I like these deep dives, keep riffing, I like EJ too , I have many EJ lps, mostly RSD and modern reissues, purely for sound quality, I wouldn't risk second hand or old records on my deck and carts, great show thank you matt.
@gavaxemanspins
6 ай бұрын
Nice collection- I’ve got a lot of the translucent U.K. DJM pressed of Elton’s early albums - they sound great
5 ай бұрын
Hi, KZitem recommended me your channel earlier this week, and you got a new subscriber right away. I'm not a vinyl collector (yet?), but I'm an Elton John nerd, so I'd like to share that I really like what you're doing here. I recommended it to my fellow friends on the Crazy Water online forum. Keep up the good work!
@CollectingElton
5 ай бұрын
Thanks, I appreciate that very much! I was never a member of the CW forum, but I'm certainly familiar with it. A great bunch of very serious and knowledgeable Eltonographers over there! Keep watching my channel, and you'll catch the Elton vinyl bug for sure.
@derekking9824
6 ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing, awesome Part 2. Hope you got my reply regarding Live in Australia Australian original pressing.
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
Sorry, Derek! I thought I had but I looked and I hadn't. Thanks for verifying the Aus label issue for me!
@alastairmckain4623
6 ай бұрын
Interesting detail relating to Monarch pressings.
@shineonugrzydieman
6 ай бұрын
Many thanks for sharing Looking forward to next video
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
Thanks! :)
@eltonfan75
6 ай бұрын
Really enjoying your videos!
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
Thanks! :)
@eltonfan75
6 ай бұрын
I appreciate your respect for Elton’s 80’s work too! @@CollectingElton
@douglasstruthers8307
6 ай бұрын
Some thoughts...SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST: All songs that I saw EJ and band play live in 2001 (Toronto & Detroit) from the album sounded great! "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" from the album remains one of my top 2 or 3 Elton songs from this millennium. "Original Sin" is a criminally underrated Elton song. MADE IN ENGLAND also has one of those grossly underrated songs: "Blessed." My MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER box set has that "denim feel" too. SLEEPING WITH THE PAST has slowly grown on me over the years and now is in my top 10. It did have that electronic sheen to it. My CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY (most recent vinyl pressing complete with original packaging) sounds soooo good that Elton's clavinet in "Tell Me When The Whistle Blows" finally comes through loud & clear. None of my other vinyl or CD copies did so. The album sounds brilliant! By the way, my original CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY vinyl (purchased in 1975) did not have "Elton John" in blue on the cover. It had "Elton John Band." Was that a rare pressing? Ever since, it appears that the cover simply has "Elton John." Thanks for sharing these amazing albums from your collection - great fun.
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
I agree that the 2017 reissue of "Fantastic" sounds really great. My preference will always be the (UK DJM) Arun Chakraverty cut, but I played my 2017 press a few months ago for the first time in years, and was surprised at how good it sounded. About the band credit: I've never seen or heard of one of those, so yes it must've been rare. Around that same time, "Lucy in the Sky" and "Philly Freedom" were credited to the EJ Band rather than EJ. Then, of course, he changed the band!
@MostEasterlySteve
6 ай бұрын
@@CollectingElton Really enjoying your videos. I have a lot of EJ vinyl and for my sins have been a dedicated audiophile at times in my life (trying not to be now!) so I'm very interested in the sonic quality of the records. I'm sure you're aware of it but the early 80s Dick James 'mid-price' reissue of Captain Fantastic (DJM22094) is the best sounding pressing. Brighter with more top end detail than an original pressing. One side has a tiny TY (Tim Young) scratched in the run out. I have two DJM originals, a Portuguese, a later 70s DJM (DJH), a German or Dutch copy, Two of the DJM22094 and a last run 'Priceless' reissue and the new reissue (lacking top end in my opinion). Oh yes, and the picture disc (sounds awful of course). DJM22094 is the best in my opinion. Keep up the videos! Thanks from the UK.
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
@@MostEasterlySteve Thanks for the recommendation! I don’t have that one, but I have the catalogue number in my notes. It’s good? The only late-series DJM pressing I have is a DJM “wedge” label (i.e., fourth series) “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, and I really love its sound. Of the four vintage DJM copies I have, I’d say that one’s second to the Pye original, and it’s very close. It reuses a couple of the Strawberry stampers from the yellow label era, but the non-Strawb’s are really good too. No initials in those, though. I’d had no idea that Tim Young cut any of the DJM titles, but that would make sense, as Strawberry Mastering closed in ’81 and cutting duties (I always assumed, anyway) reverted to CBS UK. And TY worked there by then. Well, I’ll have to get a copy of DJM22094. None of those later DJMs are easy to find here in Canada though, and overseas shipping costs make the Discogs option crazy expensive. Will hope to get one in a bundle or lot. I can’t get over how awful the second series DJM pressings sound. Those are the black and yellow label DJMs, mastered and pressed by CBS UK ca. 1976-77. Whoever cut those was either drunk or had some personal dislike of Elton John. Because although I have only three of those, and they all sound muffled as heck.
