HERB/HUGH - Master tape lost*

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AM Matt

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I just Facebooked to Randy "Badazz" Alpert & Randy said that the Herb/Hugh album from 1977 master tape is now lost & Herb could not find it.:sad: Keep those album & the 1988 reissue CD handy!! Also "Just You And Me", "Bullish", "Wild Romance" & "Under A Spanish Moon" will be release in the near future. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
This is so sad and unfortunate. Thankfully my vintage vinyl copy is still in very clean and immaculate condition. And has long ago been committed to a killer sounding needledrop CD-R i had a feeling at least one or two titles might be lost for some reason. However if JYAM. Bullish and Wild Romance are ever rereleased on cd. They will definitely be added to my CD archives.
 
That's a damn shame. Really fun album. I was introduced to Mr Masekela from that album, which I do have on cd.

That's got to be somewhere. I sure hope it wasnt withheld from being given to him upon the sale of the A&M and the subsequent legal settlement.

But! I have an idea for Mr Alpert. Messrs Gwangwa and Masekela are still around, as is Caiphus Semenya. All still perform and record. Record it again! Update it! Gwangwa and Masekela last month played a reunion of all but one of the Jazz Epistles last month in SA.
 
This is so sad and unfortunate. Thankfully my vintage vinyl copy is still in very clean and immaculate condition. And has long ago been committed to a killer sounding needledrop CD-R i had a feeling at least one or two titles might be lost for some reason.
I found my LP at a used record store a few years ago, and although the jacket is a little beat up, the record doesn't have a single snap, crackle, or pop! I too made a needle drop CD-R, which sounds great. It's too bad that the master tape is missing. Imagine how much the 80's CD will sell for now! :sad:
 
Here is another possibility since the first Herb and Hugh album was originally a Horizon release it may be possible that Universal might still be in posession of the master. But then again that's just a possible thought on my part. I may be wrong
 
Here is another possibility since the first Herb and Hugh album was originally a Horizon release it may be possible that Universal might still be in posession of the master. But then again that's just a possible thought on my part. I may be wrong

The HERB/HUGH track "Skokiaan" was last used on that A&M 50th Anniversary set of discs back in 2012, mastered at Universal Mastering-West by Mark Omann, so the tape may indeed still be at Universal. The length of "Skokiaan" on that one seems to be the same as the album version, even though it reports as a few seconds shorter. The album version has more blank space at the end accounting for the slight difference. The "edited" version from singles and the 12" is a good 10 seconds shorter.
 
That's a shame. Maybe something will turn up. Good news about more upcoming releases. Still got my fingers crossed for "Second Wind".
 
I don't particularly like that album but the first 2 songs are good enough to make me want to own it a CD of it.
 
Just you and me in my opinion is the icing on the cake as far as Herb's solo albums go. As it was his first post TJB and in my opinion set the foundation for his future recording co productions with Lani. It will be wonderful to finally have it in Digital form and Very Much worth waiting for.
 
The HERB/HUGH track "Skokiaan" was last used on that A&M 50th Anniversary set of discs back in 2012, mastered at Universal Mastering-West by Mark Omann, so the tape may indeed still be at Universal. The length of "Skokiaan" on that one seems to be the same as the album version, even though it reports as a few seconds shorter. The album version has more blank space at the end accounting for the slight difference. The "edited" version from singles and the 12" is a good 10 seconds shorter.
It could have been lifted off a CD and re-mastered from that.

- greetings from the north-
Martin
 
Absolutelty, but when you hear the differences in the new remastered CDs (WCAOD, CA) I believe you need access to the original tapes to get those results as opposed to just making another digital "copy" from a CD and remaster that. In that case your options are limited to adjusting the equalizing/bass/tremble and so on.

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
Yes, Martin, of course I realize that the original tape remasters *can* sound extraordinary and mastering a new CD from those would be the best way to go. My point was that if the powers that be really wanted to put *everything* out in this round, a CD mastered from the old CD would probably be welcomed by those who missed it the first time around.

I say *can* because there has been deterioration in some of these masters, and you can hear the flaws on some of the tracks - flaws that weren't there on earlier remasters or the original issues.
 
Given the losses and rounding errors inherent in 16-bit digital, it'd be better to just reissue a digital clone of Herb/Hugh CD if it ever came to that. No high res would be possible either (upsampling would accomplish nothing, in other words...although HDTracks does offer 16-bit/44.1kHz downloads of some albums they offer).
 
Yes, Martin, of course I realize that the original tape remasters *can* sound extraordinary and mastering a new CD from those would be the best way to go. My point was that if the powers that be really wanted to put *everything* out in this round, a CD mastered from the old CD would probably be welcomed by those who missed it the first time around.

I say *can* because there has been deterioration in some of these masters, and you can hear the flaws on some of the tracks - flaws that weren't there on earlier remasters or the original issues.

I agree, Harry, and I believe the original CD, of one of which I am a happy owner, sounds terrific. Some small EQ adjustments might work well, but all inn all there is not much to be missed, in my view.

- greetings from the north -
Martin
 
I agree, Harry, and I believe the original CD, of one of which I am a happy owner, sounds terrific. Some small EQ adjustments might work well, but all inn all there is not much to be missed, in my view.

- greetings from the north -
Martin
Agreed and i would be content if they just took the original cd issue and remastered it along with the necessary EQ adjustments and things. after all i missed out on that cd issue and having an exact clone of it would be just fine. But if not then my clean sounding vinyl needledrop cds will do just nicely too. Either way. The first Herb and Hugh album is in my opinion " One of The Essentials".
 
Without a master to work from, "editing" a CD-resolution digital file does not work out very well. It can be upsampled, manipulated (EQ, level changes, etc.), then downsampled again, but it will probably just sound different, not better. (What might be gained through tweaks can be lost through the upsampling, downsampling, rounding errors and even dithering.)

That is why I mention a simple re-release of a digital clone of the original CD, if the master is not found. I have already made a bit-perfect rip for my music server.
 
Without a master to work from, "editing" a CD-resolution digital file does not work out very well. It can be upsampled, manipulated (EQ, level changes, etc.), then downsampled again, but it will probably just sound different, not better. (What might be gained through tweaks can be lost through the upsampling, downsampling, rounding errors and even dithering.)

That is why I mention a simple re-release of a digital clone of the original CD, if the master is not found. I have already made a bit-perfect rip for my music server.
That would work for me as well. The clone of the cd would also fill the void for sure
 
Although this is an old thread and we know now that the First Herb and Hugh album is about to be Reissued in this next round coming up i think it does bring a Happy Ending to this particular thread. I know there are many of us ( i myself included) had missed out on the original 1988 CD reissue and it has been Going for at Least $100 on amazon and other places. It will interesting to see how much the original CDs will be going for after the new reissue comes out. Along with all the others which have already been released.
 
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