Carole King/TAPESTRY: Original mix SACD is wonderful.. SH Forum member Taxman150 sent me the now OUT OF PRINT single layer ORIGINAL MIX version of Carole King's TAPESTRY. I give you my word I had not heard this album from beginning to end since we all wore our copies out in 1971 and it sounded GREAT on my system; warm, musical and dynamic with the great sound of the A&M Studio. So, if you are so inclined and have an SACD player, this is the version to find if you want a nice flat DSD transfer of the ORIGINAL mixes. I think the current SACD out there now is a REMIX of the stereo and a new mix of the 5:1, correct? TAPESTRY was number one on the charts for like 15 weeks or something in 1971; everyone had this album, old and young. Just as we loved James Taylor, Cat Stevens, etc., Carole King grabbed all of us in the same way. I had heard of her of course, seeing her name as songwriter on such great hits as LOCOMOTION/(You Make Me Feel Like A) NATURAL WOMEN/WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW and a zillion other hits. With this album she proved that she could sing as well as write; just one of those albums that you could play all the way through without having to skip songs. At any rate, if you want to hear the ORIGINAL mixes, the ones that won four Grammy awards (Album of the Year, Record Of The Year (It's Too Late), Song Of The Year (You've Got A Friend) and Best Pop Vocal, Female you need to find this single layer SACD: ES 65650/Sony/Ode/Legacy. Marshall Blonstein's cousin LOU ADLER produced it, Hank Cicalo engineered and mixed it at A&M, Vic Anesini mastered it at Sony in 1999. If you love this album, you'll like this version. Quick, find one before they vanish forever! I bet even a "personal use CD-R" made from this in regular digital would sound great! Thanks again to Mike for turning me on to this.
Sounds like a winner! Unfortunately, no SACD player here. I always thought the original mixes were great... Bob
I was lucky to get a copy of this, I agree it's great! Vic Anesini strikes again. As an FYI, for people who can't locate a copy, there's a 1994 2CD set called "Natural Woman, the Ode Collection" also done by Anesini, same original mixes/tapes used that has *most* of Tapestry on it plus a lot of her other material from 68-76. A good alternative.
I have been and still am a big Carole King fan and have all of her CDs up to and including "Love Makes the World" (a great CD by the way), and have this SACD and the 5.1 SACD. I think the silver SACD in stereo is a great listen, and is the album as I remember it. I have not REALLY listened to the stereo track on the re-issue SACD except for a quick sampling, however I am not letting go of my original. A classic recording preserved as intended! What more could one ask for?
I picked up a copy the stereo SACD when we talked about it a couple of months ago Steve. You were exactly right, it does sound wonderful!
This was among the first batch of SACDs I purchased when I bought my SCD-1 a couple of years ago - I still haven't heard a more satisfying SACD. If you like this LP you owe it to yourself to hear the original mix in DSD .
I'll not be getting a SACD player till next year, but it looks like I should try and find a copy of this first. It's one of my favorite albums.
I have both SACD's. i bought the 5.1 and found out the stereo was re-mixed so I had to get the other version. There's still some at the local Best Buy (until this thread of course). BTW, not being too familiar with the album before buying it I thought the re-mixes were good although I still oppose the whole idea of re-mixing. Why did it need to be done? The original mixes are good. Was this recorded on 8 track or 16 track? Probably 16, right?
One of my first SACD purchases as well. Probably Carole King's greatest work. The album plays like a greatest hit package!
Steve, I agree with you 110%. The original stereo-only SACD is wonderful. Out of curiosity, have you listened to the remixed stereo track on the multi-channel SACD? I haven't listened to it critically. I bought the Legacy remastered CD for the car and office and have not compared it critically to either SACD. Now I wonder how it compares. I'm guessing that it's not a remix since it came out before the multi-channel SACD, and possibly even before the stereo-only SACD.
Ditto! Got mine a couple of months ago when the discussion started. Sounds great and I ddidn't have a copy of the LP or a CD!!!!!
I agree. This SACD was trashed by some when it was released, which remains a mystery. But it sounded right to me.
I've got that one, and it actually has *all* of Tapestry on the first disc. Sounds very good to these ears, although I'm sure the SACD betters it. I guess this is still more proof of the ironclad dictum that all the best-sounding titles have to be a.) import only or b.) out of print.
This is funny. I remembered the discussions about this disc way back when, so I jumped on this very title when I found it last weekend at a used store for $6.
I have loved this record from the first day I heard it. I have many versions of it, but when the stereo SACD was offered to me last week by a fellow forum member, I jumped on it. Cant wait for it to arrive.
My local Circ/City had both versions of this disc around a year ago. Wasn't sure which one to get, so I came here and did a search and found my answer. This thing is stunning!
I can't confirm for certain, but Sony Legacy are normally pretty good about describing their work (ie, the Simon and Garfunkel CDs that have been remixed). The Tapestry CD simply says "mastered by Vic Anesini" on the inside, while the back cover notes say "newly mastered from the original ODE master tapes". My pick is that this CD is the original mix.
I bought a new/sealed one from Bob Dugan here. I still can't play it yet, but I'm glad I have one saved for when I can before they're gone!