Bob, can you tell us whose idea it was to scrap the original Detroit mix in favor of the one that actually came out on the 1971 album?
Marvin's. He had added some keyboard parts in California that ironically Larry didn't use in the final mixes. The single had been mixed in Detroit before the rest of the album was written and recorded.
The displeasure had been with the song. There was no displeasure a week after it was released, just pure panic because there wasn't an album to go with it. Marvin had labored over the Detroit mix. Larry mixed the final by himself on a Sunday afternoon. When Marvin heard Larry's mixes (which had cut out a bunch of rhythm section clutter) the next day, he broke down in tears.
The story of the mix and, for that matter, the whole album is pretty amazing. We couldn't locate Larry and Harry understandably didn't want to include anything but a first person account of the story in the Deluxe set. I was so fried from the 80 hour weeks we worked that when Larry asked me if I'd heard the new Marvin Gaye album my response was "Did he do another one?"
Didn't he also add a mellotron part to the end of "Mercy Mercy Me" in Los Angeles. I seem to recall the Detroit mix missing some "sweetening" on "Mercy mercy Me" that the LA mix had.
I have always found the original released LP mix to sound mushy and not very detailed and that goes back to my original 1970s pressing. The "Detroit" mix sounds so much more dynamic an detailed. If I hadn't read Bob Ohlsson's comment, I would swear that it was a newly remixed version that was being passed off as a "lost" mix just to make a deluxe CD release. I can't see forking out another $30 for the new 200g LP or the coming MFSL CD until I hear really, really good comments from those who have them.
I own it. It was the only LP I was really interested in in the new re-issues from Universal/Japan so I plunked down $34 to see how the releases compare to the many Hoffman/Grey re-issues I've been buying. VERY disappointing! Yes, the vinyl is quiet but the mix is so bright it makes you wonder what sort of gear they are using in Japan, almost like they're using a different RIAA curve or something. I listen almost exclusively to vinyl so I have a relative idea of other LP's to compare this to, and it is insanely bright. I can't figure out why it would be so. Any thoughts?
Yeah, I meant the rest of the album, not the song. And, again, the sound quality of the Detroit Mix is fantastic! Not to be missed!
If you are interested in vinyl, check out the What's Going On vinyl thread. http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=114498
I have the What's Going On/Let's Get it On twofer and it sounds great. I have played it to death in the past 15 years since I found it used in an Athens Ohio record store in the summer of 1992. Sadly, that record store is no longer with us.
How does the Detroit mix differ specifically? I've read cheers and jeers for the Detroit mix of this album. I own the album, and want to know, before I plunk down for the 2 disc set, how exactly does the Detroit mix differ? Is it more stripped down? Are the bass and drums more prominent? Less studio sounding?
First of all, it is sonically much superior to the originally released mixes. The oddness is that many of the lead vocal are panned full left and full right. Also, the lead vocal on "Right On" starts out too far back in the mix. Except for that, I think the Detroit mix would actually be preferable to the original released mix. At the very least it provides a fresh perspective on a album that many of us have played over and over throughout the years. One thing I noticed is that at the end of the original released "Mercy, Mercy Me", there was always an annoying "drop-out" in the horn section's final chord. The Detroit mixes version has no drop-out there. However, in the Detroit mix, the "operatic" vocal chrous, while present earlier in the track, is not in the last 15 seconds.
generally, the Detroit mix sounds clearer and more defined, more focused and not "blurry" like the released version. vocals are panned left/right as mentioned before. i think the strings aren't as overbearing in some parts. especially noticeable to me is the percussion in "Mercy Mercy Me." there's a really great rhythm that's obscured in the released version, but it's way up front in the Detroit mix.
Are James Jamerson and the Funk Brothers the rhythm section on this Detroit Mix? Is Jamerson upfront in the mix on the Detroit mix?
Well, there more stuff, lots of Marvin's stereo vocals dueting with himself - and it sounds fantastic! It also has a bit more or less instrumentation, depending on the song in question. It is also more exciting, like the siege between "God Is Love" and "Mercy Mercy Me" is totally different. He stops and sings a note, then the next song kicks in. You get to finally hear how Marvin originally intended for his masterpiece to sound. And, again, the sound quality is fantastic! In fact, I feel like playing it right now!
The original 70s LP pressing was really great sounding. I traded mine off in the early 90s because it was an RCA Dynaflex and I thought I would be able to snatch up an original non-dyna pressing in near mint condition pretty easy. I have been looking for 15 years now and never found one as nice as the one I dumped. I was meant to hear the Detroit mix and live with that one for a few years first before an original is going to drop into my lap as a thrift store gift from the gods who know I deserve it. Because I ain't paying 40 bucks for a reissue in digital.
I'm almost certain that was done by Bill Inglot. There should be an old post regarding this in the archives, IIRC.
