NEW Surround SACDs from Dutton Vocalion (December 2017)

[GOS]

hahaha Adam..... Doc said to be patient. He would say that wouldn't he?

 

[fredblue]

hahaha Adam..... Doc said to be patient. He would say that wouldn't he?

who wouldn't mind "just hangin' around" with Percy Faith or "Hangin' Out" with Henry Mancini..!?

speaking of which there's a Mancini Quad that DV haven't done yet ("Hanging Out")
maybe they did it on CD already? though that hasn't stopped Dutton Vocalion from revisiting Symphonic Soul, which they already released previously on redbook.. now they are doing it all over again in fabulous MultiChannel..!! wowzers! :yikes

 

[GOS]

who wouldn't mind "just hangin' around" with Percy Faith or "Hangin' Out" with Henry Mancini..!?

speaking of which there's a Mancini Quad that DV haven't done yet ("Hanging Out")
maybe they did it on CD already? though that hasn't stopped Dutton Vocalion from revisiting Symphonic Soul, which they already released previously on redbook.. now they are doing it all over again in fabulous MultiChannel..!! wowzers! :yikes

lol! Yep. Well, I put 5 of these titles in my cart and the total is something like $102 or something. I have spent SO much money lately...I'm just going to admire them in my cart a few days and wait for a Cabernet induced weak moment. @:

 

[4-earredwonder]

who wouldn't mind "just hangin' around" with Percy Faith or "Hangin' Out" with Henry Mancini..!?

speaking of which there's a Mancini Quad that DV haven't done yet ("Hanging Out")
maybe they did it on CD already? though that hasn't stopped Dutton Vocalion from revisiting Symphonic Soul, which they already released previously on redbook.. now they are doing it all over again in fabulous MultiChannel..!! wowzers! :yikes

I have to admit, Adam, that Symphonic Soul was always a favorite. My VERY favorite Percy Faith LP was always the unabashedly romantic BOUQUET. https://www.bing.com/images/search?...41&qpvt=percy+faith+bouquet+photos&ajaxhist=0

But thanks for clearing up the DOC issue.....Wow, THREE albums on one SACD. D~V must've used lube to squeeze that much onto one itty bitty SACD. Talk about VALUE!

 

[fredblue]

I have to admit, Adam, that Symphonic Soul was always a favorite. My VERY favorite Percy Faith LP was always the unabashedly romantic BOUQUET.

But thanks for clearing up the DOC issue.....Wow, THREE albums on one SACD. D~V must've used lube to squeeze that much onto one itty bitty SACD. Talk about VALUE!

great minds think alike! I'm so thrilled DV are revisiting Symphonic Soul including the Quad this time, as the mix is an utter delight and I think once more people hear it in Surround it will become a firm favourite at QQ.

I don't know how DV do it, could be lube.. could be voodoo mind tricks! I'm hoping its not lube, I don't want any sticky stuff on my discs.. although I know you like slapping the polish on your discs from time to time, "you're a better man than me, Gunga Din!" (or whatever the expression is!)

 

[4-earredwonder]

lol! Yep. Well, I put 5 of these titles in my cart and the total is something like $102 or something. I have spent SO much money lately...I'm just going to admire them in my cart a few days and wait for a Cabernet induced weak moment. @:

By then, Gene, they'll raise the price to £12.99:yikes

 

[fredblue]

I have to admit, Adam, that Symphonic Soul was always a favorite. My VERY favorite Percy Faith LP was always the unabashedly romantic BOUQUET. https://www.bing.com/images/search?...41&qpvt=percy+faith+bouquet+photos&ajaxhist=0

But thanks for clearing up the DOC issue.....Wow, THREE albums on one SACD. D~V must've used lube to squeeze that much onto one itty bitty SACD. Talk about VALUE!

I owe you an apology Ralph!

you were right all along its only 2 albums, not 3.

The Surround one is from a Quad called Rhapsody For Now, which has as its Side 2 "Rhapsody For Then"..
the other one is Stereo only.
how confusing! (to me anyway! )

 

[Ninecats]

Very impressive, I have so much respect for this hard working label. I will buy at least four of these. Thanks for the info Fred!

