[Fats Domino: I’ve Been Around - The Complete Imperial and ABC Recordings (12-CD & DVD)]

Fats Domino: I’ve Been Around - The Complete Imperial and ABC Recordings (12-CD & DVD)


We could have taken the easy way out. The original 1993 box set was out of stock. We could simply have printed more copies and filled orders.

Of course, we didn’t. This is Bear Family Records and we don’t take shortcuts. We’ve invested more than 1000 hours in re-writing, recompiling and re-mastering this box. The brilliant engineering by Christian Zwarg will leave you shaking your head in admiration. You won’t quite recognize some of your favorite Fats Domino tracks because they’ve never sounded this good.
 
We’ve found a lot of new material – some things that were thought to be lost and other things that nobody knew existed. We have alternate takes that have never before been issued.  We’ve got new unedited and non-overdubbed versions of some familiar Fats songs and newly discovered overdubs of familiar songs. We’ve got the intact recording of Blueberry Hill without the tape glitch. We’ve got previously unreleased backing tracks. We’ve also included some examples of Fats working as a session pianist for other artists (including Joe Turner, Lloyd Price and Smiley Lewis) early in his career. And to show how influential Fats’s style was, we’ve included some examples of other performers imitating Fats during his Golden Era.

But the biggest news concerns the Speed-up. Everybody knows that some of Fats’s Imperial records were speeded up for release, making them both faster and pitched in higher keys. But how many of them? And which ones? And just how much were they speeded up? And, in case you wondered, how was it done back in 1955 and by whom? We didn’t have as good a handle on those questions when the original box set was compiled back in 1993, and we sure didn’t know the answers. But we do now. And we admit, back 25 years ago we screwed up some of the speeds on our original box. And when other companies tried to fix things with their Fats Domino reissues, they made their own mistakes and just added to the mess.

But now the mess is over. A lot of those 1000+ hours went into getting speeds exactly right so we can truly present Fats’s music as it was originally released. But what is completely new here is that we also present, for the first time anywhere, examples of Fats’s Greatest Hits as they were originally performed in the studio, at their original speeds and in their real keys. No speed-up. You can be a fly on the wall and hear songs like Ain’t It A Shame and I’m Walking as they actually sounded in Cosimo’s New Orleans studio. That addition alone makes this Box a landmark event.

A lot has also gone into updating and revising the accompanying, lavishly illustrated book by Fats biographer Rick Coleman, and by music historians Hank Davis and Scott Parker. That includes an updated Fats Domino Imperial Records Discography. And what’s more, we extended the Box to include two CDs with all of Fats post-Imperial recordings for the ABC Paramount label. Twelve CDs in all – an upgrade of 50% from the original box.

Even if you bought the first Bear Family box 25 years ago, Fats Domino: I’ve Been Around is a must for any serious Fats Domino collection. It’s not going to get any better than this.


https://www.bear-family.com/domino-fats-i-ve-been-around-the-complete-imperial-and-abc-recordings-12-cd-und-dvd.html?fbclid=IwAR1QodyyaMO5h3plIwJ50EDTv9b2dRVU-uz9QlpKw8AkMD6OZknAaNAFRPE

Oh no! He was a legend! R. I. P.  


Here's footage of Dave and Fats reuniting in 2010:

New Orleans Airwaves: Fats Domino & Dave Bartholomew (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4szohPhlN0

Ralph Stanley - A Day in the Life of a Tree

What a great idea! I'd imagine it being accompanied only by banjo and guitar or something similar spare. Oh yes, that voice to that song  
And Emmylou Harris is always fantastic. Her on "You still believe in me" would certainly have been a knockout. Or maybe the Trio of her, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt (the latter sometimes replaced by someone else like Sheryl Crow or Trisha Yearwood). A three part harmony arrangement to that song would be lovely.

I believe a duett by maybe George Jones & Tammy Wynette on "Let's put our hearts together" (or another act) could also sound beautiful.


I think one of the problems was that you probably couldn't use the Beach Boys themselves on a lot of the tracks if done the proposed way. Their thick harmonies wouldn't fit very well with the stripped down sound. So either you'd have to come up with new arrangements that would be better suited or you just leave the Boys off, ecept for an appearance here and there when it's fitting. And you probably couldn't keep Brian as the producer. It's just natural that he gets close to the original records, since that's the way he wanted the songs to sound. Don Was certainly would've been a great choice.
Thinking about this fantasy album really gets me excited! So much was possible

Kristofferson doing "Forever" is on my fantasy Stars&Stripes version.

That's sounds like a good idea for a new thread or has it been done already?

I was watching the Beach Boys on David Letterman performance of little deuce coupe with some country guy recently and thought it was awful.

Well, I mention it annoyingly often when I get the chance 

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,12521.msg635016.html#msg635016

I take it that these releases are just official releases of stuff already released on follow that dream label?

