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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Terry Melcher & Jack Nitzsche
From: S'pop Projects
2. Ronettes "You Bet I Would" alternate take in musica
From: David A Young
3. lost Chubby Checker/ Bobby Rydell duet
From: Artie Wayne
4. The Jack Nitzsche Story CD
From: Mick Patrick
5. songwriter royalties
From: Rob Pingel
6. Re: Sunflower, the label
From: Nick Archer
7. Re: Bob Crewe Productions
From: Mike Rashkow
8. Re: bad splicing; CLLAL sdtk.; elusive butterfly of Lind
From: Phil X Milstein
9. Re: The Four Seasons on CD
From: David Coyle
10. Re: Sunflower, the label
From: Leslie Fradkin
11. Re: Bob Crewe sessions
From: James Botticelli
12. Re: Sunflower, the label
From: Joe Nelson
13. Re: Mary Ann Fisher
From: John Fox
14. Re: Bad Splices
From: John Fox
15. Tommy Dae and the High Tensions
From: Tom Diehl
16. Re: The bad splice of "Crimson And Clover"
From: Michael Thom
17. Re: Arthur Lee Harper
From: Frank Jastfelder
18. Motown in the UK
From: Hans Huss
19. Re: Sunflower, the label
From: Leslie Fradkin
20. Supremely bad splice?
From: Joe Nelson
21. Re: Tommy Dae and the High Tensions
From: John Berg
22. Re: Sunflower, the label
From: Leslie Fradkin
23. Sonny & Cher boo boo
From: Bill Mulvy
24. Susan Cowsill; Cowsills reunion album; William Shatner; Karen Lake and Gigi Parker
From: Country Paul
25. Re: Bob Crewe Sessions
From: George Schowerer
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:23:56 +0100
From: S'pop Projects
Subject: Terry Melcher & Jack Nitzsche
To mark the installation of Martin Roberts' new Terry Melcher
feature article, one of Terry's own discs has been designated
the new Jack Nitzsche Record Of The Week.
Here's what Mick Patrick has to say about the record:
Terry recorded two solo 45s for Columbia, both of which were
arranged by Jack Nitzsche. The first, 1962's "That's All I Want"
/"I Waited Too Long", was produced by Al Hazan, while Phil
Spector produced the second, "Be A Soldier"/"I Love You Betty",
released the following year.
The Crystals had recorded "I Love You Betty" previously as "I
Love You Eddie", but it's possible that Spector and Hank Hunter
wrote the song with Connie Francis in mind. A casual listen
reveals no major differences between the Crystals and Terry Day
versions, but the latter does boast one vital ingredient
missing from the former - a typically grandiose Jack Nitzsche
string arrangement. The Crystals' rendition, cut in New York
with Spector arranging and producing, was recorded as an album
track, while Terry Day's was obviously made specifically as a
single, making it the bigger and, some might say, better of the
two versions.
To be filed alongside such other great Jack Nitzsche-arranged
versions of songs first cut by the Crystals as "Another Country
- Another World" by Bobby Day and Keely Smith's "No One Ever
Tells You". Now, if I could just bag myself a copy of the
original picture cover.
Find "I Love You Betty" playing here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/
Access the new 8-part Terry Melcher article here:
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/producers.htm
Enjoy,
The S'pop Team
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:02:33 -0000
From: David A Young
Subject: Ronettes "You Bet I Would" alternate take in musica
Beloved friends,
All this recent talk about alternate versions of our fave songs,
combined with the latest CD reissue of The Ronettes' Colpix LP, has
inspired me to share via musica the version of "You Bet I Would"
(co-penned by Carole King) that appeared as the B-side to their spring
1962 single "Silhouettes" on May 114 and hasn't seen re-release since.
I assume that the master tapes have been lost; I can't imagine why
else previous CDs on labels like Rhino and Sequel (especially
considering Mick's participation in the latter project) would've
omitted this subtly but delightfully different reading of the tune.
The latest CD release of the LP features, for the first time, the
American LP "art" of the original album rather than a photo of the
group. Probably most importantly to inhabitants of Planet Spectropop,
it boasts new liner notes by (separately) Stu Phillips and Ronnie
Spector. The disc's just out in the last month or two on the (UK) EMI
Gold label. Thanks to John Rausch for turning me on to it.
