Hendrix CDs?

Just what the name says.
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lukpac
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Postby lukpac » Wed May 03, 2006 10:02 pm

Wow. Clearly *totally* different from the "regular" issue. Purple Haze sounds miles better, and Castles Made of Sand is the "US" mix - the regular issue uses the "UK" mix (no idea what on the original vinyl, but that's the notation I'll use for now).

Is there any mastering credit? The regular CD just says Chop Em Out, London, which would make sense. It would make sense if it was Gastwirt, since he's used HDCD a lot.

I'll have to compare these to the other CD versions.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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lukpac
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Postby lukpac » Wed May 03, 2006 10:55 pm

It looks like the Polydor UE discs are a dime a dozen on eBay, UK shipping and exchange rate excepted. Perhaps I'll pick one up.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby damianm » Thu May 04, 2006 4:32 am

lukpac wrote:Is there any mastering credit? The regular CD just says Chop Em Out, London, which would make sense. It would make sense if it was Gastwirt, since he's used HDCD a lot.
.

There's no clear mastering credit that I can make out -

"Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Experience released under the supervision of Alan Douglas and Chris Griffin.

Remastering: HDCD® "

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Postby lukpac » Fri May 19, 2006 9:20 pm

I found this, which is helpful for a number of things.

Backtrack 11: Axis: Bold as Love (Track 2407 011 / 1970 / UK / 1LP) --> 1CDR From vinyl / ftbfs: A036
notes:
- Reissue of "Axis: Bold as Love", 1967.
- This album features the Polydor "safe" mix, which is a different stereo mix from the Track/Reprise stereo.

Are you Experienced / Axis: Bold as Love (Polydor 2683 031 / 1973 / UK / 2LP) (foc)
notes:
- Tandem of the Backtrack versions of "Are you Experienced" & "Axis: Bold as Love".
- "Are you Experienced" is a revised European version featuring an odd conglomerate of stereo, mono, and fake stereo mixes. It's mostly the Reprise stereo mixes except for "Can You See Me", "Red House", and "3rd Stone From The Sun", which are mono, and "Remember", which is simulated stereo.
- "Axis: Bold as Love" features the Polydor "safe" mix, which is a different stereo mix from the Track/Reprise stereo.

# Are you Experienced (Polydor 825 416-2 / 1984 / W.Ger / 1CD) ftbfs: A301
...
# Are you Experienced (Polydor 825 416-2 / 1984 / UK / 1CD)
notes:
- This CD is different from the one above although it has the same catalogue number. "Red House" and "Remember" are Mono, and this is also indicated on back-cover.

[???]

The Ultimate Experience (Polydor 517 235-2 / 1992 / Hol / 1CD)
(Compilation of previously released material incl. 2 Live tracks: Monterey International Pop Festival, Monterey, CA 18.06.67 / Woodstock Music & Arts Fair (Woodstock Festival), Yasgur's Farm, Bethel, NY 18.08.69)

The Ultimate Experience - Special Edition (Polydor 517 235-2 / 1995 / Ger / 1CD)
(Compilation of previously released material incl. 2 Live tracks: Monterey International Pop Festival, Monterey, CA 18.06.67 / Woodstock Music & Arts Fair (Woodstock Festival), Yasgur's Farm, Bethel, NY 18.08.69)
notes:
- Special HDCD-mastered Reissue of the 1992-album
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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lukpac
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Postby lukpac » Sun May 21, 2006 12:08 pm

Heh. "fifth-generation copies"

http://www.pauseandplay.com/jimihendrix.htm

""When the old administration (at MCA) did their rereleases (in the early 1990s), they used fifth-generation copies," she said, "so they sounded very murky and muddled up. When we took over, we went back to a facility in London where the old administration had left the tapes there, the masters, with Jimi's writing on it and everything. We went back and retrieved our 60-plus tapes. That's why the clarity of the tapes is so good."

