Two November releases from ERIC Records

Got both discs and they sound great. The label art is nice and the liner notes are quite good too, which say Lennon & McCartney actually played on the 'Silkie' tune. How cool is that to be a college student covering a Beatles tune and have them show up to help out!

 

Review time, at least for one of the discs...the other, when I can figure out where I put it....

The Bartley disc is very well done! Too much stereo--as usual --but, what can ya do....


The big finds here are the nice stereo mixes of "Love Is All Around," "Israelites"(hasn't sounded this nice since OOP promo disc UNI THEN), "Fire"(not this good since the Polydor reissue of the CW of Arthur Brown album, also long OOP), and the extended "Soul And Inspiration." "Bend Me, Shape Me" comes off well, but the single mix still works better; ditto for "Mendocino," though no denying the nice sound here, that's not the issue.

"A Whiter Shade Of Pale" sounds like a sync-up, but it's a nice try, better than having to listen to the alt. take yet again....

For the mono, "Peter Rabbit" is the only lesser sounding cut, but we know why....and acceptable here, it's one of those I bought as a kid when I had nothing in particular to get but had a buck to spare, so just picked out any old 45(not until I got the Whitburn book did I realize it must have been a regional hit).

Hope this is the start of another Bartley series, his reissues have had bad luck...they keep going OOP!

 

Let's hope so. I'm sorry that his reissue CD's have gone out of print. Have you seen what kind of prices those "On The Radio" series discs are commanding on eBay these days? Jeez!!!! Makes me glad I got 'em before they disappeared.

 

Yeah, fairly amazing....but the Eric stuff has remained in print, I think we're Ok there for those who want to wait.

A lot of Varese & Taragon OOP titles are going up and up in price....

 

I purchased the Bartley comp yesterday. I have listened...

This is Tom Daly's best mastering work yet. Tom, good work! I think you have been listening to us regarding mastering. I hear less NR with each successive release. Thank you.

While I prefer the Mono "hit" mixes of many of these tracks [if not all], I do understand the business realities of a release such as this. "Whiter Shade Of Pale" sounds much like the work done on "Sukiyaki" by Mark Mathews - stereo backing track with the vocal flown in from the Mono mix. I appreciate the effort but, I still prefer the "hit" mix in this case. "Love Is All Around" is more credible to these ears. Odd to hear this track sounding this way after all these years of listening to the heavily compressed "hit" mix.

The rest of the tracks [and versions] I already have at least once and more often, many times over. Still, I am glad I bought it! Worth a buy...

Bob

 

Finally got the SWEET SOUL SOUNDS disc in -- very nice sound. Hopefully there will be more volumes from Eric in the soul and R&B genre.

 

Damn. I'd better back up my CDs!

 

FULL REPORTtm, Part 2.....

Ok, now on to SWEET SOUL SOUNDS.....

Another nicely mastered collection, overall. A few sources are a bit sketchy, but that should hardly be surprising, only so much you can do with Betty Harris' "Cry To Me"(torchy version of Solomon Burke's great original), but most of the others are good to exceptional in the sonics department.

Ignoring the predictable stuff--including the title hit, which I really wish would just go away--nice to have the Chris Bartley, Little Johnny Taylor and Brenda + Tabs songs in stereo, pretty nifty. The delight of delights, though, is "Expressway To Your Heart," one of those raffish rock classics that was endearing the first time(and it still seems a little weird, metaphorically speaking...). And Little Sister? Good stuff, a shame someone doesn't reissue that album of hers....

The Little Jerry Williams long-lost '64 minor hit is a nice inclusion, and later, as Swamp Dogg, he did some interesting stuff(along with some production work), including his own "Mama's Baby--Daddy's Maybe," a perverse exercise in sexual paranoia that is, in its fashion, not only rather unique, but enough of a hit to justify inclusion in the next volume, maybe?

Those who missed the UK CD reissue must be enjoying "Trapped By A Thing Called Love," as close to Al Green's memphis sound as anyone has really gotten..and wouldn't it be nice if someone assembled a CD of Candi Staton's Fame sides? (Hint, hint...)


Overall, nice job, hope there's more in the pipeline, though a few less obvious filler hits would be nice....

