🎵 AotW Classics Herb Alpert & TJB-WHAT NOW MY LOVE SP-4114

[AM Matt]

Mitch Ryder from 1967:

 

[Nemily]

For most of us on the East Coast, I think the LPs we bought were always that way. At least we think that's the way it shook out. It's a generalization, not a hard and fast rule, but it depended on which pressing plant pressed the LP, and which stampers they were using.

I have two WNML LPs and both are wet/East Coast versions. The one I have from when I was a kid was pressed at Abbey Record Mfg., Newark, NJ (which still sounds amazing) and the other was given to me and that one was pressed at Capital Records, Jacksonville, Il.

I was wondering what all this ado was with a wet and dry version because I grew up with only knowing the East Coast one so I finally found that Apple spins it. Even though I kind of knew what was coming on Plucky, my jaw still dropped. Now I can enjoy this thread even more

 

[Harry]

For me, the wet/dry difference started to be noticed in the early 70s. That was around the time that two compilations appeared, SOLID BRASS, and FOURSIDER. Both of those contained some tracks from WHAT NOW MY LOVE that sounded a little different to me. There was a very subtle difference in the presence of Herb's lead on "If I Were A Rich Man" on FOURSIDER. Nothing to get excited about, but he was more reverbed on my old WHAT NOWMY LOVE album. The same effect was more noticeable on the albums that had the "What Now My Love" track on them. The newer versions all had Herb's lead more up front in the mix, and without some of the reverb I was used to.

SOLID BRASS had a version of "So What's New" that sounded pretty much OK to me until it got to the whistling in the middle. Where was the echo/reverb? It was gone - dry. It sounded different - and it's been that way on every version since released. Same with "Rich Man" and "What Now". Every version since then has been the dry one.

But the kicker in these early discoveries in the 70s has to be GREATEST HITS VOLUME 2, where we get to hear a very different "Brasilia" from the way I was used to hearing it on the "wet" WHAT NOW MY LOVE. Bob Edmonson's trombone fills were missing entirely and the record just sounded wrong. And again, every release since then has also been that dry/wrong version to my ears.

All of these songs sound correct to me in their mono versions, whether on an album or a single, perhaps suggesting a theory espoused here that the familiar "wet" version was actually supposed to be folded down to mono but got released in its stereo state on many of our original LPs. Don't know. I believe the question was once asked of Herb, and he apparently never knew of any differences and gave no answer that I know of. So we're left with theories - and multiple versions - and valuable (to us) old vinyl.

 

[Rudy]

I have a feeling the master used to mix the album down to mono was used by mistake, which is how we got a different version from what we have now as the official stereo version. The used stereo copy I bought decades ago matched the mono copy I grew up with. I remember hearing Brasilia sounding strange on a compilation but didn't pay attention to other tracks (probably because I've never really liked this album aside from the title track). It was only after getting a different stereo copy that I got the full difference, and that was early 90s.

 

[Harry]

Possibly my favorite of the classic TjB albums.

 

[JOv2]

Possibly my favorite of the classic TjB albums.

Agreed. My favourite with "the brass" in tow (I'd like to take SRO but, the patchy sound quality and the inclusion of Freight Train Joe give the nod to WNML).

 

[Harry]

I never understood the dislike of "Freight Train Joe"!

 

[JOv2]

Well, I'm surely guilty of perpetuating the FTJ issue. I dug up the following response I offered to Moritat many moons ago:

Ok. I can't stand it anymore. I must ask, WHAT IS WRONG with "Freight Train Joe" ???

--Well, nothing that deserves having to bunk with Charles Manson...but for me the song nearly comes across like TjB-parody music. Musically, the piece goes nowhere and then someone came up with the great idea to drop in the sound of kids voices to remind you (the listener) that you're supposed to be having fun -- which you ain't.

It's particularly vapid considering how strong SRO is. It'd fit better on Ninth or Brass Are Comin'

For me at least, the real problem is that it is a sub-mediocre song in a string of A+ winners. I would fit fine on Ninth or TBAC as those LPs are several steps down from SRO.

• Blue Sunday
• Don't Go Breaking My Heart
• For Carlos
• Freight Train Joe
• Flamingo

 

[Rudy]

I only listened to it since I was too lazy to stop the record before the end. Never liked this arrangement of "Flamingo" either, so it was a one-two punch at the end of the side. Those other four tracks, though? Especially "Blue Sunday."