I've recently discovered how good some of the bootlegs available now really are. I'm talking about bootlegs of otherwise unavailable material here of course. I'm interested to hear other peoples recommendations. Here are mine: For the Beatles mono mixes of Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Pepper I have to say that the Silent Sea releases are great. Definitely no needle drops here (as far as I can tell!). I also have a copy of the mono "White album". The source for this is unknown but it sounds similar in quality to the Silent Sea CDs. I'm wondering if these are "rip offs" of the "Original Monaural Recording" CDs that come so highly recommended...... If you are a big Beach Boys fan than you are in luck! The Sea Of Tunes CDs (57 discs of outtakes & master takes/overdubs!!) are the most incredible treasure trove of outtakes known to man. The sound quality, while not absolutely perfect, is pretty stunning considering that these are bootlegs. It's great to hear Pet Sounds outtakes without the over production Mark Linett imposed on them on the Capitol box. Also you get to hear a much fuller picture of the making of nearly all the classic Capitol tracks on the Sea Of Tunes CDs (wow, Brian was an incredible genius!). So, what else is out there that I am yet to discover?...
Yes, they are!! I've got a bunch. I didnt know there were 58 of them, tho!! Holy Mackeral!! I'll tell you. THose SOT releases are just like being in the studio with The Beach Boys, its really amazing. You can hear Carl screwing up on lead guitar all the time!!
Not only are the Silent Sea's almost definately needle-drops, they're all cribbed, too. Silent Sea does LITTLE of its own material. They're a compilation label, and a compilation label only...the few times they DO do their own stuff, it tends to be subpar, because they simply don't have access to great equiptment. Listen to Soul Sessions, for example...the mono Rubber Soul sounds fine (I forget which boot they lifted it from), but the Love Songs tracks, which they apparently did themselves, sound like--and probably are--mastered from a crappy cassette. Ewwww. And regarding the Beach Boys...yes, the SOT sets are great, but what over-production by Linnett are you referring to? -D
David, First of all, there's something about the sound of the Capitol "Pet Sounds Sessions" box that bothers me slightly particularly on the "stack-o-vocals" stuff. An example of the over-production I'm referring to is evident on the "Let's Go Away For A While" track. The reverb on the snare drum sounds wrong to me. In an article in EQ magazine Linnet talked about using digital reverb in the mixing of the box - DOH! Don't get me wrong - Capitol/Linnet should be praised for releasing the box set at all. It's just a shame that a more 'organic' approach to the mixing/mastering wasn't taken. On the Silent Sea issue - I would swear that they can't be needle drops! Close listening has revealed no evidence of surface noise/static etc. whatsoever. Are the "Original Monaural Recording" versions similarly clean - are the Silent Sea mono's clones of these? [ December 20, 2001: Message edited by: Malc S ]
My favorite Beatle boots (pirates, technically) are the "Capitol Versions" series from the early 90s on BEAT Records. They also did a mono White Album that's pretty spiffy. If anyone knows where I can find a "Capitol Version" issue of Help!/Rubber Soul, let me know...
I have almost all of the Beat series. They're basically only as reference to the Capitols, Vee_jays and some forign Lps sounded. I woulnd't call them audiophile definitive by any means, but I really like the sound they captured on the Capitol "Meet the Beatles". Brings ya back!
i have copies of all the beat twofers from early beatles thru the mobile fidelity twin set, with the exception of mono white album and love songs. great sound! i understand that the beat cd's were taken from commercially available mint-condition Capitol reel-to-reel tapes then carefully mastered.
Offhand, though, I just love buying random old boots that I see in used CD racks. I just picked up an old Argent boot, an old Caravan boot (both on Oh BOy!, and I think the Argent one was later officially released, but is now OOP anyway) and a Can boot (that I'm diggin' right now). These cost me $10 total, are all silver discs, very vintage... In fact, lots of NEW bootlegs today roundly suck..:-( German digipacks, anyone? -D
Of all of my boots...I have many of the early classics...the one that still impresses me are the Beatles' "Ultra Rare Trax" series. There was/is NOTHING like hearing those sessions outtakes with count in's etc and private conversation to the booth, for the first time...it's truly a special moment that is only closely equaled by Elvis. The Elvis in the studio outtakes...again, you are there with him and the other musicians hearing something special being created. Both experiences still gives one The Chills ...BIGTIME !!!