By the way, for those who don't already know, Ronnie guest duets with
Danish darlings The Raveonettes on the song "Ode to L.A." from their
shortly forthcoming full-length "Pretty In Black." In my fantasies,
it's a sequel to "Say Goodbye to Hollywood." Can't wait to find out if
I'm right.
Holding all of you, and especially Claire, in my heart,
David
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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:46:47 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: lost Chubby Checker/ Bobby Rydell duet
How ya'll doin'? I was as excited as everybody else when The Cameo-
Parkway CD set came out, but not as excited as when I found an
unreleased master that an old girlfriend who used to record for the
label gave me.
It's Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell singing "Something Stupid".
http://geocities.com/traditions_uk/aprilfool.htm
enjoy, regards, Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com/
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Message: 4
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:34:35 +0100
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: The Jack Nitzsche Story CD
Julio Niño:
> I know that letting build the suspense could be more fun, but I'm a
> very impatient guy. Perhaps Mick could give us some tips about the
> tracks that are included in that long awaited compilation. If not
> I'll need to take some of the pills I use to sedate my cats when I
> must take them on a trip, and I don't know which side effects they
> could have.
I believe "The Jack Nitzsche Story" is now in the shops. Find a full
tracklist plus an article about the CD at Ace Records' newly updated
website: http://www.acerecords.co.uk/gotrt/2005/apr05/CDCHD1030.html
The CD comes with a 28-page booklet containing rare photographs and
memorabilia supplied by Jack Nitzsche, Jr and a lengthy essay. Also
featured are specially commissioned testimonials from Lou Christie,
Jackie DeShannon, (That) Alan Gordon, Bob Lind, Judy Henske and
others.
Requests for a possible Volume 2, anyone?
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 17:52:15 -0000
From: Rob Pingel
Subject: songwriter royalties
Would like to hear OFF LIST from some of the songwriters out there
re the following:
Assume that you write a song that is included on a popular CD, but
not covered elsewhere. In general, how is it determined how much in
royalties you earn, other than airplay? Is it based solely on the
number of CDs sold as reported by the label? Who does the label
report these sales to? What about promotional copies that are
distributed? Is the writer entitled to royalties on these items as
well?
Rob Pingel
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 13:49:58 -0600
From: Nick Archer
Subject: Re: Sunflower, the label
Clark Besch wrote:
> I had no idea you or RB recorded for Sunflower. I have NEVER seen
> any records on this label but Frank Mills' great 45 "Love Me Love
> Me Love".
Wasn't "Chick-A-Boom" by Daddy Dewdrop on Sunflower? I don't have
the album anymore...
Nick Archer
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Message: 7
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 17:03:28 EST
From: Mike Rashkow
Subject: Re: Bob Crewe Productions
George Schowerer:
> I must get out some safeties of the original mixes from Bo
> (Crewe)'s sessions, which included Mitch Ryder, Frankie Valli
> & the Seasons, and Freddie Cannon. I can assure you that they
> are pristine ...
Bob Radil:
> Could these possibly end up on some future release?
To paraphrase the late Johnnie Cochran: ...if they do, then Crewe
must sue.
Di la,
Rashkovsky
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Message: 8
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 16:38:50 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: bad splicing; CLLAL sdtk.; elusive butterfly of Lind
Billy G Spradlin wrote:
> The way I've heard it is that Tommy James recorded "Crimson" as a
> 3:26 single, but Roulette or Tommy wanted a longer LP version for FM
> airplay, so they spliced a guitar solo into the middle section,
> bring it up to around five minutes. It's a really bad splice,
> sounds like a rush job.
I must be familiar with the 45 version only, as I don't recognize this
splice, at least not by description. My vote for worst splice, apart
from the aforementioned, occurs in The Supremes' "Love Is Here And Now
You're Gone." At the tail end of the first spoken interlude, just
after Miss Ross's first gasp of the night, I mean of the song ...
well, listening to it again now I'm not entirely sure it IS a splice,
but there definitely is SOMETHING effed up going on there. Do any of
our Motown buffs know the story behind this? It's one thing to get
that sound down on tape, but quite another to have it slip past
Motown's usually eagled-eyed quality control people and find its way
into general release.
Nick Archer wrote:
> I visited my sister who just moved back to town recently, and
> realized she still has all of the albums that I had given her during
> my radio program director days, including a promo copy of the
> "C'mon, Let's Live A Little" soundtrack. It's LRP-3430-1 on the
> disc edge, and says "also available in stereo", which I assume
> means that it's mono. I borrowed this one to burn to CD, so if
> anyone is dying to hear a song from this album, email me off-list.
