Remember danager the Sinatra-Basie you heard that was so amazing was no ordinary LP, it was a Super Hot Stamper. So that was a big part of it. Still, you are right, a lot of those recordings from back then have absolutely marvelous sound. It is hard to understand how they were able to achieve such outstanding results. Especially since you are right, there is no way they had anything back then to play it back on to know. Not like we have today. Certainly not like what you heard at my place.
There are two main reasons I can think of to explain this. The first is that everyone back then was focused on excellence. All the vocal talent, Sinatra, Torme, all of em, they started off with massive talent and then worked their butts off perfecting it. The result is what you heard, the talent is coming at you like from a firehose. It is stunning, scintillating, the feeling you get hearing Sinatra sing like that. How a human being can be in so complete command of so many different things all at once that they are able to have it come flowing out so seemingly natural? It is just spooky. We have nothing like it today. You know what I’m talking about because you heard it.
This same striving for excellence carries on across the board. Every musician in Basie’s group, every recordist, every mastering engineer, right on down to the guys at the pressing plant. People back then were craftsmen and proud of their work. There are still a few like this today but it is the exception not the rule.
The other main reason is a lot of what we are told is better really is not better. All those incredible sounding records were recorded with tubes. All tubes. No solid state. This all by itself pretty much proves tubes are better, no contest, as otherwise all the best recordings would be today with all solid state. Instead of the opposite, where the very best are still done with tubes. Janice Ian Breaking Silence the liner notes even talk about the special tube mic Janice uses.
There’s a third factor harder to pin down. Did you notice the lyrics? Even the lyrics are at a higher level. No contest. That album, you should come hear the whole thing, it is an absolute gem of a record. Leave you in awe. Even more so than it already did! So even the songwriters were striving for excellence.
Today they are striving for the Benjamin’s. There it is in a nutshell.
