The Early years 1959-1966 CD

[Graham S]

Hi guys,
Just been reading some reviews of said CD on Amazon and there is one reviewer (I won't give his name but is a muso and has worked at EMI) who states that the version of Wonderful land is a horrendous 'electronically enhanced stereo' version instead of the actual stereo version, and that There are a few stereo versions of previous mono only tracks, but they are extremely flaky, [not worth trying to listen to them] which is why EMI never issued them, there was a master fault, still there. I was just wondering if he is listening to the same disc I have, anyway what do you think?

Graham.

[Arpeggio]

I haven't read all of the Amazon reviews, but I was involved with this project. All I can say is that a lot of time, care and effort was spent on preparation and quality control. By shopping around it was possible to get the 6 CD set ( plus the booklet - also thoroughly revised) for as little as £12.99. Some people will never be happy, but everyone is entitled to their own personal opinions / views. I would expect that professional musicians are pretty critical. Look, it was pointed out that there were historical problems and technical issues with the stereo versions of both "Blue Shadows" and "French Dressing", which is why they remained unissued for 50 years!!! The original (but defective) masters were restored as well as they could be utilising the very latest technology. It was felt that many fans / collectors would like to hear them, even though all of the inherent defects could not be repaired / eradicated. I have received feedback both for and against - with the majority being in favour. The stereo "Lady Penelope" and "FBI" were prepared from previously long - lost master tapes whilst the stereo "Some Are Lonely" had to be dubbed from a pristine French vinyl LP. Add to that many, many mono cuts on CD for the very first time remastered from the original master tapes. As for "Wonderful Land"...the person concerned is very much mistaken. It is definitely the true stereo master. Of course, as such, it is missing Tony Meehan's overdubbed tom - tom fills, which are only present on the mono variant.

RB

[Graham S]

As for "Wonderful Land"...the person concerned is very much mistaken. It is definitely the true stereo master. Of course, as such, it is missing Tony Meehan's overdubbed tom - tom fills, which are only present on the mono variant.

RB

Hi Rob, I was hoping you would answer this, that's exactly as I thought.
Graham.

[Arpeggio]

Thanks Graham. I have also replied on Amazon. Sheesh! The guy only gave the set 2 stars!!

[Steve Parish]

Hello Graham and Rob,
I've said this before, but I think the set is absolutely superb!
It's really nice to have all those tracks (1959-66) in one collection, which, of course, wasn't the case with the original (1991?) Early Years box set, where there were many omissions.
So, yeah, I like it!

[Graham S]

Thanks Graham. I have also replied on Amazon. Sheesh! The guy only gave the set 2 stars!!

Thanks Rob,
A top notch reply, you should take up writing for a living.
Graham.

[Fenderman]

Although i have 95% of the tracks on other collections i still play this on an almost daily basis but it got me thinking if Parlophone would be willing to do a sequel such as releasing a collection of post 1966 material in their mono variants? I've never heard tracks such as Maroc 7 or Tomorrow's cancelled in mono (i also don't have From Hank, Bruce.....in digital mono form only on vinyl).

[Arpeggio]

I don't want to raise everyone's hopes too much as there is no cast iron 100% guarantee. But let's just say that there is reasonable hope that there could be (at some point in the future) a Shadows at EMI 1967 - 1980 set. Could be....sometime. ..in the future.....

[JimN]

... it was pointed out that there were historical problems and technical issues with the stereo versions of both "Blue Shadows" and "French Dressing"... It was felt that many fans / collectors would like to hear them, even though all of the inherent defects could not be repaired / eradicated. ... The stereo "Lady Penelope" and "FBI" were prepared from previously long - lost master tapes...
RB

Hi, Rob.

My understanding - from the time of the remixes made for the "Shadows At Abbey Road" CD, back in 1997 - was that because the three instrumentals from "Thunderbirds Are Go!" (and Shooting Star) were only mixed to mono for the EP release, subsequent inclusions in compilations was not judged to be worth the trouble of creating stereo mixes.

When Thunderbirds Theme and Zero X Theme were mixed to stereo for inclusion on "The Shadows At Abbey Road", it was stated that Lady Penelope was not included simply because it was not recorded at Abbey Road, having been committed to tape somewhere else (can't recall where, offhand). This implied that the tape was not lost, but existed only in original 4-track and mono versions - and it has been borne out by the recent creation of a stereo version.

It's surprising (still) that no stereo version of Shooting Star has been made.

[Arpeggio]

For some reason "Lady Penelope" was recorded at Olympic Studios. The master tape was actually lost. It transpires that, when it was eventually returned to EMI, it was then mistakenly stored amidst a slew of CCliff Richard tapes and not catalogued properly. Hence it was indeed effectively 'lost' for many years. It was conveniently explained away for the Abbey Road project as not being used because it wasn't recorded at Abbry Road - which was true. However, this conveniently masked the fact that the tape was missing at the time. As Jim says, there is no real reason why "Shooting Star" cannot be mixed into stereo at dome future date.