HiRez Poll Davis, Mac - DON'T GET HOOKED, ROSES, ALL THE LOVE, BURNIN' THING, THUNDER [SACD]

[sjcorne]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this 2022 Multichannel SACD from Dutton Vocalion containing five(!) albums from Mac Davis.
This Multichannel SACD features the first official release of the original Quadraphonic mixes since the 1970s!
The Quadraphonic mix of "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" is also available to stream in Dolby Audio via Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/baby-dont-get-hooked-on-me/216333534
CD 1

BABY DON’T GET HOOKED ON ME
LP KC 31770 (1972) STEREO/CQ 31770 QUADRAPHONIC

1 Dream Me Home (Davis)
2 The Lonesomest Lonesome (Davis)
3 Everybody Loves a Love Song (Davis)
4 Naughty Girl (Davis)
5 Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife (Davis)
6 Half and Half (Song for Sarah) (Davis)
7 Spread Your Love on Me (Davis)
8 Whoever Finds This, I Love You (Davis)
9 Poor Boy Boogie (Davis)
10 Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me (Davis)
11 The Words Don’t Come Easy (Davis)

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES
LP KC 32582 (1974) STEREO/CQ 32582 QUADRAPHONIC

12 Stop and Smell the Roses (Davis; Severinsen)
13 Soft, Sweet Fire (Davis; James)
14 The Sweetest Song (Davis; James)
15 Two Plus Two (Davis; James)
16 The Birthday Song (Davis)
17 One Hell of a Woman (Davis; James)
18 A Poor Man’s Gold (Davis)
19 Lucus Was a Redneck (Davis)
20 Kiss It and Make It Better (Davis)
21 Good Friends and Fireplaces (Davis)

ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD
LP PC 32927 (1975) STEREO/PCQ 32927 QUADRAPHONIC

22 Rock ’n’ Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life) (Johnson)
23 I Still Love You (You Still Love Me) (Davis; James)
24 Boogie Woogie Mama (Davis; James)
25 Magic Mystery (Davis; James)
26 Every Woman (Mason)

CD 2

1 If You Add All the Love in the World (Page)
2 Freedom Trail (Davis; James)
3 Smiley (Davis; James)
4 Fall in Love With Your Wife (Davis)
5 Emily Suzanne (Davis)
6 Biff, the Friendly Purple Bear (Feller)

BURNIN’ THING
LP PC 33551 (1975) STEREO/PCQ 33551 QUADRAPHONIC
7 Burnin’ Thing (Davis)
8 I Feel the Country Callin’ Me (Richie; Davis)
9 Put Another Notch in Your Belt (Davis)
10 A Special Place in Heaven (Davis)
11 Honeysuckle Magic (Davis)
12 You’re Gonna Love Yourself (In the Morning) (Fritts)
13 The Hits Just Keep on Coming (Davis)
14 Sweet Dreams and Sarah (Davis)
15 The Jimmy Brown Song (Villard; Reisfeld)

THUNDER IN THE AFTERNOON
LP PC 34313 (1977) STEREO/PCQ 34313 QUADRAPHONIC
16 Thunder in the Afternoon (Let It Rain) (Davis; Grimm; Norman)
17 Picking up the Pieces of My Life (Davis)
18 The Morning Side (Davis)
19 Plastic Saddle (McAlpin)
20 Do It (With Someone You Love) (Davis; James)
21 Please Be Gentle (Davis)
22 Jennifer Johnson and Me (Silverstein; Koller)
23 Where Did the Good Times Go (Davis)
24 Play Me a Little Travelling Music (Davis; James)
25 When I Dream (Theoret)

SACD LAYERS ONLY

From BURNIN’ THING
LP PC 33551 (1975) STEREO/PCQ 33551 QUADRAPHONIC
26 I Still Love You (You Still Love Me) (Davis; James)
27 Rufus Was a Redneck (Davis)

Remastered from the original analogue tapes by Michael J Dutton

Multi-Channel/Stereo
All tracks available in stereo and multi-channel

SACD
These Hybrid CDs can be played on any standard CD player

2CDLK 4637

 

[marpow]

I voted 10.
It is a big Quad 4.0 listen, but man oh man, smooth as silk this music. I have been listening to surround music since 2014 and this 2 disc SACD set is maybe one of the best 4.0's I have ever heard. Everything felt so balanced and right. No fronts vs rears and no rights vs lefts felt out of balance ever.
Of course the music, I would call it easy listening country, has nothing to stress about, just sit back, don't have to fight yourself, is this right is that wrong.
I think Dutton Vocalion is the best producer of 4.0 music overall that I have ever heard.
Regardless of this genre, I think it is a must buy.