According to Classic Records, though, her name is "Jamie Hendrix".

http://www.classicrecords.com/archives_ ... 20Sessions
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Chris M » Sun May 21, 2006 4:22 pm

lukpac wrote:Heh. "fifth-generation copies"

http://www.pauseandplay.com/jimihendrix.htm

""When the old administration (at MCA) did their rereleases (in the early 1990s), they used fifth-generation copies," she said, "so they sounded very murky and muddled up. When we took over, we went back to a facility in London where the old administration had left the tapes there, the masters, with Jimi's writing on it and everything. We went back and retrieved our 60-plus tapes. That's why the clarity of the tapes is so good."

According to Classic Records, though, her name is "Jamie Hendrix".

http://www.classicrecords.com/archives_ ... 20Sessions


There was a public feud between Joe Gastwrit and Eddie Kramer around 10 years ago over just what tapes Gastwrit used on the 1993 remasters (w/ the alt covers). Joe claimed that the tapes he used for AYE and (IIRC) EL were the masters because they had splices in them. He went on to say the Axis master has been lost for decades. Eddie said they bought the AYE from a private collector in Texas...

I can tell you that Experience Hendrix did buy a large cache of largely unbooted Jimi outtakes recorded at Olympic. These were discovered as the studio was being torn down in the 80's..

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Postby lukpac » Thu May 25, 2006 8:16 pm

Picked up a used EH copy of AYE for cheap today. A few comparison clips with the 1993 Gastwirt CD:

Hey Joe A
Hey Joe B

51st Anniversary A
51st Anniversary B

I don't know what to make of them. NR? No NR? Better tapes? Worse tapes? EQ?
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Chris M » Fri May 26, 2006 10:53 am

Thanks for putting these up. I'm looking forward to comparing them. I just remembered something else Kramer said around the time Experience Hendrix got the catalog...he said something like "we were able to recover 85% of the Experience masters". I assume the missing 15% is the first 3 singles? It seems like the Stone Free master is long gone as the mono mix has never been on CD.

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Postby lukpac » Fri May 26, 2006 11:04 am

Long gone or nobody has bothered looking?

Of course, they did a (bad, IMO) stereo remix of Highway Chile for the box set, which is my least favorite of those b-sides.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Jelly » Fri May 26, 2006 11:30 am

Are all the tracks on Gastwirt same speed as on EH? I used to have the Gastwirt and I'm sure that at least some of the tracks - Foxy Lady springs to mind - ran slower than they were supposed to. My copy was european i.e. on Polydor.

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Postby lukpac » Fri May 26, 2006 11:42 am

Without giving anything away above, yes the speed is a bit different. Don't know which is actually correct, though.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Chris M » Fri May 26, 2006 12:42 pm

OK, Hey Joe B has more hiss in the intro, the guitar intro sounds fuller and less bright and the bass guitar sound is deeper and fatter. B is the clear winner IMO. I'm guessing Hey Joe B is the Experience Hendrix version. I didn't spend much time with 51st but 51st B does have a dropout that isn't on A.

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Postby Chris M » Fri May 26, 2006 1:00 pm

lukpac wrote:Long gone or nobody has bothered looking?

Of course, they did a (bad, IMO) stereo remix of Highway Chile for the box set, which is my least favorite of those b-sides.


I agree about the Highway Chile remix. That was really disappointing. Have you heard the mono Stone Free? It's pretty nice. Much better than the fake stereo that shows up on every Hendrix CD ever released..

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Postby lukpac » Fri May 26, 2006 1:20 pm

Where is it in mono? The single? Not any Polydor CDs?

Funny...when switching back and forth playing the CDs, the Gastwirt sounded better in both cases. I think the EH was even a tad louder. But comparing the clips seems less straightforward.

Where's the dropout in 51st? I must be going crazy. Last night I thought I heard some clicks on one 51st not on the other, but now I'm not hearing that.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Chris M » Fri May 26, 2006 1:28 pm

lukpac wrote:Where is it in mono? The single? Not any Polydor CDs?

Funny...when switching back and forth playing the CDs, the Gastwirt sounded better in both cases. I think the EH was even a tad louder. But comparing the clips seems less straightforward.

Where's the dropout in 51st? I must be going crazy. Last night I thought I heard some clicks on one 51st not on the other, but now I'm not hearing that.


Re the mono Stone Free AFAIK just the 45. I have a nice JWB needle drop of it. So Hey Joe B was the EH?

Listen at the 9 sec mark on 51st B for the dropout.