[78-L] California Ramblers Edison mystery

[david.diehl at hensteeth.com.invalid]

Yes, Sweet Man has been my favorite Golden Gate Edison for lo these many years and transcends the mediocrity of the Biograph transfer. To my ear the two performances were in virtual lockstep until the clarinet passages went totally off in different directions, then lockstep again until the close. I suspect that there was irreparable damage to the original disc and they just spliced in material from a different disc which happend to be a different take. These discs were so obscure-who would call them on it? I have found a couple of alternate takes of other Golden Gate sides which differ from my Edisons and IMHO they never display the precision required to justify the assumption that the entire performance of Sweet Man is an alternate. 
 DJD
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-----Original Message-----
From: David Lennick [mailto:dlennick at sympatico.ca.invalid]
Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2016 11:17 PM
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Subject: Re: [78-L] California Ramblers Edison mystery

For what it's worth, I've noticed some misidentified takes on other Biograph lps. Easy enough to do (and they probably thought nobody'd catch the mistakes).dl> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com> Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 23:08:56 -0600> From: rjh334578 at gmail.com.invalid> Subject: [78-L] California Ramblers Edison mystery> > > All that chat about flanging a couple days ago reminded me of a story I've> been intending to share with the Board of Experts for a while.> > > > I guess it was last spring when 78-Listmember Dave Blue Pages Diehl paid me> a visit here in West TN on his way to ARSC. He pulled a box from the trunk> and said they were just some souvenirs of Arkansas. Indeed. One was a> Diamond Disc of Sweet Man by the Golden Gate Orchestra. This has been a> favorite of ours since we heard Bill Givens play it on WHAM in Rochester, NY> on April 4, 1965. We taped that and wore the tape out. Fast forward to> 1970 and it showed up on Biograph BLP-12020 as Miss Annabelle Lee - The> California Ramblers on Edison, Vol 1. We put that on cassette and enjoyed> it in the walkman or the Buick until the cassettes croaked. Fast forward to> 2007 when I got my first computer that allowed me to burn my own CDs and> that track was among the first 100 CDs I burned.> > > > We knew this record well - very well, and count it among the best of its age> by any band. But when confronted with an original Edison, we did what we> would have done as teenagers - washed it and played it, regardless of the> fact we had it on CD.> > > > Well..as it played, we noticed minor differences and chalked it up to EQ> settings, for it all sounded so "right" - the solos were all familiar, note> for note, lick for lick, the attacks the same - until we got to the clarinet> passage at the 2:30 mark and that sent us looking for the CD. Marked> differences. The old DD says it is take C, and the liner notes to Biograph> BLP-12020 says it, too is take C. So we slapped 'em both into a digital> file to get a "stereo" version, the LP transfer in one channel and the old> DD in the other. (It sounds a bit "flanged" and that's what prompted my> memory of this to pass on.) > > > > Easier said than done. The LP version was brighter, played faster, and> consequently, shorter. The assumption here is the LP transfer may have been> a tad fast, my original dub of the Lp to digital may have been too fast,> etc., before I got the nice turntable I have now. So, anything's possible.> The DD transferred at a flat 78.26 and we used the software to perk it up> appropriately and that helped to even the score, but not completely. Not> wishing to waste all night on this project, we got it pretty close by> dumping the first two minutes or so and centering it around the middle of> the clarinet passage, and there you can really hear the difference. One> break is ascending notes, the other is descending. No amount of EQ> difference is going to produce that.> > > > Take a listen. I've put the LP and DD files in Dropbox as mp3 files and our> crude composite of the final 1:20 or so is also there, marked "sample> 2-edit." Every other solo is exactly the same.> > > > It amazed us that such a group as this would ever be able to play the same> arrangement note for note twice and make a near carbon-copy performance -> especially Adrian Rollini on bass sax. He could be counted on for fresh> stuff on every take. The DD has the complete title, the Lp is obviously a> rip from the CD and marked with "LP" as part of the file name.> > > > Could the LP be mismarked as -C? Could there be more than one -C? The DD> wax is pretty clear.> > > > Here's the link:> > https://www.dropbox.com/sh/btnr2p84qpwg6z5/AABSUvIRSflT2GLXtJiMrmBya?dl=0> > > > > > Footnotes:> > 1-At first I thought the clarinet passage was a solo, but now I believe it's> two guys trading off, one takes 16 bars of the refrain as a subtone and then> trades 8s for the last half with a guy playing alto in a higher register.> My son the band director thinks they trade positions for the two takes!> > 2-Also noted that the LP liner notes said "Original sound qualities have> been retained and no artificial echoing or rechanneling has been> introduced." But I think I hear a little echo here on the LP transfer, and> I had no way to add any.> > > > Rodger> > > > For best results use Victor Needles> > > > _______________________________________________> 78-L mailing list> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l _______________________________________________78-L mailing list78-L at klickitat.78online.comhttp://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l