Folk Singer (Japanese XRCD K2 24-bit version)

I compared this LP pressing by DOL to a Quality Pressings label of the same album. The DOL pressing includes several more songs not included with the Quality Pressings version which is direct from the analog masters. One would conclude that more space on the LP was needed as the reason however, the DOL clearly outperformed it in every regard. The DOL was warmer, sweeter and richer by comparison. It also had more dynamic bass while the Quality Pressings version sounded shrill and harsh by comparison and it also lacked bass, probably to save space. Overall, even though DOL uses digital source material, their quality is very consistent and many of their pressings are surprisingly good.

A great transfer from a 60+ year old master tape. A superb recording.

*This record is #1 in a select chronological list of 500 albums that never made the top 40 album charts (released 1964-present), yet considered among the best and/or most important albums ever released. "An Alternative Top 40" is a work in progress, to be published in 2017.(Billboard - did not chart) In 1964, Blues music fulfilled just about any definition of `Alternative' music. In that year, blues as a genre was so unpopular that it could possibly even classify as `Outsider' music. For example, Blues was considered to be such anathema that even identifying with the label `Blues' was considered commercial suicide. The once reliable Black audience now saw the blues as `Grampa music' while the white audience that would eventually embrace the genre had not yet coalesced. So, people like Muddy Waters, and his label, Chess Records - a label that made a living from selling blues-related music - had a problem. How do you present a blues artist to a market that is not interested in your product? As a `solution', Chess took a crass commercial idea and ran with it. In 1963, `Folk' music was all the rage. Lots of crappy three-part harmony-singing college dudes in sweaters were selling records by the millions, while real artists like Bob Dylan and Fred Neil were legitimizing the new trend. To make Muddy Waters more saleable, they simply stopped calling him a blues singer and, through the title of this album, re-invented him as a "Folk Singer.' Problem solved! The truth, though, is that Muddy Waters didn't change his style one bit in some crass attempt to appeal to the neo-folkies. He stayed true to himself, and what happened? The faux-folk movement faded away as listeners grew more discerning, and tried to find `real' folk music with roots. This led to an era of re-discovery and re-birth. For some, tracing the history of the blues became a full-blown passion and a lifelong obsession. This fascination would eventually lead to the rebirth of the blues as a popular music form. Much of the credit for that rebirth lies with Muddy Waters and the music on this record. An interesting result of Waters' recording process on "Folk Singer" is how it allows us to hear blues music differently than we were used to. Until now, electric blues records were (usually accidentally) claustrophobic in their sound palette. The distorted harmonica would melt into the overdriven sound of the vocal track. A blues record was like a burning car - it wasn't made up different pieces that come together to create a whole but was instead a flaming amalgamation of sound that couldn't be broken down to constituent pieces. Much like the early acoustic 78 RPM blues records that were recorded poorly and full of surface noise, the indecipherability of the sound provided mystery. On "Folk Music", Chess Records suddenly started acting as if they were a Jazz label like Verve, providing space between the instruments, where the room is a virtual instrument. For better or worse, the blues sounded `respectable' on "Folk Singer". It is the only all-acoustic album Waters ever made. The single most important thing to recognize while listening to "Folk Singer" is that by 1964, the entire American music industry treated Muddy Waters as a has-been while in actuality, he was pointing the way to the future. The electric blues movement, which Muddy Waters himself was largely responsible for, had changed the entire dynamic of the genre, generating sparks of interest among a younger white audience that would eventually burst into flame, particularly in England. This album is a gorgeous oddity, as it captures Waters deliberately avoiding his electric sound, playing much as he did before his Chicago relocation. A+ Tom Ryan