@MostEasterlySteve
6 ай бұрын
@@CollectingElton You are so right. Many of the first generation DJM reissues are terrible (generally DJH catalogue numbers). I can't believe anyone actually signed off on them. They must have listened?! If you have a late DJM 'wedge' label GYBR check out record 1, side 1. In the dead wax of the three copies I have it says 'TimTom CBS'. So Tim Young did that side at least. For the Elton John album do you have a DJLPS406 with A3/B1 matrix numbers? By FAR the best pressing. Like a veil has been lifted compared to most other pressings. Astonishing sonic quality.
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
Well, by golly, Side 1 of my "wedge" "Brick Road" does have TY's mark after all. It's very, very tiny and faint. Thank you for pointing that out. But yeah, it's only on Side 1; Side 3 has nothing. Sides 2 and 4, of course, are Strawb's, which is fine by me. I love those Strawberry cuts. I doubt that TY did Side 3, though; he would've signed it. Which reminds me: Have you a copy of the Kevin Gray ("KPG") "Brick Road" (US MCA2 6894, budget reissue ca. mid-1980s)? That one's a puzzler. Some copies have "KPG" in only one runout; others have it in one runout per disc. My copy has "KPG" in 3/4 of the runouts, which confirms to me that Gray didn't initial just one lacquer per disc/"pair"; he initialed all lacquers he cut. But a 3/4 "KPG" seems to be as complete as you can get with MCA2 6894. I haven't seen, read or heard of a copy out there with four "KPGs". My "KPG" "Madman" (MCA 37200) has the mark only on Side 2; and, as with "Brick Road", the non-KPG side's runout markings were etched in a different style. So, here's the puzzle: Side 2 of "Brick Road" (no "KPG") doesn't sound much different at all from the other three ("KPG") sides; but Side 1 of "Madman" (no "KPG") sounds remarkably different from Side 2, the "KPG" side. I can't go by etching style for "Brick Road" because the runout on Side 2 is so thin (less than a centimeter, if I recall) that anyone would've had to change their etching hand style to scribe anything in that. So, was it Gray after all? I have but one UK DJLPS406, and it's an A4/B1 (was there ever a B2?) translucent copy pressed sometime between mid-'72 and late '74. I'm quite happy with it, but yes I've heard that earlier A's sound better. My A2/B1 Uni Monarch sounds really good, for an American-pressed copy, but neither side sounds quite as good as my UK A4/B1. I suppose I just consider my A4/B1 copy a "miracle copy" because I found it for just £4 at Henley Street Antiques in Stratford-upon-Avon (I also got an A1/B2 "Tumbleweed" there for just £3) and carried it on a plane back to the US. And back then, the disc looked and sounded like it had been pulled from the dirt bag of a Hoover. But it was my baby! The first DJLPS406 I ever held in my hands. Years later, after perfecting my DIY record-cleaning process, I tackled that one and the results made me jump into the air: It was a VG+/EX-, much quieter with all the dust removed, and very rich sounding. Nothing beats the low end on those DJLPS406s. The 2011 Classic Reissues (CRLP 005) version tries to recreate it but overreaches. PS - Sorry for writing a novel!
@derekroberts6654
6 ай бұрын
id like to see you rank the live albums. There are some songs he did better live, for example, “Sixty Years On” from “11/17/70”, i love the raw, unorchestrated rock version better… “Have Mercy On The Criminal” from “Live In Australia”… the orchestra sounds a lot bigger and his rough husky voice fits the dark mood of the song.
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
The original Buckmaster arrangements for those early tracks were for ca. 20-piece ensembles. For the LIA tour, James NH had to adapt those into arrangements for the 88-piece MSO. It was quite an undertaking. I'll reveal the rest of my list (#s 11 to 41) in a future video. I forget where “11/17/70” ranks but it ranks much higher than the original "Here and There", that's for sure!
@derekroberts6654
6 ай бұрын
in the US. i believe Elton was on UNI up until “Honky Chatuae” then from “Don’t Shoot Me….” to “21@33” it was MCA. Then from “The Fox” to i THINK “Leather Jackets” it was Geffen” and then from “Live In Australia” to… i don’t know if he’s still on MCA or not to be honest🤷 UPDATE: i didn’t mention his Rocket record company was still with MCA. (That’s how Neil Sedaka made his 70s comeback) i’m thinking the first Rocket album was “Blue Moves” to “21@33” and then when he came back to MCA with “Live In Australia” was that with Rocket? Because i remember “Reg Strikes Back” was his first studio album back on MCA…or Rocket..🤔 that’s where things get a little hazy for me… Of course when you get into the UK companies and other countries..that’s where things get even more confusing 🙃😄
@marktubeie07
6 ай бұрын
OK, your channel is amazing. I'm sub'd ! The interesting 'nerdy' details are right up my alley and in learning stuff I was not aware of. Yes, here in Australia, Fox, too low, 21 at 33 were pressed using both copper and metal plates as I have one of each. It was interesting at that time here as 'Phonogram' would switch up pressings all over the place. Also many Elton albums from that period were pressed in New Zealand & shipped here in Aussie cover. Yeah, it was a mess. Love the vids bud, glad I discovered your channel :)
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
Thanks, man! Appreciate it. I had no idea about the other Aus DMMs. I could find only one of those entered on Discogs (Too Low). I have an Aus Fox cut by Rob Wise and pressed by Astor Records. But I don't see any DMM markings in the runouts, so I've always assumed it was cut to lacquer. Do the DMM copies actually say "DMM" somewhere on the sleeve or LP?
