Herbie Hancock - Secrets ...anyone ever seen it?

[J. PUPSTER]

couple of quick thoughts occurred..

why fake it in the first place?

did Hancock have to release it in Quad to fulfill some contractual obligation?
.. but then how could that be because they skipped Man-Child in Quad in '75, why bother faking Secrets in Quad in '76 at all if they didn't have to release it in Quad?

not sure i'm totally sold on the studio time expense angle? i have a recollection reading Catero had his own studio in San Francisco kitted out for Quad? if that was the case would there really have been greatly added expense?

there's also consideration of Catero's reputation to uphold, why would an engineer of such repute put his rep on the line and fake it and put his name to it as he did on the Secrets SQ LP which credits him as Quad Remix Engineer? half-assed fakery something to be proud of when he'd done so much great work? i think not!

also, maybe i'm being naive but i doubt CBS would've been very happy at such fakery, even though the writing was on the wall and other labels had given up the ghost, Columbia were still doing real Quad mixes throughout the following year in '77 (quite a few as we know!) and yet CBS didn't throw in the towel til the fat lady sang her Musicmagic! hmm...
something smells fishy!

Do I need to put my gas mask on; I know, I'll just spin some Quad funk ta get the stank out!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

It is really a special "Treat" to have you share your extensive knowledge with us steelydave. I admit it's been awhile since I listened critically to some of these Santana Quads; but I do remember liking Welcome more so than Borboletta, which if I'm remembering correctly sounded a little too wet for my liking. I do own quit a few of the Dutton Vocalion releases including Illuminations; and it's safe to say the majority of the QQ'ers here love what D.V. is doing for our hobby and look forward to support their upcoming releases.

Just another - "Character Building Exercise"
I listened to Borboletta and Amigos today, and Borboletta did not sound that "wet" like I thought. I believe I had confused it with Amigos. On Amigos some songs did sound a little too wet for me, especially "Europa" (one of my favorite Santana songs unfortunately.) Whether that was a choice by Carlos to have that much reverb on his guitar during the performance, or a mixing add on, I don't know. Ultimately, what I'd really like is to have is for Moonflower, which is my most beloved Santana album, to be remixed in surround. Most of that album is live; but IMO it is some of the most passionate and powerful performances I've heard from the Santana band.

 

[sjcorne]

Just another - "Character Building Exercise"
I listened to Borboletta and Amigos today, and Borboletta did not sound that "wet" like I thought. I believe I had confused it with Amigos. On Amigos some songs did sound a little too wet for me, especially "Europa" (one of my favorite Santana songs unfortunately.) Whether that was a choice by Carlos to have that much reverb on his guitar during the performance, or a mixing add on, I don't know. Ultimately, what I'd really like is to have is for Moonflower, which is my most beloved Santana album, to be remixed in surround. Most of that album is live; but IMO it is some of the most passionate and powerful performances I've heard from the Santana band.

Nice observations. Amigos appears to be just another one of those faked CBS quads with the "clang-clang" reverb.

Moonflower unfortunately came just too late for the Columbia quad program. Return To Forever's Musicmagic, the last popular Columbia quad title, had the catalog no. 34682. Moonflower was 34914.

 

[Quad Linda]

Bought Secrets SQ upon release. Bought all Santana surrounds upon release.

IMHO, CBS and RCA were likely trying to keep their respective vinyl Quad formats afloat. Dwindling sales make supporting discrete mixes financially unattractive. I believe that was the impetus.

BTW: I worked for another division of CBS beginning in '78.

 

[Colin London]

I hope Secrets 1976 Herbie Hancock comes out on a Sony 4 channel SACD
By Sony Japan or the UK watford Vocalion group.

 

[newslane]

I hope Secrets 1976 Herbie Hancock comes out on a Sony 4 channel SACD
By Sony Japan or the UK watford Vocalion group.

It would also be nice to see Crossings in multichannel.

 

[RustyM]