The Lost Bluebacks

Well let's see a year and a half ago I made all these nice piles of London's to suss out the sound of the various engineers and to track down when the Blueback sound ended and also discover the early stereo treasury sound. Then I went EMI gaga and so the piles set and have now become an annoyance with Blueback fever setting in and I don't know what I have.

We'll start off the proceeding with some Ravel as a nice Blueback Monteux Chloe is sitting on eBay calling to me. The stereo treasury STS 15090 was very nice, a G pressing with nice hints of tubiness with a nice half speed mastered solidity. One could hear Monteux's revered and polished conducting of Daphnis et Chloe as loved by the Amazon reviewers. Very nice, yet not the tube flashiness and life in the highest ranges so on we go.

Just two catalog numbers after Monteux we have the STS Ansermet with Chloe Suite No. 2. Here we have a W pressing in competition with the G Monteux press. It holds up great with similar sound and I was struck by the Oboe bits (or some other reed) which were so Gallic as if to sound like a squeeze box on the streets of Paris. A little bit more tube airiness came through on this LP versus the Monteux which has much to do with the differing recording sites (Ansermet in Switzerland, Monteux London). A later STS pressing on the narrow orange label sported the Neumann SX-74 pristine treble extension, alas the Gallic reeds were no longer Gallic, but a fine LP and perhaps a wise choice for the solid state aficionado.  

Then I realized another Ansermet Ravel LP CS 6210 was the original for STS 15092. With a nice Blueback my hopes were high and then I pull the LP out and we have FFRR not the beloved FFSS, but then that works well since this whole article is about the lost Blueback sound and this LP was likely made at the end of the Blueback era. So here we have a 2L/4L matrix that is slightly later than the original FFSS 1L/2L (thanks eBay sellers!). The sound at first struck me as very like the W pressing, but then I started to hear some treble advantages and decided to move onto Alborada Del Gracioso which did well and on to side 2 with Valses Nobles and Sentimentales. 

And now I flip the STS W pressing back on and .... dare I say a more solid sound with more bass weight, but unfortunately a more congealed harsher treble sound. Extremely listenable is my first impression with nice bass weight and we wait until I listen on through side 2.... sound is a bit congealed compared to the tube pressing which is probably due to the inherently better control of transistors versus most tubes. Treble dynamics constrained, but again the bass has a fine solidity. Tombeau De Couperin comes last on side 2 and is quite finessed on the W pressing. With side 2's paucity of dynamics, the W STS gave a nice nuanced sound. Side 2's sentimental sound worked well on the W, but the occasional congealed harshness here and 

there left one wanting the half Blueback with its airy and more extended treble. I like later Blueback’s (post CS 6200) very much and the original 1L/2L FFSS might offer a slight improvement in sound. Moon once again denigrates one of the best Ravel conductors with a 6 (of 10) for performance in the Blueback guide. The sound rating of 6 might be close to the mark, but the half Blueback of CS 6210 was better than that and a full Blueback might be nicer. Don't break the bank for one, but please get a copy of one of these LP's. NM copies of the original FFSS can be had sometimes as low as $10 on eBay. Yours truly paid $0.05 for most of these at the local planned parenthood book sale.

You may be at a loss at this point on the Lost Blueback’s and so I'll track back to my first LP of this project, CS 6351, the next number after Moon's catalogue of London Bluebacks. And what do we have? An FFSS Blueback with top notch sound. I ignored the much loved Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto and went to the Clarinet Concerto which had a wondrous tube top end sound not often heard. Just to verify its Bluebackness, I threw on CS 6178 with Maag and the LSO. Munchinger and the VPO on CS 6351 were better than one of the top Bluebacks. Before I put the Maag in the sell pile I played the two Mozart Horn Concertos on side 2 and they were excellent. On comparison with the Lowell Greer McCegan effort on Harmonia Mundi USA LP, I found I liked the Blueback slightly better. But, CS 6351 rules the roost here and is one of the great Bluebacks. Raeburn and Brown recorded this for Decca at the Sofiensaal, Vienna in September, 1962. The LP was released first on London in October 1963 ahead of the Decca release of this title.

I'd run out of blue so next up was CS 6357 with its retro FFSS label, a white back FFSS. Clifford Curzon scores a knockout with the Dvorak Quintet with a very refined late Blueback sound; truly transcendental sound of the highest order. Another white back FFSS followed in CS 6379 Mozart Clarinet Quintet with a magical clarinet but some edginess at times with some of the instruments. Overall the Clarinet Quintet had very strong sound to rival most any Blueback. Unfortunately, the Mozart Divertimenti on side 2 was not as assured with quite a few signs of strain in the highs indicative some early transistor changing the precious Blueback sound. CS 6379 was recorded by Smith and Parry October, 1963 at Sofiensaal, Vienna with the LP coming out in May of 1964. CS 6357 was recorded in Sofiensaal, Vienna by Culshaw and Parry in October 1962 with the LP in October 1963. Overall two strong LP's without a Blueback! (Well, CS 6357 does exist with a Blueback.)

