The Remains s/t

Dude, I'm as MONO of a guy as you can get, but The Remains sound great no matter how you hear them. I've got the mono and stereo and they both wipe the floor with most other 60s bands.

 

I found the Epic 45 of "Why Do I Cry" in a Watertown, MA thrift store a while back, and the first time I played it, I was blown away by how powerful it was. With tube compression/limiting, some judicious use of reverb and echo, and of course hard mono mixing, and it was transformed from a solid rock record into a real pounder!

 

I studied bass with Vern for 5 years. Then my work schedule got in the way. Vern is a great teacher and mentor.

 

Over the years I've come to find that the Capitol audition tape was in fact the basis for the Line/Eva release. But with "extra genuine", added fake crowd noise. LOL
I've got it as a French Fan Club CD with a garish yellow cover. Though the sound on the French CD is superior, to the Eva/Line LP.
Have not heard 'A Session With', as of yet, though.

 

Another Remains tidbit I always found kinda strangish was Jon Landau (Springsteen's Manager) was and I believe still, is a massive Remains fan.

 

Not strange considering he grew up in the Boston area, and was in his late teens when they were doing their thing.

 

I picked up an Epic comp in the early 90s, Barry & the Remains - The Remains, and while I liked it, IMO it didn't really convey the greatness of the band like the subject of this thread. I have access to it through Google Play Music, along with A Session with and a Live 1969 album. For those of you uninitiated last I checked YouTube has the entire album.

On a side note I just want to say how blown away I am by the Boston Rock scene. I know there are more familiar ones to the mainstream, NY, LA, San Francisco, but Boston Rock takes a backseat to no one. And it's not just the well-known ones like Aerosmith, it's bands like The Modern Lovers, Nervous Eaters, Lyres, Del Fuegos, etc. that are the real treasures.

 

And the Velvet Underground was practically a Boston group during their Yule years.

 

Their studio album is great, but A Session With The Remains is even better.

Here's the link for Live 1969. The setlist is more in the spirit of 1965, so it appears they managed to resist going psychedelic. Just too bad it's almost entirely covers.

Remains. The - Live 1969 - CD

 

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, WMBR's local music showcase Pipeline did a month-long series of shows reuniting Boston (and environs) from the '60s to the '00s, everyone from the Rising Sun and the Freeborne through Orchestra Luna to Drumming On Glass and O Positive through the Cavedogs and the Dambuilders.

 

I put "Why Do I Cry" on a mix tape with a bunch of hits from the 60's and it fit in perfectly.

 

I've had that one since I bought it new in 1991 or whatever year it came out. I remember reading about it in ICE magazine. It was my introduction to the Remains.

I still have that disc, which uses stereo mixes and wasn't mastered especially well on top of that. A couple of the tunes have studio chatter, which is fun. But yes, the mono mixes are loads better.

 

Thanks for confirming on that comp Troggy. It just didn't seem to convey the greatness that I had read/heard about the band. And it struck me when I was playing the album this thread is about today; I would be so hard pressed to come up with a band name as great as The Remains.

 

Got these for less then $5. Total.

 

I really the tracks Don't Look Back and Why Do I Cry which are included on the Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 4cd box set.
Sounds like the whole album is worth investigating. Cheers.

 

Duly noted.

 

Grabbed the Sundazed reissue today at my local record store. A nm lp in stereo. Kinda forgot about these guys as they were slightly before my time.

I can't compare the SQ as I really have no reference. That said, SQ sounds fine to me. Played on my modest bedroom rig...Pioneer 518 tt with Ortofon super om cart...Mac 1700 receiver...KLH sixes.

Music is very good indeed....what a great garage band! I don't find any filler tracks on this lp.

 

Oh Man, The Remains....what a GREAT Band. They have a song called "When I Want To know", which is great on its own, but at the end, they break into a COMPLETE 1963 Beatles style ending......I wish they would have developed that Beatles clone into an entire song, because they did it SO boss.