The Smiley Smile Message Board

I've been recently reading some rumours on the internet about Steve Hoffman being fired from MCA in the 1980s for "misplacing" some Buddy Holly master tapes.
I followed it up a bit, trawled some forums and read some more stuff - turns out there's some suspicions about some Roy Orbinson and Tom Petty master tapes too.

Now I was wondering; the Pet Sounds master tapes are missing at the moment. They've been missing since about 1994 is it? Not too long after Steve Hoffman mastered this album. I wonder if there is any link.

Go to the talk page on the Steve Hoffman Wikipedia page for references.

That is one daring theory, Sir! So mr. Hoffmann is, um, collecting pop history?
By the way, I did not know that the master tape of Pet Sounds is missing. That is most shocking. But how could Mark Linett remaster the album in 2001 then for the version that landed on my 'fuzzy cover' 40th anniversary edition?

The original masters are missing, and have been for some time. Everyone's been using safety masters of varying generations.

Thank you again, mr. Doe. Still, it seems unnatural to let a vintage pop artefact like the original master tapes for a legendary album go AWOL. There should be a law against it.

True, but did Hoffman have access to the original master tape?

Fuzzy cover: The 40th Anniversary version was made using a 1988 DAT copy of the original master tape.

According to a recent post by Lee Dempsey, "The DCC release of PS used the same LA master in 1991 (“they lent it to us for about two hours, we made one digital and one analogue transfer and the tape was messenger-ed back to Capitol”)", then the LA mater went missing around 1992.

Does seem very coincidental that all those other masters also went missing following Hoffman's possesion of them.  Maybe there's a crooked messenger out there?  Didn't Bob Dylan write a song on this topic ("The Wicked Messenger")?

Either Hoffman has cajones the size of Jupiter or he's being railroaded. Isn't he about to Re-Remaster PS again? Might be a good time to drop in on him...

Yes it is. Doesn't make any sense.
What master is he going to use?

Probably one of the copies of the L.A. master (either analog or digital) that he made in 1991.
Or the actual L.A. original master, if indeed he still has it.   >:D

I have a dumb question. Are Steve Hoffman's remasterings legitimate reissues commissioned by the labels that own the masters? Or does Hoffman like to remaster stuff just for the hell of it?

I can't believe that he just remasters stuff without consent. Although it would make a good movie: a serial remasterer steals original tapes here and there and does what he wants to do with them. Then, after having experienced orgasm whilst listening to his achievements, he burns the master tapes. I think I will phone Kevin Spacey now.

His remastering is commissioned by the companies concerned - as he stated re: one PS remaster, Capitol couriered the tape to him for two hours, during which time he made one digital and one analog copy, then the courier took the tape back.

One aspect of his work I found disturbing is the tinkering he did to "GV" on one project - the song has a slightly different fade, and when asked why he said that he spliced the ending on... or in other words, he messed with the original master as approved by Brian. That's fucking with history (and there's no notation on the reissue to say this), and from someone of his stature, I'd expect better.

I'm surprised you're not getting hate mail from his legions of fans!   >:D

He he. This joke I get. Once I was at a website where some funny guys not only linked to the more, shall I say, obsessed threads in the Hoffman forums, but they also became 'moles' once in a while. A particularly funny instance was when someone proposed in a Led Zep thread that this band might possibly have used blues song structures that were present in American music for very long, e.g. Robert Johnson. He got banned after writing such an immodest and hurtful accusation.
Another Hoffman classic is the ever-returning 'I won't let my wife near my hi-fi' subject. It could interest psychologists for the rest of their lives.

I'm surprised there isn't a thread about this thread over on his board.  When I first saw King's comments I could imagine lawyers rubbing their grubby little hands in glee.  By the way the best version of anything in the whole wide world is the one mastered by Steve  ;)

Yes. Wot he said. Steve H. is the best remasterer, and the most likeable, and the most generous, and the most knowledgeable, and the most honest, and the most potent person in the world, not to mention his superb capacities in the fine arts, in calligraphy, in architecture, in cookery, in writing, in maths, in physics, and in classical languages.
He also invented the internet, contrary to popular opinion.

There's actually a message board dedicated to "hatin" on the Hoffman:
http://stereocentral.tv/phpbb/index.php

Some of it's pretty hilarious, although they seem to obsess about hating Hoffman as much as the Hoffmanites love him.