And now the rest of the story, unfortunately life with CS 6359 Ashenzky Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 3 on a grooved FFRR was problematic. At first listen there was hope, but a slight restriction in the highs turned into terrible piano distortion on the loudest passages. Has the early transistor reared its ugly head? Consulting the Charm music database we find Wilkinson record this in March of 1963, LP out in July, so this LP is a real disappointment and perhaps the Decca or later pressing might offer relief. I doubt the Decca is any good as prices are quite low. I'd love to hear the Super Analogue KIJC 9024. This also exists as an FFSS label with 1E/1E matrices which would be interesting to hear and earlier than my 3L pressing. This was the first record in the catalog with no Blueback and it’s really quite bad.

CS 6367 Ansermet Dukas Sorcerer's Apprentice has come out of the gate strong with more of that late Blueback sound. An FFSS I missed in the first scan through of these LP's it has a nice controlled sound with great definition and depth with screaming treble dynamics. The sound does not completely hold up with a tightness to the bass that hurt dynamics slightly. With some brittleness and stridency in the sound it appears the transistor may have arrived by this point. The team of Bremner and Wallace recorded this in April 1963, Victoria Hall, Geneva (no LP until December 1964 (possibly 1963 as this might be a typo in Philip Stuart's Decca document on the Charm website download area.) I am pretty sure this is a typo as my copy has the early 2E/1E matrix with a B for Buckingham at 3 o'clock and a 1 at 9 o'clock. Those are the earliest codes and may indicate that the London may have come out before the Decca (which you can buy for the princely sum of $200 on eBay if you like.)

CS 6375 Sibelius Sym. 1 Maazel Vienna on FFSS comes in sounding very similar to the above Ansermet, but the nature of the piece does not seem to expose the small flaws in tightness and dynamics as much. Again a good record, but it’s starting to sound like those early transistors are starting to work their way into the recording chain. Smith and Parry recorded this in March 1963, at the Sofiensaal, Vienna (LP June 1964).

CS 6386 Wagner Overtures, Ansermet on FFRR starts out well again with much of the sound of the above two titles. The Blueback magic is not quite there yet again replaced with a somewhat chalky sound; another decent record with a little overloading on some hotly recorded brass, but a nice sound. Bremner and Lock recorded this at Victoria Hall in Geneva, September 1963 with the LP in June of 1964.

CS 6398 Britten conducts Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra with the London Symphony, FFRR. Impressive bass weight again but the extended treble gets a bit chalky in the loud passages, but quite nice in the quiet parts. Recorded by Smith and Parry at Kingsway Hall, London May 1963, with the LP in September 1964.

I don't have the LP, but I suspect CS 6352 Mozart and Haydn Divertimenti with the Vienna Octet would have a full Blueback sound. CS 6354 Mozart 33 and 39 was recorded on the same date as CS 6351 so should be safe bet for more Blueback sound. CS 6358 Dvorak 8 Kertesz, LSO is available in a Blueback FFSS and based on recording dates it may be the last LP with true Blueback sound (or the first without).

It’s hard to say what accounts for change in sound, but it seems anything recorded after 1962 is likely to have issues. These LP's transitioning from the Bluebacks do not have the magic sound in the treble. It is interesting to note the CS 6351 and its sister SXL 6054 came out after CS 6359 and 58 on LP despite being recorded earlier. My guess is the loss of the beloved Blueback sound was done while making the recordings more so than anywhere else.

And last, but not least, the budget STS and SDD issues do not have the late Blueback sound, but they also do not have the early FFRR sound since they did not appear until early 1967 over three years after these LP's. Some of the early ones do have great sound and unlike the budget label Victrola for RCA they do not exhibit any negatives versus the main label. The early STS often have more bass weight than the originals and while they can't float the nice airy impressive treble of the late Blueback, they do not have some of the nasties of the early FFRR releases while conveying much of the tube goodness of the originals. But this is for another time; just realize that the STS and SDD are not a continuation of the late Bluebacks. While I've not covered later FFSS pressings and early FFRR reissue pressings of Bluebacks, I'll say that they are not the same as the prized originals.

I'll further note for those keeping score, that most of the Decca in this range were put out a month before the London. This means the Decca as a group will sound marginally better. The Decca versions also can go for ten times as much or more generally.

Update: Be sure to see our Living Decca SXL Blueback Guide.