Lightnin' Hopkins - Soul Blues

Part of the ultimate audiophile Prestige stereo reissues from Analogue Productions — 25 of the most collectible, rarest, Rudy Van Gelder recordings

All cut at 33 1/3 and also released on Hybrid SACD

Mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound from a 24/192K hi-res file created by needle drop from an original copy LP

180-gram LP pressed at Acoustic Sounds' state-of-the-art pressing plant, Quality Record Pressings, plated by Gary Salstrom

Tip-on Stoughton Printing jackets on thick cardboard stock

First 250 LP copies of each title will be numbered editions and will only be available to series subscribers

This release of Lightnin' Hopkins Soul Blues completes the series of 25 Prestige label stereo reissues from Analogue Productions. Of the 50 titles (25 stereo, 25 mono) in this reissue series, 49 of them were mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analog tape. For Soul Blues Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound created a 24/192K hi-res file from a needle drop on a clean original LP.

This was done because the tape supplied for mastering proved to be from a needle drop itself, not the original, which has been lost since the early 1970s. Smith took the original LP, did a new needle drop and meticulously worked to eliminate the minimal tics and pops that remained. Then he mastered the album for LP and SACD from the hi-res file.

"We are amazed by the quality," says Chad Kassem, Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions CEO. "Now that the tape is lost, an original LP copy is now the master. Only in cases where the original master tape is lost or damaged and where we feel that we have no other choice, do we consider using the best source that remains. But we'd only do that if that source was sonically worth it. In this case, it most definitely is."

This is a needle drop from the original Stereo LP. While the sound does not have the wide pan that you'd typically associate with Stereo, meaning that it sounds very much like Mono, this is in fact what was on the original Stereo release of this title.

A true poet of the blues, Lightnin' Hopkins was a master of tall, tongue-in-cheek tales, often made up on the spot in the recording studio. The first song on this album "I'm Going to Build Me a Heaven of My Own," describes an encounter with a bearded man claiming to be Jesus Christ. Hopkins also puts his personal stamp on Willie Dixon's "My Babe" and Smokey Hogg's "Too Many Drivers," among others.

1. I'm Going to Build Me a Heaven of My Own

2. My Babe

3. Too Many Drivers

4. I'm A Crawling Black Snake

5. Rocky Mountain Blues

6. I Mean Goodbye

7. The Howling Wolf

8. Black Ghost Blues

9. Darling, Do You Remember Me?

10. Lonesome Graveyard

Customer Reviews (4.44 Stars) 9 person(s) rated this product.

Lacking Compared to Other Lightnin' Hopkins LPs posted on 08/02/2023 3 Stars Reviewer: Shug I'm just not loving this pressing as much as other reviewers. On my system, this one pales in comparison to Hopkins' "Goin' Away" and "Lightnin'," in terms of dynamics and sound stage. Yes, it sounds like a mono recording -- a somewhat flat one at that. Perhaps the other reviewers don't have those other Hopkins records. Although the music is great, this record is a distant third in terms of dynamics and overall foot-tapping compared with the other two. Kind of disappointed.

Get it now! posted on 05/31/2023 5 Stars Reviewer: Chris I don't care; mono or stereo, it's superb!

GRAND SLAM HOME RUN posted on 07/02/2022 5 Stars Lightnin' comes to life in your living room. The dynamics, warmth, soundstage, etc are phenomenal. I agree with the others, there was no difference when going to mono from stereo on this one. Outstanding sound!! Thank you to all involved in getting this one done.

Amazing posted on 01/30/2018 5 Stars Reviewer: John sounds like mono, I like that. I have many analogue productions LPs. This one is one of the very best. Sounds lke having Hopkins in the room. sounds analog, sounds mono sounds real.

Mono not Stereo posted on 12/31/2017 3 Stars I'm glad to have this record because of the great songs on the album for sure. Great story telling by Hopkins. I gave 3 stars because the sound quality is just not up to other AP reissue standards. It sounds like a fold down Mono record to me when it was supposed to be Stereo. I don't know how this wasn't caught and appropriately advertised.

Great, but mono, not stereo posted on 12/26/2017 5 Stars Reviewer: Bill Amazing sound and way to get the best out of the source -- I am not complaining here one bit, but the cover and labels themselves would seem to corroborate the note above that this was a mono sourced LP, not stereo? PR 7377 and not PRST 7377 - images of both can be found documented on Discogs. Minor nit, but is just the sort of thing subscribers to the series (collectors) agonize over.

Love it posted on 11/29/2017 5 Stars Reviewer: Leon Didn't know a needle drop recording could sound this great. Sounds like he is in the room. AP does it again! Excellent.

Great pressing but sure sounds like a mono posted on 11/19/2017 4 Stars As usual, the AP pressing sounds great. But this is supposed to be a Prestige Stereo reissue and it sounds exactly like a mono recording. Hopkins voice is front and center and bass, drums and guitar are packed in with him in center stage. It says this was recorded from a needle drop as the tapes have long been missing. Makes me wonder if they got a hold of a mint mono original pressing and confused it with a stereo version.

Write a review and let people know what you think of this product OR just rate it.