I'm sure we all appreciate the offer, Nick! Having seen the movie just
recently, I thought there were a lot of real good songs in it, and in
fact the music was the best thing about the picture (and that's having
seen the version that is apparently missing a few songs). However, I
wonder if you wouldn't mind listing the LP tracks for us here, the
better for us to know what to request from you.
Finally, if Bob Lind is still looking for a producer, I'd like to toss
my ears into the ring. I have no experience to speak of, and don't
have a musical bone in my body, but I'd give almost anything to be
able to hear some of his Weekly World News stories! In tangible
terms, this boils down to agreeing to do the job for FREE. Those in
touch with Bob please pass along my generous offer.
Alright you goldbricks, back to work!
--Phil M.
--
please note new EMA! (replaces previous)
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Message: 9
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 14:12:44 -0800 (PST)
From: David Coyle
Subject: Re: The Four Seasons on CD
I have to commend Rhino Records for their "Frankie Valli and the Four
Seasons Anthology" 2-disc set from a couple years ago, not to mention
the companion disc "Off Seasons," which featured Rhino's pick of "hits
that should've been" including "Raven" and "Saturday's Father."
Maybe there's something I'm missing, as they are the first Four
Seasons CDs I ever bought, but I thought they sounded really good,
had thorough liner notes, and were a labor of love compared to a lot
of greatest-hits comps. I reevaluated some songs I had never fully
appreciated as well as discovered a number of gems I'd never heard
such as "Betrayed" and "Tell It To The Rain."
David
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Message: 10
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 14:32:06 -0700
From: Leslie Fradkin
Subject: Re: Sunflower, the label
Gary Myers:
> Sunflower had a 1972 release by Storm titled "This I Find Is
> Beautiful", which I love. It got some airplay in SoCal.
That's right! That was a great record. Larry Weiss and Mack David
wrote it. One of their last releases.
Les
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 17:45:17 -0500
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Bob Crewe sessions
George Schowerer wrote:
> "What Now My Love" with Mitch Ryder, where I did a separate mix for
> my own collection. Also on the "Girl Watchers" album, I ran some of
> my own tastes in mixes for myself.
Prompting two more questions about Crewe and crowd.
1. Who produced Mitch Ryder's apparently post-Barbarella 45 version
of "I Make A Fool Of Myself", previously recorded by Frankie Valli as
a followup to "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"? The production is
apocalyptic!
2. Were you on hand when Bob Crewe returned from England to record
the stunning LP "Music To Watch Birds By"? What do you know about
that LP?
3. Who is/was Bhen Lanzarini (sp) with whom Bob Crewe collaborated?
JB
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Message: 12
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:47:56 -0500
From: Joe Nelson
Subject: Re: Sunflower, the label
Clark Besch:
> Les, I had no idea you or RB recorded for Sunflower. I have NEVER
> seen any records on this label but Frank Mills' great 45 "Love Me
> Love Me Love". I have an RB Greaves record from 80's I believe on
> a small label.
Hmmm... well, maybe it's just a matter of semantics. If a cousin of
mine didn't have the record, it'd have been 1983 before I saw a copy
of Daddy Dewdrop's huge hit "Chick-A-Boom".
Joe Nelson
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Message: 13
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:27:12 EST
From: John Fox
Subject: Re: Mary Ann Fisher
Mick Patrick:
> According to his autobiography, Ray Charles' songs 'Mary Ann',
> 'What Would I Do Without You' and 'Leave My Woman Alone' were all
> inspired by MARY ANN FISHER.
The first song ably done by Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield on "Live
Adventures...".
John Fox
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:35:11 EST
From: John Fox
Subject: Re: Bad Splices
Another similarly poor edit was done to "Timothy" by The Buoys. This
was done to insert alternate lyrics that were supposedly more "radio
friendly".
That reminds me (all this childhood stuff comes back, thanks to
Spectropop!): Somewhere, sometime in 1965-66, on TV or radio, I saw
or heard the Stones do "Satisfaction". When they got to the line,
"...trying to make some girl", the tape was made unintelligible and
it came out "...trying to mbfgltsgbfpzxtbf...". Does anyone else
remember this? Something tells me it could have been The Ed
Sullivan Show, although that splice job would have been difficult
to pull off "live".
