Acoustic Sounds
By: Tracking Angle

November 17th, 2023

Category:

Industry News

Rhino High Fidelity Unveils Next Two Titles

one rock, one jazz title strategy continues

Rhino High Fidelity today announced the next two releases in its series of limited to 5000 copies, $39.98 reissues, again coupling one rock and one jazz title, this time with Herbie Hancock's Crossings (1972) and The Doobie Brothers' The Captain And Me (1973).

Kevin Gray cut AAA lacquers directly from the original analog stereo master tapes. The 180g Optimal-pressed record are packaged in laminated Stoughton Press "Tip on" jackets and feature scans of original tape boxes as well as detailed liner notes.

Crossings, Hancock's tenth studio album, features Moog synthesizer innovator Patrick Gleason, who wrote the reissue's notes.

The Captain And Me, The Doobie Brothers' third album, earned double Platinum status and reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200. The Rhino High Fidelity set contains scans of the original master tape boxes and lacquer cutting notes for "Long Train Runnin’" and "Without You" as well as liner notes that include excerpts from "Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of The Doobie Brothers, a book documenting the album's production.

"Rhino High Fidelity will continue to tap into Warner Music’s extensive music catalog, bringing music enthusiasts and audiophiles superlative versions of landmark albums from diverse genres, including jazz, blues, rock, pop, and beyond. The series will introduce two classic albums quarterly, maintaining the same exceptional audio and packaging quality that has quickly defined Rhino High Fidelity"—says the press release.

Comments

  • 2023-11-17 02:31:32 PM

    John Carsell wrote:

    Who ever at Rhino is picking these Hi-Fi titles needs to do their homework better. The Captain And Me is already available on Speakers Corner and last time they issued a Van Morrison title (His Band And Street Choir) which had already seen a quality Rhino reissue. The jazz titles are snoozers, so the only winner was The Cars first LP which (you guessed it) was already done by Mo-Fi. Seems like we have to settle for bunts here and no grand slams.

    • 2023-11-17 03:16:45 PM

      Michael Fremer wrote:

      Who cut Speakers Corner Doobie? If EBS not master tape. Van was issued a long time ago! No comparison between Mo-Fi and new Rhino Cars! “Coltrane Sound” hardly a snoozer! Otherwise I agree completely!

    • 2023-11-17 04:12:11 PM

      Zimmer74 wrote:

      Have to disagree, Herbie Hancock's Crossings is hardly a "snoozer." His Mwandishi sextet of the early 70s is outstanding, and the next album Sextant is my absolute favorite HH album. VMP has just announced a reissue for December.

  • 2023-11-17 03:30:53 PM

    ghn5ue wrote:

    The Speaker's Corner was cut by Kevin Gray at Acoustech.

  • 2023-11-17 08:37:04 PM

    Dennis Paulik wrote:

    Kevin Gray did cut the Speakers Corner The Captain and Me release in 2007 from the original master tapes so I wonder if he did a new cut or used the old one for the Rhino release. It would be nice to know.

  • 2023-11-18 06:00:10 AM

    Lemon Curry wrote:

    Every Rhino High Fidelity release has been remarkable. I have The Cars and Van Morrison from this series and they are amongst the best slabs of vinyl I own. I grabbed The Doobie Brothers this time around.

  • 2023-11-18 06:34:42 AM

    Kevin Jones wrote:

    How many of the 5,000 jackets will be bent by careless shipping?

  • 2023-11-18 07:12:34 AM

    John Hudson wrote:

    As we all know Rhino was releasing a lot of AAA albums during the early and mid 2010s. Many were mastered by CB and pressed at RTI, and said so up front on large stickers, but for whatever reason that began to taper off. The stickers got smaller and less impressive and I stopped buying them. Now something different is emerging here and after having received a few I have very mixed feelings about it. Unlike other labels series releases that are sold and supported either through the label or the help of vendors, this direct series has a new fiscal model and so far as I can tell is totally unsupported by the label that sells it. If you should find you have a warped record or damaged jacket or both, there is no response from their email contact in my experience and apparently others. If anyone watched the recent YouTube video from “ what’s his name “ it’s pretty much a marketing plug with some uncomfortably reassuring moments about new record mailers and a “- no, I can’t give out my email “ to address customer issues from the interviewee / producer. He mentions that there is only one other person involved. “ so we can’t answer emails. Apparently Rhino is happy to resume their AAA releases and recieve each 39.99 of revenue just as long as they don’t have to support them. For a label that was at the top this is a low and really a bizarre story that needs explaining. I don’t think it’s fair to readers to display this without understanding what is not included in your purchase, or without a disclosure from the label. It’s not at all clear to me how this model can continue unless of course it’s successful enough and wise enough to start putting money back into its own maintenance. - Good luck.