Sinatra / Reprise Sound Quality and General Discussion: "...Great Songs from Great Britain" (1962)*

Odd that Roses of Picardy, a world-wide first release on this edition, as I understand it, is in very good sounding mono on this otherwise-stereo release.

 

@Blackie has been kind enough to allow me to change the title of this ongoing thread and to use this space for another "Reprise Sound Quality" thread -- thank you!! -- so I thought I'd post that I have the following clips already:

•Original mono LP (thank you @bferr1)
•Original stereo LP
•1980s tan label Japanese stereo LP
•"Suitcase" CD tracks
•"London" box (thank you @Bob F)
•2014 Stereo LP (thank you @bferr1)

Anybody have anything else to throw into the ring? If so, please PM me. The current plan is to look primarily at The Very Thought of You, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and, where available, Roses of Picardy.

This is an album with which I don't have much history, so it's a little extra fun for me, since it's all fresh and I'm utterly unbiased as things begin.

 

(Thanks to @Bob F for pointing out that there are some different edits on different editions.)

Comparing versions of "The Very Thought of You" on my original UK stereo (-3L matrix) and 1980s Japanese stereo LP....boy, there's some weird stuff here!

[UPDATE: See clarifying comments here.]

•Beginning to 1:19 both versions are identical in content.
•At 1:19, there is an edit in the Japanese version, with content from a different take that appears to continue all the way through to the end of the track.
•From 1:29 to 1:43, there is an intercut -- a spliced-in piece -- in the UK version that is from the take that was used on the Japanese album.
•The UK version has another brief intercut 2:34-2:37, again matching the content of the Japanese release for those few seconds.

So....

•Beginning to 1:19 = same content on both -- Take 5, IIRC.
•1:19-1:29 different content, with UK continuing on Take 5 and Japan moving to "take B"*
•1:29-1:43: Due to the splice/intercut in the UK version, both versions are now on "take B"*
•1:43-2:34: The Japanese version appears to continue with "take B"; the UK version assumedly reverts to Take 5 again (but I suppose it's possible, but unlikely, that it's a different take altogether)
•2:34-2:37: The Japanese version continues unspliced; the UK version has an intercut to "take B," so, very briefly, the two releases are identical here
•2:37 to end: The Japanese version continues uncut; the UK reverts, assumedly, to take 5.

*Another way to view the two * edits: Both versions transition to "take B" at nearly the same time, but the transition does not take place at the exact same spot in both cases. The UK transition occurs a little later than the Japanese transition.

To summarize even further:
•The Japanese release has one splice at 1:19, transitioning from take 5 to "take B," and that's it. 1:19 from take 5 total; about 2:18 from "take B" total
•The UK version is assumedly all take 5 except for two inserts. About 3:20 from take 5 total; 17 seconds from "take B."

Update: The original UK mono and UK stereo releases have identical edits on this track. The 2014 LP follows the Japanese version.

 

Has anybody else noticed/commented on all of the digital restoration/reconstruction work that has obviously gone on with the 2014/2015 releases of this album? It sounds to me like it's a hodge-podge of original mix, remix, and alternate sources (backups, dubs, whatever) all cobbled together to create a clean version with as good a sound as possible (and the "clean" tracks sound very nice, I think).

Some of the splices and crossfades are really blatant! Listen, for instance, to "If I Had You" on one of the new-ish releases. The left channel essentially disappears from about 0:13-0:17. What's that about? Then there's a quick crossfade right as Frank enters, and I think we're "a generation down" starting there. At 0:42, the left channel goes away again, and the vocal tone totally changes again after that, but just for the words "if I," then it reverts back to better quality again. Then the strings bury Frank around 1:10. Nothing like that on the original stereo mix, so that part must be a remix. I think here we have a combination of remix, original stereo mix, and some sort of backup/alternate copy that's used in spots.

The HD and LP are identical, so they clearly are sourced from the same digital stitch-up -- and I don't necessarily view that as a problem; I'm merely pointing it out.

 

Yes....

...but in my limited listening so far, I think it's kind of a double-edged sword, as some selections have benefitted from a very clean remix/remastering, while others have transitions/splices that are, themselves, distracting.

 

Looking at IF I HAD YOU splicing differences:

The intercut appears to be on the Japanese LP, while the UK stereo LP runs with no edit, as far as I can detect, and the intercut is very brief, starting about 1:30 in, and covering only the words "or I could sail the mighty ocean wide." By the way, I think it was Bernhard over at SFF who first brought the different edits to readers' attention, so credit where credit is due; I'm just trying to nail down exactly where the edits are.

I find it interesting that on THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU, the new editions use the same edits as the Japanese LP, but on IF I HAD YOU, the edits follow those found on the UK LP.