Attention...all big band fans, as a follow up to our recent story about the great big band classic Tuxedo Junction, you may find this following letter of special interest; "While Tuxedo Junction is one of Glenn Miller's great swing classics, it is unfortunate that is one of the poorest sound-quality wise recorded by Victor. Glenn's earlier RCA Victor-Bluebird recordings in late '38 and through '39 -- Little Brown Jug, In The Mood, I Want To Be Happy -- had great fidelity, particularly in the high-frequency range.
Playing the original 78s today, it is remarkable how brilliant they sound! But Tuxedo Junction, and several other early 40s Miller recordings are dull in sound quality.
Victor had probably the best sound quality of its electrical "Orthophonic" recordings from 1925 through early 1935. Then just as the Big Band Era was getting underway with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, Victor's recording quality changed for the worse, with greatly reduced high frequency.
This was particularly true for New York recordings and roughly lasted until mid-1938 when the quality began to improve, reaching its pinnacle during 1939. After that, results were inconsistent with some being very "bright" sounding -- Tommy Dorsey's Shake Down the Stars and Hear My Song. Violetta -- and others dull like Tuxedo Junction.
I have never discovered an explanation for Victor's change in recording quality. Imagine how much better Tuxedo Junction would have sounded if it were recorded just a few months earlier!" This is from one of our readers...Kevin T. Doherty. Used with permission. Thank you Kevin.
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