Left Banke "Walk Away, Renee" - stereo CD availability?

[Vivaldinization]

Tom, I don't believe that any of And Finally contains needledrops. Not sure what masters were given to Bam Caruso but it does seem to be tape.

Whatever they are, they're not first generation by any stretch of the imagination. Lots of problems on that disc, including tracks that are poorly indexed. Notably, Walk Away Renee itself sounds a lot better elsewhere (e.g., on Time Life's "Beat Goes On" set, which probably clones the mastering of the Warners disc).

[mark f.]

Whatever they are, they're not first generation by any stretch of the imagination. Lots of problems on that disc, including tracks that are poorly indexed. Notably, Walk Away Renee itself sounds a lot better elsewhere (e.g., on Time Life's "Beat Goes On" set, which probably clones the mastering of the Warners disc).

As I said in my post, I don't know what tapes they got either but the disc doesn't sound that horrible. The 2nd album tracks on the Bam CD sound pretty similar to the ones on TGBAS though the mastering on the latter is better - the BC disc seems to lack air, maybe noise gating? There's an indexing issue between "TGBAS" and "Desiree" which is a shame because its a huge overlap. The sound quality on "WAR" and "Pretty Ballerina" isn't horrible IMO but those other first album mixes can be a tough listen once you're used to Bill Inglot's work. Otherwise the main value of the BC disc is having the original (and mostly very clunky) original stereo mix on CD for better or for worse.

Wonder if Andrew Sandoval knows what "tapes" BC got for their CD version?

[Derek Gee]

All the CDs listed above have "Walk Away Renee" in stereo. I don't know of any CD sources for the mono version (and none are listed at the top40musiconcd.com site).

That's unfortunate, because I think the mono version is a better mix than either the original stereo or remixed versions. However, even though the mono mix is more cohesive, it's still less-then-stellar sounding...something about the recording or mixing of the vocals always sounded odd and distant.

I can't stand either the mono mix or the remixed stereo which is trying to sound like the mono. The mono mix is tighter, but the slightly out of tune harmony vocal on the chorus drives me nuts. Whoever did the original stereo mix wisely mixed it down.

Derek

[billygtexas]

"Pretty Ballerina" is in mono on Varese Sarabande's Sunshine Days - Volume #5 comp.

[the Saint]

Anyone know the story of the "Airborn" reunion songs that Steve Martin and Michael Brown did a few years back?

[thecrokid]

Sundazed Music :

Here's the great news - We are doing the "Walk Away Renee" album AND "Left Banke Too"... they are coming on VINYL and on CD... And, before y'all ask, no bonus tracks are allowed, a/p our contract with the licensor and the artist... But, these are among our MOST REQUESTED titles, and two of our MOST BELOVED albums - we're elated to finally be able to do them. We have tried for this for years and years! YESSSSS!!!!!!

[PatrickO'Donnell]

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! (sorry for the caps!)

I've been dying to own those records for a few years now but haven't been able to find nice/affordable copies. I've never quite understood the issues with the Left Banke catalog, does anyone have a concise explanation of why their output is in such a state of disrepair?

Now I'm just curious to know if Sundazed will be doing mono or stereo versions.

[jeffrey walsh]

Sundazed Music :

Here's the great news - We are doing the "Walk Away Renee" album AND "Left Banke Too"... they are coming on VINYL and on CD... And, before y'all ask, no bonus tracks are allowed, a/p our contract with the licensor and the artist... But, these are among our MOST REQUESTED titles, and two of our MOST BELOVED albums - we're elated to finally be able to do them. We have tried for this for years and years! YESSSSS!!!!!!

:thumbsup:

[-Alan]

Great news! It'll be great to hear these albums true to their original sound. I haven't heard the LPs in years.

[Vivaldinization]

Sundazed Music :

Here's the great news - We are doing the "Walk Away Renee" album AND "Left Banke Too"... they are coming on VINYL and on CD... And, before y'all ask, no bonus tracks are allowed, a/p our contract with the licensor and the artist... But, these are among our MOST REQUESTED titles, and two of our MOST BELOVED albums - we're elated to finally be able to do them. We have tried for this for years and years! YESSSSS!!!!!!

So no single tracks, I'm guessing. Pity. I wonder why the "licensor and artist" care about bonus tracks...am I truly to believe that the Banke now want "Ivy Ivy" buried forever?