John Fox
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Message: 15
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:04:27 -0000
From: Tom Diehl
Subject: Tommy Dae and the High Tensions
Can someone give me some information about Tommy Dae and the High
Tensions? They released several 45s on Hitt records in the 60s and
70s, as well as a lone 45 on Gold Disc, Glo and Diamond records, as
The High Tensions Featuring Tommy Dae, Tommy Dae And The High
Tensions, Tommy Dae With The High Tensions, Tommy Dae With The
Tensionettes and Tom Dae. I have their lone Diamond single, 1967 Itsy
Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, where you'd never be
able to tell that it WASNT a Mitch Ryder record, except that Mitch's
records were better produced. I'll post it to musica soon, i think
some of you would get a kick out of it. Anyhow, who were they???
Where is Tommy Dae these days? I'd love to know.
Tom "Diamond Hunter" Diehl
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Message: 16
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 02:05:53 -0600
From: Michael Thom
Subject: Re: The bad splice of "Crimson And Clover"
Billy G. Spradlin wrote:
> The way I've heard it is that Tommy James recorded "Crimson" as a
> 3:26 single, but Roulette or Tommy wanted a longer LP version for
> FM airplay, so they spliced a guitar solo into the middle section,
> bring it up to around five minutes. It's a really bad splice,
> sounds like a rush job.
I detailed this in my previous posts regarding TJ's recordings, but
note that the splice and speed variation problem with the longer
version were corrected for the reissue of the long version on Rhino's
two-fer CD, "Crimson and Clover/Cellophane Symphony," still in print.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 17
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 11:32:33 +0200
From: Frank Jastfelder
Subject: Re: Arthur Lee Harper
Phil X Milstein wrote:
> What's the story with the Arthur Lee Harper song "Wintertime"
> currently play at musica? It's a beautiful number! Who is he, and
> where can one find more?
Rob:
> Glad you like it. Arthur had two LPs, "Dreams And Images" (1968),
> produced by Lee Hazlewood, and "Love Is The Revolution" (1969).
> Unfortunately, he's no longer with us. There's a hard to find 2-on-1
> CD of these two albums (Papa's Choice, 2002), which is one of my
> favorite recent acquisitions.
I wonder if the song was written by Lee himself. It sure sounds like
him. To be honest I think the song would suit his raucous voice much
better. In fact his composition and rendition of "My Autumn's Done
Come" is a near deja-vu of "Wintertime". Or should I say vice versa
since "My Autumn..." came out already in 1966.
Frank Jastfelder
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Message: 18
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 07:04:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Hans Huss
Subject: Motown in the UK
For more on Motown in the UK, don't miss Adam White's rticle "Dancing
in the Streets of Britain" in today's (April 1st) online edition of
The Independent.
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/features/story.jsp?story=625219
By the way, is not the "Ready Steady Go - The Sounds of Motown" video
(hosted by Dusty Springfield) available on DVD? I envy those who have
yet to see this utterly incredible show for the first time. About as
good as it gets...
Hasse Huss
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Message: 19
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 09:15:40 -0700
From: Leslie Fradkin
Subject: Re: Sunflower, the label
The artists on Sunflower were: 45RPM's - Fearles Fradkin (yours
truly), Patti Williams (R&B Singer), The Yummies (My bubblegum
release), Wednesday's Children (A Rich Delvy Production), Daddy
Dewdrop ("Chick-A-Boom", a top 10 hit), Storm (Larry Weiss), Jasper
Wrath (Joey Levine produced-prog rock), Randy Edelman, Tony Scotti
Casper (Don Oriolo Produced), Georges Delarue (Movie Music), Effus
Moseley (Prod. by Dallas Smith), R.B. Greaves and Frank Mills. LP's
by many of the above plus Danny Cox, The Grateful Dead and Fannie
Flag.
Les
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Message: 20
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 13:43:12 -0500
From: Joe Nelson
Subject: Supremely bad splice?
Phil X. Milstein:
> My vote for worst splice, apart from the aforementioned, occurs in
> The Supremes' "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone." At the tail end
> of the first spoken interlude, just after Miss Ross's first gasp of
> the night, I mean of the song ... well, listening to it again now
> I'm not entirely sure it IS a splice, but there definitely is
> SOMETHING effed up going on there. Do any of our Motown buffs know
> the story behind this? It's one thing to get that sound down on
> tape, but quite another to have it slip past Motown's usually
> eagled-eyed quality control people and find its way into general
> release.
