New Pop/Soul/Jazz Surround SACDs - Billy Paul, Chase, George Benson, Weather Report (Sept 2018)

[fredblue]

Coolio! Great stuff D-V yet again! I'm pondering not ordering the Billy Paul - Live in Europe though? Is it especially brilliant? I'm not a massive fan of listening to live gigs that much... Seeing as we're getting 360 degrees and War Of The Gods I feel I should be covered.... Both excellent quad mixes btw! Wonder what's in store for chrimbo?!

hmm... good question.. i haven't played the Billy Paul Live Quad for a while (whereas i have his two studio Quads on heavy rotation) but I remember it seeming kinda shorter and maybe a tad less exciting than the O'Jays Live Quad which felt like it might've been culled from the same tour/gig(s)..? its not always a breeze trying to discern exactly what's coming from where with a decoded SQ LP but the Billy Live mix was seemingly doing more than just audience/ambience in the rear channels.. anyhoo, I'll be picking it up to refresh the memory and to save me getting all the old Quad gear cranked up!

"Concentrate!
...and open up your mind..
Brown baby,
ooh,
gotta spread the news around.."

 

[MrSmithers]

Ok cheers guys - gimme five!

 

[Clint Eastwood]

With all these Jazz-Rock releases if D-V could mix into 5.1/4.0 all the Isotope albums I'd be happier than a pig in mud

A song on the RADIO with an ACTIVE mix like that would make a lot of piggies feel good

 

[fredblue]

Michael Dutton is god. But @steelydave is the holy ghost...

ah, the majestic War Of The Gods album closer..

"ghost.. holy ghost.."

oops i mean;

"peace, holy peace.."

 

[4-earredwonder]

Michael Dutton is god. But @steelydave is the holy ghost...

And Jon Urban is the SON..........without his down to earth QQforum would any of this have been a reality?

 

[The Rang]

Was the AF Tale Spinnin’ quad or stereo only?
My first and still favourite Weather Report album. This DV will be my 4th copy LOL

 

[fredblue]

Was the AF Tale Spinnin’ quad or stereo only?
My first and still favourite Weather Report album. This DV will be my 4th copy LOL

the AF was Stereo only

 

[4-earredwonder]

the AF was Stereo only

Yep, it was and another double dip for me........My head and tail are both spinning out of control!

 

[The Rang]

the AF was Stereo only

That’s what I figured. I have it, just too excited to wait until I get home from work (it’s only 4pm on the west coast) to check for myself.

DV is killin’ me. Been spending my AF money to catch up on other things (XTC, BJH among others).
Meanwhile my DV wish list is out of control, must be approaching 20 by now

 

[JonUrban]

Was the AF Tale Spinnin’ quad or stereo only?
My first and still favourite Weather Report album. This DV will be my 4th copy LOL

It was licensed for stereo/multi but the plug was pulled on the 4.0 program and this one, the BS&T hits, and the others got tossed into the bit bucket.

 

[GOS]

I decided to just get what I know I will LOVE.....and that translated to Chase and the Billy Paul 2fer. I'm very happy with that.......
GOS 3.0 has to be a little careful with his cash these days.....so many others to buy tooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[Mark Anderson]

Ordered all 5. Now the long wait to the states.

 

[Q-Eight]

Wow!! By Gum, that's a lot of Quad! AND some Philly International stuff!! Mr. Dutton, PLEASE look to see if Backstabbers by the O'Jays was done!! Oh mercy! That's a lot of soul righ' 'cher!

 

[quicksrt]

It was licensed for stereo/multi but the plug was pulled on the 4.0 program and this one, the BS&T hits, and the others got tossed into the bit bucket.

Re: " Tale Spinnin’" SACD with quad. I would've more expected this to be a limited edition pressing (since AF had released it like the RTF on both AF & D/V), rather than the Billy Paul being listed as "limited edition".

At any rate, it's great!

Could you image if D/V went and did B,S&T's GHs next with quad. I think we would all fall out of out chairs.

 

[Q-Eight]

hmm... good question.. i haven't played the Billy Paul Live Quad for a while (whereas i have his two studio Quads on heavy rotation) but I remember it seeming kinda shorter and maybe a tad less exciting than the O'Jays Live Quad which felt like it might've been culled from the same tour/gig(s)..? its not always a breeze trying to discern exactly what's coming from where with a decoded SQ LP but the Billy Live mix was seemingly doing more than just audience/ambience in the rear channels.. anyhoo, I'll be picking it up to refresh the memory and to save me getting all the old Quad gear cranked up!

It is from the same concert as the O'Jays Live album! I can't recall the order but either at the end of Billy Paul, the announcer welcomes the O'Jays, or at the end of the O'Jays, they announce Billy Paul. Their catalog #'s are CAQ 32952 and 32953!

As for the mix, the rears are ambience with either backing singers and/or horn/string sections, along with the obligatory crowd noise. I would agree that the O'Jays mix is a little more exciting, more over just because the MUSIC is a little more exciting.

I'll tell you though - I'm in for all seven! Not because the music is pretty decent, more to support D-V and keep the ball rolling. Still, this is pretty exciting; ALL 3 Billy Paul's, Both Chases', a Weather Report and a George Benson vintage Quad. That's a hell of a haul. If these were thrice the price, I might take issue.... but even after tax and tally, the discs still roll out to around $16 Cdn. I'm poor, but I still love my Quad!

 

[Scott65]

Just read this and ordered all 5 discs - plus Poco, Airto and Johnni Taylor.

 

[The Rang]

Q -Eight, $16CDN after tax?
Where are you buying from?

 

[sjcorne]

If anyone's curious what the Chase debut album quad mix is like, check out these Q8 waveforms:

Whole album:

Track 1 "Open Up Wide":

This is some seriously wild mixing! A lot of the tracks start out with four corner pans, there's some incredibly stark isolation of bongos and keyboard in each rear channel, different trumpets call and response from front to back. It's a real hoot that'll give your system a workout!

Only thing holding it back was the fidelity - pretty confident Dutton has solved that problem

 

[sjcorne]

Could you image if D/V went and did B,S&T's GHs next with quad. I think we would all fall out of out chairs.

I'd buy it anyway, but in actuality I was disappointed to find that, like the official version of the second album that AF issued (NOT the robin reel alternate mix which has no cross channel blending), the BS&T GH quad mix isn't particularly discrete. There's a lot cross channel bleed on the Q8, which is odd for a Columbia title.

BS&T's Mirror Image & New City as a two-fer would be a much better choice for DV IMO. Those are some seriously stellar mixes!

 

[sjcorne]

Please don't read this wrong: this is not a complaint in even the slightest. This is the finest batch from Dutton yet and I couldn't be happier!

...but, it would have been cool if they made the Weather Report a two-fer and included Mysterious Traveller. The old Sony Single-Layer MC SACD featuring the quad mix is long out of print and continues to command big bucks. It could've been a cool new opportunity for those who missed that old disc to hear the mix. I wonder if DV is just against tackling OOP titles again (those who want a re-do of Poco's Crazy Eyes in hi-res may be disappointed then), or if in the case of Mysterious Traveller there is some other licensing problem holding it back.

Anyway, I'm super super glad we're getting Tale Spinnin', especially after the AF stereo release. I've personally never heard the quad mix (never got around to grabbing an SQ and the Q8 is really scarce), but it's a later Columbia mix and those are usually incredible. Also @fredblue has raved about it, which is always a good sign

The real shame is that more Weather Report titles didn't make it to quad. Heavy Weather and Black Market would've been sweet!