No, the boset will feature one completely unreleased show (I think it's the one that was on the RSD LP), all the released ones and then the whole shows of which parts were already released, as I understand. If you have the FTDs and the other releases there's probably not a whole lot new stuff.

Picked up "Easter Island" in the bargain bin today and his voice really reminds me of Dennis Wilson from that same time period (1977/78) in places.

Was recorded at Sunset Sound LA and produced by David Anderle.

Studio wasn't too far away from Santa Monica I think? Kris and Dennis seem like they could have been friends...though I think Kris had just given up drinking around that time.

The "loneliness is a very special place to forget something that I've never done" part in "Thoughts of you" totally sounds like a Kristofferson lyric to me. And yes, both their voices had a certain touch. Kristofferson doing "Forever" is on my fantasy Stars&Stripes version.

It seems that on August 9th another show on vinyl will be released:





This show features among others the only known live versions of "This is the story" and "Rubberneckin'", both from the famous Memphis Sessions in '69. Especially the latter song is a fantastic funky rocker (no pun). Listen to it here, including a long false start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSl4Q5rmJrk



This is the setlist for the show:
http://www.elvisconcerts.com/concerts/Concert_expand.php?id=53

I believe I saw someone on another messageboard mentioning 115 €. Now, I don't know if that is correct and also I don't know how much $'s that would be. Hope we'll have more info soon.


EDIT:

Just saw on FECC that someone ordered the set for 105 € at bol.com

https://www.bol.com/nl/p/live-1969/9200000112679118/

This is indeed a very interesting topic. I always wondered how that trip came about, since the Beach Boys were so unpopular and not relevant in the USA at that time.

COMMENT to Rocker:
I don't know how old you are or if you were into music at this time, but the slump in popularity had no effect on their past achievements, which by then were well established. The Beach Boy icon of representing "good clean American values" as an American singing group preceded the State Department's reason for asking the Boys to represent the USA at this Eastern Europe musical event -- a large event covering several countries in the USSR block. The popular choices at this time were metal bands, bands that performed shirtless and used swear words in their lyrics, many popular bands were advocating drugs too. So for the State Department to find a band that could represent the United States in 1969 – a more innocent and simpler time – The Beach Boys had it all. They were certainly relevant in American culture. Everyone knew their songs (even behind the Iron Curtain), they presented a “clean” and non-confrontational image, and they could entertain, I mean really entertain with a great show every time. The State Department came to The Beach Boys with this request. Actually, American Productions (The Beach Boys touring company) worked for about a year planning this whole tour so that the Boys could work this Chek event into a European tour that was in planning stages. The Chek event was really in the middle of a four-week European tour, which eventually evolved from the original State Department invitation. That tour eventually went to every major and many smaller cities and towns in Western and Eastern Europe and England, introduced a new look (the white suits), new songs, and a new sound system.

Thanks for the infos!
I was born in '84, so I didn't live through that time, although of course I've read about it. But I just realized that I also totally misunderstood the surroundings of the Boys being booked there. Thanks for clearing that up!

BTW the Boys wwre asked and talked about this show on the Mike Douglas TV show in '69 (Bruce and Al mention the problem with spending the money):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sobVMqnElOI

What Micha said is available for all to see. Instead of being cool about the whole thing, he instead chose to trash this forum and all the people here by painting us and this place with the word "hate" because he doesn't like some of the opinions posted here. Micha also did this after being gone for 3 years, not posting or contributing anything, and above that did so in a thread about a concert meet up where no one had been disrespectful or "hateful" toward him. He only got one reply...

So the two mods saw it for what it is and called it out. What will stand is that this kind of nonsense is not welcome here, and nor will it be tolerated moving forward. As Billy said, the irony is how the only hate was coming from the guy complaining about the hate on this board.

Period.

Quod erat demonstrandum.


I suggest to close this thread and move on to talk about the Beach Boys.

Micha's comments were an answer to my post, so there is certainly no 'agenda' there, just his opinion so that I (and everybody else who wondered) know that he won't share his thoughts here and why he won't. The reason he started the topic was to ask if anybody else was going to the show - an agenda to talk crap about this board certainly looks different. No one can deny that the board has gone through changes over the years; some members left, others joined, that's how it is. But there have also been a lot of heated debates - to say the least - that quickly got to a personal level. That's how the internet works unfortunately, we forget how to take criticism, instead we fall all over each other like wild animals (whch is also one of the main reasons of the big social divisions in our democracies right now, but that's another topic).

I suggest to close this thread and move on to talk about the Beach Boys.

This is indeed a very interesting topic. I always wondered how that trip came about, since the Beach Boys were so unpopular and not relevant in the USA at that time.

Hey, if a band performs Beach Boys songs whithin 10 minutes walking distance from my home, I go - no matter how many actual Beach Boys are on stage, even if there aren't any at all.

Let us know how it was.

