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Climbing Mount Everest --again.

74.88.240.246
Posted on October 28, 2014 at 14:07:05
rbolaw
 So as most of you surely know, Everest was a high-end audiophile label (classical and pop) from 1958 to 1960, and then quickly sank into the low-end budget label that I knew and despised as a teen LP collector in the 1970s.

I just picked up a very interesting Everest title from 1958, that includes Uirapuru, the shimmering, exotic tone poem by Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos. Even if you aren't a classical maven, this is music well worth nearing. It brings the listener as close to the Brazilian rain forest as most of us are likely to get (me, anyway).

Performed by Leopold Stokowski conducting the Stadium Symphony (aka NY Philharmonic), Stoki and the NY Phil performed the work's NY premiere in 1949, so they were a good choice. Not 'audiophile' in the immediate, splashy, in-your-face way, as these performers are in another Everest LP featuring Tchaikovsky's Francesca di Rimini and Hamlet overtures, but with a more distant perspective, no doubt intentional to help convey the vast, mysterious depths of the jungle. Ravishing flute and violin solos by John Wummer and John Corigliano, respectively, two great players.

Of course, you could get a more recent digital recording on CD or mp3 download. ;)

 

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I've been told that the "silverback" Everests are supposed to be very good., posted on October 28, 2014 at 14:36:17
olddude55
 I've got one, Hindemith's Symphony in E flat. Boult and the LPO.
I listened to it on the iPod last week but haven't had the LP out in a while.

 

RE: Climbing Mount Everest --again., posted on October 28, 2014 at 15:33:04
dean man jim
Audiophile

Posts: 2287
Location: Missouri
Joined: August 8, 2005
Contributor
  Since: June 5, 2007
 I have a decent handful of the older Everest releases and very much enjoy them. My copy of the Stokowski Uirapuru is the DCC reissue, though. I enjoy it and think the reissue is well done but I'd love to have an original to compare it to.


"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky

 

RE: Climbing Mount Everest --again., posted on October 28, 2014 at 15:41:31
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 48887
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001

Great recording, have no idea how to get it on CD buy it's listed as PROM-5014 and I'm able to stream it via QOBUZ and it is indeed a GREAT recording.

Sounds almost like a live recording at that.



First they came for the dumb-asses
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a dumb-ass

 

RE: if I understand correctly..., posted on October 28, 2014 at 15:44:49
user510
 it was the early Everest label that first pioneered the use of 35mm magnetic film in recording as part of the record producing process. Later, a couple of other labels followed this method. Somewhere on the bookshelf I have a reference that suggests Robert Fine purchased the magnetic film recording equipment from Everest and began using them for Mercury Living Presence and also some of the early Command Classics records. Robt. Fine operated as an independent contractor but did frequently work for both of those labels. I don't know if he did any work for Everest.

Unfortunately there isn't very much data available (on the net) for the early Everest recordings. A shame.

-Steve

 

RE: if I understand correctly..., posted on October 29, 2014 at 05:57:07
Dman
Audiophile

Posts: 7211
Location: Kansas
Joined: January 28, 2001



I have the Everest Pines Of Rome/Fountains Of Rome (done on 35mm), which is an excellent (if somewhat exuberant) performance and a decent recording (with exception to the first few minutes of each side- sounds like flutter in the speed which goes away after a bit).

Dman
Analog Junkie

 

RE: if I understand correctly..., posted on October 29, 2014 at 06:27:46
rbolaw
 Sounds like the original tape was no longer in perfect condition when your (I assume) recent audiophile reissue was made. But that flutter no doubt could easily have been corrected digitally -- if only you ANALOG JUNKIES would allow that!!! ;-)

 

RE: Climbing Mount Everest --again., posted on October 29, 2014 at 06:43:47
bassrome
Industry Professional

Posts: 54
Location: New Jersey
Joined: January 8, 2012
 I think the the DCC reissue is superb. It is much better than the original. I also think that all of the DCC pressings are much better than the Classic Everest reissues.

 

More info, posted on October 29, 2014 at 17:59:22
Botanico92007
Audiophile

Posts: 729
Location: San Diego
Joined: March 15, 2006
 This is the Everest 2-track tape issue of Uirapurú. These tapes were issued mostly in 1958. All of the 2-track tapes I have heard beat the original LP issues. The DCC LP reissue is excellent and preferable to the original issue. There is a lot of information about Everest on its new Facebook page, linked below.




 

RE: More info, posted on October 30, 2014 at 07:12:58
rbolaw
 Yes, the reel-to-reel tapes are excellent, but that's not a hobby I'm going to take on. There were also some excellent CDs made in the 1990s by the late Seymour Solomon, co-founder of the Vanguard label. And thanks for that link to the facebook page. Funny how I knew about none of this when I was scorning Everest LPs in the 70s.

 

RE: More info, posted on October 30, 2014 at 09:46:54
Botanico92007
Audiophile

Posts: 729
Location: San Diego
Joined: March 15, 2006
 Not unusual to have scorned Everest LPs in the 1970s. After the company went bankrupt in the early 1960s, there was a downward spiral of poor quality reissues that ended up in cutout bins. This soured for me the experiences of listening to these recordings. I discovered the tapes in the 1990s and was surprised by the quality of sound. The Solomon Vanguard reissues are very good, but for the full analog experience it's either the early LP pressings or the tapes.