 

[bmoura]

oh dear God..!! i'm so happy i could weep..!!! :banana:

incoming ROCKET MAN Quad..!!!! this one is a hoot in Surround..!! :worthy

Hugo Montenegro tribute to Elton John...!!!! :wave

https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CDSML8536

Hugo's Rocket Man finishes up his essential Quads.
Nice.

 

[bmoura]

I imagine there may well be more Floyd Cramer, Doc Severinsen, Chet Atkins Quads in the vaults.

I'm sure there are more.
Sony Music does a fine job at cataloging and keeping their albums available for reissue on SACD.

Surprised that D/V hasn't released Floyd Cramer's Piano Masterpieces or Johnny Mathis' I'm Coming Home on Surround Sound SACD.
Maybe those are still to come.

Overall, a big thumbs up from me on this batch of Surround Sound SACDs.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I'm sure there is.
Sony Music does a fine job at cataloging and keeping their albums available for reissue on SACD.

Surprised that D/V hasn't released Floyd Cramer's Piano Masterpieces or Johnny Mathis' I'm Coming Home on Surround Sound SACD.
Maybe those are still to come.

Overall, a big thumbs up from me on this batch of Surround Sound SACDs.

Even though I did order all eight upcoming D~V SACD QUAD releases, I think it would be in D~V's best interest if they want to attract a majority of QQ posters, to perhaps shake things up a bit with some more upbeat future releases.

Thinking way back to the original QUAD rollout in the early 70's, I think the majors miscalculated their base who might've signed on to QUAD had the releases been more oriented towards 18-30 year olds instead of assuming that the plethora of easy listening releases would've attracted the deeper pocketed 50~70 year olds.

The youth of today are extremely tech oriented but would, IMO, hardly be attracted to a lot of the surround releases being offered today. We still need more of a diversity and some #1 albums to remotely make a dent if surround is going to survive.

And while this onslaught of pricey boxsets which include a 5.1 release might appeal to some, the absence of stand alone 5.1 releases is, IMO, VERY counterproductive to the cause.

Last week during the BLACK Friday blitz, one could purchase a very respectable SONY X~800 UHD 4K Universal player for $138 [list $300] which by my calculations was less than $20 more than some of these individual boxsets. Kind of silly if you really think about it.

 

[steelydave]

Thanks to FredBlue for spreading the word about these releases - I know this stuff isn't to everyone's taste, but there's a really varied slate of titles here and I think at least a couple of them might interest even the most cheese-phobic of QQ's readership. I thought I'd chime in with a couple of thoughts and observations on these for people who might be interested in, or on the fence about buying any of these.

Doc Severinsen - Rhapsody For Now! (1973) & Doc (1972)
I actually did the liner notes for this one - it's a shorter-length note than my usual ones, but I'm proud of it because in the booklet it sits right next to the original sleeve note that was written by Leonard Feather, one of the most respected jazz critics of the last 50 years. Rhapsody For Now! is a real rarity in quad as well, it was only released in Canada on Q8 and in japan on CD-4 LP. I've only seen a handful of the Q8's in my time collecting, and none of the LPs. The album is arranged in to two side-long suites, Rhapsody For Now! is music that was current at the time (ie early 70's) and Rhapsody for Then is a suite of pop tunes from the 60s. Some of it is slightly dated, but it's a fun album - unlike the two Mancini/Severinsen albums, which were all ballads (and a pretty sedate affair), Rhapsody For Now! is much more challenging, upbeat affair.

Chet Atkins - Super Pickers (1973) & Picks The Best (1967)
Superpickers is a really fun album, it's Chet Atkins with a whole bunch of Nashville studio musicians basically having a country picking showdown, so there's a lot more flash and technique on display than your average easy listening album. Picks The Best, I have to assume RCA did this one for quad because it won a Grammy in 1968 for best pop instrumental performance.