 

Ed, Little Sister was a trio featuring Sly Stone's younger sister Vanetta. And unfortunately they never had an album, just the two singles - unless you're mixing them up with Little EVA...

 

Yeah, sorry, wishful thinking. There was supposed to be an album, but Sly never did put it out....

But when I think of Little Sister, I always think of Vanetta...and Sly, they really are his singles, after all....

 

I just got the Dick Bartley CD, and it sounds fantastic in the car! I really love it. "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" sounds great in stereo. Where in the world are the suggestions that it is a synch-up coming from? I don't hear any evidence of that at all!

It seems that the Sweet Soul Sounds CD is in hot demand. I can't seem to get ahold of it. Well, I guess I gotta order it off the net anyway.

 

I don't care for it, myself. The strings are way too loud.

Now I'll have to scrutinize this CD on my home system.

 

To Me, the right channel sounds to be the standard mono mix, the left sounds to be one side of the stereo backing track found on acetate.

 

I found the mix to be full and spacious. It's stereo! In fact, this mix is good enough to replace the mono mix, and you know how I hate new stereo mixes.

 

Tom,

You also added compression to match the Acta 7" single as well, correct? Curious, what compressor did you use?

Thanks!

Bob

 

An Aphex "Compellor," daisy-chained with an Aphex "Dominator."

 

Thanks Tom! Much appreciated...

Bob

 

I agree!!! It's such a great song that I'm glad that it was possible to finally make a true stereo mix of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale".

 

I've been listening to this disc (Dick Bartley Presents...) for most of the afternoon and I am very impressed! Aside from the fact that it is a very well compiled disc with excellent sequencing, the sound is superb. As I listened, I found myself thinking "this sounds good enough to have been mastered by Steve" --some of the songs definitely have that "oh wow" quality to them. Among them, "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration", "Israelites" (hands down the best I've ever heard for this one) "Mendocino", "You've Got Your Troubles" (ditto) and, "A Whiter Shade Of Pale". I would be interested to find out how the Procol Harum song was prepared for this disc but even if I never find out, there is no denying that it sounds wonderful. Tom and Mark did an awesome job with these songs and I am grateful. I was also pleased to see Paul Stoddard mentioned in the 'special thanks' section. I am fortunate to have heard some of Paul's mastering work. In addition to having an excellent ear, he is extrememly knowledgeable about music from this era. Plus, he's simply a great guy. This disc is now on my list of the best reissues of '04.

 

I'm enjoying both discs too. Any chance for more or recommendations of similar discs from Eric Records that are still available and sound as good?

 

I have communicated with most of the gentlemen involved on these latest Eric CDs at one time or another. They really are all great guys, and deserve mention when speaking of remastering and mixing engineers.

I'm looking forward to more Eric CDs.

 

I just got the "Sweet Soul Sounds" CD a few days ago (thanks Bill B.!), and the sound is very nice! It's nice to finally get a clean copy of "You're The One" from tape. I had been using a very thin, bright .wma file that was given to me. Well, I re-EQ'ed that file, and was surprised to hear just how close I got to the actual tape without ever having heard the tape or the record. I guess my EQ instincts are still good!

Anyway, the only thing I don't like is the new stereo mix of "Expressway To Your Heart". It sounds too wide and loose, very unlike the tight, powerful, and in-your-face mono single mix.

Still, a very nice set. I'm hoping for more!

But, I still get more enjoyment out of the songs on the Dick Bartley CD.

 

Grant,

I bought this set about (2) weeks ago. Actually, I appreciate having this set more than the Bartley set because of the first-time tracks/versions/mixes in my collection. I have most of the tracks on the Bartley set many times over except for the first-time Stereo tracks by the Troggs and Procol Harem. While a matter of personal taste, I still prefer the "hit" mixes over these new Stereo mixes. Still, I enjoy listening to these new mixes. Of course, I know you understand this point-of-view. The Sweet Soul Sounds disc added a number of tracks that I can now record on my comps [Thanks Bill & Tom].

Bob

 

I can see us both redoing some of our homemade comps!

Bill Buster and Tom Daly have hit the nail on the head with these CDs in terms of sound. I think he's hit on the exact formula.