Matt Monro - The Singles Collection

Well, I have to bow to superior knowledge over this one!

I received Themology today, and lo and behold - It is indeed the Mono single mix of From Russia.

I knew of every (and I do mean every) EMI compilation that the song appears on - All Stereo album mixes. Being a licenced track I would have expected this to be the same!

Anyway there is good news. The two session tapes I was looking for (From Russia and Tahiti) have now re-appeared! Too late admitedly but there you go.

It's not my place to go into the where and how's but at least they have turned up and are back where I can find them for future projects.

Richard

 

Glad the session tapes are back for the next remastering.

Thank you, Richard, for getting the wonderful sound from the tapes on the Matt Monro set. Cheers.

 

I was showing a friend of mine the Amazon listing for this set last night. I noticed that the price has now gone up to £11.98. Still a deal and a half!

Now playing: Disc #4

Cheers,
Chris

 

I've now reached disk 3 in this wonderful set - and the music and its presentation are just amazing! No fillers there. While Sinatra's singles efforts were often less serious than his album output, this doesn't seem to be the case with Monro. Almost every track thus far is a winner. As an Austrian I'm particularly happy that we finally have a stereo version of "Merci Cherie". You wouldn't believe it, but even Udo Jürgens' original 1966 recording of this has rarely been released on CD.

Many thanks for this great work, Richard! Do you know how we can reach EMI by e-mail and let them know our thoughts about this outstanding set?

I'm happy to hear that the FRWL tapes have eventually turned up. Now, if we only knew the contents of that John Barry tape

 

[email protected]

 

Sorry Phil only just spotted your posts at the end of a page.

Live in Manila - There are two concerts

1. 1966 released on Night Owl as "Yesterday - The Legendary Manila Concert"
(Be fast with this one - the label has gone out of business so how many are still out there I don't know)

2. 1983 - a few bonus tracks from this appear on the above. More recently discovered recordings appear on a compilation called "Born Free" on the Performance label - See my website www.mint-audio-restoration.co.uk for more info.

I can also recommend "The Rare Monro" Some great unreleased material from the EMI Vaults on this one.

 

I was involved in the Bear Family deluxe issue. I didn't have anything too do with the audio, I simply worked as a consultant to Hans Olaf Gottfriedsson.
Hans needed help with the technical side of his research and I helped point him in the right direction to find information never reported before.

I'm quoted a number of times in the accompanying book.

I still assist him from time to time - recently we have been working on the thorny issue of the Starclub tapes. But that's for another topic......

Richard

 

Hello

I thought as Richard had absconded over here, I would most certainly do the same. I am so thrilled that you are all enjoying the new release and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking you all for your very kind words and good wishes for my new book. It most certainly was a labour of love but there was nothing ever written about dad and now the book will sit in the British Library for all time - that suits me very well.

I look forward to reading many more postings and in the meantime here's hoping that your lives are always filled with music.
warmest
Michele

 

Hi Michele, thanks for stopping by. I listened to the first disc of this last night and was floored by how good it sounded. I'm very much looking forward to getting the book. Thanks to you and Richard for doing such a lovely job.

 

Hello Michele,

Thanks for joining the conversation. As you can tell by the postings in this thread, there are many people who are thankful for the great work done to restore this music by Richard.

As I mentioned in my first posting, I had often seen CDs of Matt's work at shops when visiting England and never knew where to start. This singles collection gave me the proper excuse to dive on into his work.

Congratulations on the recent CD releases and the book. Be sure to keep Richard busy with more projects.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Welcome, Michele

I look forward to reading your new book on Matt Monro. I have always been interested in his story since I first heard My Kind Of Girl years ago. Here in the states not much was written, but he did receive widespread airplay.

I am hoping for more wonderful reissues in the future. I am getting a great amount of pleasure from the Singles compilation.

Dale

 

Welcome Michele.

Your work with your father's legacy is a model that all other estates should aspire to.

I must confess that I haven't bought the Singles Collection yet but I am looking forward to doing so once my budgetary situation improves.

 

Michele,i think Dad would be proud of this set,a set that should have been done a long time ago,and now it is,we get to hear one of the "greats" in A1 sound.

Thank you also Richard .

 

Thanks Richard for the information and recommendations. I am particularly interested to have a CD of the 1966 Manila concert "Yesterday - The Legendary Manila Concert".

 

Thanks Richard. It seems to me that Hamburg session master tapes are in excellent condition. I actually prefer their sound quality over the early Beatles' albums on EMI.

 

Hi Michele,

Thank you for posting in this great music forum. I own both the "Singer's Singer" CD Box Set mastered by Ron Hill and the new "Singles Colection" remastered by Richard Moore.
Both sound good to my ears.

BTW, I love your Dad's rendition of the Beatles' song "Michelle", the song he recorded while holding your hand as a kid.

Thanks for

 

Yes not bad considering that apparently no first generation tapes survive and what's left seem to be 80's dubs!

Richard

 

Listening to Tony Sheridan Vol.3 on Star-Club 840 556-2 Ain't She Sweet sounds to be from a slightly less good source than the other Beatles Hamburg tracks. Nevertheless a fine sounding CD.

So what generation tapes would have likely to have been used on the original Polydor LPs?

Back on topic I think that Here And Now track on disc 2 is a gem!

 

I'm simply blown away by Matt's reading of Isn't This A Pity. I think he did it beautifully.

I also love This Way Mary. This lovely John Barry song was also recorded by Scott walker, but I really enjoy Matt's version.

 

Hi Richard,

Thanks and congratulations for the great work you've done on this project!

Is the Stereo mix of From Russia With Love that will be found on the upcoming The Greatest compilation drawn from those newfound tapes? The fact that the release date was pushed may have allowed you to send EMI the correct tape.

 

I received a sealed replacement set from Amazon UK today and they also want me to keep the one with a defective Disc 3. All the discs are now playing without any problem. Thanks Amazon UK!

 

Unfortunately not. The disc was mastered way back in October and went to the pressing plant in November so the discs were already pressed when the tapes were found. The delay was for marketing reasons. The original release date should have been January 25th.

(OT: The original 60's pressings of Beatles Hamburg recordings were either the master - a copy of Kampferts session tape in mono or stereo - or a copy of that master. However the master it's self is said to be missing an which makes all tapes now surviving at least third generation).

 

Is there any immediate plan to release the stereo version of "From Russia With Love"?

Is the third generation master the one used by Bear Family and Polydor for CD releases?

 

Thank you for the reply! No matter, I'm still getting it anyway. It will make a nice companion to the Singles set.