Capitol 78's Shellac vs. Vinyl

[Swing Band Heaven]

I think that Columbia must of had excellent studios / recording equipment etc in the early 1950's - judging from this recording from 1951. Even though I transferred this from a 50's 10" LP the sound really is quite sensational for the time.

Just one of those things - Doris Day (1951)

[Wolfe]

The old New York 30th Street Studios of Columbia records are pretty legendary. The building had once been a church, and had very good sonic properties. Many, many records were recorded there, including countless pop numbers by the likes of Doris Day, Tony Bennett, etc. etc.

Columbia in the 1950's seemed to favor a bright 'hi-fi' kind of sound for a lot of their things. One of the loudest 78's I have is a vinyl pressing Columbia Harry James record from 1950-something. Blow the roof off, loud.

[Wolfe]

I have what seems an oddity to me. Capitol 371 Ain't Misbehavin' / We Could Make Such Beautiful Music by Billy Butterfield. Black label record from 1947, which is vinyl.

I know Capitol pressed white label promos on vinyl, and made very late regular pressings vinyl in the later 1950's. I've not been aware that they pressed non promo vinyl 78's in the 1940's.

Any info on this one?

I had forgotten about those blue label kiddie 78's they put out, those were vinyl. I don't own any, but I've seen them from time to time.

[Henry]

The old New York 30th Street Studios of Columbia records are pretty legendary. The building had once been a church, and had very good sonic properties. Many, many records were recorded there, including countless pop numbers by the likes of Doris Day, Tony Bennett, etc. etc.

Columbia in the 1950's seemed to favor a bright 'hi-fi' kind of sound for a lot of their things. One of the loudest 78's I have is a vinyl pressing Columbia Harry James record from 1950-something. Blow the roof off, loud.

I have a bunch of Harry James on Columbia shellac 78s, and they are also bright and loud, on my XI yet. Same goes for Benny Goodman. Wish my man TD had recorded for Columbia. RCA Victor, Bluebird, etc., big band stuff also sounds good, but there is a certain sparkle to the Columbias that sets them apart. I think most of them were recorded in the '40s.

[Wolfe]

They got better with time. But the earlier 1940's red label Columbias (which were dubbings from lacquer discs) are frequently sonic mud. A Gene Krupa, a Peggy Lee, etc. Mud. And a different EQ configuration doesn't help because there isn't any real top end to begin with.

Those are best heard via legitimate Sony Legacy (non grey market) CD's that use the actual lacquer discs as the source. Much clearer they are.

[Wolfe]

The 1999 Jazz The Definitive Performances 2 CD set on Columbia/Epic/Legacy contains several tracks taken from lacquer discs, one of the most recognizable being the famous Gene Krupa / Anita O' Day / Roy Eldridge 1941 record of Let Me Off Uptown. If one only knows it from the old Okeh 78, one might be surprised at how much more fidelity the original recording has. Those dubbed 78's from back in the day were a mixed bag, to say the least.