It's not a splice, exactly - it's a punch in. Because people tend to
project more when they sing than when they speak, spoken parts tend to
be softer. To keep the volume levels even, spoken parts are usually
recorded seperately from sung ones. Without the luxury of eight track,
Diane's spoken parts had to be punched into the same track she'd sung
on (that is, the tape rolled in play mode, switching to record as soon
as it was time to start singing, then the machine is taken out of
record before the sung parts come back in). In the case of the part
you're talking about, they punched in for singing over a gasp for
air. Had they gone back and done it over there would have been a risk
of erasing something important because it happens so quickly, so it
was left in figuring hopefully few if any people would notice.
Joe Nelson
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Message: 21
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 14:24:08 EST
From: John Berg
Subject: Re: Tommy Dae and the High Tensions
Tom "Diamond Hunter" Diehl:
> Can someone give me some information about Tommy Dae and the High
> Tensions?
Is this the same artist featured on the 45 "Tom Dae Dropped Out" (or
something close to that title) as found on a few '60s psych comps?
John Berg
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Message: 22
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 11:35:58 -0700
From: Leslie Fradkin
Subject: Re: Sunflower, the label
Nick Archer:
> Wasn't "Chick-A-Boom" by Daddy Dewdrop on Sunflower? I don't have
> the album anymore.
Yes, it was. SNF-5006
Les
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Message: 23
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 15:15:30 -0600
From: Bill Mulvy
Subject: Sonny & Cher boo boo
Phil X. Milstein:
> My vote for worst splice, apart from the aforementioned, occurs in
> The Supremes' "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone."
How about the loud distorted sound of the word plot on "I've Got You
Babe" by Sonny and Cher?
Bill Mulvy
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Message: 24
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 16:39:08 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Susan Cowsill; Cowsills reunion album; William Shatner; Karen Lake and Gigi Parker
This has been discussed here before, and although it has roots in the
Spectropop era, it's as new as today: the new CD by Susan Cowsill,
"Just Believe It" (little sister of the 60s group, former Dwight
Twilley compatriot, and member of the legendary 90s band The
Continental Drifters). There are some spectacular tracks on the first
half, as far as I've listened till now; I keep going back and re-
playing the title track and "Palm of My Hand" (featuring some superb
harmony backing).
According to www.susancowsill.com (the main way to get her CD in the
US, if I'm not mistaken; there is a European release on Blue Rose),
there's also a "demos" disc available, featuring a version of Brian
Wilson's "Don't Worry Baby." And there is also a Cowsills 1990s
reunion album of power pop tracks, "Global." Anyone heard it? (It's
at www.cowsill.com - lots of interesting links there, too.)
And speaking of new work by 60s personalities, I recently got William
Shatner's "Has Been," the album driven in large part by Ben Folds.
Imagine "The Transformed Man" being darker, deeper, played straighter
yet knowingly, and with musicians who come from rock and pop. Much
good stuff, in my opinion. He's quite the complex character.
Back to our original era, I've recently come into a couple of mp3s
I'd like to know more about: Karen Lake, "When I'm Not Teenage
Anymore" (with a backing group who must have heard the Clusters'
"Darling Can't You Tell") and Gigi Parker, "Lonely Girl Blue" (some
Dion influences, good track, but I don't know about her voice - too
cute by half). Inquiring minds want to know.
Country Paul
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Message: 25
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 11:33:42 -0800 (PST)
From: George Schowerer
Subject: Re: Bob Crewe Sessions
I wrote:
> As for the Crewe stuff, we would complete the mix at Allegro or
> Mirasound, and Bob would take the dam tape to Bell Sound where
> they would add everything you could think of -- sometimes echo,
> sometimes eq.
Bob Radil wrote:
> Who determined how the reverb was used? For example, "Candy Girl"
> was heavy on reverb, but "Ronnie" was quite dry. Another thing
> I've noticed with many of the Four Seasons' records is that the
> reverb goes up on the fades, unlike most recordings that just
> simply fade out.
Me:
> I must get out some safeties of the original mixes from Bob's
> sessions, which included Mitch Ryder, Frankie Valli & the Seasons,
> and Freddie Cannon. I can assure you that they are pristine ...
Bob:
> Could these possibly end up on some future release?
