I recently ran across a Discogs listing for a Quad Q8 of the Righteous Bros. 1975 reunion album, "Give It To The People", Capitol Q8W-9201. Has anyone ever run across this? How does it sound? Must be a pretty rare bird!
Righteous Brothers "Give It To The People" Q8?
- Thread starter ClarkNovak
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Probably one of the first Q8's I ever got. Used to be a relatively popular title on eBay. I've had two, maybe three (can't really remember). But now that you mention it, I've not seen one in quite some time.
The sound overall is a bit dingy. I don't believe it to be resultant from the mix, more like the duplicator had an 8khz or 10khz rolloff. It's kind of mid-rangey with decent lows and mids, but the highs are kind of sibilant.
The mix? Not exactly Capitols' best. Drums/Bass Front only. Vocals all around. Other instruments mixed in the phantom left and right. Vocal overdubs back center or back corners. Pretty static mix through the whole album. Very reminiscent of the Helen Reddy Q8's. Hardly a sparkling revelation in 4-channels. More like a shining example of the malaise-era; another missed opportunity. "Dr. Rock & Roll" and of course, "Rock & Roll Heaven" are worth the price of admission, but give us something more than a standard-operating-procedure mix here! Often times I've found that an interesting or an engaging mix can make an otherwise lackluster song stand out. I use the Raiders' Indian Reservation album as a prime example. Let's be honest, other than the titular track, the bulk of that album is nothing special. It's no Hard & Heavy or Collage. BUT, the mix makes the songs worth listening to.
I can safely say, I've had this Righteous Brothers tape for rolling on 20 years and I've probably played it less than 10 times.
I'd always dreamed that Haven Records released more Quad. A guilty pleasure of mine is the Grass Roots 1975 swan song album, simply titled "Grass Roots". Some of those songs are not only GREAT tunes but much more worthy of a Quad release than the Righteous Brothers. (my humble opinion) Even though NONE of the then-members of the band played any instruments on the album, their vocals are terrific and the songs chosen are just fabulous. Even their stereo mixes feature quite a bit of depth and to have them opened up with a nice, Quad mix would have truly made for a gem of a Q8.
The sound overall is a bit dingy. I don't believe it to be resultant from the mix, more like the duplicator had an 8khz or 10khz rolloff. It's kind of mid-rangey with decent lows and mids, but the highs are kind of sibilant.
The mix? Not exactly Capitols' best. Drums/Bass Front only. Vocals all around. Other instruments mixed in the phantom left and right. Vocal overdubs back center or back corners. Pretty static mix through the whole album. Very reminiscent of the Helen Reddy Q8's. Hardly a sparkling revelation in 4-channels. More like a shining example of the malaise-era; another missed opportunity. "Dr. Rock & Roll" and of course, "Rock & Roll Heaven" are worth the price of admission, but give us something more than a standard-operating-procedure mix here! Often times I've found that an interesting or an engaging mix can make an otherwise lackluster song stand out. I use the Raiders' Indian Reservation album as a prime example. Let's be honest, other than the titular track, the bulk of that album is nothing special. It's no Hard & Heavy or Collage. BUT, the mix makes the songs worth listening to.
I can safely say, I've had this Righteous Brothers tape for rolling on 20 years and I've probably played it less than 10 times.
I'd always dreamed that Haven Records released more Quad. A guilty pleasure of mine is the Grass Roots 1975 swan song album, simply titled "Grass Roots". Some of those songs are not only GREAT tunes but much more worthy of a Quad release than the Righteous Brothers. (my humble opinion) Even though NONE of the then-members of the band played any instruments on the album, their vocals are terrific and the songs chosen are just fabulous. Even their stereo mixes feature quite a bit of depth and to have them opened up with a nice, Quad mix would have truly made for a gem of a Q8.
Unfortunately for you, the Righteous Lp sold fair if not spectacularly, while the Roots Lp sank with nary a trace. And yes, it would have made a good quad title if well mixed; very underrated.
Don't remember if I did a poll for this one or not. If the latter should get that done....
ED
Don't remember if I did a poll for this one or not. If the latter should get that done....
ED
Unfortunately for you, the Righteous Lp sold fair if not spectacularly, while the Roots Lp sank with nary a trace. And yes, it would have made a good quad title if well mixed; very underrated.
Don't remember if I did a poll for this one or not. If the latter should get that done....
ED
Story of my life, man. Everything I find really cool - well.... nobody else does. I think "Mamacita" was the biggest hit off that album and topped out at #71? But: Mamacita, Where there's Smoke there's Fire, It's a Crying Shame, Optical Illusion - even a really decent cover of Up on the Roof are just great songs to me. Very underrated album. Maybe one day I'll find the multitracks in a dumpster.... :music
Well, Ok, nobody else but you and me...
As to the Righteous album, I always hated "Rock and Roll Heaven," which I found to be an absurdly idiotic, plodding thing. Besides, the notion of Jim Morrison in heaven, the man himself would have scoffed at that, and the 'one big show' of dead people singing was a bad idea. Of course it became a bigger hit than "Dream On" which I thought was the best of the singles released from the album.
Safe to say the Grass Roots--or someone--took better care of their multis than, say, Three Dog Night or their label...I mean, what happened to the multi--let alone a stereo mix--for "Shambala"?!? Did they mail the bugger to the North Pole, or the wrong label? There's a mystery beyond understanding....
ED
As to the Righteous album, I always hated "Rock and Roll Heaven," which I found to be an absurdly idiotic, plodding thing. Besides, the notion of Jim Morrison in heaven, the man himself would have scoffed at that, and the 'one big show' of dead people singing was a bad idea. Of course it became a bigger hit than "Dream On" which I thought was the best of the singles released from the album.
Safe to say the Grass Roots--or someone--took better care of their multis than, say, Three Dog Night or their label...I mean, what happened to the multi--let alone a stereo mix--for "Shambala"?!? Did they mail the bugger to the North Pole, or the wrong label? There's a mystery beyond understanding....
ED
Well, Ok, nobody else but you and me...
As to the Righteous album, I always hated "Rock and Roll Heaven," which I found to be an absurdly idiotic, plodding thing. Besides, the notion of Jim Morrison in heaven, the man himself would have scoffed at that, and the 'one big show' of dead people singing was a bad idea. Of course it became a bigger hit than "Dream On" which I thought was the best of the singles released from the album.
Safe to say the Grass Roots--or someone--took better care of their multis than, say, Three Dog Night or their label...I mean, what happened to the multi--let alone a stereo mix--for "Shambala"?!? Did they mail the bugger to the North Pole, or the wrong label? There's a mystery beyond understanding....
ED
As for the first bit, it's interesting to note that "Rock And Roll Heaven" was originally written by Johnny Stevenson, one of the members of Sonny Geraci's band, Climax, and was released by them as a single 3 years before the Righteous Brothers did it. It sank without a trace. The co-writer was Alan O'Day, of "Undercover Angel" infamy, which might explain the syrup in it.
And for the second bit, ABC notoriously cleared out a ton of master tapes in the mid-to-late 70s because they "needed the warehouse space" (read: money's tight). This happened before the sale to MCA. This explains, among other things, why there is not a 5.1 release of "Aja" -- according to Gary Katz, they'd love to do one, but the multis for "Peg" are missing...
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