Motown Hitsville USA box set

This is my first post here. After seeing the movie "Standing in the shadows of Motown" I went out and bought the Hitsville USA boxset. Now I don't claim to know much about sound and remastering and things like that, but the sound on this set seems unnatural to me. But then again, I don't have the original 45's to compare them with. So I figured I should get an expert opinion of this set . One more question: what is the best way to experience Motown recordings in general?

 

This box set sounds great, if only because it uses the true mono mixes that were the hits. It is also enhanced by the fact that they used tube electronics in the mastering stage.

BUT, to me, they sound a bit too smooth, not rough and jagged like the 45s did. But that's just me...

 

Welcome to the forum, FOBW! (Is there a shorter handle we can use for ease of reference? )

So far as I can tell, the consensus on the Hitsville box is that it's a fine transfer of the original single mixes. Bill Inglot used a "specially restored full-track tube tape deck" for the transfers, and to my ears he went easier than usual on the EQ (he tends to go for bright).

The "unnatural" sound you're hearing may well reflect the original EQ, compression, and mixing decisions made for the original recording. Remember that these mixes were made for AM radio, so they're going to be bright and punchy for the most part.

 

Yeah, weren't these recordings field-tested to sound good on paper-cone car speakers?

The HITSVILLE USA is as good as these heavily-manipulated recordings are going to sound. I remember when the box came out, I was thrilled with the upgrade, and sold the few Motown CDs I had.

Unfortunately, Motown's sonics seem to have regressed slightly. The various reissues haven't sounded as good as the Bill Inglot-remastered boxes or ANTHOLOGY series, especially the Diana Ross & The Supremes collections.

 

Re: Re: Motown Hitsville USA box set

I think the box is anything but bright! But, yeah, they were intended to sound good on AM radio in the car. Also, the producers liked to mix at ear-bleed levels, and Berry Gordy never evaluated the tapes. He had acetates cut for each song and played them in his office, because he rationed that that's how the consumer heard them.

I find that the most distorted songs were produced by Henry Crosby or Mickey Stevenson. The second worst, up until 1966, were produced by H-D-H. The Smokey Robinson-produced songs all tend to be on the smooth side.

 

Agreed. Sadly, the 1994 Anthology is out of print, as it is the most complete collection of their hits in their MONO form. But, The ULTIMATE COLLECTION is the only one that has the true mono mix of "I'm Gonna Make You LOve Me", for some reason, and "Someday, We'll Be Together" is too fast, compared to my original 45. Harry Weigner says his CD matches the 45, so the only conclusion is that the commercial 45s were mastered at two different speeds.

Sound of the ultimate collection? They compresset it, but it does have that jagged sound like the 45s.

I tend to go for whatever sounds the MOST like the 45s, since that's what I grew up with.

 

Hey, Grant. Sorry to edit my post before you finished, but that set still available from BMG, as are many of the Bill Inglot remastered "Motown Master Series" anthologies:

D2036119 Diana Ross & The Supremes

D2068757 Commodores

D2082360 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

D2085728 Temptations

D2082352 Gladys Knight & The Pips

D2082345 Michael Jackson

 

I have the first Hitsville box and the sound is awesome. My only complaints are that

1). They don't list the artists with the songs on the back of the box (like The Stax/Volt Box, which I also have and recommend);

2). They stopped at four CDs and didn't make it as comprehensive as the same Stax/Volt box. There are plenty of songs missing from the Supremes (Stop! In The Name of Love, You Keep Me Hangin' On, Reflections, Someday We'll Be Together, I Hear A Symphony to name just a few), Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.

Other than that, it's terrific!

Brian

 

Yeah, they fixed that problem of not adding the artist to the name in the second box.

 

I think the box does sound a bit bright, but not because of the mastering. Isn't that just the way they were mixed/recorded/engineered?

 

Personally i can't give up my old Motown singles for the box set. I didn't really think the tracks on the box set sounded that great. The original singles are far better in my opinion.

 

From the Marvelettes, I would've loved 'I'll Keep Holding On" - one of the most unjustly ignored Motown tracks ever (although it did chart). That record is as good as they come and should have been up there with the biggest and best Supremes hits. Also would have like to see "Too Many Fish in the Sea" on the box - classic HDH. Even while it stayed away from the Stax-type completist box approach, the first Hitsville box should have been at least six or seven discs to get away from its scattered/almost random approach to track selection.

 

hitsville Box Set

Even tho i'm a stereo nut and seek out the stereo motown wherever possible, I Do have to say that the Hitsville Box set was superb.

Does it sound exactly like the 45s? No, but NO Cd was going to, and this come pretty darn close, using the hit mono mixes and mastered on a tube Ampex 350 playback deck.


A great start in collecting Motown.

 

The Temptations box remastered by Joseph Palmaccio is the BEST Motown I own! It uses just about all of the MONO singles mixes where possible. It is HIGHLY recommended for the completist, die-hard Temps fan, like me!

The Temptations are my favorite Motown group alongside the Supremes!

If you can still find it, the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles box set, remasterd by Bill Inglot/Dan Hercsh is also top notch! I refuse to part with it. It also contains all of the mono singles masters.

Now, the only Motown artist with missing MONO singles mixes is Stevie Wonder, and HW at Motown is supposedly working on that.

 

Really ??

Does the Jackson 5 single-disc "Ultimate Collection" contain the mono mixes ? The "Soulsation" boxed set is all stereo.

I agree on the Temptations boxed set. It's terrific. My only complaint is that it doesn't have the original mono version of "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone.

 

I guess they figured "what's the point?". It was never mixed to mono. The single was just folded-down stereo. By 1972, just about all Motown singles were in stereo.

None of the Jackson 5 compilations have the mono mixes, just the Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971, and then there were only five dedicated mono single mixes:

I Want You Back/Who's Lovin' You
ABC
I'll Be There
Sugar Daddy

As far as I can tell, "The Love You Save" and "Mama's Pearl" were stereo fold-downs to mono.

 

Grant:

Is the "it" you are referring to "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"? If so, the stereo single edit's mix is definitely different than the mono single mix. The mono mix is not just a fold-down.

 

Really! I guess i'll have to find a commercial 45 RPM copy of it.

 

I just got this box. Are the later tracks folded down just for this box or did they originally get released like that? I haven't had a chance to dig into the liner notes, so I apologize if it's listed in there.

This does sound pretty killer though.

 

The mono tracks (even the later ones) on the Hitsville box were originally released as mono singles. They weren't just folded down for the box. There are some very obvious differences: The mono "What's Going On" is radically different than the stereo album mix. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" has a significantly later fade in the mono mix. The mono "Smiling Faces Sometimes" features a percussive instrument not present on the stereo mix. The vocals on "I Want You Back" are mixed more uniformly in terms of volume on the mono mix. I'm not sure, but I think that "I Don't Want To Do Wrong" is from a different take.

Still, there are some tracks where the mono sounds like it could be a fold down of the stereo. I hear nothing different in "Still Water (Love)." Apart from the early fade on the mono "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," I don't hear anything different between its stereo and mono mixes.

 

Even though the "what's the best Motown' thread has been done to death. I am always amazed at this forums 'knowledge'!
Can't wait to get my hands on the Motown Box.
And now you have got me drooling for The Temps Box as well!
A little help, please; is there only one Temps Box?
Thanks, as always.

 

Yep, there's only one. It's a five disc set. I'm told it is still available, and in print.