Wings 1973 redux

This week we are going back in time with two albums that have joined the record collection and only otherwise exist in the 1993 limited edition DCC 24 karat gold plated cd editions.

Sir Paul McCartney and Wings are not fully represented in vinyl in part due to the cd revolution coming as I bought many of his albums on that format and part due to finding a number of them not titles that I play that much so what is on vinyl are original childhood copies, well cared for of things like Ram, Band On The Run, Venus & Mars, London Town and Tug Of War plus Wings Greatest the 1978 compilation that had non album singles on it.

Recording for Red Rose Speedway began at Olympic Studios in London between 6–30 March 1972

 It was initially planned as a double album and Paul McCartney decided to include some unreleased songs that had originally been recorded during the Ram sessions in 1971, before the formation of Wings, two of which, "Get on the Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly", appeared on the final album.

The album ends with an 11-minute medley of the songs "Hold Me Tight", "Lazy Dynamite", "Hands of Love" and "Power Cut", which was made in a similar style to the Beatles' Abbey Road medley

The album was originally issued in the UK on May 4th 1973 on lp, 8 track tape and cassette but was treated to a special limited edition half speed mastered cut on April 22nd 2023 for Record Day Special which I have to say is most impressive.

It keeps the 12 page illustrated booklet folded and is housed in a thick gatefold sleeve.

That edition was pressed by GZ Media in the Czech Republic.

There are anniversaries that you may quite enjoy and there are others that just remind you of how many tens of years have gone by such as the recent anniversary of the 1973 multi-million seller, Band On The Run which was marked on February 2nd with the release of full original album and extended versions on lp record and compact disc.

Too bad there wasn't a limited edition 8 track as as those of us around then will recall there was and indeed I did own the UK edition which sounded rather good where it was played at home and in the car player a lot.

I opted for the single lp version as I have little use for a disc of demos as much as musicologists get a buzz out comparing songs as they evolve and for another this uses the US track listing that added Helen Wheels, a 1973 single to the second side of the UK album.

It came pressed by Optimal in Germany with the original poster plus OBI.

Being cut using a Half Speed mastering system from high resolution files from the original analogue tapes allowed it to sound much better than the original US Apple edition and even challenge the UK which was really good with strong bass.

I was delighted with this edition.

A trio of releases

You may remember back in August  my post about the DCC Gold Paul McCartney cds I got and how a certain album was being re-released at the time. Well finally it's here!

Packaged like the other McCartney and Stereo beatles releases has the white band to indicate it's a new remaster done by the same team at Abbey Road although this is on Concord records not Capitol/EMI.

It's a digipak rather than true Mini Lp mores the pity with slots for the discs to scrape and a booklet in 1976 was the first time in many years Paul performed his Beatle hits back to back with his solo works with a great band and is one the best live albums issued.

The sound on this is quite a bit better than the original 80's cd version and for the modest price I paid for it well worth the money. 

Moving on, the 50's thru the 70's were for many the heyday of Soul - no not that  R&B as in Rap and [insert word] stuff they try to pass off as "Black Music" today but rootsy soul delivered with conviction (rather than having one!) from folks straight out of Gospel singing.

One of the finest examples you can ever hope to hear of that is the recordings of Aretha Franklin during her long period  at Atlantic.

A few weeks ago Mobile Fidelity Inc of Illinois re-issued this stereo compilation of hers from 1969 with a good number of her early hits from when she left Columbia who didn't really know how to use her abilities.

Because of that, it does miss a few gems of hers from the early 70's however in the opinion of many this Super Audio cd that is also playable on regular cd players, has the best ever sounding stereo versions of these early recordings such as Respect, Chain Of Fools and I say A Little Prayer that simply as a soul fan I have to say you really need to hear.

Strongly recommended. Also note the Rhino "Queen Of Soul" 4 cd box set can be had cheaply featuring many mono versions and much of her output to 1976.

Summer '83 for me is wrapped up with seeing Flashdance, the movie several times and an infatuation with the songs featured.

I've had this 12 single since it first came out but there's a pressing fault actually several such as  being off centre, a pressed mark at the end of the track and so on.

Finally I've gotten a replacement copy!
In my opinion this was one of last truly great 12" remixes  totally transforming the song.

That was the original Chromedioxide pre-recorded tape of the soundtrack album I bought back then that sounded pretty amazing for a tape back then that by the late 80's had gotten worn out so I bought the cd version that remains one of the best sounding early cds.

You'll notice how the image from the lp inner is includes on the credits side of the 'J' card.

I did get recently a mint copy of the UK vinyl release which sounds absolutely superb.

Wings gold

The origins of this entry go back quite a number of years when pre internet you found out about new titles being issued either in magazines such as Hifi World or by visiting your local record or cd stores when we had them(!).

Generally there are two types of record companies, those who are large, issue titles to the mainstream generally with little special care about sound quality and sources and those who issue limited runs of titles where they do track down the best sounding copies of each album and carefully transfer it to record or as with these titles, cd.

Many early cds didn't sound too good through a combination of not being careful over sources and also the technology that takes analogue sound to digital didn't sound as smooth as the format was and is capable of. 

Its that that lead me to start getting these Gold cds by the now defunct company DCC classics from the early 1990's onward.

Way way back in the 1970's the albums (and 45's) by Paul McCartney first came to my attention and this album Band On The Run was a favourite of mine owning it on the awesomely clunky 8 track form and fittingly this album with it's hit 45's such as the title track, Jet and as on this  US edition only Helen Wheels was the first I bought.

Apart from having the U.S. extra track which oddly enough I do prefer as with the rest of the series it has a very smooth rich sound while not fooling me to say an lp issue, does at least sound less 'digital' to the ears.

It also has a poster.

Arriving soon to me is Red Rose Speedway, the home of My Love a song that can be considered a 'standard' which will be a bit smoother than my 1987 UK edition and also has the reggae based b side to Hi Hi Hi,  C Moon, which inexplicably was left off the mainstream UK cds bonus tracks. It's a song I rather like. 

My copy will be missing the card slip cover but as it was a lot cheaper as many of these discs usually sell for over $100 I'm not complaining about that.

At The Speed of Sound should be with me by the time this entry goes live replacing a much loathed 1989 Capitol cd that masks much detail in the quieter parts in an attempt to eliminate tape hiss. 

This album was the home of the hit singles Let 'Em In and Silly Love Songs as well as enjoyable numbers like Cook Of The House. It was this album Wings toured with on the tour captured on Wings Over America recently re-issued.

I've a sneaking feeling many of us who around back then had at least heard this album Venus And Mars before, one of the best in the Wings catalogue with it's singles Venus &Mars/Rock Show (the single edit is on Wingspan) and Listen To What The Man Said (single mix again on Wingspan). 

One issue with this album is some heavy handed compression was locked into the mixdown tapes but although it's not entirely cured what mastering engineer Steve Hoffman did was carefully balance Venus and Mars so it's quieter than the energetic Rock Show that it segue-ways into for better effect. 

Strangely on all the mainstream releases Rock Show is noticeably less loud! It too has the original poster as featured on the lp and three bonus tracks.

I also was recently able to add McCartney, his first solo album  that featured the hit 45 Maybe I'm Amazed and Teddy Boy in addition to  Ram, featuring the 45 Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey and the pro population song Too Many People  on DCC too.