In researching Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons period at Mowest/Motown 1971/74 it might have been helpful to know sound engineers who either worked at the label or know the recording process from those times or are familiar with the tapes like Russ Terranawhose initials appear on some as the mixing engineer. One note shows up to 43 STEREO mix-downs by him of 'The Night' between 1972 and 1975.
So why are these cards so important now in 2019 and what can they tell us?
Well they reveal a raft of information re unreleased but completed tracks that indicates their existence and location.
When Motown moved to LA from Detroit in 1970 they adopted a different system for recording, storing and releasing recordings.
This was the Motown 60000 series of Master Numbers and this can be seen here.
http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=3900
These Master numbers appear on the released 45 as seen in the Cat45 listing above.
As fans we have tried to analyse the approach to session and recording management and decode some of the data records from the time based on the Analogue Tape Index and the Artists Cards.
What I believe happened was that studio sessions that resulted in a completed 16 track song generated a Master Nr [for example 60516 – Walk On Don't Look Back].
An Artists Card was produced[a simple card index] which showed the Title/Artist/Producer/Master Number/ Tape Number. The Tape Number [1stLocation] was a 4 digit code preceded by a predominantly P[Production Tape] or T[Temporary/Safety-Evaluation Copy]. Example Tape P2110 – The Night. Notes exist of mixes and dubs made and stored on many T Tapes.
The relationship with P and T Tapes has to some extent been clarified. I have a listing from the Tape Index relating to the P Tapes. These are the main Production Tapes with up to 16 tracks in sync from sessions. The big question is was a vocal lead laid down. Only playing the tapes will reveal this as tape boxes do not always reveal the accurate contents. STEREO mix-downs should also exists as these are the final Production versions for Evaluation through the Quality Assessment process meetings. There are famous stories re these reviews and evidence from Motown TCB Newsletters indicate unreleased completed tracks by the group were being assessed in January 1972 for possible single and album release. Several songs listed there appeared on the 'Chameleon'. Several have never been heard since. T tape copies existed of many tracks indicating they were completed as STEREO mix-downs. Some remain as 16 track and have never been played back since.. Research to find if these still exist but this research exercise hasn't extended to them at this point in time.
The Artists Cards were subsequently used to note transfers and copies as they are made [They are generally to T tapes but sometimes P tapes ] and this shows their locations[Master Mix/Remix] and 'Dub Cuts'.
Codes [in the Comments column] are hand written or typed and these need translation..They include.......
1. 16tRhy – which I assume is a 16 track copy
2. 02tsmx – which I assume is a stereo mix
3. SR6smx – which is a mystery but likely to be a type of stereo mix
The above Example is of an Artists Card which shows a track we found on cassette salvaged from the session, proving it existed. The track has been shared in our Facebook group.The Master Nr [not noted here] is in fact 60752 confirmed by other Motown Spreadsheets.
Sometimes there are references to the alternate 'Take' Numbers which in the case of The Night number 43.[The biggest hit.....by 1975 and the highest number of STEREO mixes made on the catalogue of the group at Motown]. Occasionally dates are shown and engineers initials. RT is probably Russ Terrana but others are a mystery. [The details behind this tracks production and surviving versions we hope to feature in the next year]
Some notes indicate that copies have been made to 'New Album' P Tapes clearly for pre-release.The Transfered/Temporay Tapes [T tapes] should be evaluated with reference to these Cards to identify copies [if necessay – should the completed tracks/mixes not appear on the Production Tapes]. Collating the Artists Cards with a Tape Index has shown over 30 tracks with Master Numbers by Frankie and the group that have never been released.Of course this analysis may be challenged by the people at Motown who know otherwise.?......but the tapes will speak for themselves!!
Will the transfer of these tapes to Bob Gaudio generate their release.? We will see, but at least the exercise has resulted in their'preservation'for posterity. Whether there is enough interest from the Partnership to invest the Sound Engineering time to mix-down to STEREO where necessary remains to be seen at the present time.? And how busy is Bob Gaudio to invest the Production time? It is perhaps also a question of what gets licensed in contract negotiations between Gene Zacharewicz at UMe and Snapper Records.
Whilst we do not expect any confirmation for release [or otherwise] for some months we will have more soon re what has been salvaged/preserved and remains unreleased.
Ken Charmer – Tape Index Researcher 2018[Updated August 2019]
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