ELP - Live album: "Welcome Back My Friends..." 24 track master

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DennisMoore Jr.

1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
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Whilst full of grief over the passing of Keith Emerson, I came upon this small ray of sunshine. It appears that the 24 track multi-track tape for Welcome Back My Friends... does in fact exist and is in fair enough condition. Here is a recent quote from Keith:

"Recently we gave a guy, Andrew Wodeen the 24 track of Welcome Back My Friends, and he turned it into a dance mix."


Source:

http://www.interstellar9.com/emerson/interview.htm


Peace,

DMJ
 
A surround mix of this in memory of Keith Emerson would be truly great - we can but hope.

Whilst full of grief over the passing of Keith Emerson, I came upon this small ray of sunshine. It appears that the 24 track multi-track tape for Welcome Back My Friends... does in fact exist and is in fair enough condition. Here is a recent quote from Keith:

"Recently we gave a guy, Andrew Wodeen the 24 track of Welcome Back My Friends, and he turned it into a dance mix."


Source:

http://www.interstellar9.com/emerson/interview.htm


Peace,

DMJ
 
Whilst full of grief over the passing of Keith Emerson, I came upon this small ray of sunshine. It appears that the 24 track multi-track tape for Welcome Back My Friends... does in fact exist and is in fair enough condition. Here is a recent quote from Keith:

"Recently we gave a guy, Andrew Wodeen the 24 track of Welcome Back My Friends, and he turned it into a dance mix."


Source:

http://www.interstellar9.com/emerson/interview.htm


Peace,

DMJ

That's quite an interview....not the usual "fluff" content...do you know the date of that interview?
 
Dennis, I don't think that quote means what you think it means.
I think Keith might be referring to the 24 track master of the song "Welcome Back My Friends…" (Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression Part 2) rather than the live album of the same name. What clued me off to that possibility were the words 'dance mix' at the end of that quote.
I don't know for sure, but that's at least how I'm interpreting this.
 
Silverline Records had this, and I assume the quad mix on their upcoming release list back in 05-06.

Hopefully the quad tracks are still with "Leadclass", ELP'S label.
 
Dennis, I don't think that quote means what you think it means.
I think Keith might be referring to the 24 track master of the song "Welcome Back My Friends…" (Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression Part 2) rather than the live album of the same name. What clued me off to that possibility were the words 'dance mix' at the end of that quote.
I don't know for sure, but that's at least how I'm interpreting this.

Me too. Remixing the rather dodgy-sounding live album into dance tracks would be...odd. The multitracks for BSS were still around then and in play -- the DVD-A came out in 2000.
 
If there ever was a bigger challenge (making horrible sounding recodings sound almost perfect) than Yes' Progeny , THIS should be it...it would definitely be a HUGE challenge and labor of love to have this remixed into MCH AND make it sound as good as their studio albums...
 
Sigh. I would love to have this so much as ELP - BSS was my 2nd concert ever! (1st real actually) We had whispers of a WBMFTTSTNE project planned for 2013 & later 2015, then nothing. The ELP catalog has now been swapped around and licensed by so many labels, the catalog has just become a commodity to keep selling as is.

Given their stature and budget at the time, it's perplexing why their live engineering was so feeble. Seems like no one has the knowledge or passion in pursuing any proper release, much less a reconstruction effort to attempt to reflect the glory of those live shows.
 
Sigh. I would love to have this so much as ELP - BSS was my 2nd concert ever! (1st real actually) We had whispers of a WBMFTTSTNE project planned for 2013 & later 2015, then nothing. The ELP catalog has now been swapped around and licensed by so many labels, the catalog has just become a commodity to keep selling as is.

Given their stature and budget at the time, it's perplexing why their live engineering was so feeble. Seems like no one has the knowledge or passion in pursuing any proper release, much less a reconstruction effort to attempt to reflect the glory of those live shows.
Completely agree with you on that.....But I SWEAR that I once saw a 5.1 version somewhere and it looked totally legit! I know I"m probably wrong but I SWEAR I did :love: :unsure: :ROFLMAO:
 
Sigh. I would love to have this so much as ELP - BSS was my 2nd concert ever! (1st real actually) We had whispers of a WBMFTTSTNE project planned for 2013 & later 2015, then nothing. The ELP catalog has now been swapped around and licensed by so many labels, the catalog has just become a commodity to keep selling as is.

Given their stature and budget at the time, it's perplexing why their live engineering was so feeble. Seems like no one has the knowledge or passion in pursuing any proper release, much less a reconstruction effort to attempt to reflect the glory of those live shows.
I wonder if anyone has done a proper inquiry with the folks at WV to see if they still have the multitracks. In theory, they would be the owners and the only reason they wouldn't have them is if someone went to the trouble to buy them back. Seeing as the mixes on the king biscuit 2cd thing are different than the album mix, that would mean that DIR still had possession of the masters at that time, anyway. From there, they wouldn't have let them go without someone coughing up some cash.

I would love to see those multi's turn up and get transferred. It would be cool to take a look at the multi's and see what all the fuss was about concerning the recording quality. I expect if there were any major issues they would be with the drums, as there were a zillion mikes on the drum kit which is always asking for trouble if things were submixed down to a couple of tracks. If the drums weren't split up much going to tape, you can't fix any phase issues if they were to sneak through during the recording.
 