Ray Conniff - Love Theme From The Godfather (1972) & Alone Again (Naturally) (1972)
Ray Conniff - TV Themes (1976) & Send In The Clowns (1976)
I think I've said elsewhere that Ray Conniff's albums are probably my least favourite of the easy listening quads, but the TV Themes album is probably my favourite of the bunch. As Adam said, the Theme From SWAT is probably worth the price of admission, and there's something amazing about how preposterous it is that stuff like the themes from Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, MASH and Laverne & Shirley actually exist in quad. Both quad mixes were done by Dick Bogert so sound quality and instrument placement are really good. It's also worth mentioning (if you care about such things) that these were the last two quads that Conniff did for Columbia, and they're really tough to find - as Adam said he had to resort to a New Zealand pressing of Send In The Clowns in order to get his hands on it, and the TV Themes album is just as tough to find. Send in the Clowns never had a Q8 release either, so this is the first time the quad mix is being heard in discrete form.

Floyd Cramer - With The Music City Pops (1970) & In Concert (1974)
Not much to say about this one, but the Music City Pops album was part of RCA's early 'PQ8' series of tapes, so it had no quad LP release, and the tape itself is a tough one to find.

Percy Faith - Clair (1973) & Joy (1972)
I think Adam will back me up on this one as well, Clair is one of the best of all of the Percy Faith quads - his version of the 2001 theme on here is great, as are the covers of Summer Breeze and Super Fly. I also really like the 'Classical Gas' style arrangement of Duelling Banjos on this one. The quad mix of Clair was done by Jim Hobson (who also did a couple of the Mystic Moods quad mixes) which should give you an idea of how immersive it is.

Henry Mancini - Symphonic Soul (1975) & Return of the Pink Panther OST (1975)
I am absolutely over the moon about this one, Symphonic Soul for me is the very best of the best easy listening quad that ever came out. I'd hesitate to even call this 'easy listening' as it's more like what its title implies, a symphony playing soul music. The band Mancini uses on this album is full of some of the best jazz-funk-R&B players of the 70s, including Harvey Mason from the Headhunters on drums, Abe Laboriel on bass, Joe Sample from the Crusaders on keyboards, and Lee Ritenour and David T. Walker on guitar. D-V have already put this album out before on CD, so I really appreciate them taking the chance and double-dipping on this one to get the quad version out there. I encourage people to look up some of the tracks from this album on Youtube - the remake of Lujon is amazing, as are his covers of Butterfly and Sun Goddess. I'm also really excited about the fact that the Pink Panther soundtrack is the other half of this release, because of all the film scoring work Mancini did, this is one of only two of his soundtracks that were mixed for quad. Many people on other sites who sneer at these releases often like to bring up the fact that Mancini's real greatness lay in his film scores - I hope this release (which includes one of his classic themes in the main Pink Panther theme) will go some ways toward shutting that faction up.

Hugo Montenegro - Rocket Man (1975) & Mammy Blue (1971)
As sjcorne said, how crazy is it that the release of this disc means that all the Montenegro quad studio albums have been re-released on SACD? I love Rocket Man, and if you have the 'Others By Brothers' disc you'll know what to expect in terms of sound because the musicians are mostly all the same. The one main difference is that Jim Gordon (a real powerhouse drummer who played with Derek & The Dominos and Steely Dan amongst many others) plays drums on Rocket Man. You also get Motown bass legend James Jamerson (admittedly during his wayward years, but still) on bass, and Larry Carlton on guitar. This was the last album Montenegro did for RCA and it's much tougher to find on Q8 and LP than most of his others, and it never had a QR release so this SACD will be a welcome sonic upgrade. Mammy Blue was the first full length studio album that he did for RCA (his only quad release before that was his greatest hits album) and because it came out in 1971 it was only available on Q8 and QR, as RCA was still a year or so away from perfecting the Quadradisc. It's another one that's tough to find - for some reason tapes from the PQ8 series that weren't part of the initial December 1970 release (ie everything after PQ8-1613) are much tougher to find than the earlier ones. I've also seen the quad reel of this album go for triple digits on eBay so I'm really happy that people will be able to hear it at non-wallet busting prices.

