I'm consistently seeing Dec. 8 as the date of the opening in multiple sources--Ken Mandelbaum's book, wiki. It's even mentioned in the CD booklet! But then it also gives December 8 as the recording date. I guess it's POSSIBLE the opening and recording were the same day, but, gee. There rarely are Sunday evening shows, so that would mean they would have officially opened on a Sunday matinee and then recorded that night. Columbia was a heavy investor on that show, so maybe they were a bit anxious to get that LP on the streets quickly as a marketing tool, which they sure did if it was released on the 16th.
Somewhere, possibly on the Masterworks site, I read a performer saying that they went to the studio after the last show and stayed up all night recording since they were too full of adrenaline from performing to sleep anyway. Can't find it now, thought maybe it was Regina by Marc Blitzstein but that doesn't seem to be the case. I remember looking at the pics and realizing that everyone must have been beat. So it's possible that opening and recording were the same day, but why have the opening on Sunday? That's the part that doesn't make sense to me. Regarding the speed of the release following recording, Columbia seemed to have that part figured out. There are lots on your list (or at least on my list) where the release date is within a week, and it seemed like there were a couple where it was a matter of days. Strike while the iron is hot, as you suggest? PS Thanks for sending your spreadsheet. You did a lot of work and it is nicely done.
I posted a link to this thread on a theater list I belong to, and George Connolly reports that the woman in the black dress is Rae Allen. She got to sing "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO" in the next Adler and Ross show (DAMN YANKEES) and also in the movie version, but there's no photo of her in the DAMN YANKEES section (recorded by RCA Victor).
Definitely. That's why you'll see on some Columbia show albums the statement "Musical numbers listed as of (some date), prior to the recording of this album." They would get the covers for these cast albums printed up even before the albums were recorded so they could slide in the LP and hit the streets.
Cool. Any other ID's from that list? And speaking of ID's, here is a post I've wanted to make for a while: ID The Technical Types. These will all be from MSS 52, The Frederick and Rose Plaut Papers in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University, and seem to be technically oriented people from Fred's collection. I have almost no other info to post to help you, the reader. Is that Harold "Chappie" Chapman? That is the new linear fader CBS console, and this one was with a few others of that console and Fred. That's Bob Waller in the back, and maybe David Oppenheim on the left? Don't know who the other man is, there are more pictures of him in the collection. This is a much earlier picture, I think; there's a similar one of Frank Laico that I'll put in the next post (since this is 5 pics for this one), but he thought it was 1940 in 799 7th Ave, which I think is too early just because it doesn't seem like there are that many early pics in the collection, and Fred didn't come to America until.... oh, he started at Columbia in January 1940. Could it be that early?? Frank went into the military soon after that.
I was told Chapman was the other engineer in the Gould film (Plaut and Waller being the others); that photo above doesn't look like him to me.
I have a much better version of this pic from Frank's collection, but there are several versions in the Plaut collection. Not too many other pictures of Frank, interestingly enough, nor are there any in the Masterworks collection. Although I think there's one showing half of his body but not his face. There are two versions of this next fellow, portrait and landscape: The Yanks edged the Senators, and Lemon trimmed somebody. The next two are from a sheet labeled "Audio Society Meeting", but no other info: Any ideas?
It's funny that you said this, after seeing the list of original cast lps here, I realize I own more than twenty of them. So, to each their own! Goldberg Variations, Brubeck and Davis . . . . I have all those records too. I thought practically everyone owned Kind Of Blue.
Speaking of Frank Laico, Suzanne Chiles wrote a post about Frank for her Tony Bennett blog (http://discography.bloggingtonybennett.com/) when Laico died last year and included this interview, where he talks about working in the 30th Street Studio.
That's nice. That link just went to the main page, though, and it took a while to find this http://bloggingtonybennett.com/frank-laico-rip/ That is a cool website, and I was going through it (before getting deep into the Masterworks) finding the 30th St sessions, which are all clearly dated. It's a little confusing to figure out how to ID them, though, because one session could result in material on three or four albums. It's not as clearcut as the Masterworks sessions, where one session usually equalled one album. Thanks for the tip about the Frank blogpost.
