Revinylization #9: Sonny Rollins’s Way Out West on ERC

April 09, 2023 / By mobanmarket

Used copies of Sonny Rollins’s classic 1957 record Way Out West are easy enough to find. The album has been reissued some 30 times on vinyl, most recently in 2018 on Craft Recordings (but read Michael Fremer’s take on that reissue before buying). You can still buy Original Jazz Classics reissues from 1988—sealed —for about $20.

If you want an early pressing, though, your opportunities are limited. If you want an early pressing in collectable condition, expect to pay real money. And if you want that early pressing in pristine condition, good luck with that.

This is the niche the Electric Recording Company (ERC) fills. No, ERC reissues aren’t early pressings, so ERC makes sure their reissues are better than the originals ever were. They ensure authenticity in all the ways that matter and then sell in small quantities for prices that, while very high for a record, are lower than collectible first issues.

In May, ERC released two versions of Way Out West, mono and stereo.

ERC typically presses 300 copies for their jazz titles and even fewer—as few as 99—for classical titles. Each copy is numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity and a guarantee that ERC will never press more. Even at the price—Way Out West sold for £300, or about $373—ERC reissues sell out quickly. Clearly, scarcity is part of their business model.

You may have noticed the past tense, above. At electricrecordingco.com, Way Out West—both versions—sold out within days of going on sale. As I’m writing this, Rollin’ Records, an authorized ERC retailer near San Francisco, has “one or two copies” of the stereo version left, these selling for $424.99 plus tax and shipping. Those copies will surely be gone by the time this review is published.

Like most late-’50s jazz albums, Way Out West was first released in mono. As far as I know, it has never before been reissued in mono since those 1950s issues. The mono version, then, is the real prize. My review copy is in stereo, with the original Stereo Records label. (Stereo Records was the early imprint for stereo titles on Contemporary Records.) Oh, well.

Why am I writing about a $400+ record that you can’t even buy? Because this is the first time I’ve held an ERC record in my hand. It’s a remarkable object. It deserves to be written about.

I have often said, in conversation, that it’s surprising how much engineering goes into high-end turntables when you consider what sad objects typical LPs are: slightly warped; a little scratched; dimpled; with moldy grooves, an off-center spindle hole, pressed from noisy, low-quality vinyl.

Not this ERC. Way Out West is sturdy, shiny, weighty. It radiates quality.

The first thing I noticed is how the label is applied; it’s hard to describe, so look at the photo. Everything about the process of producing these records is appropriate to the era: Records are cut on vintage ’50s equipment using a tubed tape machine. Sleeve artwork is “faithfully recreated using a vintage letterpress procedure.”

When I played this record for the first time, straight out of the package, I heard two tics and a pop, right together, near the start of Side 1. After that, silence. A turn in my Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner Pro took care of the tics and the pop. Now it’s dead quiet. I can turn it up loud and still hear no groove noise. It may be the quietest LP I’ve ever heard.

This is a recording where quiet matters. Rollins was eager to make a trio record, without piano—just tenor sax, bass (Ray Brown), and drums (Shelly Manne). The result is stark, minimalist. There’s irony in a minimalist “I’m an Old Cowhand”; consider the lyrics (which are absent, of course, on this instrumental recording): “I’m a cowhand who never saw a cow / Never roped a steer ’cause I don’t know how.” While the playing is playful, the effect is unsettling, enhanced by the deep quiet between the notes, as if someone is watching from offstage.

I wish this experience could be more widely shared—that ERC would press more copies and sell them, maybe, at a lower price. Clearly, these records are valuable in part because they’re rare. But only in part. They’re also valuable because they’re beautifully recorded, well-crafted, and gorgeous. I can live with their business model, even if I don’t love it. I’m just glad there’s a place in the world for objects like this.

Would I buy this at full retail? I would. I will. I’ll be selective, buying only recordings I really care about—but with that caveat, yes, I absolutely would. Owning a favorite album in a pressing of this quality is worth sacrificing a dinner out or two, even once the restaurants reopen.

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