I will say that he is a superb mastering engineer though. His Pet Sounds is the best CD version, likewise most if not all of his remasterings sound better than the alternatives.... that's because no one else has access to the orginal masters because Hoffman nicked 'em!

Disclaimer - Steve Hoffman did not nick any masters.

Wow...where was that version of "GV" released?  Sounds distrubing, indeed!

Was it on a remaster of ENDLESS SUMMER? I don't remember myself, but what Hoffman did was extend the fade on GV by using a portion of the sessions included on SMILEY SMILE CD release. It does make me uncomfortable that he would do this without adding a disclaimer to the release, but I would agree that the original fade is far too brief!

Hmmm.  I do find that disturbing, considering that the Church of Hoffman preaches that you don't mess with history.  Stereo remixing, eq, and any slight bit of NR are SINS!!   I've argued before that if you want something that close to the original release, why not just get the original release (the vinyl)?

My disclaimer: Not a Hoffman hater, I have a lot of respect for him; I just don't agree with all the commandments...er I mean rules.

The intro to Wouldn't It Be Nice was remixed from the multis for both the 1990 (single CD) and the 1997 (box set) Capitol release of the Pet Sounds mono mix. Messin' with history, in my opinion. By the way, All Summer Long on the Hoffman mastered "Endless Summer" CD is a complete remix in mono.

You don't know what you are talking about. Many of of the Steve Hoffman mastered releases were remixes:
Nat King Cole - Greatest Hits
Nat King Cole - The Very Thought Of You
Jazz Samba
several Ray Charles compilations
The song All Summer Long on the Endless Summer Gold CD
Most songs on the Chuck Berry rarities CDs

Several songs on the (superb sounding) Bad Company Gold CD have added intros or count-ins from the session tapes.
He also asked to do a Pet Sounds stereo remix in 1992 or 1993, but it was denied by Brian.

The Gorts are watching...  :lol

Dumb question - which version (year of CD release) are you talking about?

The DCC version. 1993.

The good Vibrations track where Steve extended the fade is from the DCC Endless Summer CD - and he asked Brian's permission to do it and got it.  I think it's cool to have another slight variation on GV out there - the original fade was pretty abrupt - but I agree it's a little counter to Steve's usual position of trying to stay faithful to the original vinyl or master tape version.

The idea that Steve took the master tape is far fetched IMO - Capitol would know if they lent it to him for a couple of hours if it didn't come back.  Besides, he could just make a copy of it - which he did for the vinyl and digital DCC - so why would he steal it and thereby threaten his livelihood - do you think if he was know to steal mastertapes that anyone would ever send him another?  This was at a time when he was very busy with DCC issuing gold CD's of master tapes - Dylan, McCartney, Wings, etc.  He'd risk that to take a mastertape?  I highly doubt it.

The idea is pure nonsense, but it makes an interesting story on internet forums, I guess.

From Steve Hoffman to me:

Hi Bob,

For the record, (heh, pun), Capitol checked out the analog master of PET SOUNDS and the New York safety dub as well for two hours on a Wednesday in 1992. At that time we made a flat 30 ips 1/2" non-Dolby analog tape copy and a digital Sony 1630-U-Matic flat copy. It took two hours and 15 minutes (looking at my old notes) to do the transfers to my liking (using an Ampex ATR-100-2 analog playback machine) and then the tapes were called back to Capitol that afternoon.

I used the U-matic (cloned over with proper pauses and two edits) to make the DCC Gold CD and a year or so later I used the 30 ips flat copy with the first song from the safety edited on to cut the LP lacquer at Location Recording Service in Burbank, CA with Kevin Gray. The set was spoiled in plating (accident) and we had to recut two weeks later. The late Greg Tobin processed the LP metal and made the final stampers for RTI to use in pressing the LP.


When we wanted to do the PET SOUNDS DCC LP we contacted Capitol for the tape. A little bird told me that the songs were cut down and stored on separate reels that housed the 45 versions and safeties for singles, the so-called "S" reels. Just like with Sinatra's SONGS FOR SWINGING LOVERS, the original album tape was broken down and each song stored on a different reel with a bunch of other stuff and marked in a series of books called the "S" books. When they moved the vault out of LA the DESTROYED all of the paperwork so now no one has a clue as to what is on any of those hundreds of "S" reels. I believe that PET SOUNDS is all on there somewhere, just not in any order.

I doubt it went missing, some goof just misfiled it or the BB's got hold of it. At any rate we offered Capitol our dubs several times but they really didn't care at all. Maybe we talked to the wrong person. Personally I would have used the NY copy instead of a 1630 to make the new disc; better resolution on the NY tape than an old U-matic. That's just me..