Watching again now. Hmm, I'm not sure. Perhaps it is him, maybe 10 years later or something. But I'm not sure either way.
Glenn Gould recording dates: The Goldberg Variations ML 5060 Recorded June 10, 14 & 16, 1955 (Bonus tracks recorded July 29-August 1, 1957) Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30-32 ML 5130 Recorded June 20, 21, 25-29, 1956 Bach: Concerto No. 1 in D minor BWV 1052 & Beethoven: Concerto No.2 in B flat Major Op.19 ML 5211 Recorded April 9-11, 30, 1957 Bach: Partitas Nos. 5 & 6; Fugues in F-Sharp Minor and E Major ML 5186 Recorded July 29, 31, August 1, 1957 Haydn: Sonata No. 3 in E-Flat Major; Mozart: Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K.330; Fantasia and Fugue in C Major, K.394 ML 5274 Recorded January 7-10, 1958 Beethoven: Concerto No. 1 in C Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 15 // Bach: Concerto No. 5 in F Minor For Piano and Orchestra ML 5298/MS 6017 Recorded April 29, 30, May 1, July 1, 1958 Berg: Sonata for Piano, Op. 1; Schoenberg: Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11; Krenek: Sonata No. 3 for Piano, Op. 92, No. 4 ML 5336 Recorded June 30, July 1, 1958 Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 37 ML 5418 Recorded May 4, 5, 8, 1959 Bach: Italian Concerto in F Major & Partita Nos. 1 & 2 ML 5472/MS 6141 Recorded May 1, 8, June 22-26, September 22, 1959 Note: Italian Concerto, seen in Glenn Gould On The Record, was recorded at the June sessions. Brahms: 10 Intermezzi ML 5637 Recorded September 29, 30, November 21, 23, 1960 Strauss: Enoch Arden (Tennyson), Op. 38 ML 5741 Recorded October 2-4, 1961 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, BWV 846-853 ML 5808 Recorded June 7, 14, September 20, 21, 1962 Bach: Partita No. 3 & No. 4 ML 5898/MS 6498 Recorded October 18, 19, December 11, 12, 1962, March 19, 20, April 8, 9, 1963 The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I Volume 2, BWV 854-861 ML 5938 Recorded June 18-20, August 29, 30, 1963 Bach: Two and Three Part Inventions, BWV 772-801 (Inventions and Sinfonias) ML 6022 Recorded March 18, 19, 1964 Beethoven: Sonatas No. 5-7, Op. 10, No. 1-3 ML 6086 Recorded June 29, September 15, November 30, 1964 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Volume 3 ML 6176 Recorded February 23; March 5, 17, 31 & April 3, 23, June 1, August 9, 1965 The Music of Arnold Schoenberg, Vol. 4 ML 6216/M2L 336 Recorded June 30, July 1, 1958, June 10, 11, 29, 1964, January 2, 5, 9, September 28, 29, November 16, 18 1965 All from here: http://addons.books.com.tw/G/CD/item/trackinglist.doc All I have time for at the moment. Maybe more later.
