Simon and Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Classic Records 180g--Plays NM
$
96
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Description
Dr. John's Spin Factory invites you to return to January, 1970 when radio stations across country launced a song into heavy rotation that simply re-scripted the realities of anyone with a radio and a pulse. The song, and album that soon followed, Bridge Over Troubled Water would be the fifth and final studio release from the inimitable duo, Simon and Garfunkel. And what a release it was. The album sold over 5 million copies in the states, 25 million copies worldwide. And here I shall depart from the commercial blah blah blah. The real point to make is, not until Classic Records released their version, mastered by Bernie Grundman and pressed on 180g vinyl in 1999, did I hear a version that did justice to this timeless music.
And that, my friends, is the copy up for sale. With KCS 9914-A BG in the dead wax (of side one), this is the real deal. This is the version to have (unless it would be Classic's 200g version that followed a few years later--though good luck finding one that isn't rife with pressing defects and would likely cost at least twice as much; or, the Classic Records 45rpm version, and that, too, is pressed on 200g vinyl, which I do not trust because of defective pressings. Plus, I find it nuts getting up to change the record after every other song). Okay, admittedly, the MFSL version definitely beats any of Columbia's pressings. And, I find this Classic Records version to be noticeably warmer, more musical, and more engaging than the MFSL. (Perhaps explained by the fact that Mobile Fidelity works with digital copies of original tapes not the original tapes, as did Classic.)
To put even more meat on the musical and historical bones, here's AllMusic's reviewer, Bruce Eder:
Bridge Over Troubled Water was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and it hasn't fallen too far down on the list in years since. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, which took some evolution to get to what it finally became, however, much of Bridge Over Troubled Water also constitutes a stepping back from the music that Simon & Garfunkel had made on Bookends -- this was mostly because the creative partnership that had formed the body and the motivation for the duo's four prior albums literally consumed itself in the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The overall effect was perhaps the most delicately textured album to close out the 1960s from any major rock act. Bridge Over Troubled Water, at its most ambitious and bold, on its title track, was a quietly reassuring album; at other times, it was personal yet soothing; and at other times, it was just plain fun. The public in 1970 -- a very unsettled time politically, socially, and culturally -- embraced it; and whatever mood they captured, the songs matched the standard of craftsmanship that had been established on the duo's two prior albums. Between the record's overall quality and its four hits, the album held the number one position for two and a half months and spent years on the charts, racking up sales in excess of five million copies. The irony was that for all of the record's and the music's appeal, the duo's partnership ended in the course of creating and completing the album.
Yes, indeed. A milestone. A masterpiece. Incomparable. And this, one of the most desirable pressings ultrasonically cleaned so it likely sounds better than any new one...can be yours...
Good luck! May the music that activates the air in and around your ears light up your brain with joy, the likes of which words are completely inadequate to describe.
Best! Dr. John
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