Hw-61

[Richard Feirstein]

Steve: Is this disk (CD) still available, and does Sony have the rights to use that newer and superior mix? :p

[Paul L.]

I can answer some of this.

The DCC Highway 61 Revisited gold disc is long out of print and sells for quite a lot on the used market.

It is not a new mix, but it sounds vastly better.

I doubt if Sony can use Steve's mastering. But even if they could, they have no desire to. They've put out a SBM 20-bit deal in Japan and this title is also one of the four Dylans that were again remastered years ago but shelved and never released.

[Richard Feirstein]

There is a new vinyl mono release that is identical to the Columbia Records mono release and it contains the track selections and mix Bob approved, one song is a different take than the stereo release. Not available on CD.

I thought Steve's edition was a new mix. It does sound the best.:D

[Paul L.]

On the one song being different, are you referring to From a Buick 6? The one that Sundazed released on their mono LP is the SAME version of the song as the normal stereo one, the same one Steve used on the gold DCC.

There was a different version of the song on some stereo LPs, for an unknown reason, and that version is called the "rare" version of From a Buick 6. The so-called "rare" one is easy to tell because it starts immediately with harmonica. It also has some minor lyric variations.

[Richard Feirstein]

This is what Roger Ford had to say: (I must have the early vinyl in my collection since I thought the new mono vinyl was the odd man out).

From A Buick 6

Concentrating first on the standard take of the song, the stereo mix adds 9 seconds to the end of the mono version.

The alternate take on the Japanese and early US and Canadian LPs is a decidedly weaker performance of the song. It starts off with a solo harmonica introduction, then settles into a faster tempo than the normal version; but it is saddled with an insistent and uncharacteristically weedy guitar riff from Bloomfield, and has an overall sound which is thin even in comparison with the other stereo vinyl tracks. The drumming is also decidedly rickety. On the plus side, it does have one or two word changes, most notably "She comes running down the thruway / With her dynamite and her thread". In overall length this version is just a few seconds shorter than the stereo mix of the standard take.

While this alternate take has only been officially released in stereo format, a mono mix was made, and surfaced some years ago on the Emmett Grogan group of acetates, though it was not on the discs derived from the mono master detailed in Appendix C. Characteristically, the mono mix is more compact, faded out 17 seconds earlier than on the stereo cut.



:D

[Richard Feirstein]

Word on the street is that Sony is about to issue a remastered CD of this album. If true, is this in any way related to the SM creation?:o

[patricku]

Originally posted by Richard Feirstein
There is a new vinyl mono release that is identical to the Columbia Records mono release and it contains the track selections and mix Bob approved, one song is a different take than the stereo release. Not available on CD.

I thought Steve's edition was a new mix. It does sound the best.:D
You mean that the Sundaze is not so good ad the dcc?

[PsychFan]

Originally posted by patricku
You mean that the Sundaze is not so good ad the dcc?

The Sundazed LP is the mono mix, Steve's DCC gold CD is the (original) stereo mix. It's almost like apples & oranges.

Personally, I would not be without either ...

[patricku]

Originally posted by Jeff Partyka


The Sundazed LP is the mono mix, Steve's DCC gold CD is the (original) stereo mix. It's almost like apples & oranges.

Personally, I would not be without either ...
My sundaze is on his way to Germany...
But witch one, speaks more to the essence of music to your...soul ?
Kind regards,
Patrick.soul

[PsychFan]

Originally posted by patricku
But witch one, speaks more to the essence of music to your...soul ?
soul


Gee, I don't know. There is something very powerful about the mono mix of "Like a Rolling Stone." It really plows into you. But to my ears the stereo mix (with Steve's mastering, anyway) of the album has a beautiful clarity and openness to it that the mono can't match.

[Paul L.]

Steve's "Highway 61 Revisited" CD is better than any version on stereo LP. He's been interviewed about it extensively, but, suffice to say, the tape he used was the original two-track master, whereas the LP was made from a dub of that, with bass reduced and so forth to fit the limitations of vinyl. No stereo record could ever compare.

As for mono, Steve wanted to release that mix on CD too but was not granted permission.

Certainly it is possible and reasonable to prefer the mono mix. But I betcha that was reduced somewhat from the original mixdown too, in order to allow it to work within the parameters of vinyl.

The DCC gold is the only thing that is truly like the original stereo mixdown.

[patricku]

I can not imagine an Cd better than an Lp,maybe more bass,more this and that, but the true spirit & essence of music I never really found on this lifeless medium...

[PsychFan]

Originally posted by patricku
I can not imagine an Cd better than an Lp,maybe more bass,more this and that, but the true spirit & essence of music I never really found on this lifeless medium...

AAAAHHH ... This is a real can of worms and it's probably best that we "don't go there."

Just my opinion ...

[patricku]

I really enjoy this never ending debate,but to be true, even this is a can of worms, some times comes a new perspective that is worth...But no matter how hard ones try...the Lp still has more there there...
Sorry to insist...

[Paul L.]

Patrick,
The "more there there" must include
1) More bother--cleaning LPs, flipping LPs, adjusting tracking force
2) Ticks and pops
3) Vinyl surface noise itself

How much these constitute charm and how much they constitute annoyance--that is the question.

[patricku]

Originally posted by Paul L.
Patrick,

Paul,
The "more there there" must include
1) More bother--cleaning LPs, flipping LPs, adjusting tracking force
I remember that cd,needs their care too..easier,certainly but not that romantic...big covers..no need to wear eyes glasses,art..imagine Sgt.Pepper..
2) Ticks and pops
If you can handle them,almost NOT,i have a procedure from Mr. Suchy, that almost eliminated them.
3) Vinyl surface noise itself
No noise, beside, the master band,if analog...

How much these constitute charm and how much they constitute annoyance--that is the question.

Yes, the question is , are little annoyance worse better sound ?
At least is SACD , giving us,better sound.