Any news about Steely Dan AJA 5.1? *

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by jabwylie, Nov 29, 2007.

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  1. jabwylie

    jabwylie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Is there still no news on this project? and are the missing masters the reason for the lack of 5.1 releases of back catalogue?

    Last time I saw the masters (or some masters) was on the Classsic Albums DVD when they were playing around with the multi tracks to show off MM's backing vocals, GIVE THEM BACK YOU GUYS!!!


    JBW
     
  2. Tom in Houston

    Tom in Houston Forum Resident

    First, welcome aboard.

    I'm going to assume that you mean Aja as a multichannel DVD-A or SACD.

    I think the answer is no news is even expected by most of us.

    If you can track down those missing masters and get a surround disc into production, you will be man of the year around here!

    Ask a gort to add more to your thread title - something like Steely Dan Aja 5.1 Any news?

    There are so many Aja threads here, people will want to know what your subject is prior to opening this one.
     
  3. dprokopy

    dprokopy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Seattle, WA
    It's only two songs that went missing - the title track and "Black Cow." You'll notice that on the DVD, they're shown listening to the final mix of the latter, not the multitrack.

    Walter and Donald even made a plea for the missing tapes in the liner notes of the most recent remastered CD:

    So it's pretty clear they had every intention to do a 5.1 mix of the album. In fact, from what I understand, they intended to remix all of the albums for surround, but nothing came of it after Gaucho, alas.

    It would have been nice if they could have at least put together a 5.1 greatest hits package (like the Police one, for instance), since neither "Aja" or "Black Cow" would likely have ended up on there. Heck, I would have settled for fake-surround for those two tracks (like was done for one of the songs on the Avalon SACD), just to hear the rest of the album in 5.1 (and a hi-rez stereo mix, again like Gaucho).
     
  4. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    That Classic DVD of AJA is my personal favourite from all my DVD's- i watched that quite a few times and enjoyed it every time...
    Most of the time i watch a DVD once or twice and that's it..
     
  5. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    Some time ago, I ran across a post on SA-CD.net that quoted Elliot Scheiner as harranging Universal CEO Dick Morris for not issuing the full ABC/MCA Steely Dan catalogue on SACD, with words to the effect, "All the master tapes are sitting at my studio, just waiting to be mixed into surround. WILL YOU GIVE ME THE GO AHEAD?"

    At which point, Morris quickly changed the subject.

    If that reference is indeed accurate, it would appear that at least the multitracks of the missing two have been found.
     
  6. Nostaljack

    Nostaljack Resident R&B enthusiast

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    It's been over a year. I was "ripping" my "Aja" CD (the Nichols version - now I understand why everyone dislikes it...LOL!) into my computer losslessly for inclusion on my iPod. As I did so, I read the liners and remembered the very lines mentioned in the subject of this thread. It mentioned that they were offering $600 for info leading to the discovery of the tapes for "Black Cow" and "Aja". Has anyone heard anything?

    Ed
     
  7. dprokopy

    dprokopy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Seattle, WA
    My guess is, even if they were found, the ship has more-or-less sailed on 5.1 in general. Yes, there are things like the Genesis boxes and whatnot, but most labels have pretty much given up on 5.1 and hi-rez in general.
     
  8. PhilCohen

    PhilCohen Forum Resident

    But interestingly, the people who put simulated surround & old quadrophonic mixes onto the internet now have computer programs which can extract pure channel to channel separation from SQ & QS-encoded Quadrophonic albums(something that the inventors of SQ & QS would never have dreamed possible), such as the QS-encoded editions of "Can't Buy a Thrill" & "Countdown to Ecstacy". Suitably de-clicked and decoded, both of these Quadrophonic albums sound great. Oddly, to date, these folks have overlooked the SQ edition of "Pretzel Logic".
     
  9. johmbolaya

    johmbolaya Active Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Some of these "homemade" conversions are done from either the quad 8-tracks or reel-to-reels, and that would be "pure channel to channel separation". Othere are of course transferred from the original quad LP's and run through the appropriate quad decoder in order to gain the desired effect, and they sound different from title to title, and depending on the condition of the source material.
     
  10. PhilCohen

    PhilCohen Forum Resident

    But were there ever Quadrophonic reel to reel releases by Steely Dan?
     
  11. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    No, only QS LPs and quad 8-tracks.
     
  12. Nostaljack

    Nostaljack Resident R&B enthusiast

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Agreed. I'd just hate to think that those multi's are lost forever. I was hoping someone knew something with regard to whether or not they'd been found.

    Ed
     
  13. johmbolaya

    johmbolaya Active Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Lord Hawthorne already answered before me, but no. I was speaking more about quad reels as a whole, I should have been more specific. Just quad LP's and the Q8's for Steely Dan. Command/ABC released at least two quad reels, but unfortunately didn't extend that to the Dan.
     
  14. izgoblin

    izgoblin Forum Resident

    This is the first time I read this. What strikes me is that a seller could get far more for those multitracks on Ebay. Maybe those involved aren't massively rich, but aren't their multitracks worth more to them than $600?!?! :)
     
  15. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    Hey, the long-presumed-lost multitracks for the song 21st Century Schizoid Man from King Crimson have just been found after 38 years...

    There's still hope!
     
  16. Metoo

    Metoo Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Spain (EU)
    Does this mean we'll finally get a surround SACD or DVD-A of this? ;)
     
  17. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
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