 

[ubertrout]

Even though I did order all eight upcoming D~V SACD QUAD releases, I think it would be in D~V's best interest if they want to attract a majority of QQ posters, to perhaps shake things up a bit with some more upbeat future releases.

Thinking way back to the original QUAD rollout in the early 70's, I think the majors miscalculated their base who might've signed on to QUAD had the releases been more oriented towards 18-30 year olds instead of assuming that the plethora of easy listening releases would've attracted the deeper pocketed 50~70 year olds.

The youth of today are extremely tech oriented but would, IMO, hardly be attracted to a lot of the surround releases being offered today. We still need more of a diversity and some #1 albums to remotely make a dent if surround is going to survive.

And while this onslaught of pricey boxsets which include a 5.1 release might appeal to some, the absence of stand alone 5.1 releases is, IMO, VERY counterproductive to the cause.

Last week during the BLACK Friday blitz, one could purchase a very respectable SONY X~800 UHD 4K Universal player for $138 [list $300] which by my calculations was less than $20 more than some of these individual boxsets. Kind of silly if you really think about it.

I'm very wary of this line of thinking...I think Dutton has found a way to get material released and hopefully make money by focusing on obscure and unfashionable materials (and classical, which is perpetually in that category I suppose). But that's their thing - they started with British dance bands, and their catalog has always been a mix of easy listening and classical, with almost no stuff in the more popular genres. They went a little into more popular fare with one slate of releases so far, but even that was pretty obscure stuff that's not in high demand. I think the company thrives by staying on the margins and not paying the fees and waiting for the permissions they'd need for material with a strong current audience, and I'm reluctant to urge them to mess with that formula.

So, focusing on obscure music is one way to get quad material out - it's something Pentatone has done succesfully as well, focusing exclusively on classical. A second way seems to be artist-driven releases, which have been the majority all surround releases in the rock arena. This seems to be a viable route, but only if the original artists are interested.

A final way is using a traditional reissue methodology like AP's or AF's for quad as well as stereo. But it's been tried a few times and seems to peter out each time. Instead of asking for more rock from Dutton, I think energy would be better spend trying to encourage bands to allow their 70s quad work to be reissued properly.

 

[4-earredwonder]

I'm very wary of this line of thinking...I think Dutton has found a way to get material released and hopefully make money by focusing on obscure and unfashionable materials (and classical, which is perpetually in that category I suppose). But that's their thing - they started with British dance bands, and their catalog has always been a mix of easy listening and classical, with almost no stuff in the more popular genres. They went a little into more popular fare with one slate of releases so far, but even that was pretty obscure stuff that's not in high demand. I think the company thrives by staying on the margins and not paying the fees and waiting for the permissions they'd need for material with a strong current audience, and I'm reluctant to urge them to mess with that formula.

So, focusing on obscure music is one way to get quad material out - it's something Pentatone has done succesfully as well, focusing exclusively on classical. A second way seems to be artist-driven releases, which have been the majority all surround releases in the rock arena. This seems to be a viable route, but only if the original artists are interested.

A final way is using a traditional reissue methodology like AP's or AF's for quad as well as stereo. But it's been tried a few times and seems to peter out each time. Instead of asking for more rock from Dutton, I think energy would be better spend trying to encourage bands to allow their 70s quad work to be reissued properly.

Ubertrout, I'm still wading through D~V's latest Classical QUAD SACDs and I think they're pretty magnificent and hopefully, D~V will continue releasing those oldie but supremely goody QUAD classical titles. I fully realize D~V is first and foremost a reissue label of older easy listening, jazz and big band titles but we are at the end of the physical disc era [five years, perhaps] and the U.S. reissue labels have NO intentions of releasing the more popular rock and jazz QUAD titles so if D~V were to veer off into territory outside their normal comfort zone I think it could work and be a win~win situation for all concerned.

