There's been some mention of the CD reissues released in the 1980s of Herb Alpert's albums with the TJB and his early solo stuff. I've heard it said that the discs had poor sound quality. Who was in charge of those reissues? Couldn't possibly have been Mr. Alpert himself, as I doubt if the CDs are as bad-sounding as they're made out to be, he would have had any part of it. Did they have the original liner notes and artwork? My 1985 copy of GREATEST HITS only has a black and white picture of in the inside of the booklet and only credits Alpert and Moss as producers and Larry Levine as engineer. Nothing like the original LP, which I believe has a group picture, liner notes, and a song-by-song commentary (kind of like DEFINITIVE HITS). :bandit:
Who mastered the '80s-era CDs?
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I can't say the CDs are bad, just underwhelming at times. Actually, South Of The Border seems to sound the best of the original U.S. reissues...like the other early albums, it was recorded at Gold Star by Larry Levine. Whipped Cream seems to lack punch, but some of it may have to do with the track bouncing in those early days before 8-track multitrack recorders. No CD mastering credits. In fact, the booklets are as minimal as the LP jackets were.
Honestly, depending on who does the mastering, I don't have much hope for any modern remasters to sound better than these. If a major label's "house" mastering engineer did it (especially Universal's), they will probably be heavy-handed with the noise reduction, throw too much EQ on it, and possibly brick-wall compress it...just like many other CDs out there. (An example is that horrible-sounding Nat King Cole/George Shearing sample I posted...yeah it sounds clean, but all the air and environment around the instruments is sucked away. It's the same as removing all of the grain from an old film when transfering it to DVD...it might look clean, but it's very unnatural.)
The TJB CDs out here now are pretty much straight transfers of the tape they were made from; my biggest hope for improvement is that they find better tapes, perhaps the original two-track masters. If these late 80's CDs are from the original two-tracks though, the only hope for improvement is to go back to the multitracks and have Herb or Larry Levine mix them down to a new two-track (which would actually be a new mix, and could slightly differ from what we're used to). If not, these CDs will be as good as it ever gets.
Honestly, depending on who does the mastering, I don't have much hope for any modern remasters to sound better than these. If a major label's "house" mastering engineer did it (especially Universal's), they will probably be heavy-handed with the noise reduction, throw too much EQ on it, and possibly brick-wall compress it...just like many other CDs out there. (An example is that horrible-sounding Nat King Cole/George Shearing sample I posted...yeah it sounds clean, but all the air and environment around the instruments is sucked away. It's the same as removing all of the grain from an old film when transfering it to DVD...it might look clean, but it's very unnatural.)
The TJB CDs out here now are pretty much straight transfers of the tape they were made from; my biggest hope for improvement is that they find better tapes, perhaps the original two-track masters. If these late 80's CDs are from the original two-tracks though, the only hope for improvement is to go back to the multitracks and have Herb or Larry Levine mix them down to a new two-track (which would actually be a new mix, and could slightly differ from what we're used to). If not, these CDs will be as good as it ever gets.
Speaking of Herb remasters...
In March, it will be three years since DEFINITIVE HITS came out. For those who don't remember, I'll recount the story so far:
There were a lot of complaints about the sound quality on DEF HITS, with the loudest complaints being about dropouts on one channel of "Tijuana Taxi" (which can be heard clearly even by my wife, who has no ear at all for sound quality).
So I wrote a letter to the "CD Watchdog" department of Ice Magazine, and in response I got a phone call from Mike Ragogna, who helped produce DEF HITS and has been involved in countless million-selling albums. I was quite frankly surprised that he would take the time to call me. (He had to call twice, I was out to lunch the first time he called.)
I asked him about future Herb remasters, and he said that it was long overdue. He also mentioned that there would very likely be a Herb box set. "It needs to happen," he said, and told me it would probably be about three years.
Then, a year later, there was a small article in Billboard about a Herb art exposition. In that article, Herb said that he had been "revisiting" tapes of the Tijuana Brass, and there was a quote: "There are a lot of unreleased masters we may be putting out."
Now here we are in 2004 and nothing's happened. Maybe it's time for another letter to Ice Magazine?
In March, it will be three years since DEFINITIVE HITS came out. For those who don't remember, I'll recount the story so far:
There were a lot of complaints about the sound quality on DEF HITS, with the loudest complaints being about dropouts on one channel of "Tijuana Taxi" (which can be heard clearly even by my wife, who has no ear at all for sound quality).
So I wrote a letter to the "CD Watchdog" department of Ice Magazine, and in response I got a phone call from Mike Ragogna, who helped produce DEF HITS and has been involved in countless million-selling albums. I was quite frankly surprised that he would take the time to call me. (He had to call twice, I was out to lunch the first time he called.)
