage since, for the first time, I could then be in charge of what music I wanted to hear, and not dependent upon what the DJ was playing on the radio.

That's what I looked like fifty years ago when we moved from Denver, Colorado, right after I graduated from high school, to Richmond, Virginia. It was just about as different a place as one could move to from the West. It was June, and for the first time in our young lives we had to deal with HUMIDITY!

These were my new friends in Northside Richmond. I don't remember all of their names, but they were a fun bunch. The fellow on the right, Phillip, opened my eyes and my ears when he took me up to his room. He opened his door and the first thing that I saw were the BIGGEST speakers I had ever seen! He had made them himself. They had 18" woofers, six-inch midranges and horn tweeters. I did not know what any of that was or what it meant then. He had a big Pioneer integrated amplifier, a nice turntable and a Revox reel-to-reel with the biggest tapes I had ever seen.

He played Pure Prairie League's Two Lane Highway and my mind (and nearly my eardrums) were blown! How could a record sound so GOOD? I was used to music over AM radio and my dad's modest stereo, and of course my plastic-not-so-fantastic-anymore suitcase stereo. God forbid anyone but Dad touching his stereo! He's long gone now, so I can say that I DID play my records when our parents weren't home, on HIS stereo.

So, why am I telling you all of this? What does it have to do with record reissues? Well, nothing, really. Since Phillip introduced me to what music could sound like at home, it set me on a course these last fifty years of buying and trying hundreds of components and speakers, the vast majority of which came from thrift stores and the occasional yard sale. Oh, and via eBay, of course. Plus, in all those years, I have purchased at least five thousand records and a few thousand CDs, again, mostly from thrift stores. Since one of my favorite forms of music is Classical, that is what this article will focus on.

This is a link to a good article on all facets of recorded music reissues. Original Records vs. Reissues - YouTube I was watching it last night. I enjoy his channel and we are around the same age and been in the hobby for about the same number of years. He seems to have WAY more money than I do, however. 

This is one example of reissuing music. Putting it on CD. I've read that some really early CDs were made with the RIAA curve in the music. The engineers seemed to have forgotten that CDs did not need that. Tchaikovsky's epic 1812 Overture quickly became a favorite one 4th of July in Richmond. There is a small park with a natural amphitheater called Dogwood Dell. A portion of Richmond's Symphony performed there and canons and soldiers  from Fort Lee were behind the bandshell. I was curious as to why, so climbed to the top of the hill and made my way to the side where I could keep an eye on what they were up to. I found out when during the 1812, they started firing their canons! I discovered that there are three sensations canons produce, first is the fiery flash and smoke of the propellant, then the explosion's sound and then the concussion hits your body. I was hooked! 

Mercury's album and this Telarc are thought to be the best sounding of all recorded canons on countless 1812 records. I have many of them. Again, two reissues of the LP. Sadly, I cracked the SACDs cover.

But, this too, is not what I'm writing about. I'm writing about when a record company reissues a recording, perhaps on one of their less expensive labels, or simply to catch collector's eye hoping they won't realize that they already have that record. 

These two records are prime examples of such a reissue. London Records, called Decca in the UK, apparently has a "bargain" label called JUBILLEE. 

Above and below, the original LP has a gatefold cover, has images of the soloists and the conductor and extensive notes about the performance and history of the symphony. The reissue, to further save money for Decca, went the simpler route, as you can see.

I promised myself that I would play every single recording in my collection when I retired. And, for almost eight years, I have been doing just that. I listened to all my Jazz (traditional and Smooth) LPs first. I got turned onto Smooth Jazz in the 1980's when the music was spreading across radio stations in the US. It was being played by three stations in the Washington, D.C. area for a while. Thanks to Smooth Global Living - A Vision of SmoothJazz.com and Sirius/XM, one can still enjoy it. New artists are making it and the groups I fell in love with are still putting out music. Such as:

I'm glad that some artists and labels have not given up on SACDs and DVD-Audios. Being my age, I likely cannot hear any difference between them, but, I still like to buy them and pretend that I can.

My parents had eclectic taste in music and Dad's stereo was often playing when they were home. As a result, all five of us like a wide variety of music to this day. Beethoven's 9th Symphony was SO radical when it premiered that it took the 19th Century music world by storm! Not just because he had the audacity to have SINGING in it, but the entire piece, WOW! I have many versions of it, in many formats.

Here is a prime example of Decca/London records trying to catch the eyes of younger listeners. The cover image on the right is most likely from Woodstock in 1969.

Compare ALL the information on the back of the original issue compared to the brief notes on the reissue which ends with "Dig it!"

Although the French title of Berlioz symphony seems to say Fantastic Symphony, and it is, it really reads Symphonic Fantasy. He was hung up on a woman actress he had seen in a play, of which he could not posses. For more on this story go here: The Story Of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique - Classic FM

In the case of these two records. The reissue is YEARS later than the original release and Odyssey was Columbia Record's budget friendly Classical label. The Original LP, however had numerous different covers and I bought a number of them, even knowing that they were all the same record. I finally donated all but this one because it was in the best condition. The reissue is one of those that I did not realize I already had it in the collection until I began playing all the Classical LPs and started looking closely at each record's cover, did I discover all four of these examples I am showing you today.

This is the Classical LP shelf in the listening room. Classical music recordings comprise well over half of all my recordings. I did not plan it to be so, but there are so many recordings of the same composer's works by SO many different orchestras around the world, that it is easy to gather a number of them for variety's sake and entertainment value.

At the same time I have been starting the Classical listening starting with A at the top of the shelf, I have also been playing records from the second to the bottom as well. They are recordings which have music from more than one composer on them. The one on the right above, I was playing and since I was listening to it, I decided to look in the B section (top shelf) to see if I had more Borodin records.

I found the pink one which is directly from Russia and was still sealed. When I looked at the English on the cover, then compared it to the one I was listening to, I thought, "Ah! This one is the original. How many more do I have like this?" I found the other three, so far and they became the reason for this article.

All the time that I have been sitting here typing into my PC, I have been listening to Classic Rock CDs. And Pure Prairie League's Two Lane Highway is playing right now. I think Phillip would agree that my secondary stereo system sound's just fine. 

He is an Airline Pilot nowadays, so the long hair and beard are long gone. Since he's older than I, he is likely retired too. He earned his private pilot's license while I was living in my first apartment in the 1970's. I was just about to head out to the laundromat when there was a knock on my door. I opened it and there was Phillip. "How would you like to go with me to Charlottesville?" "Now? it's Tuesday, we both have to work tomorrow." "I'm going to fly us there." "Screw the laundry!", I thought and climbed into his car. We flew in a Cessna, my first time in a small plane and only my second time in ANY airplane. There was a strong crosswind during our approach into Charlottesville's airport, but Phillip handled it just fine (scared the crap out of me, however!) by tilting the plane to counteract the wind. I swear the right wingtip almost touched the runway!

His plane tilted much farther than this one, plus it was dark at this point. We wandered around the Charlottesville airport for a while, emptied our bladders, then flew back to Richmond. I was very happy he chose me to accompany him.

Oh, the CDs I have been listening to are: JAILBREAK by Thin Lizzy, Best of PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE, THE VERY BEST OF CAT STEVENS  and POCO The Essential Collection.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope that I amused and perhaps enlightened you. Feel free to comment below or via Facebook.

Scott Robb

October 4, 2024

#498