Since You Asked

For the three of you who will care about this, here’s the birdseye lowdown about my tentative journey back into the land of tubes and vinyl. First, the ground rules. I will not be dragged into any arguments about the quality of experience of vinyl versus digital, tubes versus transistors, active versus passive, coaxial versus component. In each of these controversies I have held unshakeable convictions only to have them dashed to pieces in the harsh sunlight of experiment, and the only thing I can say for sure is that everything—from the choice of microphones, to whether the musicians had breakfast, to whether the balance engineer actually understood the emotional underpinnings of the music, to whether the listener had breakfast—affects how recorded music is perceived. I only offer my observations from a lifetime spent listening and mixing in a mostly vain attempt to coax the ghosts out of the hidden spaces. Second, a disclaimer. Mine is not by any standard even a lower-mid-level a

A selection from the Jayhawker magazine 1946-48. These were the inside front and back covers--not even Coca-Cola came up with the dosh the cigarette companies did.  First up, Chesterfield. They go for the very upscale Hollywood endorsements with mentions of the latest movie appearances. Dorothy Lamour Hitchcock movie I've never even heard of, to my shame.  I wonder who the heck Valli was. Basil Rathbone Ann Sheridan Chesterfield used a number of approaches, among them sports celeb endorsements.   I note that Ted Williams isn't actually smoking a Chesterfield.  DiMaggio was a handsome devil. Apparently the cigarette lady was your average girl-next-door who looked suspiciously like Ann Sheridan. That's what Dad wants!  A carton of Chesterfields with a ribbon on it from Junior. Alan Hale (The Skipper's Dad) And of course there's always Santa.  Unfortunately Chesterfield didn't have an exclusive with the big