I Nominate Bill Inglot For A Medal!

Bill Inglot has always been a favorite of mine. I started purchasing compact discs in 1983 and at the time it was bewildering because oftentimes, oldies compilations were comprised of remakes or incredibly bad sources. But Inglot took the time to do the research.
One very interesting fact is that with his Sonny and Cher compilation, the songs which are presented in mono (most of them) were actually remixed by Inglot from the original multitracks! He maintained that the way they were originally recorded did not lend themselves to proper stereo, so he mixed to mono. Listen to his Foghat and Nazz CD's and you will see that he captures the sound of the original recordings very well.

Paul

 

All I can say is...

 

I wouldn't count on Bill ever showing up on message boards, at least under his real name! And, even if he did, I don't think any of us would believe it was really him.

But, i'd love some more MONO hit singles from the 60s and 70s!

 

...but they just weren't the actual HITS!

 

Your probably right Oh well...ya still -never- know. Anythings possible in cyberspace.

 

Bill's done some nice work with the Atlantic jazz catalog. I mean, little things like finding the mono 45 edit of Trane's "My Favorite Things," something I'm not sure anybody else would remember(it never charted, true of most jazz 45's). Herbie Mann's VILLAGE GATE album has very nice sound, and it's not the only one. We associate Bill so much with the old hits it's easy to forget he works on other genres, and very well, I think.

ED

 

In the early days of Cee Dee, Rhino's(and Bill's)discs stood out because they actually....can you believe this?.....SOUNDED GOOD! Bill took(and takes)the time to get the right tapes and makes sure the mastering is excellent. Except for Steve, the best in the business. The man truly deserves a medal, or an award, or something. Bill, if you're reading, let me buy you a drink!

 

It's a really mixed bag. Some of Bill's earlier CD's were do so differently compared to others. Check out the early Four Seasons and Jerry Lee Lewis comps he did. Very bright, thin sound, no bass. Around the same time, he did that Stax/Volt box set and the Ray Charles set. Great transfers, probably flat without the same EQ.

 

Poking around in the archives is always fun, usually interesting. Mr. Inglot's medal would have to be for both his spearheading countless worthwhile projects and finding the best possible tape sources because there has been no universal agreement regarding his particular style of mastering. This from 10/01:

"Hmm...have I suddenly traveled into another dimension where everyone loves the mastering work of Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot?"--Luke

"Yes, Mr. Luke you have. Since most people we know think Rhino's engineering is very, very thin and bright sounding, my guess is that some people here actually like that sound. If they do though, what are they doing posting at the DCC forum? Never has been a DCC disc or LP that has that etched bass-shy Rhino sound (thank goodness)." --Angel

 

All I know is, I probably wouldn't have gotten serious about oldies on CD if it weren't for BI!

 

Uh . . . guilty as charged [I guess]. But he still gets the medal, doesn't he?

 

The Rhino Blues Masters series of CD's were terrific. To suddenly have copies of so many songs I looked for for years, it was wonderful!

 

I felt the same way about the Nuggets sets. That's what Rhino does best.

 

Agreed: give 'em a concept and they really run with it.

Rhino went through its growing pains as any other label early in the CD game did. The usual problem was finding 1st gen sources, stereo where there was only mono(and later mono where there was only stereo). And because every tape is different, this would invariably lead to some that sounded 'thin' but Rhino was hardly alone: the 2-CD Paul Revere comp Columbia did was accurately criticized for a truly thin, harsh sound. Turns out the tapes weren't the problem; the remastering was the problem. I just don't remember that many bad Rhino discs. It should also be remembered that Inglot, Perry & Hersch also had to do a lot of remastering work in the early years, in addition to find the necessary tapes. I was amazed they did so well, given all the projects that were on their plate(more than can be said for the Motown remasters from the same era).

Overall, I just can't find much fault with Rhino beyond my own inherent greed in wanting more of their best. NUGGETS and SOUL SHOTS boxes devoted to stereo versions, for example; more session and mono Monkees; and more unique Rhino Handmade items ala THE MASKED MARAUDERS.

And, all that aside, who else was going to get us the mono 45 mixes of "Windy" and "I Had Too Much To Dream"? Takes guts to do that, knowing all the stereo fans would waste no time complaining about it.
I'm still kinda happy about it...

ED

 

Among his other accomplishments, it shouldn't be forgotten that he was there at the beginning of the L.A. late 70s-early 80's indies/garage scene as producer/engineer of . . . er . . . well, The Last is the only group that comes to mind now. But I remember seeing his name on many a comp LP from that era [maybe also the Droogs?].

 

Neither do I. In fact, as has been mentioned here several times, it was Bill's name on the back of a CD that guaranteed quality back in the day when so much cruddy "product" was rush-released to take advantage of the new medium. He was the first/among the first to receive remastering credit on CDs--this served to open my eyes to the importance of mastering engineers.

All to say that when I fist came to this forum last year I was a little surprised to read comments like those I quoted from Angel and Luke. As you say, Ed, many problem projects may have been due to the master tapes. There's certainly nothing "thin" about the Stax/Volt box set--that project, in particular, was an unqualified success. But complaints about his mastering are not uncommon here [though few are to be found on this particular thread ].

 

I suppose if someone wanted to criticize Inglot's work, they maybe should start a new thread.

 

I wish Rhino would bring back their novelty collections. Man, those were hilarious. I think there's one they did on the most depressing Christmas songs of all-time (not depressing in a serious way, of course).

 

If the deal with EMI actually goes through, don't count on it!

 

Does that hold true for his inclination to use mono mixes as well? Since when did a balanced discussion become off-limits here?

 

You must mean BUMMED-OUT CHRISTMAS. Has things on it like the Staple Singers' "Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas." I think we get less of that sort of thing today because Rhino handles so much WEA catalog reissues, which is to the good. But the old indie Rhino that would come up with novel ideas isn't much to be found anymore. Such is progress, but big hasn't been bad so far.

ED

 

...when the terms of the threads were asked to be respected. The problem is, this thread was not created as a place for debating his work.

FWIW, I welcomed his use of mono mixes.

 

Yeah, I suppose you're right, Ed. Too bad you can't have the best of both worlds.