Best Sounding "What's Going On"?

I'll save you the trouble since I have searchable scans of all issues of ICE starting with Issue 8 in 1987 until its demise in March 2006 (Issue 228).

The article you're referring to appeared in Issue 167 (February 2001) and detailed the release of the What's Going On - Deluxe Edition set mastered by Kevin Reeves. In that article, compilation producer Harry Weinger stated that the budget CD version of the album (the article does not indicate whether he is referring to the Matousek-mastered original or the Baker-mastered two-fer) was a real embarrassment because it had minimal graphics and was made from third-generation tapes!

 

That's not the one I'm referring to at all! Give me a while because I just found the one I meant and it'll take me a few minutes to type it.

 

I'm the proud owner of all three of these CDs. 8)

 

From the July 1988 ICE CD Watchdog:

Ed Scott of E. Elmhurst, NY writes in: "A year ago, I purchased two CDs on Motown that had disappointing sound, Marvin Gaye's Stubborn Kinda Fella/How Sweet It Is (TAMD 8057) and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas' Heat Wave/Dance Party (GORD 8049). However, the hits from both of these discs sound much better on other Motown compilations. Could you look into this?"

We went right to the source at Motown, who was candid with us largely because of the label's imminent sale to MCA, although they still requested anonymity: "Those two-fers were done in a major rush, something like 50 of them in 30 days. Generally they were straight-across transfers from EQ'ed LP tape copies, so they're not what I would call great quality. But the compilations all came from original masters, and were re-EQ'ed for CD."

Disheartened, we asked about a personal favorite, Gaye's What's Going On/Let's Get It On two-fer, and the news wasn't as bad: "Those are also (LP transfers) but are actually pretty good; they sounded good originally." Our source added that the individual budget CDs of the two Gaye titles are the same quality as the two-fer.

 

Thanks for the correction! My apologies . . . for some reason my software didn't pick up the 1988 ICE article during the search of my scans or I would have quoted it as well.

The information in both issues of ICE is consistent and taken together indicate that the Baker-mastered two-fer was sourced from EQ'd tape copies. The same tape source or a similar higher generation tape may have been used for the Matousek-mastered budget CD based on the comments from an unnamed Motown source that the budget CD of What's Going On is the same quality as the two-fer (ICE July 1988) and Harry Weinger's statement that the budget CD version of the album was made from third-generation tapes (ICE February 2001).

 

I posted that to show that the two-fer is sourced from less-than-optimum tapes and probably transferred flat. Regardless of what tapes Matousek used on the MCC disc, I have no doubt he did a much better mastering job than Tom Baker did on the two-fer. And if the CD I am awaiting is not satisfactory, the Matousek is the one I'll be looking for.

 

Just picked up Marvin's "Compact Command Performances: 15 Greatest Hits", and I am stunned at how great it sounds. I haven't done a head-to-head comparison with the other MG I have (Hitsville sets, box set, DE of What's Going On), but on first listen I think this is as good as I've heard this stuff sound. Silky smooth, nice detail, natural EQ, nice dynamics, not much hiss (but obviously no NR). This material was recorded well, with a very "in the room" sound. Everything sounds "real" - vocals, percussion, strings, horns, and there is just the right amount of bass (not bass shy like many of the early CDs OR bloated like later masterings).

If this is what a 3rd generation tape sounds like, give me 3rd generation tapes all day long!

 

No, that's a comp, so that would be from the original master tapes, according to that ICE column. At least that's how I'm understanding it.

 

OK, thanks - I misunderstood. I see it now (a few posts up):

"But the compilations all came from original masters, and were re-EQ'ed for CD"

No wonder it sounds so good!

 

Unless of course the Motown source was talking about multi-artist comps rather than single-artist ones. Who the hell knows?

 

Don't those compilations favor stereo though? Motown flat out sucks in stereo, those mixes have a small fraction of the power of the original mono mixes, i.e. the ones that became the legendary hits. The '90s compilations favoring the mono 45 mixes are the only way to go, not just for the mastering but for the fact that it's the mixes to hear.

 

Could you please name a couple MG mono comps?

 

The first disc of the 1995 Gaye Anthology, which covers the '60s, is mono. The sound is not all it could be, though. The second disc, covering the '70s, is stereo and sounds much better.

 

The four CD box set The Master also have the '60s mono singles, probably taken from the same mastering sessions used for Anthology. Both The Master and Anthology are your best bets by default, all other mono masterings I've come across have too much compression and some unneeded treble added.

 

Forum member Andreas has said in other threads that the mono tracks sound better on The Master than on Anthology, so he says they do not share the same mastering (although both are Gavin Lurssen jobs).

 

Nothing I have beats the Hitsville singles box set. They used the mono single mixes and did the tape transfers using tube gear.

The 80's Motown CDs by and large used stereo mixes, so the Matousek masterings are the best strereo versions I have. When he used mono mixes (such as on Diana Ross And The Supremes - Every Great #1 Hit), I prefer the Hitsville box for SQ. Of course Hitsville is just a singles comp so there are plenty of tracks and even some hits that are missing.

 

You said it! I just wish it weren't so skimpy on the Gaye tracks.

 

Interesting and good to know! I've never bothered getting my own copy of Anthology because of The Master, and given all the extra rarities and non-Motown stuff you can't get on other Motown comps, there was already reason enough.

 

This was so long ago, so I might have been mistaken, and I do not remember comparing waveforms.

 

Your conclusions back then were backed up by another member:

And I disagree with markl that Anthology sounds dismal, though as I said earlier the first disc could sound better.

 

Ain't No Peculiar sounds odd on Anthology, as if an out-of-phase version was folded.

 

Nice and interesting thread: but somehow no information about the bluray-Audio. Anybody did a comparison? How is the bluray regarded here?

 

My search is over, gang. I got the 1993 UK What's Going On CD today, and it sounds wonderful. No bass boost, and it sounds like it's sourced from better tapes than the two-fer (I compared them). No mastering credit, though--I'm thinking it may be a flat transfer from the master tapes.

In the event anyone is interested in ordering it, make sure the disc you get has an 01 in the matrix. I'm fairly certain this same edition (530 022-2) was remastered later, with added bass.

 

I did a search and I don't see a whole lot of interest here for that one.

 

Didn't Steve Hoffman say (possibly earlier in this thread) that the Matousek mastering sounds just like the master tape, which is inherently bass-shy?