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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #50690 is a reply to message #50246 ] |
Fri, 11 March 2005 07:12   |
WhyKooper
Messages: 91
Registered: June 2004
Location: Los Angeles/Newport |
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Tony Clarke sometimes talks about this stuff on Mike Pinder's site.
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #50873 is a reply to message #50246 ] |
Fri, 11 March 2005 20:48 |
 sharp11
Messages: 37
Registered: October 2004
Location: Connecticut |
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How about the early Elton John records, from say, 1971 (the madman LP), up through 1975 (Captain Fantastic)
These records have wonderful sonic attributes as well as great songs and musicianship. They just sound so fat.
Marvin Gaye's masterpiece from 1971, What's Going On
The Yes Fragile, I can remember sitting in my bedroom as a 14 year old one cold and snowy Saturday in february of 1972 just marveling at the sound of Bruford's snare drum (and all the rest of it).
I also think Joni Mitchell's records from 1973 through 1978 are stunning sonically, that would be Court& Spark, Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, and Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.
I remember George Benson's 1976 Breezin' lp excited a lot of us at Berklee College of Music at the time.
Stevie Wonder's 1979 Power Of Love was a big step up sonically.
Chicago 6 and 7 are fantastic soundind records (even if 5 is perhaps their all time best). They were cut at Carabuo in 1973 and 74.
I can recall a distinctive change in the way records sounded broken down by the following eras I've lived through, roughly:
Around 1965 with Rubber Soul one starts hearing more bass drum and a "richer" sounding bass.
Late 60's, with the advent of volume, records (some) get louder.
Early 70's; you really begin noticing a deadness and isolation cropping up.
By 1983/84, things really change as ambience and the now cliche gated snare make their appearances.
Then it's the sampling and computerized plug-ins generation, where nothing can be allowed to pass through that sounds normal; a drum set must sound like a box of tissues and a box of tissues must be sampled and reconstituted as a guitar and.......well, you get the idea.
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #50991 is a reply to message #50246 ] |
Sat, 12 March 2005 11:02 |
JGreenslade
Messages: 764
Registered: April 2004
Location: UK |
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This is an obvious example, but it surprises me that there seems to be so little info in the public domain relating to Norman Whitfield's studio techniques - particularly those employed on the Temptations, and latterly his own label productions. His use of space on the extended mix of "Runaway child, running wild" blows me away, and most of the productions he was involved with around the late '60s / early '70s sound highly futuristic even by today's standards, with some incredible subtle production touches.
Consul: I believe (may be wrong, I know several Rafferty tracks were made there) the Gerry Rafferty track you refer to was recorded and mixed at Audio International London, in which case it would've been mixed on a unique hybrid Neve / Cadac desk which was personally tweaked by both RN and Clive Green.
Justin
Audio is a vocational affliction
"there is no "homeopathic" effect in bits and bytes." - HansP
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #50996 is a reply to message #50991 ] |
Sat, 12 March 2005 11:21 |
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Bob Olhsson
Messages: 3067
Registered: April 2004
Location: Songwriter Gulch Nashvill... |
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| thermionic wrote on Sat, 12 March 2005 11:02 |
This is an obvious example, but it surprises me that there seems to be so little info in the public domain relating to Norman Whitfield's studio techniques - particularly those employed on the Temptations, and latterly his own label productions...
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I worked with Norman a lot during that period although the main engineer was Orson Lewis who had come to us from Media Sound with a recommendation from Valerie Simpson.
Norman had originally worked with and learned from Brian Holland. After the Hollands, engineer Lawrence Horn and Lamont Dozier left, he inherited the next generation of Motown engineers. Our new boss, Cal Harris, had been hired away from Gold Star and it turns out had interned with Chuck Britz on the Beach Boys. Cal, Joe Atkinson from Atlantic, someone whose name I forget from Chicago and Steve Smith who had worked at Stax reinvented Motown engineering. Larry Miles and I got moved out of the mastering room and into the studio. We were the luckiest people in the world to learn from and be a part of this amazing studio team.
Bob's workroom (615) 385-8051
http://www.hyperback.com
http://womb.mixerman.net
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #51000 is a reply to message #50246 ] |
Sat, 12 March 2005 11:42 |
JGreenslade
Messages: 764
Registered: April 2004
Location: UK |
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| Quote: |
We were the luckiest people in the world to learn from and be a part of this amazing studio team.
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You can say that again! From a technical standpoint, that period between the mid '60s and when the disco sound started to emerge in Whitfiled's production during the '70s constitutes a sonic standard I've yet to see bettered. There were so many deft "touches" in the records.
I guess there could be a curious "parallel" with Stevie Wonder and Whitfield's production - Wonder proved one person could take the place of a whole orchestra, which few could emulate (Bob O. has an interview somewhere on the PSW server talking about this), and influenced the "jack of all trades" syndrome that followed in less capable musicians. Similarly, Whitfield's later productions were pretty near the threshold of "over production", and he proved you could throw hundreds of ideas and touches at an arrangment and it could still gel - today we hear mixes made on DAWs that are pure "ideas and touches", lacking in terms of overall flow and crucially, source material.
I hope the above analogy makes sense!
Justin
Audio is a vocational affliction
"there is no "homeopathic" effect in bits and bytes." - HansP
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #51020 is a reply to message #51004 ] |
Sat, 12 March 2005 14:40 |
JGreenslade
Messages: 764
Registered: April 2004
Location: UK |
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| Bob Olhsson wrote on Sat, 12 March 2005 17:55 |
It wasn't uncommon to do Norman's session in the morning, Stevie's in the afternoon and Rare Earth at night the same day. We had engineering shifts and worked with everybody. Every single one of us was standing on our mentors' and on each other's shoulders.
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As I've commented before, you'll have to reserve me a copy should you decide to write a book!
Cheers,
Justin
Audio is a vocational affliction
"there is no "homeopathic" effect in bits and bytes." - HansP
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #51160 is a reply to message #50246 ] |
Sun, 13 March 2005 08:12 |
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How about "Day After Day" by Badfinger? I liked that one better than "No Matter What" personally. I thought it had better sonics as well.
Darren Landrum
"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic." - Dave Barry
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| Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out [message #51632 is a reply to message #50246 ] |
Tue, 15 March 2005 08:07 |
Kendrix
Messages: 779
Registered: April 2004 |
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One that just popped into my head that I have to add is "Summer in the City" by the Spoonful.
A few of their tunes stand out but this one rises above the rest IMHO. Great imagery in the lyric, good driving tune with good changes and energy. The break down with horns honking coming back into that pounding electric piano riff then exploding into the instrumental section via tom fills is great stuff.
Ken Favata
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Re: Songs from the 60's and 70's, obscure or not, that really stand out