Sounds like the U-matic tape will be used to make the new Audio Fidelity version? 

might they use the analog master for a future LP?

THE BEACH BOYS
Pet Sounds
24Karat Gold CD (AFZ031)
$29.99 – Numbered Editions
 Wouldn't It Be Nice
You Still Believe In Me
That's Not Me
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
I'm Waiting For The Day
Let's Go Away For Awhile
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
I Know There's An Answer
Here Today
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Pet Sounds
Caroline, No
Hang On To Your Ego
 
One of the most acclaimed and influential albums of all time.  Recorded in 1965-66 and released in May of 1966, “Pet Sounds” is forever battling with the Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band” for the best album ever recorded.  George Martin, the Beatles’ producer, stated that “Without Pet Sounds, Sergeant Pepper wouldn’t have ever happened.”  “Pet Sounds” is Brian Wilson’s timeless gift to the world.   The album includes “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “Sloop John B.”, “God Only Knows”, “Caroline No” and other classics tracks as well as the Bonus Track, “Hang On To Your Ego”.   Audio Fidelity is using the original analog 1966 mix by Brian Wilson for the purest sound in 24 Karat Gold.  Faithful to the original release in all respects, this new version will be the ultimate PET SOUNDS. This disc has been mastered by Steve Hoffman.
 

That still doesn't tell us what the source is, the U-matic digital transfer of the original analog tape or the analog tape copy.  I wonder if Steve will "tweak" the sound of this release - he's expressed reservations in the past about not shaving off some of the bass from the DCC CD release.

The picture accompanying the above blurb also states 'From the original master tapes'.
http://www.audiofidelity.net/upcoming_releases.html

I will purchase the new AF Pet Sounds Gold CD. I would like to have #00001. And I hereby retract any ironical, cynical, critical, or otherwise non-devotional remark about Steve Hoffmann I ever made, make, or will make.

Posted by Steve Hoffman today on the forums:  (he is apparently using his anaolgue tape copy of the master tape to master this new release)

Mastering BEACH BOYS "Pet Sounds" again, leaving the "2 db step fades" intact...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I'm working on PET SOUNDS again and it's been a long time since I've played the album from start to finish. I've enjoyed hearing it again in order and I am picking up on stuff on the original mixes that I have not heard before, the subtle stuff that is buried but nonetheless audible when listening on a high quality playback system. Let's face it, this album will never, but never be a sonic masterpiece but it is one of the greatest albums ever made so we must take it at face value. Since Brian Wilson worked so hard on it, what is on the tape (even the most subtle stuff) is there for a reason. I have made sure that the new Audio Fidelity Gold CD (and hopefully 180 gram LP in a few more months) is as true to the original 1966 LP release and the ORIGINAL INTENT as humanly possible.

Since the mono original album mix is the only authentic version of the album in existence I've tried to keep as true to what Brian Wilson wanted as possible this time. It's poison to second guess some sonic decisions that were made in the good old year 1966 but one thing Brian didn't seem to be bothered by were the famous (infamous) "drop fades" that the old pots at Western Recorders had implanted on the fade-outs of most of the songs.

In other words, the fades have the volume dropping two db every turn of the knob until the sound just is killed at the end. If you've heard CALIFORNIA GIRLS on the DCC Gold CD I did of "Endless Summer" you have heard a "drop fade". I left it in there because I felt it was charming and I didn't want to do a smooth fadeout and gyp you of every bit of audible sound. Same goes for PET SOUNDS.

I have our half-inch mono head-stack 30 IPS AES Agfa full-bandwidth transfer that I made back in October or so of 1992 and consider it the best and most accurate version of the original release, having cobbled it together with the correct mixes for WOULDN'T IT BE NICE and a few bits and pieces that needed mending and my new HDCD transfer is stone FLAT (neutral) as being played back on an ATR 100 with special vacuum tube electronics into our new A/D converter.

Point is with all of this, I left the fades "STRAIGHT". So you will hear exactly what Brian Wilson heard in the studio during the fade outs of all the songs. I did NOT help the fades at all. They are exactly like Chuck Britz did them at Western, sort of a bouncing down to quiet and then a drop-off. I find it totally authentic and (as I said earlier) quite charming but a few of you might find it disarming or just weird so I wanted to warn you about it in advance.

