4 more Quadio titles coming in May 2024!

[ar surround]

Neil used to be a frequent contributer here. Haven't seen him post in a while. Neil, are you out there?

“Last seen” July 2023, so it has been awhile.

 

[quicksrt]

or labels/artists who aren't onboard with Quad reissues - yet (Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone, London, Hi Records, Stax)

One title I think needs to be looked at and enquired about is the Isaac Hayes - "Shaft" album. Double album and good sound quality.

All things owned by Concord have been open to licensing in previous years. Tons of reissue companies doing Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone albums. I wonder if it is just that nobody has asked about their quad masters?

 

[LB-V]

“Last seen” July 2023, so it has been awhile.

I was looking at @neil wilkes profile a while back and it notes this:

"Ex Live Engineer, now sit in my studio all day due to spinal damage."

And worry his health and well being was somehow compromised. I also remember his great contributions to the Forum.

If anybody has any information that can be appropriately shared, it would be appreciated.

 

[steelydave]

One title I think needs to be looked at and enquired about is the Isaac Hayes - "Shaft" album. Double album and good sound quality.

All things owned by Concord have been open to licensing in previous years. Tons of reissue companies doing Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone albums. I wonder if it is just that nobody has asked about their quad masters?

The rights to Isaac Hayes Stax albums reverted back to his family a few years back. This has been great from a fan perspective because it's led to the issue of previously-unreleased music from his golden years (primarily on the 4CD The Spirit of Memphis box set in 2017) but the double-edged sword is that the more people that have a say in the control of music, the more challenging it is to license it, if they even want to at all.

More recently, the estate entered into a strategic publishing partnership with Primary Wave so maybe they'll be more eager to monetize assets like the quad mixes.

Concord hold the other Stax quads, along with the Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone material, the Vanguard catalog, and a few other bits and pieces, but they don't seem to do much licensing outside of to Analogue Productions, which issues jazz from some of those catalogs at a snail's pace. I'm as eager as anyone to see these quad mixes reissued and I've reminded Mike Dutton about them over the years so I think it's a case of "if it can ever be done, it will be done."

I was looking at @neil wilkes profile a while back and it notes this:

"Ex Live Engineer, now sit in my studio all day due to spinal damage."

And worry his health and well being was somehow compromised. I also remember his great contributions to the Forum.

If anybody has any information that can be appropriately shared, it would be appreciated.

Neil hasn't really been regularly active here since 2019, for whatever reason. I've seen him active on other sites as recently as the beginning of this year, so if he's not (or hasn't been) posting here it's out of choice.

The website for his company Opus Productions (opusproductions.com) appears to have been suspended recently by its hosting provider - not sure if that's a technical glitch or he's no longer in the industry.

 

[bnyhof]

And we should not forget our friend and member Neil Wilkes, who worked with Steven Wilson on those King Crimson DVD-A's and other 5.1 titles out after WB pulled the plug on DVD-As. Not only did Neil author those DVD-A's, he actually got Steven to join QQ and answer our questions, way before today's social media took over most artist interaction with the fans.

Neil authored not only the King Crimson discs, but some Porcupine Tree, No Man, Anathema, Dorothee Mynyaneza, Gavin Harrison & 05Ric, Jakszyk, Fripp, Collins, Katatonia, his own release "The Vicar", and many other surround discs that were released during the 'Black Hole' years of surround music, 2010-2015

Neil and Opus Productions are a very important part of how the surround market stayed active between the end of DVD-A/SACD (the retail end) and the reemergence of Quad and 5.1 by Quadio(WB), Audio Fidelity, Dutton-Vocalion, and today's Atmos material.

And there's also his superb work on Gene Clark: No Other and Love and Rockets: Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven!

 

[timbre4]

I was looking at @neil wilkes profile a while back
If anybody has any information that can be appropriately shared, it would be appreciated.

I wrote to him around the holidays but he missed it. We did manager to exchange email a few weeks ago. I don't think he's looking here often.

 

[elroy]

And we should not forget our friend and member Neil Wilkes, who worked with Steven Wilson on those King Crimson DVD-A's and other 5.1 titles out after WB pulled the plug on DVD-As. Not only did Neil author those DVD-A's, he actually got Steven to join QQ and answer our questions, way before today's social media took over most artist interaction with the fans.

Neil authored not only the King Crimson discs, but some Porcupine Tree, No Man, Anathema, Dorothee Mynyaneza, Gavin Harrison & 05Ric, Jakszyk, Fripp, Collins, Katatonia, his own release "The Vicar", and many other surround discs that were released during the 'Black Hole' years of surround music, 2010-2015

Neil and Opus Productions are a very important part of how the surround market stayed active between the end of DVD-A/SACD (the retail end) and the reemergence of Quad and 5.1 by Quadio(WB), Audio Fidelity, Dutton-Vocalion, and today's Atmos material.

Definitely in the QQ Hall of Fame.

Really liked The Vicar Songbook #1 - thought there was supposed to be a follow up but it never happened.

 

[CINERAMAX]

The Links to buy:

 

[mandrix]

I wrote to him around the holidays but he missed it. We did manager to exchange email a few weeks ago. I don't think he's looking here often.

I had a few conversations with Neil back in March via email. But he never mentioned any issues.

 

[Bob Romano]

Neil used to be a frequent contributer here. Haven't seen him post in a while. Neil, are you out there?

He's still out there.

 

[quicksrt]

The rights to Isaac Hayes Stax albums reverted back to his family a few years back. This has been great from a fan perspective because it's led to the issue of previously-unreleased music from his golden years (primarily on the 4CD The Spirit of Memphis box set in 2017) but the double-edged sword is that the more people that have a say in the control of music, the more challenging it is to license it, if they even want to at all.

More recently, the estate entered into a strategic publishing partnership with Primary Wave so maybe they'll be more eager to monetize assets like the quad mixes.

Concord hold the other Stax quads, along with the Fantasy/Prestige/Milestone material, the Vanguard catalog, and a few other bits and pieces, but they don't seem to do much licensing outside of to Analogue Productions, which issues jazz from some of those catalogs at a snail's pace. I'm as eager as anyone to see these quad mixes reissued and I've reminded Mike Dutton about them over the years so I think it's a case of "if it can ever be done, it will be done."

I do believe that some quad things that might have been available but were not bothered with because other things (Sony) were more simply accessible. When Fantasy controlled those catalogs (before Concord bought them out) things were likely a bit easier with licensing and quick access to the tape vault.

One has to wonder if anyone has looked hard at the Stylistics quad masters' ownership and paper trail? I would not expect licensing costs to be prohibitive for doing two-fers of those masters. But locating the physical tapes. and legal red tape - that is another story. Another good match for DV's catalog imo.