Bob: As for echo increasing on candy girl, it may have been deliberate
... then again it may have to do with several separately recorded
channels being faded at different times due to the amount of
overdubbing they did. Those were not my sessions, but probably done by
Gordon Clark a close friend who is not with us anymore. Don't forget,
the flexibility of the consoles in those days were not to the degree
engineers had later on. My guess is that those two songs were done
on four track machines, which made bouncing complex, and to avoid
putting echo on everything and muddying the mix, they may have echoed
each sub-mix separately to control each group of instruments..then on
final mix, you have unequal lengths of echo..it depends on how the
operated and how many channels of mixdown there was. I got to know
how Crewe operated and was aware of the possibilities of his overbub
schedule, so I always had to keep in mind what I wanted for the final
mix ... and lay down the various tracks as I thought they would fit
into the mix.
This experience came from years of mono recording with Bob. Very much
like Les Paul, each layer had to be near perfect otherwise the
additional stuff to come would make the mix, a nightmare. I have no
intention of selling anything in my library. Many of the tapes were
for evaluation of what I was doing wrong and how I could improve my
work. Case in point, 16 Candles/Crests was done as a demo session at
Regent studios/New York. The rules were, the client keeps one take
for possible release. If sold, the customer would return and pay the
standard studio rates, which he didn't pay for a demo, and take the
"master" take with him/her. 16 Candles was take #13. on the twelve
takes prior to the 13th., the eight background singers were not
balanced correctly. This was due to the fact that "this small demo"
(as the studio folks asked me to due on a Friday late booking) turned
out to be a full blown session...and I didn't have enough (12) mic
inputs available. So I had to put the 8 singers on both side of an
RCA 44BX mic. That required physical positioning to keep a good
balance between voices...not always correct...and NOT correct on take
#13 either. The original tape containing takes 1-12 was supposed to be
recycled for use on the next demo session. Since I had complete Ampex
setups at home, I took that section of tape home and listened to it
perhaps 50 times to look at my glaring mistakes, so that I wouldn't
repeat them (don't forget, I was recently out of high school and just
into college, so my experience level had not been tested very well. To
the best of my knowledge, that tape is still somewhere in my library.
But that's why I occasionally had my own mixes on 15ips safeties...
not only for improving my abilities, but to protect the session
finals in the event anything happened to the masters, which has
happened.
There were two occasions where I was able to help via a backup copy
and the participants were very greatful. I had thought of making for
myself an "I mixed it my way" for a retrospective, but to do that
properly, I would really have to go back to the original tapes to get
the best possible result. The early Allegro stuff is mono (although
persons on the list have mentioned stereo) for things like The
Chiffons"..He's so fine. I have no idea what they used or did to
bring it to stereo..only the Tokens could relate that since they
were the producers. 16 Candles was only mono. These studios did not
have stereo in use until later on.
Further on, some Crewe stuff from Allegro was 2 track to 2 track
overdubbing, but with only mono as a thought for release. Serious
stereo mixes began at Mirasound in the 66-p67 era. Of course, the
larger studios like Columbia records were doing stereo before that.
The smaller studios did not have the budgets that were needed for
large, multitrack machines. That was the nature of the beast then.
James Botticelli wrote:
> ... more questions about Crewe and crowd. 1. Who produced Mitch
> Ryder's apparently post-Barbarella 45 version of "I Make A Fool Of
> Myself", previously recorded by Frankie Valli as a followup to
> "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"? The production is apocalyptic!
> 2. Were you on hand when Bob Crewe returned from England to record
> the stunning LP "Music To Watch Birds By"? What do you know about
> that LP? 3. Who is/was Bhen Lanzarini (sp) with whom Bob Crewe
> collaborated?
Have no idea who Bhen was. As for "Girl Watchers", that was done at
Mira (16 tracks) with lots of overdubs. Bill Szymczyk (Eagles eng,)
helped me on that date. He wasn't familiar with the console
arrangement. You see Mira's old studio (where this was done) was
only a four track board with 12 inputs...and so we ran external
mixers and I used the board to do simultaneous mixdowns while mixing
the session. Playback of the drum related tracks were submixed to
the busses in that case in order to get the other 12 tracks into the
console....not your everyday setup. You shouldn't know from what we
had to go through to do big dates there but we managed, with lots of
attention to what was going on. Bill made sure level to the Ampex
were in range. As for Mitch, I did 6 or 8 songs with him, but
offhand, I did Frankie's "I make a fool of myself, but I don't
remember if Mitch did it...I remember Bob had Mitch do some numbers
that were not his regular venue, and he handled them well. When I get
the library open this summer, I'll know, because it will probably be
the reel with "What Now".
Regards, George Schowerer
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