This 24-bit recording is Muddy Waters working his best Mojo and you should not miss it.I would rarely ever tell someone they are going to miss out of any sonically audibletreats, especially with the master being from the 60s, but with this disk if you don'thave a DVD-Audio player and you don't own this disc you WILL miss being in the studiolive with Muddy, Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, and Otis Spann.This recording is incredibly dynamic and the performance one of Muddy's best. These areclassic songs recorded in Chicago in September 1963 (The Same Thing was recorded in April1964.) When I play this disk the sound is so "real" that it seems like I am right in thestudio. It is the most intimate (live) disc I have ever heard. I can not say that withany SACDs or other DVD-Audio disc I own. So far. Clean, clear and natural. Whom evermastered this disc is a bloody genius. It is a beautiful thing.I was pretty much told this disc would only play on DVD-Audio players. The blurb on theinsert says it is 'truly universal' and playable on all DVD players. That is not alwaystrue as some reviewers have complained here and on other venues. So buyer be aware. Besidesmy DVD player I was also able to play the disk on my car's CD/DVD player and home computer.My Denon DVR-1910 Receiver does a wonderful job interpreting the music as it is fed by aDenon DVM-2845CI Universal Scaling DVD/CD player with DCDi by Faroudja. This compact discmakes owning this equipment all the better and more valuable. Wow.My Polk LSi7 speakers are only 14 inches high, 9 inches wide and 10 inches deep with a5 1/4" driver and a Ring Radiator tweeter. Allegedly designed for high-def formats suchas SACD and DVD-Audio. Overall my stereo equipment would be considered about mid-level.Its very nice stuff but not the best on the market. This equipment does very well, thankyou very much, with this disc.On one side of the disc is the audio portion recorded in 24-bit/192kHz resolution and onthe other side of the disc is the video recorded in 24-bit/96kHz resolution. This isobviously an analog master (60s) and this is the genius of the people who mastered thismusic. It has the warmth of analog and the depth and breadth of digital. All without thepops, clicks, hiss, or any background noise other than the feeling and sound of being ina studio with these fine musicians.I can not recommend this disc any higher than a 5, which is a sin. What I will have to dois lower my standards on other recordings when using this disc as a standard forcomparison. It is most definitely a desert island disc and the most intimaterecording I have ever heard...UPDATE 03/2015: I still listen to this disc on a regualr basis. What a joy.

Update:The Blues were one of many sounds integral to Rock and Roll's development. And, McKinley Morganfield, in his stage sobriquet, was one of the best of genre's artists. As great as he was, CD was a tad difficult to rate because of its unevenness.At times, Mr. Waters and his studio band were almost lifelike; depth, dynamics and timbre. But at others, most everything on soundstage was distant, 'flat.'Overall, recommended.

A masterpiece.

Just got back into vinyl after 40 years. This record sounds fantastic. I'll second one of the other reviewers "it sounds like you're in the same. room". Great purchase..

El CD 💿 llegó bien pero le cambiaron la caja original (cómo se ve en la foto de Amazon) por una genérica y rota de una esquina, creo que eso deja quecdesar del vendedor, por lo menos lo demás llegó en buen estado.

Je recommande assurément ce vinyle tant pour le prix que la qualité du pressage !Je dit bravoooo

Disco maravilhoso

Recorded so well, so long ago, that it’s downright spooky. You can hear a foot tapping on the floor, a knuckle touching the guitar, and the man’s voice is huge and amazing. Highly, highly recommended. Oh, and the bonus tracks are great, too.

2 Sterne für die Vinyl-Qualität. Bei Lieferung bereits die Innenhülle beschädigt, Platte bereits statisch aufgeladen und verstaubt. Ein größerer Kratzer direkt sichtbar und Platte hatte enormen Höhenschlag. Plattenloch zu klein. Platte wurde zurückgesandt.5 Sterne für die Musik selbst!Update 18.05.21:Habe die Platte nach einiger Zeit neu bestellt, dies mal Label Geffen, Universal Music. Schnelle Liegerung, sorgfältig verpackt. Hier gibt es nichts auszusetzen. Vinyl absolut Plan, nicht mal minimalster Höhenschlag, keine Beschädigungen und perfekt gestanztes Loch, so soll es sein! Nichts zu beanstanden. Vinyl übrigens in Hellblau. Jedoch unbedingt auf das Label achten bei Bestellung! Leider weiß ich nicht mehr welches Label es bei der ersten Bestellung war.