More Gould, from the same link as above. The Music of Arnold Schoenberg, Vol. 7 M2L 367/M2S 767 February 3 & 4, 1965, May 11, 1966 Sonatas for Piano No. 8-10, Op. 13 "Pathétique", Op. 14, No. 1 & 2 ML 6345 February 3, 10, April 18, 19, May 16 & 17, 1966 Bach: Three Keyboard Concertos, BWV 1054, 1056 & 1058 ML 6401 May 1, 1958, May 2, 4, 1967 Canadian Music in the XXth Century 32110045 June 27 & 28, 1966, July 25, August 11, 1967 Mozart Piano Sonatas Vol. 1 MS 7097 May 25 & 26, July 25, August 11, November 9 & 10, 1967 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 870-877 MS 7099 August 8, 1966, January 24, February 20, 1967 Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (Transcribed for Piano by Franz Liszt) MS 7095 November 22; December 5, 7, 28 & 29, 1967 and January 8, 1968 Scriabin: Sonata No. 3 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 23 & Prokofiev: Sonata No. 7 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 MS 7173 June 14 & 15 and July 25, 1967, January 29 & 30 1968 and February 6, 1968 Mozart Piano Sonatas, Vol.2 MS 7274 July 30 & 31, September 19, 20, 30 and October 1, 1968 Keyboard Concertos Vol.2 MS 7294 February 10-12, 1969 Glenn Gould Plays Beethoven Sonatas Nos. 8, 14 & 23 MS 7413 April 18 & 19, 1966, May 15, 1967, October 18, 1967 Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 878-885 MS 7409 September 11 & 12, December 3, 4, 17, 18, 1969
Prodigious work! Thank you! You aren't quite saying, but are all these at 30th St? Those early datings will help identify the Gordon Parks LIFE picture dates. Thanks!
All 30th Street. There were a few albums recorded elsewhere; I didn't include those. I started doing searches for each album, but then found that document that had everything already compiled. I'll continue to go through it later.
Yes, I watched again and got a screenshot at 7:42 with almost the same pose. But not exactly, unfortunately. Like you say, maybe, maybe not. The hair is similar but different, nose is different, ears are similar, chin seems different. Original seems more Hugh Beaumont/Ward Cleaver-looking to me.
More of Chapman: "First, a picture of Percy and Chappie SMOKING (smoking was mandatory, you know, in the 1950's and 1960's)" "Next an earlier picture of Harold Chapman" "Next Chappie and "Grandma" (his wife) on a Mediterranean cruise!!!" All taken from: http://percyfaithpages.org/ http://percyfaithpages.org/harold_chapman.htm Unfortunately, it looks like the domain is expired. I was fortunately able to access the page via some DNS magic. Here's some text from the main page: The Sound of Recording excellence at Columbia - HAROLD CHAPMAN, recording engineer Columbia Records - and Percy Faith - and many other artists - were most fortunate to have an excellent recording engineer from the opening of the New York City studio until his retirement in 1970 - HAROLD CHAPMAN who is often referred to with a great deal of respect by his nickname "Chappie." For many artists he is credited for the full, detailed sound on Columbia records - so well recorded that the analog master tapes digitized and put on CD didn't sound "old" at all in the next century! He was a good friend of Percy Faith, and through his miking/mixing techniques brought forth every part of a Faith arrangement, including those mixed in the "pre-stereo" era - sure, monophonic recordings are what they are - then again when well done, aside from losing the two-channel benefit, they could STILL bring forth the well-balanced sounds of the Faith orchestra as well as many Columbia artists. Chappie moved to LA at the same time Percy Faith left NYC for the relentless sunshine and good weather (usually) of California. It's great to have received an email from Harold Chapman's grandson, Guy Farris, a few weeks ago. I forwarded his email address to Rick Gleitsman, Percy Faith's grandson, and the two spoke on the phone, and I'm very pleased to reproduce a biography of Chappie that Guy wrote not long ago: "According to renowned Columbia Records producer Irving Townsend, Harold Chapman was responsible for developing the remarkable sound heard on thousands of the company’s albums from 1940 to 1970. Columbia’s sterling reputation for aural excellence was attributed directly to Chappie. His ear for sound was unparalleled in the music industry. As a result, his supervision was requested by some of the greatest musicians, singers and bandleaders of the 20th century—from jazz geniuses Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington to masters of the American Songbook Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis and Dinah Shore to classical music greats Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copeland