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UMe's Extensive "Black Friday" Record Store Day Offerings

Michael Fremer  |  Nov 26, 2015

Despite the rampant cynicism currently surrounding Record Store Day and label offerings, tomorrow's Record Store Day releases include some really desirable title.

UMe sent me a few including the first vinyl release of Frank Zappa's "Feeding the Monkies At Ma Maison", which was a CD-only release in 2011. Frank produced this material on a Synclavier DMS and recorded it to tape. As the liner notes state "Here we have longer versions of these pieces as Frank put them on tape one day in 1986".

However, the liner notes written by the late Gale Zappa claim that Zappa originally intended this as a vinyl release. There are only three tracks here, and two, "Buffalo Voice" and "Secular Humanism" were on Civilization Phase III from 1994 but in edited form.

The master of these performances only exists (in useable form at least) as a Sony 1630 digital master, which is probably as high as was the Synclavier's resolution at the time (I'm just surmising that). What I like about this RSD release is that Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering cut it from the master and it is so stated on the jacket. I also like that the orange vinyl is extremely well pressed and that there is a wonderful glossy color heavy stock insert with a close up photo of Frank on one side and a candid shot on the other where there are excellent notes and an anecdote from the artist who painted the cover art, from which the title was taken.

In other words, this isn't a shoddy piece of RSD "product" and for Zappa fans, especially those who collect him on vinyl, this is a great piece—assuming you appreciate this type of free-form synth-jazz (which I do!).

Speaking of Frank, there's also a 10" Sinatra Swing Easy! reissue of an original 1954 mono Frank album arranged by Nelson Riddle. It's also well-pressed and sounds very good, whatever the source. I was also sent a copy of John Cougar Mellencamp's excellent Scarecrow album with the "Cougar" mildly crossed out for this 30th anniversary edition. It says "re-mastered from the original tapes" and it sounds as if that's what Ron McMaster used, and not a digital file sourced from the tape. At least that's what the comparison to Bob Ludwig's original Masterdisk master had me thinking. The reissue is well done in every way.

For more on UMe's extensive RSD offerings click here

COMMENTS
JohnEcc's picture
Submitted by JohnEcc on Fri, 2015-11-27 11:45

Just got back from my local store, picked up the High Fidelity Soundtrack, 10" EP The Thrill is Gone". Does anyone have any information regarding the Massey Hall Jazz Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Bud Powell/Max Roach release? No information as to source mastering or pressing.

Fred Hill's picture
Submitted by Fred Hill on Fri, 2015-11-27 13:00

Sounds great, similar to RSD Miles Davis Prestige 10" boxes for past two years,original art, nice booklet (notes by Ashley Kahn) and poster, audio restoration by Paul Blakemore along with Clint Holley, Producer Nick Phillips says after hearing original 10" pressings provided by the Institute of Jazz Studies that he chose not to include the bass overdubs done by Mingus for the LP issue on the volume 1 of the 10" for LP but noted they are present for vol 3 ( 'The Quintet'-you know who) & volume 2 (Bud Powell Trio), so he chose to present as originally issued, a superb effort to my eyes and ears, this happened to be the first LP I remember buying from the bargain bin at Thrifty Drugs on the Fantasy label on red vinyl over 50 years ago because I was attracted by the titles like 'Salt Peanuts' & 'A Night in Tunisia' and musicians named Charlie Chan & Dizzy Gillespie, I've been a jazz fan ever since....

JohnEcc's picture
Submitted by JohnEcc on Sun, 2015-11-29 12:44

Thank you for the information, I just found a Prestige reissue pressing of the concert I forgot I had, the liner notes are amazing. Toronto 1953, the concert was scheduled the same night as the Rocky Marciano-Jersey Joe Wolcott world championship bout. So Massey Hall was only a quarter full. Charles Mingus brought along his own tape recorder to record the event. During the long intermission both the players and the audience went to a local saloon. The organizers ended up herded them back into the Hall for the second half of the Concert. I am just going to clean and listen and I will let you know what I think of the sound. This kind of information is what makes records so unique. living history right in front of you.

halloween jack's picture
Submitted by halloween jack on Fri, 2015-11-27 15:28

2 disc set. Studio jams from Record Plant, '69/'70. Pressed at QRP, Ryan K. Smith - "RKS" "Sterling" in deadwax. Sounds very, very good.

Steelhead's picture
Submitted by Steelhead on Fri, 2015-11-27 15:44

Just came back from Obsession Records and scored the one copy they received. My brother scored me the Zappa release from last year's record store day that is just flat ass killer, just pops from the speakers. I was not going to go anywhere but the one year anniversary of the vinyl store combined with some rsd releases got me on the road.

TommyTunes's picture
Submitted by TommyTunes on Mon, 2015-11-30 18:27

I went from thinking that I would pass this year because nothing excited me. However I decided to go out and landed up spending $500+.
The Massey Hall is very good sounding. It's nice that they used the original UK track listing for The Clash but I really wish that they would stop with this color and splatter vinyl stuff. They simply don't play silent.

thomoz's picture
Submitted by thomoz on Tue, 2015-12-01 04:30

The only title I bought was Massey Hall. I understand that it could be had for as little as $55, but both dealers that I saw had it here in Atlanta at $60. We need more well pressed jazz for RSD so "adults" can play too.

The RSD Curtis Fuller I bought earlier this year is riddled with VERY NOISY non-fill.

RobWynn's picture
Submitted by RobWynn on Wed, 2015-12-02 08:25

I was quite annoyed yet amused with the back jacket sticker on the SRV Live at El Mocambo that I noticed once I got home:

"Specialty vinyl has nuances in the materials used that may affect playability and sound. You may experience noise and skips while playing. Adjusting the stylus weight, anti-skate, and cartridge alignment may improve performance. It is also recommended to clean your record before the first play."

While I appreciate their honesty and their encouragement to clean an LP before playing it the first time, they are basically saying we have provided you a POS so please don't complain or try to return it, and blaming it on the color of the vinyl.

This is the kind of warning you would normally see accompanying a flexi disc or even better a record that you have to cut out from the back of a cereal box (remember those?). While this warning seems to be in line with a few peoples comments above about RSD titles and colored vinyl titles, I do not think colored vinyl alone is the issue as I have some colored vinyl titles that are among some of the quietest titles I have... maybe due to the lack of carbon black that adds static to the record?

Anyway, I hope the SRV sounds good. I was only interested in two this go around, it and the True Detectives soundtrack.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Sun, 2015-12-06 09:15
Came with the first Clash album reissue. I was sent it but haven't yet opened. I think there's more than colored vinyl involved...
theboogeydown's picture
Submitted by theboogeydown on Wed, 2016-02-03 13:18

sounds like garbage. You can actually hear the needle drag between the white and blue colored vinyl. I'll be hard pressed to shop RSD again unless they want to put out a product that is respectable, for all.

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