And keep in mind, D~V has released MORE QUAD SACD titles in the last two years than all the U.S. reissue companies combined in the last 10. IMO, they're our last bastion of hope to realize the release of more popular fare as I'm sure it would sell well and they're all limited editions so the risk is minimized.

And listening to these older Classical RCA/Columbia QUAD titles has left me pondering even more why labels BIS, Pentatone, Chandos, etc. continue to utilize the rears for ambience only when they could judiciously utilize them to literally fill the listening space with SO MUCH MORE.

 

[jwb474]

Hugo's Rocket Man finishes up his essential Quads.
Nice.

Amen that that, but lets not through these titles under the bus, would love to have them too:

Best. RCA EPQ1-1591-QF (DQR), PQ8-1591 (Q8), PQ8-1591 (Q8)
Caravan. RCA R4P-5082 (CD4)
Dawn Of Dylan. Romulus RQ-5013 (Q8)
Fantastic Screen Themes Best 12. RCA R4P-5045 (CD4)
Hugo Montenegro. RCA APD1-0025 (CD4) [Italy], APDT-0025 (Q8)
Italian Western Screen Themes. RCA R4P-5063 (CD4) [Japan]

and while we are at it, lets get these Mancini's out:

Best. RCA EPQ1-1128-QF (DQR), PQ8-1128 (Q8)
Best Vol. 2. RCA EPQ1-1315-QF (DQR), PQ8-1315 (Q8)
The Concert Sound Of. RCA PQ8-1226 (Q8), APDT-1226 (Q8) [Italy]
Hangin' Out. RCA APD1-0672 (CD4), APT1-0672 (Q8)
Live In Japan. RCA R4P-5017 (CD4) [Japan]
Mancini Salutes Sousa. RCA APD1-0013 (CD4), EPQ1-0013-QF (DQR),
APT1-0013 (Q8), R4P-5037 (CD4) [Japan]
Original Screen Hits. RCA R4P-5066 (CD4) [Japan]
Screen Best. RCA R4P-5033 (CD4) [Japan]
Theme from "Z" & Other Film Music. RCA EPQA-4350-QF (DQR),
PQ8-1583 (Q8), R4P-5003 (CD4) [Japan], PQ8-1583 (Q8) [Italy]


My source is of course Mark's Quadraphonic Discography.

 

[steelydave]

Oh, I also meant to add that the reason the Doc Severinsen disc has a stereo album ('Doc') in addition to the quad 'Rhapsody For Now!' is that there are no other quad Severinsen albums on RCA. His other two quad albums for RCA were the 'Brass & Ivory' collaborations with Mancini, which were released as a 2fer by D-V a couple of years ago.

Severinsen recorded three solo albums for RCA, of which 'Doc' (1972) and 'Rhapsody' (1973) are the final two. So the option was a disc with just 'Rhapsody' on it, or a disc with 'Rhapsody' and 'Doc' as a stereo-only bonus, for the same price - I think you'll agree the latter is preferable. It's also worth noting (if you care about stereo at all) that this will be the first time the 'Doc' album has been digitally available in any form.

 

[bmoura]

Amen that that, but lets not through these titles under the bus, would love to have them too:

Best. RCA EPQ1-1591-QF (DQR), PQ8-1591 (Q8), PQ8-1591 (Q8)
Caravan. RCA R4P-5082 (CD4)
Dawn Of Dylan. Romulus RQ-5013 (Q8)
Fantastic Screen Themes Best 12. RCA R4P-5045 (CD4)
Hugo Montenegro. RCA APD1-0025 (CD4) [Italy], APDT-0025 (Q8)
Italian Western Screen Themes. RCA R4P-5063 (CD4) [Japan]

and while we are at it, lets get these Mancini's out:

