Post Description

50 CDs from the Mercury Living Presence series released in the early to late 1990s (the 51th CD is a bonus, with an interview with Wilma Cozart Fine, the producer, from the early 1950s to 1964, of many of those already legendary reissues, and the wife of C. Robert Fine, the sound engineer who really MADE the sound of Living Presence, thanks to his "minimalist" approach to microphoning): of course, this reissue is as much about what is NOT included as what is. Between 1990 and 1995 Philips/Universal released more than 100 reissuses from the Mercury catalog - I've counted 135 CDs (some in 2- or 3-CD sets) excluding the two compilations "You Are There!" - transfered and remastered with loving care from the original masters by Mrs Cozart Fine. Some were also later issued in SACD form (I am aware of 20 releases), but apparently those were not produced by Wilma Cozart Fine, and, unlike the straight CDs, they weren't made using the restored original Mercury "vacuum-type Westrex film recorder and Amex 3-track tape machine". Anyway, those SACDs are now selling at very unreasonable prices, and likewise with many of the original CDs, also offered at steep prices on the secondary market, so it is good to have at least part of them (50 / 135 makes 37 %) back at less than 2 pounds a disc.
Een post van PosterDude, nu 44 dagen oud.