Ray Charles - Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles'

I'm sure that's the reason it costs $70 on amazon.de.

 

Have we even confired that there actually is extra reverb that wasn't on the singles?

 

Oh.

 

You would think that for the higher price they are charging they would provide every drop of reverb! Give 'em their money's worth!

 

The ghost of Dave Dexter, Jr?

 

Show us the money!

 

I can't believe how people on this forum are worried about added reverb on this Ray Charles package just because one person on Amazon mentioned it, there are two comments from other people stating there is no added reverb at the bottom of his posting and it's clear from the samples that no reverb has been added, I've ordered this package in full confidence that it has not been tampered with.

 

As I thought.

 

i've compared several of the songs to the mono greatest hits that i had handy. I spy no extra reverb on those tracks...

 

Mine is arriving on November 30th and I'm in the UK. maybe they ran out of stock by the time you ordered.

 

I've been comparing the new Concord set to some of my 45s to try to determine whether the Concord set features the original single mixes. The liner notes (in which Billy Vera claims that Frankie Avalon and Fabian were also on ABC-Paramount) are silent on the point. I have the DCC discs with the Ray Charles/Steve Hoffman mixes, but I unfortunately don't have the original stereo mixes for comparison purposes:

That Lucky Old Sun
Apart from the 45 being an edit of the LP version, my 45 has some kind of squeaky noise over the opening note that is as noticeable on the Concord set. It is far less noticeable on the Charles/Hoffman mix.

Busted
I detect a slight amount of reverb on Ray's vocals on both my 45 and the Concord set. I don't hear it on the Charles/Hoffman mix, which suggests that it is not present on the multi-tracks.

My Heart Cries For You
According to the review by Mike Callahan (of the Both Sides Now publication) of the Dcc discs from way back when, this song had never been released in stereo before. I folded the Charles/Hoffman mix (since no other stereo mix seems to exist). The mix on the Concord set is definitely not a fold of the Charles/Hoffman mix, which has the strings further in the background.

Don't Change On Me
Not only is this not the single mix, it isn't even the single version. It's the 3:23 LP version.

Hardhearted Hannah
From the opening drumbeats, my 45 sounds different to me than the mix on the Concord set, but whether it's because of compression, reverb, or something else, I'm not able to determine. I folded the Charles/Hoffman mix, and the mix on the Concord set sounds suspiciously similar.

Hopefully a more knowledgeable someone will be able to conduct a more thorough analysis, but my preliminary findings are that some but not all of these songs are presented on the Concord set in their original single mixes.

As for where the single masters may have been found, the only hint the liner notes give is that one of the people extended 'Additional Thanks' is Roger Armstrong of Ace Records, which suggests they were found in England.

I am by no means an audiophile (I want to be buried with my cassettes), but I am very impressed with the sound quality of the Concord set. The biggest treat, however, is being introduced to numerous recordings I hadn't heard before.

 

From what I've read above, the original "LP version" of "Don't Change On Me" is 3:01, and can be found on Uh Huh (per SH a few posts up). The original single is a mono fold of that 3:01 version.

This 3:23 version appears to be a completely different vocal take and did not appear on the original "Love, Country Style" album, but is on the digital reissue of that album as well as the Genius & Soul and Complete C&W Recordings box sets. I'm interested to know when this vocal was recorded and when this take first appeared.

 

Thanks, Steve. That actually explains a whole lot. I was also listening today to the two stereo re-issue 45s issued by the Underground Records label in Canada around 1984 and wondering why the mixes on the DCC discs (which came out a few years later) seemed to be the same.

So the one track on the Concord set which I'm almost sure is a fold, "Hardhearted Hannah", is a fold of the original stereo mix and not some later mix.

 

Got it today. Picked free shipping--still got here in 1 day!

Listened to one disk, so far so good, sounds good to me. I have some LP's, but no ABC 45's, so I can't compare. A lot of great music for pretty cheap.

Packaging is ok, nothing particularly great. Cloth-y box....each CD has it's own cardboard sleeve with tracklist. The booklet has some cool pics and good notes on the sessions and musicians.

 

I ordered direct with Amazon.com and I've received an email saying it has been shipped and will be with me on November 30th, it's very strange that you have to wait so long.

 

Amazon always overestimates international deliveries. It's the same in both directions. My order to Amaxon.co.UK for the EU version of the new Sinatra CD shipped Nov. 12 and was received Nov. 21, but Amazon UK estimated delivery on Dec. 5.

 

Thanks for that information Bob, I'll remember that for the future, so I may receive this box set sooner than expected.

 

I live in San Francisco. Not sure where mine was shipped from, but it shipped the same day as yours. Online tracking indicates it arrived in San Francisco this morning, so I should get it today. In other words, delivery to the UK was just as fast as delivery to the next state over. (I'm assuming mine was also shipped from Nevada since most music I purchase from Amazon seems to ship from there.)