The Search For The Masters

Casey’s back ……..and I am once again delving into the Four Seasons catalogue to find lost gems and back-stories.

When you have been collecting music on records and CD’s for nearly 50 years you would think that firstly, you own them and secondly, that over the years the sound of those original 60s records would have improved, given that the original tapes have been digitally re-mastered.

As I have commented before today, in 2011 ‘improvement’ is not the case when it comes to CD releases and, when it comes to the Four Seasons catalogue. Tests carried out on our CD discography published on our web site have shown the recent deteriorating quality of the digital masters since their first appearance on the new sound medium in 1988. The Pleasurize Music Foundation continues to battle to get CD quality back to the levels of the sound quality we got from our old vinyl.(apparently with some success as their web site shows).

So can an old collector like me get my Four Seasons collection sounding as ‘original’ as possible. If the appalling re-mastering of  Jersey Beat is anything to go by, expecting Rhino and The Four Seasons Partnership to issue the original masters in good sound quality is a waste of time. ‘Sherry’ on the Jersey Beat Box Set has an (RMS) loudness level twice that of the original 45. It just isn’t the same song!!

So can I re-master my own collection. Well yes,( I have the music and the technology to do it) as long as I don’t share it ………because the Partnership still owns it.! (well maybe I can if I use one of the new sharing web sites….see more below)….. It remains amazing that in 2011 it is still illegal to share music with friends that you purchased as a teenager. I have already covered this subject at Chameleon’s blog in “‘Are You Really Serious About Music?’ Part2” and now it seems the natural progression is for music and radio web sites to enable music sharing – LEGALLY!

 

With today’s technology and the ability to digitize original vinyl at 24 bit and a sampling rate of 96khz (compared to CD at 16bit/44khz) it is we believe possible to get close to the original tape masters provided we can find clean and unworn vinyl? So what is the best source for the original masters in the absence of a definitive collection from the Partnership’s vaults. Albums or 45’s, that is the choice?

Some argue that the Partnership don’t even have copies of the original masters in some cases. We covered this briefly in the ‘Four Seasons 'Best' Mixes’. As we develop this series of articles we will delve deeper into the back-catalogue and reveal what we believe now only remains on vinyl.

Paul Urbahms gave us a reason for pursuing the 45’s as we tested digital recordings from vinyl….’Two factors that can influence this are that the 45 groove is larger (and not the microgroove used for LP’s) and the stylus is allowed to swing further left and right during the disk mastering process. Also, a 45 rotates at a faster speed which can mean better quality sound reproduction. Coupled with this is the high performance of today’s cartridges and styli. The main drawback is the quality of the original vinyl. Singles cost about 8 cents a piece to manufacture in those days and that includes  printing labels, song royalities, and pressing the records so they were made very cheaply.”

Another factor is the pressing plants used, and the individual master tapes they were supplied. Differences in the length of a second or two are commonly found on the vinyl 45s produced by East Coast and West Coast plants, when hundreds of thousands of copies were demanded. Finding the best masters will not be easy.

We argued a case for the proper re-mastering of the Four Seasons catalogue on more than one occasion and top sound engineers recognize a MONO recording can be re-mastered and sound as good or even better than a STEREO which is poorly mastered.

Steve Hoffmans says…“It’s all in the mastering. Digital is a great medium. Any CD can sound good….. It takes a good mastering engineer! : Stereo is better but it’s not about stereo vs. mono, it’s about which classic song has the best mix. If the stereo mix “nails it” it’s the mix to listen to. If the mono mix “nails it”, it’s the mix to listen to.”

And the real effort to create the ‘sound’ and capture the listener by Bob Crewe, Charlie Calello and the group was on the 45. So for our first Masters Project, the search is on to find the best MONO masters and get them to a good listening level for 2012.(exactly 50 years since the release of ‘Sherry’)

Although the initial research showed that there are differences in mastering , the ‘Golden Hits of the Four Seasons’ (VJLP 1065) has become a reference LP to compare with the 45s as Paul Urbahms says….. “it is probably the closest anyone will get to the Vee Jay mono masters unless someone has access to the master tapes.“

Well the start of my project has to be the sessionography which tracks the timeline of the recordings and their appearance on vinyl. Then I can trace back to the albums and the 45s and check which contain a best original version? Not so easy.! Often the album versions are different to the 45 and the when it comes to the stereo versions some are extreme wide ‘ping-pong’ stereo most common in the early 60s. But STEREO is another subject we will get to in time.

