Sam Cooke Box Set

[lukpac]

I finally picked this one up. A few random notes:

- Summertime Pt 1 has a strange phasing sound on the drum echo decay. Was that on the original recording?

- Lonely Island totally stinks of a mono tape played back on a stereo machine then summed to mono. The question is, was this done some time in the past (and the original tape thrown out), or was this done for the box?

- Win Your Love For Me is the same strange stereo as found on A Man And His Music. Lots of hiss, Sam's voice kind of wanders around, and the stereo image isn't very distinct. There's also echo not on the mono mix/version. Anyone know what's up with this one? How it was recorded? Also, this version fades out *really* early - a shame.

- Comes Love - same problem as Lonely Island. *Very* bad phasing problem.

- Ain't Nobody's Business - as above.

- Chain Gang - sounds like it does on "Greatest Hits". A bit muffled, a good amount of echo. I'm curious to hear the mono mix. And for that matter, an original stereo LP. Some other stereo tracks sound a lot better than this, but some sound worse than it as well.

- the tracks from the "My Kind Of Blues" LP (supper club stuff) sound really bad in comparison to the other tracks of the era. Everything is totally squashed. Chain Gang sounds *amazing* in comparison! I wonder what tape they used for those tracks. Luckily I find those to be some of the least interesting on the set...

- Sugar Dumpling - nothing special - I just really love this song/version! Sounds good too.

- Bring It On Home To Me - the backing is nice and clear (I'd go as far as saying it sounds great), but Sam and Lou sound kind of muffled. There's not excessive echo by any means, but the EQ on their vocals is just kind of wonky. This type of EQ/mixing seems common with many of these tracks, but it stands out here.

- "Mr Soul" tracks- similar to the "My Kind Of Blues" tracks. Actually, the vocal sounds *good*, but the backing is really thin and compressed sounding. Kind of opposite of everything else - good vocal, bad backing!

- Cool Train - wow! Sam is nice and clear here. I almost did a double take when his vocal came in.

- "Night Beat" - Sam's vocal isn't quite as clear as on Cool Train, but overall I'd say the album sounds very nice. On the downside - I can hear very little, if any, hiss in the quiet sections. That doesn't seem right. Check out the intro to I Lost Everything. On the other hand, Win Your Love For Me above has tons of hiss. Was NR used on some tracks and not others?

I did e-mail Bill Lacey (who is credited with restoration), but haven't heard back...

I like the set, but then again, I have nothing to compare it with. I'd still love to see a SH mastered set of some sort - both RCA and ABKCO material!

[Bob Lovely]

Lukpac,

I have never really been satisfied with the sound of Sam Cooke's recordings regardless of the medium. I have all his big hits on the original 45s and even those vary from muddy to down right thin and, of course, compressed, for good old AM Radio.

I have not purchased the Box Set, as yet. The most recent RCA comp is my latest venture at trying to obtain improved CD versions of his hits. I purchased this comp as soon as it was released before Another Saturday Night was taken off the disc because of licensing issues. The highlights of that CD are improvements to Twistin' The Night Away and Another Saturday Night. Lowlights are Wonderful World and Having A Party that are thin with no low-end. The sound on this CD is better than all the previous versions I have heard but, sadly, I have come to the conclusion that many of his recordings were merely, poorly recorded. Sad, because there are some wonderful performances captured on tape.

Bob

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Bob Lovely
I have not purchased the Box Set, as yet. The most recent RCA comp is my latest venture at trying to obtain improved CD versions of his hits. I purchased this comp as soon as it was released before Another Saturday Night was taken off the disc because of licensing issues. The highlights of that CD are improvements to Twistin' The Night Away and Another Saturday Night. Lowlights are Wonderful World and Having A Party that are thin with no low-end. The sound on this CD is better than all the previous versions I have heard but, sadly, I have come to the conclusion that many of his recordings were merely, poorly recorded. Sad, because there are some wonderful performances captured on tape.