and Igor Stravinsky. His work is also heard on some of the best-loved Broadway albums of all time—My Fair Lady, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Kiss Me Kate and Gypsy. Chappie’s closest friend was Percy Faith and other music industry pals included Ray Conniff, Andy Williams and Mitch Miller. He was also close friends with David Oppenheim (who directed the Columbia Masterworks division) and his wife, actress Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday) and was a frequent visitor to their New York City home. Chapman is also credited with finding and setting up Columbia's fabled 30th Street studio in NYC. His ability to enhance every instrument, note of music and vocal performance is still considered unsurpassed to this day." Click here to view some pictures of Chappie (note that it seemed cigarette smoking was not just cool, it was the fabric of our being, peer pressure, etc., but it took a heavy toll on people)...Percy Faith didn't have lung cancer, it was another type but his daughter Marilyn did have it. Seems as a teen/twenty-something I noticed a majority of radio announcers and very talented media people smoked to their detriment. Then again actors and actresses did and television depicted smoking during working hours as a normal thing. They don't show many of the shows we grew up on but I have the Dr. Kildare TV pilot and MY GOD, it seems like everyone smoked, especially in the hospital, patient rooms, cafeterias, and so on. Even the wise Raymond Massey who played the "knowledgeable chief doctor to be feared" smoked. There was a lot of peer pressure to smoke at school bus stops (and everywhere else where it could be hidden from parental types) in the mid 1960's. I have to say, though, that "they were different times." There were a hell of a lot of cigarette commercials on the television and radio airwaves and they sponsored in whole or in part some great TV/radio shows. Now we've gone to the other extreme, where CVS seems to have taken on the role of Big Parent In The Sky and removed all tobacco from their stores. Not Kool at all, in my opinion... on a lighter (not meant to be a pun) note we were fortunate to have some incredibly talented Canadians "back in the day" - Percy Faith, Lorne Greene, Raymond Massey, Art Linkletter come to mind. Marilyn did tell me that Lorne Greene (anyone remember Bonanza on NBC In Color?) and Percy were good friends and that Mr. Greene attended Percy's funeral.
Nothing we didn't already know, but this is kind of cool. Somebody sent a message to Howard Scott about the Gould film and got a response (Scott's responses in bold): Dear f_minors, This is my first post after the GGGathering. (Greetings to all the minors I met there, and sorry for a long silence.) After the event and the optional Northern tour, My friend T.S. and I visited Orillia, Uptergrove and Uxbridge. The GG cottage on the Lake Simcoe does not exist any more, but the neighbors Mr and Mrs Doolittle are still alive! In the cemetery in Uxbridge, I found the graves of Jessy's and GG's grandfather's. In the meantime, I heard from Howard Scott for my query on the films GG off/on the Record, so I will give you new information: >>Q1. Besides GG, there were at least four people in the >>control room of the 30th Street Columbia Studio. >>Could you please give their formal names and >>their job titles respectively? >> >> A. Howard Scott, producer (it is you!); Yes. >> B. a man who might have been in front of the tape deck; >>with a cigarette between the fingers of his left hand (is he >>a recording engineer?) "Harold Chapman: a recording engineer invited only to get in the film as he was the Masterwork's road engineer controls." >> C. a man in front of the mixing console with moustach and a necktie, >> who had his shoulders massaged and >> was most probably be called "Fred"(is he a mixer, controlman?) "Fred Plaut. The Columbia Masterworks New York control engineer. Sometimes on the road with me." >> D. a man behind "Fred" who massaged "Fred'"s shoulder "Robert (Bob) Wally, the tape engineer." >>Q2. Is the photographer who took photos of Gould during >>an intermission Don Hunstein? It is definitely Don Hunstein. I met him at the Gathering and he said "Yes." BTW, according to Don, the LP album including the Italian Concerto was the first GG album the cover photo of which was taken by him. The showing of the film starts on November 27 in Tokyo, Best regards, Junichi http://glenngould.org/f_minor/msg04258.html
That's cute. Following the link, the exchange occurred in 1999, so Howard can be forgiven for shortening Waller to Wally. Good finds all, Luke. You really have a talent.
