New BAJA CDs Due From Japan
- Thread starter Steve Sidoruk
- Start date
- Status
UNI Japan did a nice job with the packaging, even including a mini liner sleeve from the day. They also included one of their usual translation anomalies, noting "The 50th Anniversary of A&M Records Foundation." Oops.
This release also had a second notation - "Nick DeCaro - The Posthumous 20th Anniversary." Nick shared arranging credits with Julius. As I was pressed for time last night, I have not been able to check out the audio quality.
I got the disk two days ago and had wanted to attempt what Steve has so nicely detailed above, but on that very arrival day, we were involved with some out-of-town guests, and that evening my main computer decided to fry. So not only have I not had a chance to listen to the disc, I'm hip deep in setting up a new computer and learning my way around Windows 7 after a decade in XP.
But I did get a chance to open up the Baja package and it is indeed gorgeous.
Harry
But I did get a chance to open up the Baja package and it is indeed gorgeous.
Harry
I listened to it over the past 2 days. It sounds excellent to me. Nice bottom end, and the package is indeed great. It's probably the closest thing I've ever seen to an EXACT replica of what you would have gotten in an original LP. About the only other thing they could have done is used a black CD!
This is one of my favorite Baja albums (the other being Fresh Air) and one thing that struck me about this album which had eluded me before is how often the marimba isn't the "main" instrument in the mix. It seems like the rest of the band gets the spotlight much more often on this LP than on others. The marimba is always there, it's just not always as prominent as you would expect.
This is one of my favorite Baja albums (the other being Fresh Air) and one thing that struck me about this album which had eluded me before is how often the marimba isn't the "main" instrument in the mix. It seems like the rest of the band gets the spotlight much more often on this LP than on others. The marimba is always there, it's just not always as prominent as you would expect.
Exactly. This one is very much like the perfection exhibited in that 35th Anniversary Carpenters set, where every label was the original style, every innersleeve reproduced, and all jacket textures matched their 12x12 inspirations.
I've ordered SOFTLY and COME SATURDAY MORNING by The Sandpipers due out next month. I only have a needledrop of SOFTLY, and a digital copy of a previous issue of COME SATURDAY MORNING, so these will be welcomed additions to the collection.
Harry
I may have to get that Softly. I have the original Japanese edition of Come Saturday Morning already. I'm rediscovering a lot of long-neglected Sandpipers stuff lately, thanks to some of it being on my iPod. I made a "Genre" category called "Classic A&M" where I put all the TJB, Brasil '66/'77, Bacharach, Lani Hall, Cat Stevens, Baja, and so on. It's like having an A&M radio station.
I've been on a major nostalgia trip listening to THOSE WERE THE DAYS for the past couple of days as well. My Mother got this through the Columbia Record Club when I was a kid (it used to infuriate me when the CRC non-Columbia albums would ship without an inner sleeve, collecting habits start young LOL). It's wonderful to hear it again. I'll get to FRESH AIR later.
mikeargo
Well-Known Member
Just ordered Those Were the Days. (I bought the earlier Japan-issue CD of Fresh Air a few years ago, and while I'm loco about JW & the BMB, I can't quite see spending the extra dough for this new one.) I remember first listening to TWtD in the summer of '70 and being swept away by "Flyin' High" but still liking Mary Hopkin's version of "Those Were the Days" better. Other standouts for me are "Always Something There to Remind Me," "Knowing When to Leave," and . . . well, the entire B-side, actually!
Mike B's observation is spot on about the marimba (& vibes) being less prominent in the arrangements in this and other later A&M albums. I think as the BMB concept evolved, Julius was much more interested in novel and striking arrangements to create a distinct group sound than in featuring his own playing. You can hear an ultimate expression of this trend in As Time Goes By--which really, really needs to get a CD treatment since the LP is nearly impossible to find.
Mike A.
Mike B's observation is spot on about the marimba (& vibes) being less prominent in the arrangements in this and other later A&M albums. I think as the BMB concept evolved, Julius was much more interested in novel and striking arrangements to create a distinct group sound than in featuring his own playing. You can hear an ultimate expression of this trend in As Time Goes By--which really, really needs to get a CD treatment since the LP is nearly impossible to find.
Mike A.
With the release of THOSE WERE THE DAYS digitally on the Japanese SHM-CD, a shift has taken place in the amount of the old A&M tracks digitally available in some form or another over the years, now including more than half. There are now 68 of the 118 that have been officially digitized, or a percentage of around 58%. The tracks are contained on these CDs:
Digitally Remastered Best (Japan)
Collector's Choice Best Of
Timeless Music's 3 CD comp
A&M Composer's Series, Nichols/Williams (Japan)
Bachelor Pad
Latin Lounge
A&M Songs Of Burt Bacharach (Japan)
A&M Journey Of Burt Bacharach (Japan)
Baja Marimba Band (rare Japan CD)
Those Were The Days (Japan SHM-CD)
Fresh Air (Japan CD and SHM-CD)
Harry
... noting that 58% is still a failing grade, online...
Digitally Remastered Best (Japan)
Collector's Choice Best Of
Timeless Music's 3 CD comp
A&M Composer's Series, Nichols/Williams (Japan)
Bachelor Pad
Latin Lounge
A&M Songs Of Burt Bacharach (Japan)
A&M Journey Of Burt Bacharach (Japan)
Baja Marimba Band (rare Japan CD)
Those Were The Days (Japan SHM-CD)
Fresh Air (Japan CD and SHM-CD)
Harry
... noting that 58% is still a failing grade, online...
- Status
Similar discussions