The sound on the GH CD is very similar to, if not the same as the box set. With the exception of Win Your Love For Me that is.

Hmm...Wonderful World sounds fine to me on GH. As does Having A Party. As fine is to be expected I guess, anyway...

[Bob Lovely]

Originally posted by lukpac


The sound on the GH CD is very similar to, if not the same as the box set. With the exception of Win Your Love For Me that is.

Hmm...Wonderful World sounds fine to me on GH. As does Having A Party. As fine is to be expected I guess, anyway...

lukpac,

I guess that is really my point....that it is difficult to improve wonderful performances that were not very well recorded for "sound quality". I have learned to accept them and enjoy them as they are. Although, now that we are taking about this subject, do you believe that Steve could make noticeable improvements to the sound on Sam's recordings?

Bob

[Juan Borras]

Originally posted by Bob Lovely


lukpac,

Although, now that we are taking about this subject, do you believe that Steve could make noticeable improvements to the sound on Sam's recordings?

Bob
Bob, I thought that always went without saying.

Juan

[Bob Lovely]

Originally posted by Juan Borras

Bob, I thought that always went without saying.

Juan

Juan,

I sincerely ask the question because I believe that Steve would find remastereing Sam's recordings to a meaty, challenging project. Certainly, more challenging than others. Yes, I have confidence that he would make them sound better, but I bet that he would be working very hard to do so!

Bob :)

[J Epstein]

You can't polish a turd - but a little perfume wouldn't hurt ;)

[John Oteri]

I've heard the latest remixes and it seems that Sam's voice was run through some kind of, uh, machine, that totally makes the "ssss" go away (and everything else). I know from my original 45's that his voice doesn't sound like that. Even on the dreadful "Man And His Distortion" his voice doesn't do that.

So, what's the point of remixing something while screwing up the most important thing at the same time (Sam's voice)?


Grrrrrrr.

[xios]

In 1989 VSOP put out a title called "The Keen Years Vol.1". I found a copy in a used CD shop circa 1991 and not having heard of this release I thought it might be a boot. I had them play it in the store and bought it immediately. Since VSOP had regular ads in Goldmine at the time I called the phone number and the head guy Peter Jacobson answered. He claimed amazement that any copies had gotten out. He stated that he got the Keen session tapes and mastered from there. In his words, wind got out to Allen Klein, who slapped ye old restraining order on it, and then took over all the tapes. I understand that Klein does not control the Keen stuff now, but this is what Mr. Jacobson said happened. Anyway, the disc has marvelous natural sound with 17 cuts, hiss like you would expect it. "You Send Me" is the best I've ever heard- the hi-hat taps are well defined. Four cuts are from "Tribute to the Lady" all in true stereo, and one "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is an alternate take from the album. Two cuts also issued as stereo 45's are in mono- "Win Your Love For Me" and "...Cha-Cha-Cha". Of course there never was a Volume 2, but there may be a few more of these around- anybody seen one?

[Mitch Kaufman]

I've already weighed in on the Cooke box set in another thread, but regarding that "phasing" sound on some of the Keen sides, it sounds like tape edge warp to me. Just a guess, though.

As for the general quality of Sam Cooke's recordings, the Keen sides sound extremely good to me (possible tape defects aside). The quality of sound on the box set drops off immediately when he switches to RCA. Given the normal standard of RCA's stereo recordings at the time--exceedingly high--I've got to think that the relatively thin, lightweight sound of these on the box set reflects either an EQ choice of the part of Lacey, or is conversely the result of comparatively flat transfers from the masters, which presumably were sweetened with EQ and echo for vinyl issuance.

I've got an original Living Stereo LP of Cooke entitled "Cooke's Tour" (none of which is included on the box set, BTW), and it is positively dripping with echoey goo. Listening to this is like wallowing in thick maple syrup. The strings ooze out of the speakers in expansive waves. The voice floats in a huge ball of air. It's almost a sensual experience.

O.K., enough. I'm starting to get excited...

MK