Four Seasons 'Best' Mixes

Bob Crewe and Sound Engineer George Schowerer recording the Four Seasons in the Mirasound studios in 1966.

The recordings of the Four Seasons have been collected by fans for nearly 50 years on vinyl and CD. In that time there have been thousands of releases but in terms of a properly mastered set there remains great concerns amongst fans. Unlike the Beach Boys catalogue the ‘Seasons’ tracks are not re-mastered to DVD-Audio or SACD standard and available to fans

 

So what do we mean by a ‘Best’ mix?

 

We agreed recently that Steve Hoffmans assessment of tracks applied to our favourite group when he said….

 

“It’s all in the mastering. Digital is a great medium. Any CD can sound good….. It takes a good mastering engineer! : Stereo is better but it’s not about stereo vs. mono, it’s about which classic song has the best mix. If the stereo mix “nails it” it’s the mix to listen to. If the mono mix “nails it”, it’s the mix to listen to.”

 

Steve Hall is chief mastering engineer at Future Disc in Hollywood, California recently mastered the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds DVD-A for surround release and has done albums for a long list of top-name artists, including Al Jarreau, Alanis Morissette, George Harrison, and Madonna, along with many film-soundtrack albums, such as The Matrix. He said….”Basically, mastering is balancing, equalizing, compressing, and just trying to get the most out of a musical performance,” says Hall. “It's smoothing out all the rough edges to make a polished, finished performance.” The idea, he explains, “is to make it as musical and exciting to listen to as possible.

 

In the course of their work, mastering engineers have to do all kinds of sonic doctoring, including matching levels from song to song; adding shimmer to the top and punch to the bottom; adjusting the levels of individual instruments by using precise EQ (remember, they're working with a mixed master); goosing up the overall loudness; and much more.”

 

Defining a good mix is ‘subjective’?......well perhaps but we think 80% of it……..is a mixture of technical…..and ‘feel’…….that instinctive knowledge that the group’s performance is as good a soundstage as you can get. The rest is down to personal preference.

 

Firstly the characteristics that make it sound great……

 

1. Clarity – that sharp clear shape to each element in the sound
2. Content – the sound stage and it’s constituent parts
3. Separation – the difference or space within the sound between the elements
4. Depth – the position of the sounds in terms of the distance they appear from the listener and each other.

 

We believe the definitive versions need to be stored in the best digital form for future generations of collectors. As mastering improves and the technology to process the sound, we will be able enjoy the Four Seasons as never before. Their collection is too important to be neglected

 

OK so you have some questions?

 

Why is there a need for the archiving of the Four Seasons catalogue?

 

Well the problem is that the Four Seasons Partnership doesn’t have a comprehensive set of masters nor have they re-mastered these to an adequate standard.(eg The Jersey Beat Box Set) The multi-track recordings have been lost according to quotes from Bob Crewe’s former sound engineer George Schowerer and Mastering Engineer Bill Inglot.

 

Also, there is no comprehensive session log which would track the recordings and masters (including alternate versions).

 

Some versions of their songs only exist on vinyl and copies are increasingly hard to find in mint or good condition. Well many of them have been around for over 40 years. The 70s and 80s tracks are not so much a problem as management and storage has been OK and the alternate takes are not so many ( said before a full evaluation of the Collectors choice recent releases)…..but this was not their hey-dey. It is 1961 to 1967 that requires the most research and archiving.

 

When we recently started the archive at 1961 we found there are 11 important issues of ‘Comma Si  Bella’ and we have been able to identify the ‘best’ mono and stereo versions. It is proving to be a real detective job to find the material and document the quality. But we hope it will be worth the effort.

 

Let me give an example of what we’ve been trying to do in our project to identify the ‘best mixes’ of Four Seasons songs. “Goodnight My Love’ first appeared on the ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry & 12 Others’ album (Vee Jay LP 1056 ) 1963, and but has always been  in mono on CD releases as far as we knew. Subsequent CD releases like the ACE twofer  CHD 507 retained this mono mix….so when we discovered a stereo copy on the ‘Looking Back’ vinyl album on Philips  PHS600-222   1966…. we wondered if we had found a lost stereo master. Examination of a digital dubbed version indicates possibly a 25 millisecond delay to the right channel. Perhaps the Philips Engineers where not averse to using the ‘creative’ license afforded by the mastering desk and their ability to create a pseudo-stereo version.? But listening to it, it is hard to tell whether it is genuine stereo or not. It’s impossible for most of us.

 

We asked a sound engineer to do an analysis of the releases for us.

He told us…..“I’ve checked all the vinyl and CD that I can
 find and the version on these vinyl albums is genuine 
STEREO whilst the CD versions are MONO which 
means that the Stereo master no longer exists..we'll 
have to salvage the copy from vinyl. This means that 
vinyl remains a key reference point. There is a rare album on 
Candlelight that should also be checked.

There are two stereo mixes I believe, both real 
(genuine) stereo and both different.

Here is my “VERDICT”:

 The CD’s are all mono….at least the Curb CD - mono 
3:06 and the Ace CD - mono 3:05 are (both similar, but 
not the same) RMS -13db peak -17db average I haven’t 
checked the 45 rpm vinyl yet, but most likely that is mono
(Update note added25thMarch - "even the CCM CD of 
"Folk-Nanny" has the mono version on it")

So, on the rest of the vinyl versions….

Folk-Nanny=Stay VJ LP - stereo 3:09 (drop out in 
volume on right channel between 9 and 10 secs): 
RMS -8db peak -13db average

Lookin’ Back PH LP - stereo 3:11 (different mix to Stay 
VJ LP, no drop in volume on right channel between 9 and 
10 secs): RMS -9db peak – 16db average

Greatest Hits set = Longines Symphonette Society 4 
LP set - LP #4 - stereo 3:06 (same mix as Stay VJ LP, 
but NO drop in volume on right channel between 9 and 
10 secs): RMS -10db peak -16 db average

Candlelite LP (SING MEMORIES OF SOUVENIRS IN 
GOLD Candlelite CU 151B) 

I haven’t been able to find this album yet.

Big Girls Don't Cry VJ LP - stereo 3:07 (NO drop out in
volume on right channel between 9 and 10 secs): The sound is
similar to Stay VJ / GH LSS LPs, BUT this is the only version
where the "phase" on both chanels is different to the three others.
RMS -13db average

So there are versions to be salvaged and restored in the 
‘Four Seasons Archive’ of Goodnight My Love which we 
believe the Four Seasons Partnership don’t have.

We would like to see a full session log of the tracks from 
1961 and although some exist, assembled from the ACE 
CD’s back in the 1990s, they are not comprehensive or 
verified. Our research will seek to use this information to 
verify the ‘best mixes’ of each recording since 1961. A big 
task we know.

With our on-going up-dates on the CD Discography and 
track research for the ‘Best Mixes’ Sound Archive we will 
try to work through the early 60s tracks up to 1967. And 
we’ll keep fans informed via this blog.

Casey Chameleon

 

Comments

[CLIFF LAWRENCE]

I HAVE ALL 7 CANDLELIGHT LP'S ALL UNPLAYED,WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DO? DO YOU WANT TO BORROW THEM OR SHOULD I MAKE A CD OR MINIDISC.
THANKS CLIFF