Back in 2011 I was writing blogs about a project my late friend and sound engineer Stefan Wriedt wanted to tackle as there seemed no prospect of a comprehensive review of the Four Seasons Partnesrhips vaults/archive. And rumours had been rife for years that the tape vaults are incomplete in terms of the Master Sessions Matrix Index which we've developed on our web site. Do the MONO mixes we all know still exist as since 1988 and the advent of CD the output has been largely STEREO, and often wide or poorly mastered tracks of the analogue to digital transfers.?
Our UK Fan group web site index covers all known Matrix Numbers of Masters from 1962 to 1971 and an Excel Spreadsheet of what is stored in the Motown Universal vaults, much of it still Unreleased.
https://www.seasonally.co.uk/newmasterspage.html
Here is our blog post back then and the enthusiastic response from long term fans Colin and Zane at the time. We have in the last two years achieved an amazing break through and collaboration like never before. So revisit this and then see what we are now achieving below.
https://thatfourseasonssound.typepad.com/seasonally/2011/05/the-search-for-the-masters.html
Of course at that time 'Jersey Boys' was still in full flow and the 'Jersey Beat' Box set in 2007 had been the Rhino attempt at a collectors package. It underwhelmed most of us although many of us were able to comment on our fave tracks in the Charles Alexander inspired 'mini-book'. The Motown Anthology set in 2008 was 90% based on released material but on CD for the first time 'officially'. We know the 'unreleased' is there and have proved it since.
So our project work has progressed since and although sadly we lost Stefan[and GILG web master Frank Rovello and ex UK Fan club President Stuart Miller] with the help of Paul Urbans and Ray Nichol I completed a fully re-mastered set of 45 MONO A and B sides from 1962 to 1970. It's not perfect re every 45 side[as some MONO sides are very difficult to find in prime condition.....and it did not cover the 'Valli SOLO' 45s], but it is still a good consistent 'reference set' of the MONO vinyl released versions. That reference set we said in 2015 would have to do until someone found the money and as a result time to research the Tape Archive and re-digitise the Master Tapes with todays technology.
Well today as I write........ that is happening for the first time [thanks to Snapper Records of London] with a full set of specialists at work to create the 'Ultimate' salvage from the surviving tapes. Bob, Frankie, Snapper Records and the UK fan group have committed to aim for the best set of recovered Masters of Frankie and the group ever. Bill Inglot, so much the archive researcher for Bob and Frankie over the decades has reviewed in depth what analogue tapes exist and what we are seeing we will get will be a full review and NEW Analogue/Digital transfers. Coupled with Reynolds Mastering working on new Re-Masters and with record industry renowned compiler Bob Fisher they are a full team targeting the highest quality possible. A circa 40 CD set has been proposed and contracts progressed and research and transfer have been happening through the last few months. New transfers re-mastered as the best 2020 digital Masters ever is the aim. The work will bring some amazing finds.......some we have said should be there and some completely new to us all are surfacing.
Results so far show we can at last say a MONO Master set will be possible of all album and non-album 45 tracks released in the vinyl format [ie 1962 to 1970] and the surviving STEREO mixes are revisited and tapes checked for alternate versions. But perhaps the best news is that the magnificent STEREO hits set produced by Bob Crewe from surviving Master tapes [Edizione D'Oro] has been found and will be fully presented on CD for the first time ever. And a surviving MONO Master of Genuine Imitation Life Gazette will appear as a vinyl insert. Photos/memorabilia and an historic book will complete this de-luxe set.
This is a big achievement and what fans have been asking for for years. Alternate Takes/Live tracks and previously unreleased tracks have been found and these will be reviewed and approved by Frankie and Bob where of adequate quality[re performance and sound quality]. The fan group team are assisting as and when needed. Our reference set of the MONO sides has been provided for comparison purpose. 90% of sources are pulled from the Partnership vaults and transferred and review and re-mastering is well underway.
The one thing that qualifies ANY Frankie Valli/Four Seasons collection is that nowhere in the archives are copies of 'session work or multi-tracks'[unlike the Beach Boys recordings]. The whole library consists of completed Masters.....either from album /45 or left-overs in some rare cases. All previously known tracks follow the listing of Matrix numbers found in our Masters Sessions listings on our web site as far as the Vee-Jay and Philips period goes and MONO and STEREO versions do exist of most tracks. Of course several MONO only tracks like 'Ronnie' were never mixed to STEREO after the session and 45 release.
So apart from what is there we suspect nothing else has survived .......unless fans and former record company employees out there tell us. ? Now is the time to speak up if such gems exist in hidden archives. We have discovered one or two salvaged from cassette and acetate......but whether these make it into the set we can't say at present.
This investment by Snapper is the most in-depth investigation with Bill Inglot of surviving Master analogue tapes ever. As Stefan and I concluded in 2011 it is long overdue! The result will we believe establish the most accurate and comprehensive collection of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons work in 21st Century sound.
A real 'collectors piece'
The tape search goes on......'Unreleased' have been found at Philips and Motown and review and quality assessment continues with Bob Gaudio, who is fully supporting these research stages and the final product. More feedback when we have it. Target release August 2020. London.
Casey Chameleon
Recent Comments