Robben Ford Discussion

JohnnyZ · Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:29 am Post subject: Brad Delp- R.I.P.

At only 55 years of age, Brad Delp died yesterday at his home in Atkinson, NH. Cause of death is unknown at this time. Brad had been playing local gigs in recent years with a popular Beatles cover band named BeatleJuice. Many of those shows were for charities and fund-raisers. He earned his reputation as "the nicest guy in the music business".

Unfortunately, I'm guessing that this summer's Boston reunion tour will not go on without Brad or with a replacement. Brad was a major player with his voice and guitar with that band...

If you haven't heard the remastered (by Tom Scholts, 2006) first Boston album, do your ears a sonic favor and get it! And, for an extra special treat, listen through headphones...

R.I.P. Brad. New England will miss you...

Daved · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 6:10 am Post subject: Re: Brad Delp- R.I.P.

Red Suede · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:08 am Post subject:

I just hate it because sometimes people will remix albums as well, changing the feeling of the album for the sake of balancing instruments.
Artistic interpretation, I guess, but I heard the remixed and remastered versions of "Are You Experienced" and the first "Larry Carlton" album, and personally hated the "new" versions. Carlton remixed his because he wanted to "correct" some things, raise some levels on things and it changed the mood of the album. And I think it was Alan Douglas who went in and remixed "Are You Experienced". Totally changed the impact of the record. Hendrix wasn't there to hear Douglas's new interpretation and approve it which sucks, but these things happen. Some will like it and some will hate it.

JohnnyZ · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:29 am Post subject:

Yes, Brad's death was a suicide. And calculated, which makes it that much more surprising and difficult to comprehend. He seemed very happy and was planning to marry this summer along with reuniting with Boston for a tour. And, he was gigging several times a month with BeatleJuice (he was a huge Beatles fan). His neighbors said he was the nicest guy and always upbeat...

The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. He was found in the master bedroom of his home with 2 charcoal grills smoldering. He stuffed a towel under the door and taped notes on the door and on an entryway door warning of carbon monoxide.

His parents, who received a note from Brad, said that he had done all he could and was "very tired". RIP, Brad...

Daved · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:54 am Post subject:

I understand your feelings, Red, and sometimes agree. The Moody Blues catalogue has gone thru several remixes and formats in the last 3 or 4 years. Some of it I like, some of it deminishes certain lines or instruments that I had grown accustomed to considering as 'hook' lines. This tends to throw me off when something has changed from the way I've always loved and expected it to be after repeated listenings over the last quarter to half century.

However, I've also found that as experience with the new technologies grows, the original artists and engineers start getting more "hands-on" with the remixes, and access to (and restoration of) the original tapes increases, the "bad" remixes are becoming fewer and farther between.

As I said earlier, if done correctly, I actually find SOME of the remixes to be exciting and refreshing new takes on material I have loved thru the years. To hear clearly lyrics, and harmonies, and arrangements as the artists meant to do them when they recorded them, but that got mushed over or mixed away on the limited earlier mediums is often quite cool to me.

Elton John's Honky Chateau was the first SACD to really hit me that way. It still swings and rocks as it always did, but the first time I listened to the Hybrid SACD mix (and it was on headphones Wink

) I wondered where all the extra layers of keyboards came from. They were very, very cool and with comparitive listens against vinyl and older CDs, I began to realize that they had been there all along, but before they had come across primarily as a wash of color so to speak. Personally, I am very big on arrangement, tending to be quite analytical with my music intake, and I enjoy hearing exactly how the artists constructed, arranged, and executed the elements of those "washes".
Careful and attentive remixes make sure sure that the original emotion and tonal-color are still there, but the clarity of the elements that comprised the wash now can make the colors so much more vivid and (for me anyway) just that much more enjoyable.

I've given up most of my resistence to the new remixes by considering the remixes as "alternate" versions. I still have the original mixes on the original vinyl and/or CD issues, so I can always go back to those should I want to hear the music in the way that the years have accustomed my ears.
But with these new mixes, I also have the ability to clearly hear blurred or 'mumbled' lyrics or to clearly isolate what that cello, or flute, or triangle is doing in the middle of the 'sea' of background orchestra, or to fully understand and appreciate the interplay between the layers of multiple keyboard or guitar tracks.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)

Red Suede · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:55 am Post subject:

That's a good way to look at it. Alternative mixes. Thanks for the perspective. By the way, you're still my hero. "Cool Hand Luke" has been showing on AMC a lot lately and you know what scene I wait for. Holy cow, what a woman!

bluenote · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:38 am Post subject:

I wasn't going to reply to this, but just this morning I heard another "blastphemus re-mix" In the early '70's that little ol' band from texas had a great album out called Tres Hombres....I liked it for its rawness, there was something to be said about a 3-piece band playing blues drenched texas style rock, les paul through a marshall,nothing in between,gut wrenching,get the hell outta my way blues....then this morning I heard Lagrange and it sounded like somebody passed out at the mixing console and pushed the "echo/reverb" fader all the way up.Now it sounds like the music is coming out of a garbage can!!! Blastphem I tell you!!!
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Daved · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:01 am Post subject:

Blue,

I have not heard the ZZ Top remasters, but you may well be right... the HD/SACD remix format is still undergoing experimentation and perfecting... not everyone is getting it right or doing it well yet.

As I've said, the remasters can be good when done correctly.

When poorly done, they can be distracting and annoying. I've mentioned some of the earlier Moody Blues remixes that bothered me. I also have a remix of a Youngbloods album wherein there is a very annoying echo vocal going on in "Darkness Darkness" which totally subtracts from the mood and dark flavor of the song.

Other remixes I HAVE enjoyed and recommend are the remasters of the Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter albums (HD anniversary editions in most cases) being currently issued. Also, though I am not a Deadhead (they lost me with the meandering jammy thing that was their second album, Anthem Of The Sun, and pretty much became their signature style), I have always considered the very first Grateful Dead album to be a "must have" with great tunes and very representative of the musical era it comes from and I am currently very much enjoying the recent anniversary HD remix and expansion of that first album.

In each of these cases, the sound has been cleaned up and the studio takes from the original tapes feature expanded material originally left out or edited because of the time limitations of the vinyl format.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)