Days of Future Passed Original Mix Differences/Catalog Number? *

Old thread/post but perhaps the OP has or has not verified what pressing they have, plus new things have happened regarding DOFP and the Moodies in the last 6 months...read on if this interests you!

. I have this same copy, with the alternate label, thicker vinyl and jacket, all with the London?Parrot/Deram innersleeve, showing the different artists on Decca's labels at the time. It IS the pre 1972 recording, with additional chorsus's, and other things, including reverberant Tympani-vocal "do you understand that all over this land, there's a feeling middle, as sung by Mike originally. The recording is still 'veiled' and slightly dry on the top frequencies. The slightly forward eq on the mix is less noticeable than the Bell Sound, but no where near as crispy as the 1972 remix is. I don't have my copy handy to look up matrix numbers type font etc, to date this pressing, it's buried among 5k other albums, all in vague order since my last move 4 years ago. That said, it's a very quiet and decent pressing/example of the original 1967 mix, having come to me still sealed, as did most other DOFP copies I own. Now that I have multiple turntables set up properly, I want to dig out this version and the typical Bell Sound brown Deram version and do a live A-B comparison of each. If your copy is handy, head over to Discogs and check out what the pedigree of your copy is.

As to whether the original '67 Stereo master tapes are/can be used, or are too damaged, I would say, they exist and are quite well enough to use. Several CD versions of songs using the pre 72 versions exist on different CD releases. The 2017 reissues have the '67 Stereo and '72 Stereo album versions in their entireties, along with outtakes and other material of value/interest to Moody and non Moody listeners alike. There is also the 180gr. 50t Anniversary re-release on vinyl, all available if you head on over to Amazon or your favorite purveyor of digital and analog media. I won't go into which is better, that's for the listener to decide, I'm quire sure there are threads posted here regarding that very subject.

Watching the 2+ hour British ITV or BBC documentary about the Moody Blues, Tony Clark reveals in no uncertain terms, that a major part of his work and responsibilities as 6th Moodie, was to travel all over the globe. He made sure that the tapes provided by Decca to whichever region or pressing/mastering facility, were the ones being used to press the releases being sold. Up till then, it seemed common practice for different countries/territories/divisions, and master/pressing facilities to make their own master tapes, as they saw fit from official Decca or whoever's tapes that were shipped. The sound you heard on any given LP came down to the engineer or facility mastering/pressing plant making them. The disparities and ofttimes lack of quality on many pressings/releases from artists were common back then, including major artists such as the Beatles. Parlophone and Capitol USA rarely agreed on how Beatles releases how they should sound or the run order/number of tracks contained on each release . The Moodies and Tony desired for the listeners to hear their releases the way they mixed them. The correct time, running order, quality of each of the tracks and album as a whole were of specific importance. This was the major reason behind Tony's taking-being given control at that level. Decca it seems were all on board, as DOFP became a surprising masterpiece to showcase their new Deramic Sound System (stereo in essence), everything needed to sound just right on all releases. After it's release and subsequent popularity, Decca and Co. gave the 6 Moodies and Derek Varnals essentially a blank check to work with, alongside nearly unlimited blocks of studio time on their next 6 LP's.

Some time after Threshold Records was created, Decca again gave Tony and the Moodies Carte Blanche. This time it was to gut and rebuild Decca's aging Studio 1. They turned it into a top notch 16 track facility, officially Threshold records and The Moody Blues's studio. It remained in use by the Moody Blues and Threshold/ Decca until around 1982, when Decca closed its doors. Many of their releases on Threshold, as well as solo projects and other acts signed were on Threshold from Studio One. If you listen to Seventh Sojourn, the polished quality of s new studio shines thru. In retrospect, band members including Mike Pinder have discussed Seventh Sojourn's quality regarding then new Studio One and Threshold.

If you are looking for a good book on Decca, their offshoots Deram Parrot, Threshold, etc, Decca artists until Polygram took over, with background and behind the scenes on people who worked there during its existence check out: Decca Studios and Klooks Kleek: West Hampsteads Musical Heritage Remembered.

Also, be sure to check out the 2017 50th anniversary release on CD and LP the original recording Days Of Future Passed recording from 1967 in it's entirety, now for the first time complete on CD. There are many extras on the CD, 2 discs set, not to mention the Moody Blues other releases, all getting the 50th anniversary treatment. If you are a true Moody Blues fan, owning both the LPs and CDs is essential, get them while they last!

 

Two points:

1) The DOFP stereo remix was made in 1978, not 1972.

2) Tony Clark apparently didn’t have *that* much control, as the US continued to have the original mix after the UK started using the remix.

 

Verified it and sold it off yeeeeears ago. This might take the record for "longest delayed reply to a zombie thread brought back from the dead"!

