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Mastered from the Original 3-Track Analog Masters by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray with DSD Specialist Gus Skinas!Click Here to read Michael Fremer's essay on the Nat King Cole Mastering efforts!
Included with this deluxe reissue is a 1,600-word essay by Jordan Taylor about the album.
All tracks playable as Three-Channel, Stereo and Mono on SACD layer and playable as Stereo and Mono on the CD layer.
Arranged and Conducted by Nelson Riddle.
Casting early-20th Century works by "the Father of the Blues" with particularly smooth vocals by Nat King Cole and the resourceful orchestrations of Nelson Riddle resulted in this classic album, a worthy tribute to the W.C. Handy legacy.
Nat King Cole sings songs of W.C. Handy from the Paramount Picture based on Handy's life.
Included with this deluxe reissue is a 2,200-word essay by Jordan Taylor about the album.
This hybrid SACD is playable as follows: A three-channel SACD section includes all songs listed in the tracks section except for the alternate take of "Just For The Fun Of It," which was recorded in Mono. There is a Stereo SACD section with all songs in stereo except for the alternate take of "Just For The Fun Of It," which was recorded in Mono. There is a Mono SACD section with all songs included. The Stereo CD section includes the same content as the SACD Stereo section and the Mono CD section includes all songs.
This has been a totally no-expenses-spared project. Using the original three-track work tapes from Capitol's vaults, mastering engineers Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman along with DSD specialist Gus Skinas bring you an entirely incomparable SACD experience. In addition to the stereo mixes, this SACD includes a three-track transfer for multichannel playback and the original mono mix taken from separate microphone feeds, mixing consoles and tape machines at the original sessions. In order to master from the three-track masters, AcousTech had to be outfitted for three-channel playback. That meant Kevin Gray had to find a third identical monitoring channel chain (including mixing board, amplifier and speaker) as well as a three-track playback headstack and also a three-track preview head for the vinyl cutting system. It was a massive assignment. We've spent a fortune to include these extra bells and whistles and to make this a truly historic reissue.
Contrasting downbeat ballads with an ironic brassy, upbeat big band attitude, the ironic Cole Porter standard Just One Of Those Things sets the tone for a distinctive, pungent experience of love and disillusionment with a swing. Brilliantly backing the intimately expressive and supremely musical voice of the incomparable Nat "King" Cole, a big band with no "strings" smolders, swings, saunters, storms, sighs and sizzles with the arrangements of the distinctive Billy May. Featuring top shelf interpretations of "These Foolish Things," "Who's Sorry Now?" "The Party's Over" and more, this album is among its era's finest recordings of popular music and its quality, style and spirit remains unexcelled.
Just One Of Those Things was recorded in finely polished monaural and more minimalistic 3-channel stereophonic versions, each with dedicated microphones, console, mix and recorders. Each offers a different sonic perspective. The monaural recording was heard on the original hit records while the stereophonic recording offers the potential for a stunning wide-range realism. Using the original first generation full-track mono and 3-track session tapes from Capitol's vaults and custom headstacks, console and monitoring chain installed at AcousTech specially for these releases, mastering engineers Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman along with DSD specialist Gus Skinas bring you an entirely incomparable SACD experience.
For this deluxe hybrid SACD, both mono and stereo versions are available in standard resolution on the CD layer and in high resolution on the DSD stereo layer, while the stereo versions are also available in high resolution 3-channel sound on the DSD multi-channel layer. Also included in 3-channel, stereo and mono is a superb track recorded for the album, "You'll Never Know," which was omitted due to space constraints - this release is the very first ever of the original mono version! In addition a 2,200-word essay by Jordan Taylor about the album is included. No expense was spared to make this the ultimate digital version of this album and a historic reissue.
Originally released in 1957.
"Listening to Nat King Cole in 3-channel DSD from hard diskÂ… and yes, those are the same three speakers that were used for the mastering. The sound of the DSD playback via EMM Labs multi-channel was simply unbelievable... As a long-time Nat King Cole fan, I was knocked out by the amazing quality of the DSD masters." - David W. Robinson, www.positive-feedback.com
All tracks playable as Three-channel, Stereo and Mono on the SACD layer and as Stereo and Mono on the CD layer.
Features:
• Super Audio CD
• SACD Multi-Channel SACD Layer
• SACD Stereo SACD Layer
• SACD Mono SACD Layer
• This Hybrid SACD contains a 'Red Book' CD Layer which is playable on most conventional CD Players!
• Mastered by Kevin Gray, Steve Hoffman and Gus Skinas
Selections:
1. Overture (Introducing Love Theme) / Hesitating Blues
2. Harlem Blues
3. Chantez Les Bas
4. Friendless Blues
5. Stay
6. Joe Turner's Blues
7. Beale Street Blues
8. Careless Love
9. Morning Star
10. Memphis Blues
11. Yellow Dog Blues
12. St. Louis Blues
