Nat King Cole experts, tell me about "Every Time I Feel The Spirit" LP, 1959, amazing stereo sound!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Feb 17, 2013.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I assume it was recorded at Universal and at the First Church Of Deliverance. Tape box was a standard 1959 style Capitol legend as I remember. Had some defacing on it from when they changed catalog numbers in 1965. Info at bottom: Just when lacquers were cut, assembly, etc. No session info. Nothing else survived the great vault purge of 1959 from this album except the usual mono reels, plus the phono reel safeties.
     
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  2. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I have a good stereo copy of the '65 reissue LP, Nat King Cole Sings Hymns & Spirituals. (I passed on the CD since I saw it was Norberged.)

    Sound is good. Not bad for stereo of the time. Nat is not centered, but his voice comes through clearly and cleanly. And his voice is in top form here. Standout tracks for me are "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep." I prefer Steve's remaster for the latter on The Nat King Cole Story, since Nat is nice and centered.

    The church ambience is definitely there. Jenkins did a great job with the choral arrangements, but sometimes in the mix they seem too overpowering.
     
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  3. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Would love to see the photo, Matt, if you have it available for posting.
     
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  4. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff



    Here's the shot showing the recording gear at Purdue, 1959:
    GillettePalladinoSHTV.jpg
     
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  5. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    That looks like hell on earth. Why didn't they record Kenton at the Bowl or something? Why so far afield?
     
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  6. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    I asked John Palladino who the engineer was, and he couldn't recall the name, but remembered that he was from the NYC studios.

    EDIT: Another shot of a similar, non-Universal situation, also in Indiana, from 1962:
    Screen shot 2013-02-16 at 10.41.30 PM.jpg
     
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  7. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    It sounds like you're saying that the 1965 cutting also has NAT out of phase. Hard to believe!
     
  8. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    Kenton was doing a travelling show with The Four Freshmen and others, and the LP was a double-album with everybody onboard.

    Matt
     
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  9. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Great photos. I love the use of the word, "portable."
     
  10. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Why didn't they just use the three-track and mix down to mono instead of having TWO consoles, tape machines, etc.? Geez, makes me itch.
     
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  11. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat is off to the right. Not completely - just about 60%. It's like almost like an Alan Parsons Project stereo panning, except he stays there the whole time. Thank God this mix folds down into mono pretty well.
     
  12. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    The funny thing is, it seemed to be the opposite of the "two mics for stereo" routine that had been used at The Tower, wherein the stereo mics would just kind of run on auto-pilot. On the mono recording, it sounds like the mics were largely just left "open" for each group, while on the stereo mix, you can hear definite knob-twiddling going on. Both mixes sound okay, but they are very different. (By the way, that album would be a cool SACD audiophile reissue project, as it's got Kenton, Christy, and the Four Freshman, and probably a couple of hours of music if you went back to the raw tapes. Hint, hint.)
     
  13. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    That's so weird. Seems like they cut the album with one channel not loud enough. Nat's voice (except on track one) should be right in the middle at all times. Weird. Maybe they used old parts or something.

    What's so wacky is the tapes sound so dang wonderful.
     
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  14. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I've never even heard of it!
     
  15. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff

    This one:
    59dbe893e7a0305023ac5110.L.jpg
     
  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Totally new to me! Looks like June Christy's grandmother.
     
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  17. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    If anyone has the NAT COLE Gospel album (either cover) in MONAURAL, can you tell me what it sounds like? Very curious... Thanks.
     
  18. I Love Music

    I Love Music Forum Resident

    I don't know whether you've seen this site. It provide a few details about the Every Time I Feel the Spirit recording sessions on September 29 and 30, 1958 with The First Church of Deliverance Choir. [On the site, scroll down to 1958 and Nat King Cole w/ The First Church of Deliverance Choir and click on the link to get the session details].

    From the way the information is presented, I can't determine whether separate mono and stereo machines were used to make the mono (catalog no. W 1249) and stereo (SW 1249) LPs but maybe you can make something of it.

    I'm only familiar with the "wonky" original stereo LP (SW 1249) and have never heard the mono version.
     
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  19. dale 88

    dale 88 Errand Boy for Rhythm

    Location:
    west of sun valley
    Were the PHASE problems fixed in the 2008 issue from Collector's Choice Music? I don't have it but I am listening to the album on MOG and it may be taken from that issue. For those that have a subscription to MOG, this is the album site address:

    http://mog.com/m/album/27922629?ci=40000

    Only the 12 tracks are there even though Collector's Choice threw in a few bonus tracks.

    AmazonUK has mp3 samples available for the Collector's Choice album (12 tracks only).
     
  20. jallen89

    jallen89 Forum Resident

    Steve, I love your mastering of Nat King Cole, they all sound amazing, right up there with your Hotel California and A Night At The Opera. Any chance of your mastering of Every Time I Feel The Spirit will be released on Audio Fidelity?
     
  21. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Steve, if you end up doing a mastering of this album, I will make a request to the record company to send me a copy of this as I have a Gospel hour on a radio station I work for.
     
  22. Jayson Wall

    Jayson Wall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I have a D5/D5 original mono pressing, and it's no sonic wonder. There's distortion on most of the cuts on the top end of Nat's vocals, his vocal is lost in the choir on "O' Mary, DOn't You Weep" and if it's even possible, "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen" sounds worse in mono than stereo. Just a muddy/ugly sounding all the way around, so to my ears this is a fold down from the stereo.
     
  23. jtaylor

    jtaylor Senior Member

    Location:
    RVA
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  24. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Thanks for the info, Jayson. I don't have a mono copy and now I don't think I will seek one out.

    I dug out my reissue stereo copy. It's an A3/A3. Not the quietest pressing ever, but at least I know it's not NR-ed. Both stereo channels seem to have roughly equivalent volume levels, despite Nat's vocals being off to the right, so I would think this is a mix issue, not a mastering/pressing issue.
     
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  25. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

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