Small Negative: When ripping Burnin' Thing is split between two discs and has 2 tracks at end. Not really a problem, a small nothing.

 

[jaybird100]

I also gave it a 10. I have two of the albums on SQ LP, and they happen to be some great sounding records. The SQ mix sounds quite nice when played with the SM, and the overall sound is rich and as dynamic as you can expect from a record. The SACD just created a better envelope of sound, with fidelity that sounded like Mac was in the room with me. Another winner from D-V.

 

[GOS]

I also voted a 10. I love this kind of music, it's a wonderful reminder of my grandparents, who are long since gone. As Marpow says, the Quad mixes on these are stellar, as is the fidelity. For me, easy 10. I mean, if you don't like the genre or artist, you likely shouldn't be buying this. But for folks like me, this is such a no brainer, and wonderful value. I have dozens of rock albums that are way less satisfying than this. Great job MJD!!

 

[Q-Eight]

Just got mine today. (Never fails, the LAST day I have off after a short illness) The mixes on these are great and I'm quite impressed with the sound clarity. Very little hiss that I can detect and NO print-through on the tapes used. Very, very nice. The clarity is good enough you can hear the last "four" of the count-in to "Baby, Don't get Hooked on Me". One thing I do love, since each one of these albums is literally a year apart; you have a very lovely example of how SQ (or, Quad mixing in general) was evolving. Those of us with quad-oscilloscopes can watch the visual representations. The first album is mostly fat mono in the fronts with the very occasional item in hard FL or FR. Rears nice and wide. But even by the second album, the drum kit is now using the stereo front channels with everything else up the middle. Pretty much the same with the third album. Did notice a pretty nasty drop-out just before the 1 minute mark during "Boogie Woogie Mama". *edit*:I just looked at the inner-liner credits and the first three albums are done by Harold J. Kleiner & Don Young. This probably explains why they're so similar.

It isn't until "Burnin' Thing" (album & song) that we finally get some of that good, something in every corner Quad. Going to have to say this is the album with the *BEST* mix of them all. "Burnin' Thing" and "The Hits just keep on comin' " are so worth it. Bruce Botnick mixed this one. That explains the four-corner aggressive mix. I like it. It works well here.

I had forgotten that "Thunder in the Afternoon"'s mix reverts to drums in the back corner, bass in the other back corner 1971-esque, uber-discrete mix. Surely SQ-decoders had gotten away from that by this point or was this mix simply "phoned-in" because it was literally one of the last CBS Quad mixes ever done? Will we ever know?

I had to vote a 10. I'd been very vocal asking for these, and now I got 'em.

 

[jefe1]

Thanks for the review Q8. Don't feel you're the only one I just caught my sons cold for my few days off work and will get nothing done I planned before going back to work.....

 

[4-earredwonder]

How does MJ do it: 5 superbly remastered QUAD albums on 2 SACDs for US$26? And Mac Davis' voice blooming in uncanny fidelity from that 'phantom' center channel...and tastefully discrete throughout all five albums!

By my 'guesstimate' the Watford Wizard has probably liberated 250+ albums in stellar QUAD/STEREO SACD remasterings from the vaults of SONY, RCA and a few other labels [UMG]!

Perhaps Steelydave can chime in and give us a more accurate count [with help from Mr. Dutton]

And hopefully with this pandemic somewhat at bay, D~V's resident WIZARD is only getting started!

The Mind BOGGLES!

I voted a well deserved 10 for the BIG MAC five~some! Talk about a happy meal!

 

[ar surround]

I listened to the first four albums straight through in one sitting. I can't even do that with my most favorite artists. This is a great fusion of country and easy listening. Mac has a mesmerizing voice. Excellent fidelity. Some mixes are better than others, but none are disappointing. Then there is the matter of 24 Quid for a top shelf set of FIVE high-resolution quads? That's almost free.

I give this set an unequivocal 10...And that is a brickwalled 10 because the voting won't let us go any higher.

 

[jefe1]

I may have to reconsider and order this one after all with such great reviews.

 

[jaybird100]

I may have to reconsider and order this one after all with such great reviews.

You should. It's good.