"Genius+Soul=Jazz" Ray Charles question

Hi,

last Saturday I found a (scratched and broken jewel box, but otherwise near mint) CD copy of "Genius + Soul=Jazz" in a used CD bin in a 2nd hand shop in Berlin. At first I thought it was some italian bootleg or so - the cover photo looks like a cheap color photocopy and has been cut with a bread knife. But on the back it says:

"Manufactured by Castle Records under license from Garland/DCC Compact Classics. Remixed by Ray Charles. Remastered by Ray Charles and Steve Hoffman. The original Impulse and ABC/Paramount Stereo Session tapes were used for the mastering of this Compact Disc."

Not bad for $1, but is this the real deal? Did they use Steve's master "as is" or did they try to "improve"? I have yet to give it a listen on my home system, but through the boombox of my friend in Berlin I noticed some slight distortion in the highs?!

Arne

 

Wait a second here. The DCC Genius+Soul CD is remixed? Steve's "Uh Huh" set (with One Mint Julep) claims to come from the original mixes. Was one version remixed and the other not?

FWIW, One Mint Julep on "Uh Huh" sounds really good - I don't hear much distortion myself.

 

Then what about the "Remixed by Ray Charles. Remastered by Ray Charles and Steve Hoffman" note on the CD?

 

Ditto for Garland's "remixed by Steve Hoffman" in the liner notes on Donovan's Catch The Wind. Steve says it was not remixed - the label got it wrong.

 

It's on the mono LP too.

 

If RVG did record the album live to 2 track there's no real way to remix it (and the mono LP would just be a fold-down cut from the stereo tape).