Needle Time

  John Lee Hooker - Burnin' [CR00544 EU 2023 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] In my middle-aged desire to find the best sounding versions of classic album reissues, the name & reputation of the mastering engineer has become a key indicator of how a record might sound when compared to another pressing. Kevin Gray's name is proudly displayed on the hype sticker on this beautifully packaged 2023 release of John Lee Hooker's Burnin' .  Gray has been responsible for many of the great sounding re-releases of the past few years.  Record companies know that informed buyers will seek out releases cut by Gray, the only issue is that the European version wasn't cut by Kevin Gray. Craft/Concord used a different cut (possibly using Gray's studio & equipment) by Matthew Lutthans. This may be an insignificant detail to most, but I think that it is important that record labels do get their marketing information correct. Usually Craft Recordings use RTI or QRP for their high quali...

  John Lee Hooker - The Healer [CR00467 USA 2022 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Time now for some Friday afternoon blues.... One of my most anticipated reissues in 2022 was Craft Recording's new pressing of John Lee Hooker's classic eighties blues/rock album The Healer . This album was a big instore playlist favourite at my provincial town record store in 1989, I did once own an original Silvertone Records CD, however that was loaned out and never returned a few years later. In the mid-nineties, I purchased and still own the MFSL Ultradisc II compact disc, in Silver Platters near Seattle from memory.  In recent years, I foolishly overlooked the Classic Records vinyl repress, mastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analogue tapes. Copies of that vary between £100 and £600 on reseller markets these days .......however when Chad Kassem bought the business assets of Classic Records from Mike Hobson in 2010, he acquired all the metal work cut for the original label, including Gr...