Columbia loved reverb. They felt it sold records. Tony, Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams. When asked about this by Ken Barnes Andy Williams replied that "The recording boys tend to overdo it a bit but personally I like a little body added to the sound."
Sammy Davis, Jr. did the PERFECT impression of Tony....and his records because he always overdid the "SSSSSSSSSSS's" when he sang as if loaded with reverb. Some folks in these parts swear by the "genuises" behind these recordings at The Church. However, I feel they did a great injustice to what could have been superb vocal classics. IMHO.
That is one of the main reasons that I cannot stand the Columbia LP's put out in the 50's and early 60's of Mr. S's recordings. Columbia murdered them with more than just "a little body" added.
Sammy's impression of Tony always cracked up Sinatra and Dean Martin. It also had Ed Sullivan in stitches when Sammy did it on the Sullivan show.
I'm one of them...it doesn't mean I don't feel they sometimes overdid the reverb on vocalists back then at Columbia - to a degree, it gave their recordings a distinction which I've felt was part of their point in using it. That may sound foreign to modern ears. My love for the engineering from Columbia New York back then (whether done in "C" [30th Street] or "A" [799]) was the sound was usually so wonderfully done otherwise. The jazz stuff, like Miles Davis, etc., are most all fabulous recordings, though of course don't have that dosage of reverb typically applied to vocalists and vocal groups. While I balk at United adding slap echo onto early Reprise era Sinatra at times as it seems to lay there any not even add feel, etc., I find the Columbia reverb charming to a degree. Whether you or I would have actually used that 'verb is a whole other thing, but considering it was going to be utilized by them, it sometimes worked in its way, though sometimes also could have been dialed back some. Ron brought up Andy Williams...I've never investigated, but were some of his 60's Columbia recordings done in LA vs NY? The "green" MERRY CHRISTMAS album, for instance, sounds worse (actually distorted in parts) than the "red" ANDY WILLIAMS CHRISTMAS ALBUM, with my guess being it was an LA recording vs NY, given the sound.
@MMM Yes, I agree with the non-vocal jazz classics sounding superb. Hence my comment was pointed to the terribly "wet" vocals like "In San Francisco".
LONG AGO... was the only Columbia album that Bennett recorded in Los Angeles. Could have something to do with the poor sound.
I've typically found the sound from LA based Columbia recordings from back then usually were not as good as sessions held in New York. Eventually sending Harold Chapman out there was a good thing, and he was a great engineer, but the standard in New York was very high, aside from any choices in reverb level that are sometimes debated. This goes back to at least the 1940's...
To me, nearly all Columbia vocal LPS from a long period of time had a somewhat muddied sound - you could use many adjectives. The singers were swamped by the instrumental accompaniment. In the end, I would just say that the records sound totally un-natural. You want a human voice to sound natural, unless your name is Wolfman Jack.
Agree. But that goes NOT for the early Sinatra ten inch Columbia Lps. They sound really fine with no reverb at all. I love them. Highly recommendable, if in good shape.
Some great creative singers have also been known for being able to do spot-on impressions of other singers. Merle Haggard could do them easily, and he did them as musical tributes, not to mock or ridicule (like Joan Baez' pathetic impressions of Bob Dylan). Any others that people know about? Here is one to imagine: Nat Cole doing an impression of Johnny Mathis. Both had odd ethereal voices.
Yes, but… I’m hard-pressed to hear much stereo separation. Looking at the waveforms: If you subtract the two channels, Tony’s centered vocal pretty much disappears, but the left/right instrumental differences are quite small. Not that it means anything, but the sleeve in the box set is from the Stereo LP: See also my comments earlier in this thread about the incorrect track order of this disc: » SO WHY DOES THIS MAN HAVE A HEADACHE?
Well, here we are ladies and gentlemen: Tony Bennett Will Release Cole Porter and Gershwins Duet Albums
The big question is whether the Krall album is the one that has (allegedly) been sitting in the vaults since the early 2000's or if it is a new effort. Honesty, as far as Tony's voice is concerned, I pray it is the former. As far as Gaga, I could not care less.....
With Gaga, if the album were multichanneled I wish I could pull her channel. At least a Krall has a sense of style and respect for the genre.