One thing I've been thinking about...I've seen it suggested that Mitch Miller was instrumental in choosing the 30th Street location; presumably this comes from Frank Laico. However, we know that Columbia chose the building in 1948, and to my knowledge, Mitch Miller wasn't with Columbia until 1950. So I really question that he had anything to do with the initial selection of the building.
Yes, I've been trying to understand that timeline, including Goddard's role. I'm thinking Frank conflated the situation in early 1956 (where they took the acoustical treatment out and left all the patches for years) with the origins of the studio in 1948-49. As we learn more about it, it seems increasingly unlikely that events occurred exactly as he described. Again though, in his defense, that occurred more than 50 years before he was talking about it, and he had been gone from CBS for over 20 with an unhappy parting. Frank always talked about personally looking at the prospective church studio, and Chappie was said in that article you quoted to be instrumental in its selection and to be responsible for the Columbia sound; I'm guessing they all felt they were the most important one, as all mixers including me feel about the jobs we do. It seems to me now that Fred was at the top of the hierarchy, then Frank for the things he did best, then I'm not sure after that. Chappie moved to LA and was totally out of NYC at some point (in the 60's if not early 60's?). Frank and Colette talk about Frank being offered the job as head of the LA studio, and they went there and hated having to drive everywhere and turned it down, and Chappie took it. Anyway, do you think you could use your Internet mojo to find out what Mitch's job titles were and when, and the same for Goddard? At least for those Masterworks sessions, Goddard was there way more than Mitch was, and I could imagine that having the President of the company personally invested seeing a particular studio be the best that it could be would be a powerful force to having it be any damn way was best. Leaving the walls unpainted and floor unfinished is a pretty brash way to get a good recording product (so often studios look like they are designed for looks rather than sound), and I could imagine Mitch arguing brashly to leave it alone and don't touch it, it sounds great as it is, and Goddard agreeing. If he was President or a high muckety-muck. In other words, "convincing the brass", as Frank used to describe it, does not sound like it would be difficult in this case if Goddard was President then. In all the Masteworks pics where he is present, I can't get over how involved he is in the whole process. He's not just sitting there in the control room observing, he's often in the studio with sheet music in hand coaching the talent and conductor. He was a hand-on producer, apparently.
I don't begrudge Frank for conflating various things after many years, and I'm assuming most of what he recalled was based in some sort of truth, but it's clear that some things did get twisted over the years. And unfortunately, since Frank was one of the last ones around, he was also who a lot of people talked to. And a lot of those people took what he said as the gospel, so it's been repeated quite a bit. The Mitch Miller/"don't touch it" story? Presumably there's some element of truth there, but Frank's suggestion that it was the case from the time the studio opened until Mitch Miller left is clearly not true. Perhaps it related to something specific (like the floor), and Frank generalized it? Or...? I guess it could be any number of things, at any particular time. He claimed the changes were made after Mitch left, but perhaps (as with a number of points), that wasn't actually the case. Clearly there were big changes in 1949, before Miller got to Columbia, and then around 1956, when the diffusers were removed. And there continued to be smaller changes throughout Miller's tenure, including the addition of the new control room in 1962 and new curtains in the 1964-5 time period. Plus, I really question that "the brass" would even care about such matters; it seems much more likely that the engineers and producers who used the room would be guiding things more. This seems especially likely considering the fact that Lieberson was both an active user of the studio and president of the company. Agreed about Lieberson's hands-on approach. Really interesting to see. Here's some stuff: Billboard, Feb 11, 1950: New Pop Era Plotted by Col Records "NEW YORK, Feb. 4. - Appointment of Mitch Miller as director of the pop record division of Columbia Records is intended to spark a major policy change within the company's a.-and-r. division. This was indicated this week by Goddard Liberson, Columbia executive vice-president, who stated that, "hereafter, more emphasis will be placed on selecting the right artist for the right tune and an imaginative, creative effort to produce the best records possible will be made at the main source of every successful record - the recording studio." Lieberson, who left for the Coast this week to orient the Hollywood end of the a.