 

I stand corrected, it is 1978 says the man, so it must be. I will say there are multiple sources (albeit everyone makes or repeats mistakes) which regularly misquote the year in question. Perhaps confusion lay in people mixing up the year for the Quad remix of DOFP being in '72, and the stereo remix in '78? I've also heard that the Quad mix(es) was/were done in '72 (makes the most sense time wise), in '67-68 at or close to the original session mastering, but have not yet confirmed or denied either. Quad, unless on discrete open reel @ 7.5ips was never my thing anyway. Another popular disagreement lay in weather there ever was a true Quad mix made for ISOTLC, if so, where or when, was lost forever or failed to exist to begin with? I'm quite sure you can set the record straight regarding these questions, Lucpac? You sound like a dedicated fan or someone with direct knowledge.

In retrospect, it likely sounds better saying he (Tony Clark) had such control, and perhaps he did to some greater extent that many contemporaries did. I've never heard anyone in the Moody camp disagree with his statement on film. That said, stuff happens, and we all hear of (including myself in this case) then chase down better pressings of our favorite music, the Moodies catalog included. I personally prefer earlier white Threshold copies to the blue ones that came later on. Same with Deram earlier presses,, UK or US,.. everyone has a favorite engineer or mastering house, which can be title dependent or not.

 

So, which pressing was it? US , original, or other? Might add a needed stimulus for me to dig it out or otherwise arrange my collection,...shame on me!

 

Early 70's, US.

 

Thanks!

 

It is not, it is a late 1972/early 1973 short lived label variant.

 

I have a mono promo of Les Reed/ New Dimensions which is a designate promo. From 1968, I also own a Stereo stock copy, both on Deram. This also amplifies what you speak of on your post, and Deram practice of the time on USA issues. This mono promo is ex-WSB-FM library which I found in East Tennessee in a thrift store.

 

I'm the OP. Thanks for the info. I did purchase the 50th anniv set. Previously, I obtained a Japanese CD that had the original mix sourced from a European safety copy.

 

Interview with Derek Varnals:

Derek: In July 1978 the factory needed more masters to be cut as the current stampers had worn out. This would happen every couple of years or so. Decca were always quality conscious, and there would be limited number of stampers that could be made from a master. There were also a limited number of “quiet and clear” sounding pressings that would be possible from a stamper.

The stereo master tapes from 4 and 5 November 1967 were found to be un-usable, so instead of copying from a good pressing (!), which was always a possibility, but not to be recommended, a new mix was the best option.

So on 2, 3 and 4 August 1978 in Remix Room 1 with Roy Ponton assisting, I remixed the album again. Tony Clarke was not present. Rather than risk using the final 4 track masters which also might have the same sticking problem, (we didn’t know about baking the tapes at 55 degrees centigrade then), I used the synchronized 16 track tape, as used 5 years before for the quad mix. So if anything is missing on the new mix, then the quad would also have the same bits missing. All the orchestral links were re-synchronized on the new mix as all the links and Moodies recordings were on separate tapes, and saved a generation.

The extra bit in Peak Hour was my mistake; I had forgotten a piece had been cut out.
I think the generations saved are best shown by how good the orchestra sounds. I still had the 1st generation orchestra tapes, apart from the orchestra on Nights, which was synched on to the 16 track tape.
There were never any mono mixes, all mono cuts were from the stereo tapes.

6/9/10 Derek Varnals Q&A

 

Thank you for that most excellent interview. It is always good to hear truth from (one of) the horse's mouth. That covers most everything, except who has the Decca tapes now, I'm thinking the Moodies have the tapes for some of their releases, Universal the rest, in UK anyway. In North America, they could be any and everywhere by now. Many of the original pressing plants and mastering houses are gone. Who knows which hands they eventually fell into. Not mine unfortunately.

I have my own self made 2 track 1/4 and 1/2" Stereo tapes, using original brand new first pressing UK-US LP's, and the 50th anniversary 2017 LP-CD releases. I'm picking up the 2017 versions on digital and LP as funds allow. Its fun to shuttle from release to release and devour them, noting every difference betwixt them,

Since I don't have record company contacts, this is about as close as I'll ever get to having master tapes of any Moody Blues releases, but those I made sound pretty special at 7.5ips If you want to go crazy, I could record them @ 15ips, no need to waste 4 times as much ATR tape.. The Moody Blues aren't the only band I do recordings of. I began doing this in the 70s's when I bought my first open reel deck. I'm sure others here do the same thing,, that magic of tape. The big VU meters, big Scotch/Ampex reels spinning DOFP, ISOTLC, any of their titles really, by candlelight with your preferred libation ..talk about ambience??,.. 1/4-1/2 tube watt is all you need pushing your favorite speakers, a cool night by the fire... returns me to a special place and time everytime.