On the various cuttings I have heard of this album the mastering engineer always "helps" the fades of the songs by starting them early to avoid the two db drop offs but the consequence is that each song is shorter by a few seconds or even more. I can't stand that. Give me the entire song, as long as possible and then fade ON leader, not before it..

So, there you go. When you hear the new Audio Fidelity PET SOUNDS you will hear the wacky fades just as they were done in the studio by Chuck Britz and Brian Wilson (and incidentally just as they appear on the ORIGINAL first Capitol LP cutting). I have used NO noise reduction of any kind and no compression, limiting or anything of a compromising nature on this mastering. It is as pure as possible; there isn't even a mastering console in use, just the playback deck to the recorder with nothing in between.

Hope you dig it. Other than furnishing you with your own Altec 604 speaker to listen on and a McIntosh 60 to play it back through the regulation Universal Audio 610 module, this is the best I can do to bring you the Beach Boys wonderful PET SOUNDS as close as possible to Brian's vision. The first Capitol LP mastering (that was approved by Brian) sounds similar to this but the sonic compromises necessary at the time (in the minds of some Capitol execs) to cut a phonograph record that would play on the kiddie machines of the day meant that the top end on the record was filtered at 10,000 cycles above and 50 cycles below (sort of a flat, dead sound on the original LP was the result) and the compression ratio was 2:1 (at least). No such sonic compromises were put in to place during this new mastering (or the old DCC version). Let's not take authenticity too far!

We at Audio Fidelity hope you will enjoy the new PET SOUNDS.

When I saw that PET SOUNDS was being remastered again, I was leery about another relesae, even if it was from Steve Hoffman.  I figured that the last version on the DVD-A couldn't be topped. But--the quotes above sold me and I look forward to purchasing this release as it will be like the original mono lp release in '66-- and for purests it hits the right tone and attitude about how to approach an archival remaster.

Kudos to Hoffman!

Is there a release date set?

Regards,
Cal aka "Beatle Bob"
:)

Sounds great, literally!

When is this available in the uk?

Wonder why he doesn't use the digital 1630-U-Matic flat copy. No generational loss.

I guess he figures (and perhaps rightly so) that a new hi-res (24 bit, 96k) transfer of an analogue copy of the original is better than an old 16 bit, probably 44.1k digital transfer of the original. 

I assume the original 1966 mono mixdown master is on 1/4"...Steve's 1992 analogue transfer is 1/2", so that alone should aid in keeping much of the fidelity intact during the transfer.

I guess I always miss that point. To me, if you have a digital copy (44 hz) of an analogue source, is that always better that an analogue copy of an analogue copy? I understand that professional equipment is unlike copying a cassette to another cassette. I mean, I have a DAT recorder that I have copied my cassettes to. And I have copies of those cassettes on other cassettes. I would use a DAT before I used a cassette copy.

Once again the answer is "it depends".  From what Hoffman says, he did a careful high-resolution analog transfer of the most-original 1/4" source tape he could borrow at the time.  Doing it to 1/2" mono of course doesn't ADD any resolution back that isn't already in the source tape, but it is the best analog medium for preserving everything copied from the source tape.  The U-matic is a perfectly fine (though now antiquated) digital back-up device, but it too is only as good as the source it was made from.  Then there is Capitol's own digital copy, made under what conditions we do not know.    It may have been done with care or it may not.  If you use that as the source you can't squeeze any more resolution out of it either, though once copied onto a modern hard drive, it could be upsampled and tweaked a little, maybe.  Also the jury is still out on the shelf life of these earlier versions of digital storage media.  At least we know Hoffman's transfer was done with care and so it is probably the best source for a modern mono remastering forty-two years later, even if it is a second-generation copy, keeping in mind that the sound of even the best analog tape can change a little bit over time, no matter how well it has been preserved.

Thanks for that explaination!

What tape was used to master the 1989 Japanese CD (the first PS CD ever)?  Was it the same digital U Matic tape that Linett used for the 1990 U.S. Capitol release, or a copy of it, or what...?  Reason I ask is b/c it sounds decidedly different...just listen to the opening snare shot in WIBN and compare the difference between the two. 

I don't know the answer, but there was a Japanese CD release of Pet Sounds before the 1989 Pastermasters CD, released in 1987.

That's the one I'm talking about, the pre-PastMasters edition.  Even though it says it was mastered in 1987, it didn't actually appear until early '89.  It was quickly withdrawn, and the PastMasters edition came out some months later. 

Here is some discussion about it: http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=166468