Sigh. I would love to have this so much as ELP - BSS was my 2nd concert ever! (1st real actually) We had whispers of a WBMFTTSTNE project planned for 2013 & later 2015, then nothing. The ELP catalog has now been swapped around and licensed by so many labels, the catalog has just become a commodity to keep selling as is.

Given their stature and budget at the time, it's perplexing why their live engineering was so feeble. Seems like no one has the knowledge or passion in pursuing any proper release, much less a reconstruction effort to attempt to reflect the glory of those live shows.

The recording itself is fine. Check out the mix used for the KBFH broadcast, it sounds fine. The problem with the live album is that it was only ever mixed in quad. The stereo mix is a fold-down of that.
 
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The recording itself is fine. Check out the mix used for the KBFH broadcast, it sounds fine. The problem with the live album is that it was only ever mixed in quad. The stereo mix is a fold-down of that.
Yes I own a copy of the KBFH and indeed it is better sounding. I'd agree the quad fold-down concept they conceived was oversold. It would be great to get a true stereo mix but they didn't seem to want to spend much on any catalog upgrades. I remember being so excited to finally get a DVD of the Manticore TV Special only to be let down by a bad film transfer with scratches and a weak mono soundtrack.

I met Bill Hough (designer of the live quad PA configuration) at the Feb. 21st, 1974 concert and he told me "there's a Scully-Metrotec multi-track back stage recording every show." If that was accurate (and the other shows were engineered well) they should've had several more shows to choose live album tracks instead of using mostly the Anaheim show of Fed. 2nd. Darrell Johnson @ JVC CD-4 Cutting Center (Los Angeles visit) told me personally that he couldn't cut a stable CD-4 master because the quad master tapes "were engineered by chimpanzees." Thus we got only the triple Q8 tape set (with Quadradisc logos), and no quad vinyl version.

Remember those 'From The Manticore Vaults' CD box sets about 15 years ago? The allure of live shows is quickly quashed by the obvious weak bootleg quality throughout. It baffles me how Genesis and especially King Crimson have released tons of great quality live material whereas the same thing from ELP is so scarce. If ELP (the band or it's label at a given moment) was looking to cash in (witness the Manticore Vaults where quality was secondary at best) we would have seen other great live releases years ago. They either don't exist or there just isn't any passion to follow through on it. [Steven Wilson got virtually no input or feedback from the band or management on his ELP 5.1 mixing projects]

We're so far down the road now, there is only a fraction of the interest in the band's catalog these days. Breaks my heart, but the memories of witnessing that show will always be strong.
 
Yes I own a copy of the KBFH and indeed it is better sounding. I'd agree the quad fold-down concept they conceived was oversold. It would be great to get a true stereo mix but they didn't seem to want to spend much on any catalog upgrades. I remember being so excited to finally get a DVD of the Manticore TV Special only to be let down by a bad film transfer with scratches and a weak mono soundtrack.

I met Bill Hough (designer of the live quad PA configuration) at the Feb. 21st, 1974 concert and he told me "there's a Scully-Metrotec multi-track back stage recording every show." If that was accurate (and the other shows were engineered well) they should've had several more shows to choose live album tracks instead of using mostly the Anaheim show of Fed. 2nd. Darrell Johnson @ JVC CD-4 Cutting Center (Los Angeles visit) told me personally that he couldn't cut a stable CD-4 master because the quad master tapes "were engineered by chimpanzees." Thus we got only the triple Q8 tape set (with Quadradisc logos), and no quad vinyl version.

Remember those 'From The Manticore Vaults' CD box sets about 15 years ago? The allure of live shows is quickly quashed by the obvious weak bootleg quality throughout. It baffles me how Genesis and especially King Crimson have released tons of great quality live material whereas the same thing from ELP is so scarce. If ELP (the band or it's label at a given moment) was looking to cash in (witness the Manticore Vaults where quality was secondary at best) we would have seen other great live releases years ago. They either don't exist or there just isn't any passion to follow through on it. [Steven Wilson got virtually no input or feedback from the band or management on his ELP 5.1 mixing projects]

We're so far down the road now, there is only a fraction of the interest in the band's catalog these days. Breaks my heart, but the memories of witnessing that show will always be strong.

(y) Great story!

It has been said, that ELP recorded quite a few concert. (If i remember correctly, Jeremy Bender/The Sheriff was recorded in Germany.) For some reason, very few of those multitracked shows has been released. Heck, even the Milan/Rome show has only ever been released on vinyl - and only as part of a hugely over-expensive box set.

It is a bit weird that the ELP live catalogue is such a mess.
 
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agree, would be nice ( no pun intended ) to see some new ELP material

RIP Keith & Greg

what is Carl Palmer up to these days?

someone should ping him & see if he could get something happening. live concert footage would be great!
 
agree, would be nice ( no pun intended ) to see some new ELP material

RIP Keith & Greg

what is Carl Palmer up to these days?

someone should ping him & see if he could get something happening. live concert footage would be great!
Palmer was touring with his own band....before Covid-19 started
 
Carl Palmer Band (with bass/stick player and a guitarist) - ELP Legacy has been active for years. Caught them in 2017 and he signed a BSS drum head for me.


I have seen Carl's show a couple of times and it's great. He is still playing incredibly well. And his band is excellent. And, like you, I had the pleasure of meeting him!

13411840_1299247876755402_6186133152070912567_o.jpg
 
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