-and-r. operation, added that artists relations, so-called, will be de-emphasized. Talent, he said, is best served via smash disks. "A record," he added, "is in a sense like a play - it requires a beginning, a denouement and an end." What it all amounts to, of course, is a stiffer attitude with regard to the end-product - the disk - and it is known that his thought has been in Lieberson's mind ever since he was elevated from the masterworks division to his current executive post. Lieberson also indicated that he will give the artist roster a careful going over. Miller, who comes to Columbia from Mercury, where he was director of popular music, is understood to be contracted to Columbia for a three-year period, starting February 15." There's a bit more, but the edge is cut off. There are a few relevant bits, however: "...will report directly to Lieberson. [The] latter's intention is to give Miller [con]siderable leeway. Queried whether [mo]re men will be added to pop [a.-a]nd-r., Lieberson stated that would [dep]end upon Miller, who is regarded [by] Lieberson as schooled in all [??]ses of music and recording." Billboard, August 4, 1956: Lieberson Sees A&R Exec as 'Heart' of Record Business "Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records, joined the company in 1939 as assistant to the director of the Masterworks Division. Subsequently becoming head of the division and vice-president in charge of Masterworks artists and repertoire, Lieberson played a major role in developing the label's classical catalog. He also has been closely identified with the introduction of the long-play, microgroove record. Lieberson, who was elected to the board of directors in 1948, has initiated many recording projects and, in fact, has never strayed far from the creative end of the record business. Some of his projects include the "Modern American Music Series"; the "Literary Series"; many original cast dramatic and musical shows, among them "South Pacific," "Kismet," "Most Happy Fella," "My Fair Lady," etc. The Columbia president, whose tenure with the company virtually spans the history of Columbia Records, was born in Handley, Staffordshire, England, in 1911. He came to the United States at the age of four. [...] Lieberson was named president of Columbia June 1 of this year, following the resignation of James B. Conkling." More from the same page: Controls Assure Uniform Quality "Regardless of the quality of reproducing equipment subsequently used, results can be no better than those obtained originally in the recording studio. That's why we expend so much effort in selecting suitable studios and halls and in providing the equipment necessary for their best utilization. Our New York 30th Street studio is a fine example. Originally a church, it combines a quiet location with a beautifully resonant enclosure. Temperature and humidity are closely controlled, and electrical equipment is the finest available. With the realization that records are played predominantly in modest-sized living rooms, the control room was designed to simulate such a room in size and acoustical treatment. The output of the of recording console is fed to the finest quality tape recorders available. These operate at 15 inches per second with full track recording." Lots more about Columbia in that issue, including some stuff on Miller. Check it out. Billboard, June 12, 1961: Columbia All-Out Drive in Singles Field Seeks Talent, New & Old, Hot Pop Disks "The drive on the part of Columbia to restore itself to the singles eminence it achieved when Mitch Miller was turning out hits on an assembly line basis, started when Columbia chief Goddard Lieberson took over the firm's a.&r. control from Frank DeVol last April. According to reliable sources, Lieberson has been and is disturbed over the company's weak singles roster, and especially the diskery's failure to make much of a dent in the still alive-and-kicking rock and roll field. Liberson's concern over the rock and roll lack, according to these sources, was that in missing the teen-beat field, the firm was missing out on new young talent that could turn into important album names in the future." More there, nothing specific about positions, but some interesting bits about how Miller wasn't interested in rock and roll but that Lieberson wanted to make sure Columbia didn't fall behind in that area. Billboard, April 3, 1965: Mitch Miller Joins MCA "HOLLYWOOD - Mitch Miller, veteran recording man prior to his TV click with the "Sing Along with Mitch" series, has joined Music Corp. of America. He'll work as an executive in MCA's creative development division. According to Lew Wasserman, MCA president, Miller's operational spectrum will cover such diversified areas, as developing TV shows, picking up songs for publication, and evaluate possible legit production plunges on Broadway. He also will scout talent in the theatrical or TV films for Universal and recording artists for Decca. Miller has been long-time head of a&r for Columbia Records. Before that he headed a&r for Mercury." That's all for now. Wiki (via a NYT article I can't see; anyone have a sub?) claims that Lieberson was president from 1956 to 1971, then again from 1973 until 1975. Perhaps I'll do some more Billboard searches later.
