Best version of cat Stevens tea for the tillerman?

[Thomas savage]

I have a recent remaster dated 2008.
LC 00407
SET 00602517870888
Cd 1. 00602517870854
Cd 2. 00602517870871

That's all the numbers I can find on it..

It suffers the usual modern remaster issues, simply does not seem to be mastered in a way optimal for hifi playback through speakers.. For rigs like we have, it's for ear phones imo, that's fine but they should tell us this is the bloody portable ear phone version.

 

[TBone]

in a nutshell ... LPs pressings aside; CD ... I'd suggest the AM+ series, the MFSL and perhaps the Island Master series. The SACD/HD versions also look fine. I'd stay clear of the "deluxe" versions from 2008, unless added compression is your cup of snowflake.

 

[Thomas savage]

Yea the one I have sounds... Frankly shit.

I plumbed for the sacd version.

Thanks tbone

 

[BobShermanEsq]

I have a recent remaster dated 2008.
LC 00407
SET 00602517870888
Cd 1. 00602517870854
Cd 2. 00602517870871

That's all the numbers I can find on it..

It suffers the usual modern remaster issues, simply does not seem to be mastered in a way optimal for hifi playback through speakers.. For rigs like we have, it's for ear phones imo, that's fine but they should tell us this is the bloody portable ear phone version.

Listening to allot of Cat Stevens lately... ( moderated )

 

[Thomas savage]

I love the anti production of tea for the tillerman. It's a perfect record imo, so it gets a play once a week at least. It's just you and cat Stevens , no multitrack over dub bollocks diluting the natural visceral emotion of the performance.

 

[RayDunzl]

Yea the one I have sounds... Frankly shit.

Maybe your playback gear is no good. Or you don't know how to appreciate a fine recording. Some folks like Budweiser, you know, and can't swallow Stout.

---

Unbelievable... I have this one too. No way your next one is going to be in my rack, just no way.

The A&M version. A&M CD 4280 DIDX 583 on the spine.

Old as dirt. Bought Sept 6 2012 used.

Bar code matches up with this one in the Database:

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/53319

Sounds good here.

RTA of a couple of tracks, left/right:

 

[Thomas savage]

Nothing fine about the 2008 remaster deluxe edition I have Ray but yes plenty of people like crap beer.

Only good thing about Budweiser is the Clydesdales.

 

[NorthSky]

This is one of my all time favorite albums. I have several LPs and CDs of this title, and none sounds the way it should. They no sound better than the cassette tape.
I don't really feel to go and look and post all the various serial numbers; but I would like to know which one to buy next.

A music collection is a like a movie collection; it's worth zero if you don't have the best sound and picture to attach to the year 2016.
So, which Cat Stevens version is the best? ...Tea for the Tillerman. Is it one of them analog LPs or one of them digital CD/SACDs?
Which year, which number pressing, from which country, which music studio, manufacturing plant? How many copies are available in the world, and for how much?

Or, can we be satisfie with what we bought over the years, LPs, CDs, HDCDs, tra-la-la...it's a wide world...and it doesn't sound so good to me; but I love the music enough to suck more money into it...no problemo, and my neighbor seems to have a better remastered pressing from a previous year. I need some new sound improvement in life; I'm all dying for. Can I get that with iTune and youtube? Of course I'm kidding; then is it a new remastering 240gr vinyl or spatial 32-bit CD edition?

What a great album...if only we can have access to it in all its serendipity.
{I prefer my LPs over my CDs.}

The next one they'll remaster (2017); is it going to sound worst than the ones they release back in early 70s? Are we going up, or down? Is it about sound science improvement or about money trade? Do they measure in sound quality or in dollar revenues?

Great album; I'm going to put it on my coffee table for an eventual spin. I just know that it will sound mediocre. But that's ok, I'm also in for the music ♫

 

[TBone]

The A&M version. A&M CD 4280 DIDX 583 on the spine.

Old as dirt. Bought Sept 6 2012 used.

Sounds good here.

Nice find; I've been searching for that particular CD for some time to add to my collection.

Those old AM+ (Audio Master Plus Series) CDs are mastered well, w/wide dynamic expression.

I've got a bunch, including Cat Steven GH.

Be careful tho, many suffer ongoing CD rot, and require ripping.

 

[RayDunzl]

Be careful tho, many suffer ongoing CD rot, and require ripping.