Best. RCA EPQ1-1128-QF (DQR), PQ8-1128 (Q8)
Best Vol. 2. RCA EPQ1-1315-QF (DQR), PQ8-1315 (Q8)
The Concert Sound Of. RCA PQ8-1226 (Q8), APDT-1226 (Q8) [Italy]
Hangin' Out. RCA APD1-0672 (CD4), APT1-0672 (Q8)
Live In Japan. RCA R4P-5017 (CD4) [Japan]
Mancini Salutes Sousa. RCA APD1-0013 (CD4), EPQ1-0013-QF (DQR),
APT1-0013 (Q8), R4P-5037 (CD4) [Japan]
Original Screen Hits. RCA R4P-5066 (CD4) [Japan]
Screen Best. RCA R4P-5033 (CD4) [Japan]
Theme from "Z" & Other Film Music. RCA EPQA-4350-QF (DQR),
PQ8-1583 (Q8), R4P-5003 (CD4) [Japan], PQ8-1583 (Q8) [Italy]
Warm Shade of Ivory. RCA PQ8-1441 (Q8), R4P-5010 (CD4) [Japan]

My source is of course Mark's Quadraphonic Discography.

I agree. In fact, I sent in more of the Mancini Quads to Vocalion as suggested titles - along with some of the ones coming out in this batch (Symphonic Soul, Revenge of Pink Panther, Superpickers, Hugo's Rocket Man)
Mancini Salutes Sousa would be a kick as a Surround Sound SACD. Love that one.

On Hugo Montenegro, the movie theme albums from Italy and Japan would be intriguing.
Not previously available in the US market, even in the Quad era.

And Mark's Quad Discography is familiar. I was one of the authors of the original Quad Incorporated catalog that it is based on!
Back in the '70s. (Showing how long I've been a Surround fan).

 

[steelydave]

Those Japanese CD4's with titles like 'Screen Themes' and 'Screen Best' etc. are just compilations of soundtrack material culled from other quad albums. None of them have any new or exclusive material. I don't think 'Italian Western Screen Themes' (R4P-5063) is even a Montenegro album, it's a various artists comp of Western themes in CD-4 and has a few Montenegro tracks (presumably from the Fistful Of Dollars quad). There's another volume of those just called 'Western Screen Themes' (R4P-5064) that's listed in the anthology/sampler section of Mark's quad discography. I think the only one that's unique to Japan is the Mancini Live In Japan album. The Montenegro title called 'Caravan' (R4P-5082) is the Japanese version of 'Others By Brothers', retitled for that market.

 

[jwb474]

I agree. In fact, I sent in more of the Mancini Quads to Vocalion as suggested titles - along with some of the ones coming out in this batch (Symphonic Soul, Revenge of Pink Panther, Superpickers, Hugo's Rocket Man)
Mancini Salutes Sousa would be a kick as a Surround Sound SACD. Love that one.

Mancini Salutes Sousa is one of my favorites and most often go to discs and tapes. I got multiple copies of the CD4, Q4 and Q8. If the CD4 demod can track the crescendos I know I am set up pretty good.
I would love to see at Vol 1 of the "Best Of" because of so many iconic Mancini tunes. One of my favorite Q4s. Still on the look out for Vol. 2 Thats one title I would bid higher than normal on Ebay.

 

[jwb474]

Those Japanese CD4's with titles like 'Screen Themes' and 'Screen Best' etc. are just compilations of soundtrack material culled from other quad albums. None of them have any new or exclusive material. I don't think 'Italian Western Screen Themes' (R4P-5063) is even a Montenegro album, it's a various artists comp of Western themes in CD-4 and has a few Montenegro tracks (presumably from the Fistful Of Dollars quad). There's another volume of those just called 'Western Screen Themes' (R4P-5064) that's listed in the anthology/sampler section of Mark's quad discography. I think the only one that's unique to Japan is the Mancini Live In Japan album. The Montenegro title called 'Caravan' (R4P-5082) is the Japanese version of 'Others By Brothers', retitled for that market.

Yea, there is a lot of repackaging for other markets and renaming albums for marketing reasons. I have a couple of Mystic Moods titles that were renamed. The Q4 title "Clear Light" was renamed to "The Bright Side of the Moon" for the DTS CD and the Q4 title "Awakening" was renamed "Cosmic Force" for the DTS CD too.