Turtles "Good" stereo for early tracks...

[Vivaldinization]

Hey all,

This keeps coming up, and has never been answered:

Why oh why do the hits from the first two albums (You Baby, Let Me Be, It Ain't Me Babe) that the Turtles put out exist on compilations in fantastic stereo, yet the albums themselves are--going completely against the grain of the times--in strict semi-"twin track," with no channel bleed?

I've heard several stories about the latter segment--that the Turtles wanted their stereo to sound like the early Beatles albums, and that such wide separation meant that the mono mix could be an easy creation, as it was just a fold-down--but I can't fathom why nobody ever had the bright idea of remixing the first two albums to sound like those re-done singles.

-D

[Michael]

On a sidebar here...Where are the Fantastic Stereo Hits? On what compilations? I have thousands of CDs and I still have not heard any Fantastic Turtle hits? Maybe I missed some?

[Vivaldinization]

You might've. I dunno whether they're on the Rhino 20 Greatest Hits (I've always avoided that one, personally), but they ARE on the Laserlight set and the Repertoire "25 Greatest Hits." They're not subtle at all; put next to the album mixes, they absolutely destroy them.

-D

[Michael]

Thanks David!
After all these years..I still can't find a great Happy Together.... Are you referring to the Out Of Print Laserlight Box Set? Have you heard the New Rhino 2 CD set? I'm soooo tired of all the re-issues. Just makes it more confusing.

[Gary]

Has anyone tried the Sundazed Turtles CD's?

[Bob Lovely]

Gary,

I have The Turtles Sundazed CDs and they are quite good when you consider the limitations of the original master tape mix and the amount of compression used, etc. There is one exception however, and that is the mix of "You Baby" . It is truly awful and sounds like it is just two channels panned with no middle--different than the stereo mix most of us are familar with. I believe the mixes that were used were, in fact, used to re-create the albums in their released form--flaws and all.

The Turtles music could really be well served, in my opinion, by going back to the original multi-tracks and re-mixing. With mixing care and respect paid to the sound of the original mixes, the results from doing this can be sonically outstanding without the electronic artifacts of 1960's technology.

Bob

[Angel]

No multi-tracks, Bob.

So, either there is a stereo LP mix, stereo (remixed back then) Greatest Hits version or a mono version. At least that is what I understand to be true.

[Bob Lovely]

Angel,

I have to believe that the original 4 track (I am assuming four tracks) recording still exists in the can and could be used to remix the tracks using today's technology much like what was done for the Shangri-las, Jan & Dean and for other notable contemporary remixes of 1960's hits. My personal favorite using this process is the stereo mix that was created for (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet by the Reflections from 1964. The sonics are outstanding!

Bob

[Angel]

I know I read either from Sundazed or Rhino that the multi-tracks are gone. Say Lah Vee!

[Bob Lovely]

Angel,

Another 1960's multi-track tape either erased, thrown out or lost!

How sad! Thanks for the information.

Bob

[Vivaldinization]

Thanks David!
After all these years..I still can't find a great Happy Together.... Are you referring
to the Out Of Print Laserlight Box Set? Have you heard the New Rhino 2 CD set?
I'm soooo tired of all the re-issues. Just makes it more confusing.



I'm surprised you say that. I've always thought that Happy Together (the song) sounds good most anywhere. It's very well recorded.

I have The Turtles Sundazed CDs and they are quite good when you consider the limitations of the original master tape mix and the amount of compression used, etc. There is one exception however, and that is the mix of "You Baby" . It is truly awful and sounds like it is just two channels panned with no middle--different than the stereo mix most of us are familar with. I believe the mixes that were used were, in fact, used to re-create the albums in their released form--flaws and all.

That's what the first two albums sound like. Apparently, The Turtles wanted to imitate the Beatles in every way, and thought that the EXTREME stereo separation was a naff thing to do. Thing is, there's absolutely NOTHING down the center; no verb exists, even!

The Turtles Sundazed discs sound great, but have crappy liner notes and a crappy bonus track selection (and leaving Let Me Be off the first album was just ridiculous). The Repertoires occasionally have slightly inferior sound (usually not noticable), have even crappier liner notes (yet better track annotations), but have the best track selection. The Laserlight set has nothing not on both of the above, but has the best liner notes. As for the new Rhino CD, apparently in addition to the "real" rarities, it compiles a few otherwise-not-on-CD mono mixes (I'm thinking Grim Reaper), so it's apparently essential for the completist. I don't have it yet, though, so we'll see.

-D

[Michael]

David,
I have many copies of "Happy Together" on many compilations and The Sundazed CDs...The lead vocal sounds grating, brittle and harsh...I have yet to hear a smooth sounding version...