I don't have any rotten discs that I know of. They don't escape scrutiny as I try to play the entire collection before playing one I've already played, and repeat. That takes a long time now. One with an unfortunate scratch on the lacquer side, and I even broke one catching it in the hinge of the jewel box - it snipped off the edge (probably couldn't do that again).

Or, maybe I've just been lucky.

 

[TBone]

My cdp will play near all rotting CDs; actually ... i'd not known they were rotting per-say, until I cleaned one, placed it against a bright light source, noticed all the random black potting. Much of my AM+ series CDs suffer, unfortunately.

 

[NorthSky]

When I play many of my tapes I can hear the muffled music sound from the other side coming through.
During quiet passages and between tracks it is almost like a nightmare in reverse.

Many earlier CDs from bad plants didn't have a label; you can see pinholes, and clouds of acid rain.
The sound is so strident that you have to wear ear protection pads.

The 70s and 80s were bad for tapes, LPs and CDs. ...In general.

Today youtube sounds much better than the products they were selling yesterday.
And those $25-50 a shot for HD music downloads; know what you buy, because vice in this music business is still very prominent.

Cat Stevens had a unique career, and all his early albums were and still are pure music magic.
I'm still looking for the ones sounding best. But my personal experience was best from the LPs, more than the CDs.

Vinyl is like heroin, very addicting. Just check the analog audio forums who are like cults, and even the most LP lovers don't always have access to.
You need your pass, and your kit.

Mona Bone Jakon - April 1970 | Tea for the Tillerman, also 1970 ... those records were spinning on my TT back then, and still spinning in my head...

 

[Thomas savage]

My cdp will play near all rotting CDs; actually ... i'd not known they were rotting per-say, until I cleaned one, placed it against a bright light source, noticed all the random black potting. Much of my AM+ series CDs suffer, unfortunately.

Oh that rot, the rumours album I just bought is full of it then. Just held it up to the light and it's full of holes... See through bits..plays without a skip..

 

[NorthSky]

Hey, most people don't know they have rotten CDs because they don't play them all anymore.
CD music collections in the thousands; I don't know many who still rotate them all.
But maybe some of you do...I don't.

How many here have over say 3,000-5,000 CDs in their collection?

Same with LPs; do yu still play all your 5,000-10,000 LPs from your collection? Guess how many of them don't have their hole centered right in the middle?

Mike, how's the version of Tea for the Tillerman on Tidal?

 

[TBone]

Oh that rot, the rumours album I just bought is full of it then. Just held it up to the light and it's full of holes... See through bits..plays without a skip..

I'm not surprised, it's more common than people may think ... rip it soon, the pitting only gets worse.

 

[RayDunzl]

CD music collections in the thousands; I don't know many who still rotate them all.

Like I've said, I do. I play one and leave it about a 1/2" out in the rack when I put it back. I avoid playing the ones that have been played until they all have. Sometimes I cheat a little, who wouldn't. It takes a long time, longer each time, since there are more of them.

I try not to buy things I won't listen to more than once, so I don't have a lot of the overplayed "standards".

I do have a space for the rejects. I used to frequent the bargain bins at Circuit City and Best Buy on the way home from work, spend a couple of bucks get a few discs. Some were excellent, so, don't feel it was a waste. But I still go back and give them another chance occasionally.

Power Trio From Hell anyone?

 

[hvbias]

Tea For the Tillerman and Rumors, Thomas your metal cred is really taking a hit

 

[Thomas savage]

Tea For the Tillerman and Rumors, Thomas your metal cred is really taking a hit

I like loads of things, i guess I enjoy music just for the music rather than some tribal sence of belonging or indeed lust for credibility.

I don't fit in at metal gigs, I don't fit in at jazz concerts , I don't fit in.. Well anywhere to be honest.

I am a alien, waiting to be picked up

 

[NorthSky]

Tea For the Tillerman and Rumors, Thomas your metal cred is really taking a hit

It's funny you just mentioned that; since Rumours was started it did cross my mind, but I did not put much weight into it.
Music is an evolution, and it can lead to mysterious parts of different continents...

Fleetwood Mac went through that too, and so is Cat Stevens.

 

[hvbias]

I like loads of things, i guess I enjoy music just for the music rather than some tribal sence of belonging or indeed lust for credibility.

I don't fit in at metal gigs, I don't fit in at jazz concerts , I don't fit in.. Well anywhere to be honest.

I am a alien, waiting to be picked up

Hahaha I thought you were one of those metal heads with the metal thread having "(no pony tails or choral crap)" in the title