"Gerry Across The Mersey" question for Steve

[Joe Koz]

Steve,
I am relatively new to this board. I have been enjoying it immensly. I recently purchased all the hits of Gerry & The Pacemakers on Razor & Tie. I want to commend you on the great job of mastering on this set. I have a question. The booklet states that all the original stereo mixes were used. However, the booklet also states that Ron Furmanek did the tape research. Were any of his digital remixes used?
It sure sounds analogue to me.
I like the count intro on "I Like It.
I had never heard that before. I like how you always put something extra in your projects.

Thanks again,
Joe

[Steve Hoffman]

Hi Joe,

Glad you liked the "Gerry & The Pacemakers" CD. I've always liked those guys.

When I was working on that set it always tickled me that on (let's say) "How Do You Do It", if you kill the music track, you can hear Gerry's guitar work acoustically bleeding through onto his vocal mic. Hard to sing and play that guitar rhythm part at the same time. If he wasn't playing his favorite Gretsch on there I doubt we would have been able to hear the string plucking. I LOVE stuff like that.

At any rate, I think Ron found something that we used on there.

If you're bored sometime, kill the left channel music on "You'll Never Walk Alone" and listen to Gerry's singing on the right channel. No echo, and when the drums come in, there is a nice bleed through.

That's LIVE baby!

Of course the strings were overdubbed later, but all of that Gerry stuff was basically live in the studio.

Ah, the good old days!

[Angel]

Hey wait a minute!

I pulled out a Gerry And The Pacemakers (not mastered by Steve) CD to listen to Steve's examples on "How Do You Do It" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" and the darn thing is MONO.

As Bugs Bunny used to say: "Of course you know, this means war!"

So, am I ***** out of luck here? What is this "Gerry Cross The Mersey"? Out of print?

[Steve Hoffman]

Yo Babe!

Angel, I think this is out of print.

Can someone confirm?

EMI was not happy that we used the stereo versions of "How Do You Do It", etc. either. They seem to think that since there is nothing in the center of the stereo mixes, they don't deserve to ever be heard again or something. But I used them anyway.

[Michael]

Hi,
Steve, Is this the one you did?
http://www.razorandtie.com/search.jhtml
Type in Gerry and The Pacemakers.

[Steve Hoffman]

THAT'S IT!!!!


And it's cheap, too!

[mcow1]

Great, ordered one myself. Love Gerry and the Pacemakers.

[Angel]

Pshaw! $9.00? That's all? Goody! I'll order one too.

Thanks one and all! :)

[JohnnyK]

I just placed my order. I hope it sounds as good as The Beach Boys greatest hits by Steve.

Are there any more of Steve's work on Razor and Tie?

[Steve Hoffman]

Sounds nothing like the Beach Boys stuff; different musicians, studios, engineers, tape stock, mixing consoles, producers, countries, etc.

The Gerry stuff is, well, it's, you know, EMI. Sounds just like the Hollies, Beatles, etc. Hard to miss that the songs were recorded at Abbey Road No. 2! Same sonic signature, ya know?

But, the Razor & Tie disc is a good representation of what the actual master tapes sound like. If that's what floats your boat (it floats mine), then you will be happy with your purchase!

[JohnnyK]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
[B]Sounds nothing like the Beach Boys stuff; different musicians, studios, engineers, tape stock, mixing consoles, producers, countries, etc.

The Gerry stuff is, well, it's, you know, EMI. Sounds just like the Hollies, Beatles, etc. Hard to miss that the songs were recorded at Abbey Road No. 2! Same sonic signature, ya know?

QUOTE]

Hi Steve,

I agree with you, The Gerry CD shouldn't sound anything like the Beach Boys CD. What I meant was that I hope the sound quality of the Gerry CD is as good as the sound quality of the BB CD. The early Beach Boys songs are outstanding on the Razor and Tie CD. Especially the ones that were recorded before Brian started to OD on overdubs.

I couldn't find the Beach Boys CD on the Razor and Tie web site. They must have pulled it. I'm glad that I bought it a couple of months ago.

[Joe Koz]

The Beach Boys is available thur musicspace.com. Musicspace IS Razor & Tie...Great web site. Razor & Tie's new web site sucks!!!!!!

[FabFourFan]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
... the Razor & Tie disc is a good representation of what the actual master tapes sound like. If that's what floats your boat (it floats mine), then you will be happy with your purchase! Amen to that!

I got this CD a couple of months ago and quickly realized that it does actually have ALL the hits, and they all sound better here than anywhere else (and I've got way too many G&TP cds, having bought most every one I have ever found).

Now, we could quibble over the stereo/mono issue (especially for Ferry Across The Mersey), but NOT over the sound! The stereo HDYDI sounds better here than on my beloved EMI MFP CD, which has long been my reference. Another f***ing fantastic mastering job from Mr Hoffman!!!!!!!!

Ahem, in other words, this is the only Gerry and The Pacemakers CD you will ever need to own, unless you have lost your mind, as I have. :D

[Steve Hoffman]

PhabPhan,

Are you saying that the stereo version of "How Do You Do It" exists in stereo on a British CD?

More details, please. Before or after my Razor & Tie release?

[FabFourFan]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Are you saying that the stereo version of "How Do You Do It" exists in stereo on a British CD?
More details, please. Before or after my Razor & Tie release? WAY before, and I could have sworn that you mentioned the old cd in one of your posts on the old forum... Hmmm, maybe I just dreamed it? :confused:

Anyway, the CD is 24 No 1's OF THE 60's, EMI Music For Pleasure CD-MFP 6006, labeled 1987.
I found my copy in June 1988, and it was made in W. Germany by Sonopress.

Track 10 is How Do You Do It, and although the track is marked by a * to indicate mono,
it is the full, wide stereo version, identical to the one on your Razor & Tie release.
(Curiously, it is the only track labeled incorrectly.)

The entire CD is great, BTW!
It has Apache (The Shadows, stereo)
and I Remember You (Frank Ifield)
and Shakin' All Over (Johnny Kidd and the Pirates)
and tons more really gear British Invasion stuff!

[Steve Hoffman]

Yeah, I have that. The Gerry song being marked mono threw me.

Thanks.