Our web page for the Four Seasons sessions is now able to cover the Gone and Vee-Jay appearances of the Four Seasons (see Section 3 or this direct link) and the Masters they recorded whilst at the latter doomed label. The collapse of Vee-Jay after excesses and corruption and non-payment of royalties, resulted in the legal case to recover their masters and own their music. This is part of the group’s history and the Section 3 sessionography tracks the development of the group and their sound during this period.

 ‘Sherry’, of course wasn’t their first recording as the Four Seasons, when in November 1961 they adopted the name and recorded a song they felt sure would be a hit.(according to a quote by Nick Massi) They would however appear under another name ‘Billy Dixon and The Topics’ (Lost Lullaby/Trance : Topix 45 – 6008) in January 1962 ( before Bob Gaudio’s ‘Jersey Boys’ moment of genius happened and ‘Sherry’ was born).

Then whilst ‘Sherry’ was being ‘shopped around’ from label to label for release the (again named) Four Seasons went back into the studio to record the B-side ‘I’ve Cried Before’ (according to Tommy De Vito) in preparation for a release. Never released on (legitimate) CD this has side has only appeared as a Frankie Valli solo version on ACE CD 507. Is the original 45 MONO master lost?

And then there are the alternative takes of several tracks including the ones that appear as alternative STEREO versions on Bob Crewe’s first STEREO ONLY album ‘Edizione D’Oro’ in 1968, raising questions about what has happened to the original masters. ? And very few of these STEREO versions have appeared on CD. The ACE release of this album contained many mono versions.

A clear example of a lost Master is  ‘Goodnight My Love’ (from ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry and 12 others’ – VJLP-1056) which has never appeared in STEREO on CD or since it’s early and mid 60s appearances on vinyl at Vee-Jay and Philips.

We now believe the ‘Live On Stage’ album (VJLP 1154) released in 1965 may have been recorded in 1963. Billboard reported that “the group were taking a month off touring to perfect their routine” for the Copacabana summer performances and that show was based on the ‘lounge show’ songs and performances from their Four Lovers days. This was exactly what would appear in 1965. The collection was not released at the time as they re-focused on the teen audience after the success of ‘Candy Girl’ and ‘Marlena’ . These tracks by comparison had an un-Four Seasons sound and an artificial studio audience dubbed onto the songs but amazingly the album even appeared in great STEREO. The MONO version of ‘Little Boy In Grown Up Clothes’ that appears on Jersey Beat without background audience noise for the first time on CD unfortunately has loudness levels way above the original vinyl (Vee-Jay713).

Our research shows new listeners to the group are getting a raw deal on currently available CD compilations and so back to the 45s we will go. Our references will be the USA Singles Discography and the UK Singles Discography(to check out the high quality Stateside vinyl issues)

We’ll update the blog with our finds and any alternative versions and where you can find them. And maybe we will be able to legally share the results if the new ‘8tracks.com’ web site is anything to go by . It states….“legally share your own online mixtape, a streaming playlist with eight or more tracks”

Casey Chameleon April 2011

 Part 2 with details of our finds amongst the first releases on vinyl will appear soon.

Comments

[Zane Johnson]

I would love to assist with this project, Casey. For decades I have been looking for the "hit mixes" (i.e. - *mono* hit mixes) of the catalogue to appear on CD, but as I've found from reading the blogs, that will never likely happen. Even Steve Hoffman posted recently on his forum that the mono Vee-Jay's are the way to go. But, as you said, finding good, near mint copies of these might be tough to find.

[Zane Johnson]

I would love to assist with this project, Casey. For decades I have been looking for the "hit mixes" (i.e. - *mono* hit mixes) of the catalogue to appear on CD, but as I've found from reading the blogs, that will never likely happen. Even Steve Hoffman posted recently on his forum that the mono Vee-Jay's are the way to go. But, as you said, finding good, near mint copies of these might be tough to find.

[Joseph Colin Clark]

Great project. About 10 years ago, I bought a bunch of the original 45s and most were in excellent, if not mint condition, and I wasn't looking hard. I would go with the 45s over albums, and mono over stereo at every possibility. For one thing, the 45s were mixed "hotter" for more excitement. Often, they were sped up by 1 or 2 percent. One song that sounds emasculated in stereo compared to the 45 is "Tell It To The Rain." Also, "The Proud One" sounds screwy on all the CDs; the master used had deteriorated. The mono masters for "Sherry" that ACE and Rhino have used are not the same as the original 45 of the song. The 45 is faster with a brighter sound, and has a longer fade. The 45 of "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" has the falsetto vocals at the end. (I would bet that master is lost.) And so on...
Would love to help but am so busy with my small, wild kids now and Lyra plays in an orchestra now. But I read all your posts with great interest.