Eric Records - new releases - DES or "Digitally Extracted Stereo" versions of 50s classics +

There was to much on that disk for me that I didn't want for me to get it. Last night I realized I at least had Glenn Campbell's recording of MacArthur Park, so I will make do with that.

 

Glen Campbell's version of MP is equal to Richard Harris's, IMO..and his guitar playing on it is nothing short of incredible. But I had to have the Harris version; it took me literally decades to really appreciate. I have childhood memories of changing the station almost every time it came on when it was a top 10 hit. In time, I began to slowly appreciate the songwriting of Jimmy Webb before even knowing he'd written the song. Once I learned this, I decided to give the song (Harris's hit single version , specifically)another chance with as clear a head as possible. Upon truly realizing everything that's going on in this thing, it began to grab me melodically. Today, I consider it a truly outstanding piece of work.

 

I have this and several other Eric Record releases, and they all sound great. I agree wholeheartedly with the OP that MacArthur Park is a revelation.

 

AlmondRoca wrote:

“What's the story with these Eric compilations anyhow, quality wise? Why do they sound as good as they do? Are the compilers simply willing & able to get their hands on better quality master recordings than what was previously available? Or is it down to some magic fairy dust sprinkled on everything in the mastering suite?”


All good questions. And here are the answers.

The “story” with Eric Records is that we really are a label “by collectors, for collectors” as many of our releases tout. Bill Buster, the owner and label producer, has been working in the record industry for more than 55 years and has dedicated himself to tracking down and making available “Hard to Find” recordings covering four decades, the 1950's through the 1980's. Eric utilizes the skills of two experienced mastering engineers, Mark Mathews and myself, Walt Weiskopf, who work jointly to produce the best possible sound quality.

The first step in accomplishing all this is to track down absolutely the cleanest sources when licensing the recordings from those who own them (including the majors, Universal & Warner Music, as well as many indies). Often, this means specifying the actual tape/matrix number for the exact source we need such as the original 1968 Dunhill Records LP Master for “A Tramp Shining” that includes Richard Harris' “MacArthur Park”. The original master tape for this was stored at Iron Mountain in PA, and was untouched since the early 1970's. As this was the cleanest and lowest-generation version of the recording we are aware of, obtaining it enabled us to release this multi-layered recording for the first time on CD in its full sonic brilliance and richness of sound.

Once the best sources are in hand, the next phase involves meticulous mastering of each individual track, including matching the speed and pitch to the original 45 RPM singles, equalization, repair of dropouts, occasional compression/limiting and/or stereo field width adjustment, and other sprinkling of “magic fairy dust”. These working masters are prepared by Mark and me in multiple listening environments (professional studio monitors, headphones, computer speakers, car stereos) and are next evaluated by a small group of trusted “listeners” whose comments and feedback are utilized to produce final, polished masters.

Finally, compilation “evaluation masters” are assembled with careful attention to track sequencing, transitions, levels, etc. Evaluation masters are then repeatedly listened to in multiple environments after which final adjustments are made before production CD masters are burned, approved, and sent to the factory.

The entire preparation of an Eric Records CD takes a minimum of 4 to 6 months to complete (including licensing). Liner notes are prepared with the same meticulous attention to detail and include a multiple page, photo-filled booklet with comprehensive artist biographical information and song annotation by music writer Greg Adams.

Eric Records' principal goal is to preserve and send “into the future” four decades of selected pop music culture in the highest possible quality for future generations before the original hit sources are lost to time and decay.


Walt Weiskopf (Twodawgzz)
Eric Records

 

I hope you are hard at work on Volume 18. (or any next volume in any of Eric's series.)

 

I guess there will be no more of those Hit Parade instro collections

 

We should start posting the scarce tracks we'd like to see collected on single cds.

Has McGuinness Flint WHEN I"M DEAD AND GONE appeared on a good VA comp?

 

A good sounding Concrete And Clay would be nice. It actually would have fit in quite nicely on Volume 17.

 

I am impatient. I finally started doing needle drops of songs that I could not find on CD. I would find original older reissues. The re-releases are usually horrible.

 

Those year-by-year instrumental CDs that cover every instrumental track on the charts must have been so difficult from a licensing perspective (as well as getting sources, etc.)

Will we see any more of these? They really are incredible.

 

Love Power by the Sand Pebbles

 

Does Eric Records only do VA comps? Check out this comment from the webmaster re Sam Cooke singles. It sounds like a Sam Cooke 45s project would fall under Eric's remit.

 

And similar comments on Brenda Lee...

 

I'm not sure if I want any of their stuff but the website is retrotastic, it's like the Internet from last century.

 

They put almost all their resources into the audio, and have a very, very small staff, like three people.

Guys, not all of their CDs feature digitally synthesized audio or NR. In fact, they haven't used NR in about a decade. Try a CD or two. they aren't bad. The best sounding ones are the two recent releases with the 80s music.

And, yes, they track down original first generation tapes. The tape from "One Night In Bangkok", for example, came directly from Sweden. The Eric Records CD the first time that single master tape had been used since 1985.

 

I should write a mail to Audio Fideliy and MFSL. Would love to have a phone chat with them.

 

Notice those were issued on the "Hit Parade" imprint and manufactured in Canada. Different licensing.

Same with those multi-disc instrumental sets on the Complete 60's label manufactured in the "Czech Republic". No licensing, no royalties, no master tapes.

 

Nevertheless Pelvis, IMHO they don't sound bad.

 

I've always noticed the source for those Hit Parade series that Eric distributes, but apart from what Eric tells us, don't find much info about them. Never seem to feature anything later than 1962, though I think that cut-off pertains to the European Public Domain policy, and I'd guess, ahem, that they prefer to focus where licensing is not an issue...

 

Many thanks, Walt, for this most excellent and thorough reply!

 

If your taking requests for volume 18, I'd love to hear "The Girl Can't Help It" by Little Richard!

 

From one of the Eric people Mark Matthews, posted on the Pat Downey forum:

 

If someone were to do a DES to the first two Beatles albums along with the mono only singles and those became the core 2009 catalog:

1) It would be worse than somebody rewriting the bible (remember the Reader's Digest bible?).
2) The outcry would be worse than George Lucas re-editing Star Wars IV-V-VI into a 3 hour movie.
3) The outcry would be worse than Benghazi and Hillary's e-mails all rolled into one.
4) This forum will have 10-20 threads a day whining about the "DES stereo sacrilege on our beloved Beatles recordings."
5) The ones who enjoy it would get flamed by the ones who don't, it would get ugly if it happened.

Please don't imagine such a thing, please.

 

They did rebalance the first couple of 2009 stereo Beatles CDs. This is an established fact. Where have you been?

The new spectral editing is not the same as Digitally Extracted Stereo, or DES, as they are calling it. It is literally isolating the various elements of a mono track and literally remixing it into stereo. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of confusion about this because of the terminology.

If they used this process with the early Beatles CDs. it might be quite interesting to hear, and I don't doubt that Giles Martin is looking at the possibility of doing it. It's just another tool in the art of mixing.

 

Interesting, it's odd that I pulled out my USB apple and played the 24/44.1 hi-def version on With The Beatles [DR9],
I didn't hear anything out of the world different except for a tad more bottom but nothing shifted L or R on that album.

What I was referring to is all the mono tracks like PS I Love You, (both versions of) Love Me Do, She Loves You, I'll Get You, and You Know My Name
all surfacing in DES stereo on the 2009 remasters.