I asked him about future Herb remasters, and he said that it was long overdue. He also mentioned that there would very likely be a Herb box set. "It needs to happen," he said, and told me it would probably be about three years.
Then, a year later, there was a small article in Billboard about a Herb art exposition. In that article, Herb said that he had been "revisiting" tapes of the Tijuana Brass, and there was a quote: "There are a lot of unreleased masters we may be putting out."
Now here we are in 2004 and nothing's happened. Maybe it's time for another letter to Ice Magazine?
I can also concur that Herb's working with Larry Levine on some of the old masters. Levine hinted at that at the Julius Wechter tribute concert, and Herb, last I heard, is now overdubbing trumpet parts for some unreleased TJB recordings. These were recordings made in the mid 60's where no trumpet parts were recorded, so it's not like "remaking the past" (or pulling a Richard Carpenter 
).
Also, sort of skewing off-topic, but Doug Sax mastered Definitive Hits and used whatever tapes were given to him, and they weren't necessarily the correct masters.
We'll just keep fingers crossed that something happens this year or next. I'd like to see some properly-remastered discs come out, but I think hearing some new unreleased TJB tracks from the 60's would be even cooler. Sort of a "Great Lost TJB Album".
). Also, sort of skewing off-topic, but Doug Sax mastered Definitive Hits and used whatever tapes were given to him, and they weren't necessarily the correct masters.
We'll just keep fingers crossed that something happens this year or next. I'd like to see some properly-remastered discs come out, but I think hearing some new unreleased TJB tracks from the 60's would be even cooler. Sort of a "Great Lost TJB Album".
I just asked because there's been talk of the old CDs appearing on eBay for frankly, outrageous prices, and it seems the question is, "Why are people paying a fortune for poor-sounding discs, when there might be new reissues coming out?"
Mike, you mention "drop outs" on "Tijuana Taxi". I can name another song where you can find them-"Route 101". You hear more of the acoustic guitar and trumpet than the drums on the DF disc, but on CLASSICS VOLUME 20 you hear it (at least IMO), the way the song's meant to be heard, with all the instruments. Sounds to me like if nothing's happened yet as far as reissues, that means that a spring or summer release is iminent. I've got my fingers crossed, definitely.
On another note (and this may sound off the wall), but how about a disc containing all the movie and TV theme songs the TJB recorded? If memory serves me right, there is an album's worth of them.
Mike, you mention "drop outs" on "Tijuana Taxi". I can name another song where you can find them-"Route 101". You hear more of the acoustic guitar and trumpet than the drums on the DF disc, but on CLASSICS VOLUME 20 you hear it (at least IMO), the way the song's meant to be heard, with all the instruments. Sounds to me like if nothing's happened yet as far as reissues, that means that a spring or summer release is iminent. I've got my fingers crossed, definitely.
On another note (and this may sound off the wall), but how about a disc containing all the movie and TV theme songs the TJB recorded? If memory serves me right, there is an album's worth of them.
Thing is, we have no idea how these discs were created, or from what sources the CDs were mastered. I konw that South Of The Border is one of the better sounding TJB albums, and the CD actually sounds quite good for what it is...I believe it was also Larry Levine's favorite of all the TJB albums in terms of sound. Fandango, being a more modern recording, would have less in terms of wear and age-related degradation. (I still like the vinyl copy best of all...it has more warmth to it.)
I get the feeling that there are better sources than what they used to make the original CDs. But I don't know how much more improved the sound would get. It could be that any improvement in quality is marginal, and then we'd have to deal with the rash of noise reduction and smiley-faced EQ added to the original sound, which certainly isn't accurate either. So one point is, we may already have the best sound available. If any remasters are futzed with using modern technology, they'll sound digitized and processed, and certainly anything but better than what was released in the late 80's. The best case would be flat transfers right from the masters, into DSD digital, and released as hybrid SACDs just like the Rolling Stones catalog.
I doubt we'll see any reissues for quite awhile, since I haven't heard anything about them in quite some time. The only positive thing I've heard about is the previously unreleased TJB tracks...and to me, that's really exciting, almost like finding a treasure trove of lost recordings.
I get the feeling that there are better sources than what they used to make the original CDs. But I don't know how much more improved the sound would get. It could be that any improvement in quality is marginal, and then we'd have to deal with the rash of noise reduction and smiley-faced EQ added to the original sound, which certainly isn't accurate either. So one point is, we may already have the best sound available. If any remasters are futzed with using modern technology, they'll sound digitized and processed, and certainly anything but better than what was released in the late 80's. The best case would be flat transfers right from the masters, into DSD digital, and released as hybrid SACDs just like the Rolling Stones catalog.
I doubt we'll see any reissues for quite awhile, since I haven't heard anything about them in quite some time. The only positive thing I've heard about is the previously unreleased TJB tracks...and to me, that's really exciting, almost like finding a treasure trove of lost recordings.
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