@marktubeie07
6 ай бұрын
@@CollectingElton The others I have say 'MASTERED IN COPPER ' in the dead wax. I should probably enter them on Discogs. I guess people don't know what to look for so there aren't any entries ? The sound great BTW. Also the Aussie version of Blue Moves, pressed by EMI here before the Rocket label moved to Phonogram in Australia, used the UK stampers. So sounds great on our vinyl. Hunt down a copy of that one if you can!
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
@@marktubeie07Thanks! I also noticed, after some creative Discogs keyword searching, that Aus DMM cuts also exist of "Reg", "Leather Jackets", and "Sleeping". "Reg" and "Sleeping" are both EMI pressings, so it appears Phonogram moved back to EMI at some point? Well, well. Some new "grails" to add to my list!
@stevemayner9662
6 ай бұрын
Appreciate the reply, all three copies are on island records and are 2017 pressings
@stevemayner9662
6 ай бұрын
Oh they are also standard black
@baddrivinginglasgow2637
5 ай бұрын
Hi, Just found a near mint UK copy of Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, with confusing markings. LP DJM Yellow Label DJM 22091 Cover spine says DJM 20427 Run out SIDE 1 say STAWBERRY DJM22091 with a DJM 20427 scratched out. The album is a single cover and not a gatefold with just an inner lyric record sleeve. Any idea on its origins, only found I miner ref online. I would appreciate any feedback.
@CollectingElton
5 ай бұрын
That's a third series (yellow label) copy in a later issue sleeve. I have one but in a slightly earlier sleeve, which was still a gatefold with booklet. That copy would've been pressed by CBS (probably at Aston Clinton... does it have a double dip pressing ring?) The "Strawberry" refers to the short-lived Strawberry mastering house, which operated from about 1978 to 1981 in London/Westminster. They did great lacquers! That copy should sound very good, very warm... at least the side that says Strawberry. Does the other side, perchance, have any markings? The scratched out number is the former CBS catalog number for that album, which changed at least twice back when CBS distributed DJM in the UK.
@baddrivinginglasgow2637
5 ай бұрын
@@CollectingElton @CollectingElton Hi, thanks for the fantastic info. Side 2 also has STRAWBERRY ( ) DJM 22091 B12 DJM 20427 scratched out and a marking B H 12
@CollectingElton
5 ай бұрын
@@baddrivinginglasgow2637 Then both sides should sound good. Strawberry was a good mastering studio. The DJM copies you don't want are the second series, i.e. 1976-77, which have the black labels with yellow text and DJM logo. Those sound horrible.
@stevenmoormann3644
4 ай бұрын
Have you ever listened to the speakers corner or the yellow vinyl gybr?
@CollectingElton
4 ай бұрын
I've never heard or owned a copy of the SC "Yellow Brick Road". It's not likely I ever will, it's so out of reach! I do have the DJM UK 1978 yellow vinyl. It sounds very good to my ears but not as good as its reputation would suggest. Next to a 1973 UK original, I prefer the "wedge"-label DJM pressings -- when it comes to the vintage UK DJM copies at least.
@stevemayner9662
6 ай бұрын
New subscriber here, I’m an Elton fan myself… just curious I have purchased three copies of Diamonds over a period of 5 years and every copy has two skips on the track Nikita?have you experienced this? What copy of Diamonds would you recommend
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
I have only one and mine is the standard black vinyl edition, which I bought from US Amazon back in 2017. Stampers by GZ although it may have actually been pressed in Canada at Precision, who sometimes presses for GZ. I'll have to double-check. I don't recall skips on mine but I'll give it a listen later and follow up...
@CollectingElton
6 ай бұрын
Following up: No skips on my copy, at least not on "Nikita". As my 2017 OG copy is the only one I have, I can't make comparisons to other versions. I've been avoiding the more recent special editions of that one, at least for now. In any event, it's too bad that you've had such bad luck with "Diamonds".
@stevemayner9662
6 ай бұрын
Yeah I’m actually sad about it because I recently found Diamonds on blue vinyl, no skips but the surface noise along with cracks and pops are crazy also on Island records… guess I wasn’t meant to have a nice copy
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