[Vidiot]

Hey, is the mono mix of "Walk Away Renee" anywhere on CD? All the ones I know of are stereo (either original '66 version or the later remix).

[Vivaldinization]

Hey, is the mono mix of "Walk Away Renee" anywhere on CD? All the ones I know of are stereo (either original '66 version or the later remix).

So far as I know: not officially.

[thecrokid]

Also they're shooting for a release date around May-ish

[mark f.]

Hey, is the mono mix of "Walk Away Renee" anywhere on CD? All the ones I know of are stereo (either original '66 version or the later remix).

No.

[mark f.]

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! (sorry for the caps!)

I've been dying to own those records for a few years now but haven't been able to find nice/affordable copies. I've never quite understood the issues with the Left Banke catalog, does anyone have a concise explanation of why their output is in such a state of disrepair?

Now I'm just curious to know if Sundazed will be doing mono or stereo versions.

A friend who is in the reissue business told me he was told by his contact at Uni that there was an ownership dispute. He wasn't told the details.

The implication is that the first album will be in stereo... on Facebook Sundazed shows the stereo tape box.

The Sundazed news is good but not great. It basically blows the chance that we'd get an anthology of all known recordings and related rarities together. The main good news here is that apparently they're releasing the original stereo mix of the first album. Another reissue of Too isn't all that exciting unless you care about vinyl.

[eelkiller]

Sundazed Music :

Here's the great news - We are doing the "Walk Away Renee" album AND "Left Banke Too"... they are coming on VINYL and on CD... And, before y'all ask, no bonus tracks are allowed, a/p our contract with the licensor and the artist... But, these are among our MOST REQUESTED titles, and two of our MOST BELOVED albums - we're elated to finally be able to do them. We have tried for this for years and years! YESSSSS!!!!!!

Of course after I finally found the WG Line discs :laugh:

Great news.

[Matthew B.]

Another reissue of Too isn't all that exciting unless you care about vinyl.

Well, it'd be nice to have Too on CD with the run-out effects but without (one hopes) the fake stereo.

[Vivaldinization]

Indeed. I assume they'll slot the single mix of Desiree in instead of the fake-stereo version.

Very, very weird that Universal would be anal retentive about album-oriented purity this time around.

[GroovinGarrett]

The tape box from Sundazed Music's Facebook page. Neat!

[sharedon]

Folks searching for the There's Gonna Be a Storm comp might like to download it from Amazon (legally) while you still can....

[MarkTheShark]

The tape box from Sundazed Music's Facebook page. Neat!

Very interesting, thanks! I notice some hand-written notes on "Pretty Ballerina" and "I Haven't Got The Nerve" which I can't completely make out, something like "top clipped" and instructions to use a reconstructed master at the tail of the tape...I wonder if that would have anything to do with the very beginning of "Pretty Ballerina" being slightly clipped on TGBAS -- I am guessing not, because wouldn't that have been a remix?

Anyway, this is great news regardless!

[mark f.]

Well, it'd be nice to have Too on CD with the run-out effects but without (one hopes) the fake stereo.

Thanks a fair point.

Very, very weird that Universal would be anal retentive about album-oriented purity this time around.

As (sort of) indicated earlier, from what I heard, it may not be all Universal this time around. There is some ownership dispute. Not sure if it has to do with the singles or the albums.

[GroovinGarrett]

Folks searching for the There's Gonna Be a Storm comp might like to download it from Amazon (legally) while you still can....

Isn't that the remix compilation?

[GroovinGarrett]

Very interesting, thanks! I notice some hand-written notes on "Pretty Ballerina" and "I Haven't Got The Nerve" which I can't completely make out, something like "top clipped" and instructions to use a reconstructed master at the tail of the tape...I wonder if that would have anything to do with the very beginning of "Pretty Ballerina" being slightly clipped on TGBAS -- I am guessing not, because wouldn't that have been a remix?

Anyway, this is great news regardless!

The notes read:

"Top clipped - reconstruct 1st note on copies"
"USE Dolby / Reconstructed dub at tail of this tape TR 4-14-86"

There is a note near the top that reads "Azimuth varies on each tune! Check!"

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=498044743790&set=a.73649413790.76612.58611678790

[McLover]

Looks like this tape will need some serious attention at the mastering session. Lots of technical notes. Some questions, who is TR? I know he's a disc cutting engineer from seeing his initials on deadwax on records. Tape also has some notes about azimuth alignments being different from track to track.