I just saw Tony at The Sands in Bethlehem, PA last night. If how his voice sounded last night is truly how he is sounding on a regular basis, I too hope the Krall-Bennett album has been 'in the vaults' for many years... In addition, based off how he sounded last night, I don't know how he is able to record an album these days and turn out an even remotely acceptable vocal track for an album release. If the new Gaga album has truly been finished in the past months, it wouldn't surprise me if Tony is autotuned and enhanced to death. I got a recording of the show last night if anyone is curious. His voice was very thin, he skipped/cut short high notes he was hitting well not even a three years ago, and he seems to have started to forget lyrics which was absolutely heartbreaking. I last saw Tony in November 2015 and he was in control, his voice was mostly stable, and he interacted with the audience and held his notes the usual length. Last night he barely spoke, seemed really unsure of what his voice was going to do...really reminiscent of what Sinatra was starting to become around '92...I'm grateful forever to have gotten the chance to finally see him again, but it was heartbreaking to see him struggle to sing, sometimes forget lyrics, and see audience members leave after every 3 or so songs...
A lot of people left after "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" and through-out the night people were leaving at random. After every -encore- song ("For Once In My Life", "San Francisco" etc.) people got up and left. At one point a bunch of people in the front row right in front of him got up to leave. It was disgusting to watch. Tony said before his closing number: "I didn't want anybody to leave because I don't want anybody to lose any money". I know he meant it as a joke but seeing how many people just left after random points last night it was hard not to feel awful for him once he said that and acknowledged it.
Logic tells me that there would come a time when age would catch up to Tony. If that time has come (as Brady Love's live concert summary suggests might be the case), I am really saddened. My head tells me one thing, but my heart breaks to read this.
A bit more of an embellished recount of last evenings concert: I last saw Tony in New Jersey in 2015. His voice was in very good shape, he held out his notes although they were at times a bit shakey, he did some short speaking points with the audience, and overall the evening was amazing. I have bought tickets to see Tony every year since at The Sands in Bethlehem, PA. But every time either a theatrical commitment came up which forced me to miss, or Tony caught the flu and rescheduled for a date that I had ANOTHER theatrical commitment I couldn't miss. Last night I finally got to see him without any musical roles getting in the way and no sign of Tony calling out due to illness. Tony's phrasing and mood last night were the usual. He was his normal, happy, spry self for being 91 and the phrasing and acting in his songs were great. I have been waiting for YEARS to finally see him again especially after getting more and more into his early albums the past year or so, so I wasn't taking this evening for granted. I left feeling fulfilled and blessed he is still with us to perform and that I could see one of the greats. For what its worth: I left feeling blessed to have finally gotten to see one of my top 3 favorite singers live again and appreciate the music even more than I could have back in 2015. The unfortunate side was that, unless this was an off night (I am really hoping it was), Tony's age is finally showing signs of catching up to him. He started stumbling on lyrics in "They All Laughed", he messed up words every now and then, he really struggled to remember "The Shadow Of Your Smile", and most unfortunately, his voice just was not there last night. From the moment he started singing he sounded thin, very hushed, and he cut off so many high notes that he was hitting so well not even 2 years ago. The high note on "who's got the last LAUGH NOW" was cut down to choppy, millisecond phrases that was really obvious and sad to hear. The most heartbreaking part of last night was during "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" when he went for the first high note on 'NEEEEEEEVER, neeever ends', and nothing came out. His voice completely broke and all that came out was a very quick and hushed/raspy "nevah...". He paused for several seconds looking incredibly unsure of what to do next but he retried the high note and sort of got it and continued on and finished the song to a standing ovation. While I am so happy he was able to get the note out, that one moment of witnessing his age/voice catching up to him shocked me...unfortunately I caught that moment on video which I think I will have to keep private. And as I mentioned audience members just kept getting up and leaving during the show at random, and it wasn't even always at the "encore" songs, it was sometimes at random points in the middle of songs. His audiences seem to now be made up of a lot of people just going to say that they saw him and not caring about the man, the legacy, or the music. That too was heartbreaking. Overall: It was a wakeup call. If this is how this year has been for the concerts, the way that Sinatra was in the 1990s is slowly but surely starting to creep up on Tony and I hope he and his team can realize this and end on a somewhat high note with a "retirement concert". But for me personally? I got to finally see one of my idols again, who gave a wonderful and touching, if not a touch unsure at times, performance. And if this is the last time I see Tony I'll be content with the memories that it has given me. I'm only 22, but the importance isn't lost on me. I openly cried during 'This Is All I Ask', one of the most beautiful moments of the evening... Ramblings I guess haha, hope some of that was coherent.
I know the last few concerts he has has this deer in the headlights look. This has been the moment I’ve been dreading to hear. Whether 91 or 42 one can have an off night. But I hope his sons and wife have the decency to let him exit with grace if this is really happening.
I'm sure I'm breaking a forum rule here, but for those who are curious, here is last nights tracked concert: MEGA The vocal thinness and problems aren't quite as apparent on the recording as they were in person due to the quality of the audio, but for those of you who haven't seen him in a while or are curious you can take a listen and come to your own conclusions.