Something which may interesting me and only me...in the film we can see the sessions spanned at least two days. Harold Chapman is seen in some shots, while Fred Plaut is seen in others: session 1 Glenn Gould: white shirt and vest Howard Scott: colored shirt with repeating pattern Fred Plaut: white shirt and tie Bob Waller: off-white (?) shirt session 2 Glenn Gould: plaid shirt and vest Howard Scott: colored shirt with repeating pattern Harold Chapman: white shirt and tie Bob Waller: off-white (?) shirt The film cuts back and forth between sessions, especially near the beginning, but *all* of the shots of Gould in the studio come from the session with Gould wearing the white shirt; the only shots with Gould in the plaid shirt are from in the control room, with Chapman engineering. There's some clever editing, however: from the control room Scott announces "Bach Italian Concerto, take 1" with Chapman in the background, and then Gould starts playing, but then there's a cut to the studio, seemingly of what was heard in the control room at that moment, but Gould has the white shirt on, indicating it's from the Plaut session. After the take, it's back to the control room with Chapman and a playback of take 1. The way the film is cut suggests Gould is just getting to the studio for the first time at the beginning of the film (both the cab shots and Glenn walking into the studio to greet Scott, Plaut, and Waller), but it seems that was actually the last session, as at the end of the film Scott asks him when he'll be back in New York for another session. And it was the Chapman session where take 1 of the first movement was recorded. That said, near the end, Scott announces "Italian Concerto, first movement, take 2", Gould corrects him that they were doing the third movement, and Scott announces "third movement, take 1". In the middle of that Plaut can be heard "now listen, maybe we have to reload", indicating concern about there being enough tape to cover the take. Which raises the question: did they only do 1 take of the first movement at the first (Chapman) session, followed by nothing but the second movement? There's other bits of trick editing as well. After the recording of the second movement ("Are you superstitious? Take 14!"), Gould says "I want to listen to that..." and walks towards the control room. Except during the take there had been a mic next to him, presumably from the film crew, that is no longer there. Clearly that was from another time at the session. I almost wonder if at least some of the "takes" shown in the studio were recorded specifically for the film. Also, when Gould and Scott go to get tea with Don Hunstein, Gould is still wearing his white shirt and vest, but Scott is now in a stripped dress shirt and tie. Maybe Scott changed? Anyway, it's a good watch regardless. And here's the final recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQi-QODoxUk After seeing the film a number of times, I was somewhat amazed by how great the end result sounded. Not that I would have expected it to sound bad, but I was just used to the relatively lo-fi sound of the film.
Oh, one other thought which I forgot to mention: I suppose it's possible that the film is actually comprised of more than 2 sessions, and that except for Gould's plaid shirt at one of the sessions, everyone wore the same clothes, presumably for film continuity purposes. That certainly seemed to be the case for Howard Scott and Bob Waller.
Finally correlated your and John's excellent info; have a couple comments: Yes, both of these are in D, I believe; "Now Is The Time..." because of the barely recognizable parquet floor visible in a couple of the pictures (30th St. had individual parallel floor boards running diagonally across the room), and "Jacques Brel...." because of the clearly visible low ceiling with different lighting. The Thelonious Monk film "Straight No Chaser" studio scene with Teo Macero and Frank Laico is shot there, too. Both the parquet floor and same ceiling are visible in several shots. Otherwise, you and John did great! You had some that I didn't find and you really fleshed out our knowledge on several different levels. Thanks to John, our timeline is much clearer and complete. Thanks!!!!