It's great to hear Pet Sounds outtakes without the over production Mark Linett imposed on them on the Capitol box. I remark: I remember a recent interview with Steve Hoffman regarding Peggy Lee's "Fever" in Absolute Sound. It seems that the "remasterer" (e.g. Steve Hoffman, Mark Linett, etc etc) always treats the studio master tapes with a certain amount of reverb. Commercial releases (even DCC's) are not "pure". So, your comment about Linett's work on the Beach Boys stuff is typical of ALL remasterers. I have also read that Ernst Michael Jorgenson (the man in charge of Elvis's work at BMG) has remarked that DCC's work on the two Elvis CD's that they issued were "inauthentic" and "heavily reprocessed". Steve, would you care to comment on this?
Well, the Elvis DCC disc I have sounds much better than any of the RCA CD releases. If that's due to some processing by Steve H, I say 'let the processing continue' !
Well, the Elvis DCC disc I have sounds much better than any of the RCA CD releases. If that's due to some processing by Steve H, I say 'let the processing continue' ! [/QB][/QUOTE] I reply: I love the sound of the two DCC LP's that I have. My statement was that the guys who did the RCA/BMG Elvis stuff claim that THEIR WORK is the "flat transfer" of this material whereas the DCC transfer is colored in certain ways. It would be interesting to get Steve Hoffman's take on this issue since it seems to be quite controversial. Are his masters "truer" to the original releases than BMG's? Or do we supposed "audiophiles" expect colored sound and are therefore delighted by DCC's "playing" with the music? Fred
Dudes, What disc sounds more like live music or live singing to YOU? That's the one to keep. As to Elvis, come on, geez. Bill Porter did the work on most of that, I just did the mastering. Listen to the tape hiss on the DCC disc. Is it "flat"? Of course. That means the music has been UN-processed. Now listen to the tape hiss on another Elvis disc. Oops, no hiss--"no noised" away on some tracks. But on the others, the hiss is kind of tipped up towards the top end don't you think? [ December 27, 2001: Message edited by: Steve Hoffman ]
Boys and girls, trust your ears - Elvis is in the auditorium on the DCC 24K hits - you couldn't pry that one away from me unless you killed me first! Listen to how the echo on E's voice sounds different from track to track on the DCC, then notice how homgenized the RCA/BMG sound in comparison - lotta fooling around going on. Sure there's hiss, but you can't remove it without sucking the life outta the music - your ears are mighty sensitive in that region. An extreme example is the latest BMG reissue of the Sun material (Sunrise???) - all the life was sucked outta that set, hiss and clicks are gone (Steve, when are we gonna get your touch applied to this material? I'd take 78 dubs to get the actual sound of what Uncle Sam Phillips wanted, but I digress...). I have the RCA 2 disc hits set from around '87 and it is dull and lacking life (although I won't part with it cause DJ Fontana autographed it for me, but again I digress). Those chowderheads at BMG gots tin ears - I wish they'd let Boppin' Bob Jones do the mastering if they won't let Steve - Mr. Jones has done some Elvis works in the past that's much more listenable than the usual hack job via BMG...
Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain with the barkers and the colored balloons... I have this on vinyl. I think my only other bootlegs are officially released ones, the Basement Tapes, Dylan Live 1966.
Ah... anyone else remember the "good ol' days" when the bootleg lps came in plain white jackets with the tracks listed on a mimeographed sheet shrinkwrapped to the jacket? I have a few Beatles and Dylan boots like that. They look real cheap and sleazy... just like boots should, maybe? The packaging on some of the new boot cds just knocks me out. Better, in some cases, than the official releases. Ray