 

A Quick View of Everest and its Era, posted on October 31, 2014 at 12:34:56
Mike Porper
Audiophile

Posts: 1414
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 28, 2009
 Everest wasn't just a high-end label. It was considered to be THE best record company, although there were a few tiny maverick record makers who endeavored to make records of even greater, no-compromise fidelity. I don't recall their names, but there was an extensive article about the era in Fanfare some years back.

In any case, the late 50s and the introduction to the market of stereo recordings brought a spurt of super high quality recording. Manufacturers were tripping over themselves to put out the best product they could [while still maintaining general marker acceptance; i.e., records had to be playable on average phonographs of the day]. RCA's Living Stereo, Mecury's Living Presence, London's FSSR, Westminster, etc., are well known, as are other labels such as Audio Fidelity, Command, etc. etc. Many of the labels took pains to detail technical details of their recordings, such as frequency response, the recording equipment used, etc. All of you guys collecting vinyl know all of that.

Yet, during that heyday, Everest still stood above the rest. Knowledgable record clerks [some made a decent wage in those times] would steer inquiring customers to Everest if the customer inquired about getting the best sound for their "rig" [in those days, many music listeners were also hobbyists who built their own tube pre-amps and amplifiers, or put them together from kits such as Knightkit, Dynaco, and many, many others].

The first issues during Bert White's administration featured thick, quality jackets with dowel spined inner sleaves [that's what you look for when trying to find the earliest, best pressings], and super cut grooves.

It seems that sometime around 1963-4 there was a sea change, and a profound one at that in the record industry. RCA introduced Dynagroove, thereby killing Living Stereo. All of the independent labels began to be sold off to either larger conglomerates or indifferent investors, none of whom maintained any of the starry-eyed, super idealistic goals of the original companies. Mercury was sold off to Philips, Westmister to ABC Paramount, Vanguard to somebody [don't recall], and so on. But, none fell so hard and so far as Everest. It's a tale good enough for a feature film.

Everest changed hands many times over the decades, and it seems that each change produced even lower quality vinyl than anyone thought was possible. The last phase was so bad that records were pressed with the wrong labels attached. So, the cover said Krip's Beethoven 5th, the label on the record inside said Copland "Billy the Kid" Side A on both sides of the record, and the record itself was Prokofiev's "Cinderella". That hardly mattered, since the vinyl was apt to be so warped and riddled with pops and skips that you couldn't play the thing.

How far the mighty had fallen.

The 90's analog vinyl revival produced a bunch of DCC remastered Everest CD's and a handful of vinyl. IMO, all are excellent. It's a wonder, given how supremely awful the post-Bert White Everest pressings were, that the master tapes were preserved at all.

 

Identifying the Earliest & Best Everests, posted on October 31, 2014 at 16:53:22
Mike Porper
Audiophile

Posts: 1414
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 28, 2009
 This may be helpful:

"the only collectible Everest recordings are the original Belock pressings. Fortunately, it is very easy to tell the Belock pressings from the later pressings via the labels. Belock initially used a silver/turquoise label with the earliest of these using a wooden dowel on the outside edge of the inner sleeve just as Angel did on their earliest releases. The second and final Belock label was purple/gold with a picture of a mountain on it. The early Everest recordings can be found with either silver/turquoise or purple mountain labels. The later Belock pressings are only on the purple mountain label. Interestingly, the sound between the first and second Belock pressings of the same recording is different. The silver/turquoise pressings have more accurate timbre and tonality. The purple mountain pressings are more dynamic. Which you will prefer is a matter of personal preference. I collect both.

Got that from http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue25/everest.htm

 

RE: Identifying the Earliest & Best Everests, posted on October 31, 2014 at 17:03:45
rbolaw
 Yes, all true. The ones I get nowadays are just about all purple and gold, though the two labels immediately after those, gold and black, are often still pretty good, and I have a few very good gold and black label ones from the dollar bins. After those labels, you have to be lucky to get a decent one.

 

There is actually a third Belock label, posted on November 4, 2014 at 08:47:34
vinyl phanatic
Audiophile

Posts: 1596
Location: Washington DC
Joined: May 22, 2006
 Kind of a hybrid of the other two, with the silver and turquoise color scheme and the artwork of the purple label. Pretty unusual on classical titles, but very common on the pop issues.



 

Further Everest Update - HD Downloads - Remastered 24/192 and 24/96, posted on November 5, 2014 at 15:24:11
Mike Porper
Audiophile

Posts: 1414
Location: Chicago
Joined: December 28, 2009
 Since the vinyl isn't exactly hanging out on the corner, just looking for trouble [and stereo Everests harder to find than mono], here's the latest from Stereophile. Interestingly but sadly, the master tapes aren't in good condition [chiefly, they suffer from "vinegar syndrome"; see the article below], and thus seem to have required some digital restoration.

 

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