Not on this board, no. Took a peek in a few threads and found: what made me leave and still makes me want to puke is still the essence of this board, an agenda that spoiled all the fun this board once provided for me. I can't stand this hate. Probably my last post on here unless, say, Brian performs in this town which is unlikely to happen.

I can understand that. Some people take this Beach Boys stuff far too serious. Anyway, have fun and enjoy the show tonight!

Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson has postponed his June tour over mental health concerns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkQB3Tb1Erg


In fact this interview is about Brian stopping touring with the Boys in '64. There's also a short clip of "Going home". Does anyone know from which concert that comes? Is there more from that show?

Willie's son and band was on Colbert last night:


Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real Perform 'Bad Case'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2llzqhp6MI

No tracklisting yet, but here's more from amazon:





Limited 11CD box set with 52 page book full of rare photos & memorabilia! One show entirely unreleased! Complete Newly Mixed and Mastered Shows! Celebrate the 50th Anniversary Of Elvis' Triumphant Return To The Stage "I missed the closeness of a live audience. So just as soon as I got out of the movie contracts, I started to do live performances again. " Elvis Presley First chronicled in part on the album Elvis In Person At The International Hotel 50 years ago, Live 1969 showcases this incredibly, important phase in Elvis' career in definitive detail his first live shows following his triumphant, 1968 comeback for NBC after an 8 year absence from playing live. This box set features 11 complete sets from the first of his many engagements at The International Hotel (several of which are released in full for the first time, with one show entirely unreleased), allowing fans a more definitive picture of The King's glorious return to the concert stage. 52-page book includes rare photos, memorabilia and an oral history by Ken Sharp curated from historic interviews with Elvis, Colonel Tom Park, Tom Jones, Jerry Schilling, James Burton, Cissy Houston, Terry Blackwood, George Klein, Fats Domino and more.



Source: https://www.amazon.com/Live-1969-Elvis-Presley/dp/B07PPVVYMQ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=elvis+presley+live+1969&qid=1560798769&s=gateway&sr=8-6

  I picked up a Tom T. Hall collection at Half Price Books yesterday. Had almost forgotten about this guy! Despite the mawkish "I Love", Hall had a singular gift for storytelling and detail. Progressive country from the 70s at its best!

Oh yes! He has a very distinctive style of songwriting. You can almost tell if a song was written by him just because it's so different to the other things. Probably my favorite of his is "That's how I got to Memphis". Such a beautiful song! There are a lot of versions of course, a. o. a recording by Solomon Burke on his "Nashville"-album, just voice and accoustic guitar. Wonderful!
There's also his "Ballad of forty Dollars" which was covered by Jerry Lee Lewis on his Vegas live album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7U-7ZR8SEs

The finale of the T.A.M.I. show. I never realized that Mike and two other guys (couldn't see who) carried Dennis like a surfboard across the stage. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsT6BsU9NX8

I just listened (for the 1st time, surprisingly) to The Pointer Sisters' 1980 song "He's So Shy":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGIraUHg-5Q

And I was struck how this seemed like it could have been on Carl's solo albums. The song was apparently written as "She's So Shy" and was originally intended for Leo Sayer.

Does anyone else feel like Carl's solo material from this era was trying at times to capture this song's sound? Not saying it was directly an inspiration for anything, but who knows.
Granted, it could just be that it's a pop song of the era, but I for some reason think it would have fit like a glove within the Carl cannon.

Along those lines, it's maybe notable that singer/songwriter Myrna Smith cowrote the majority of Carl's songs with him. She was part of an R&B female vocal group in the 60s; it's not hard to believe The Pointer Sisters would have been at least one reference point for the then-contemporary sound they were going after in the early 80s.

Myrna was part of the Sweet Inspirations who were one of Presley's backing groups from '69-'77 (Gerald Johnson was their bass player at that time and then became part of Carl's band). In '75 he recorded the Pointer's "Fairytale" which became a standard in his concert until the end. So, she had contact with the Pointer's material at least at that time. But I'm sure there was more, the Pointer Sisters after all were big at that time.

Ken Sharp was interviewed about a. o. his involvement in the forthcoming Presley '69 live release. This is what he says about the book about Dennis:


and I’m reprinting my books on Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/interview_Elvis-69-Ken-Sharp.html

The new release will include a book written by Ken Sharp:


EIN: We all know that there is a Sony deluxe release about to be announced for the 50th anniversary of Elvis' 1969 Las Vegas concerts. Maybe you are not allowed to tell me but can I ask you if you have been involved in any way with this up-and-coming release?

K.S: I’m honored to say that I was involved with the forthcoming Sony box set. In the accompanying book, I contributed the essay and provided an oral history behind Elvis’s return to the stage. 50 years ago if you had told this little kid that he’d be involved in such an important and historic release I would never have believed you. But that dream came true and I’m excited for Elvis fans to get a chance to absorb The King in all his live glory, ‘69 style!


http://www.elvisinfonet.com/interview_Elvis-69-Ken-Sharp.html

"What More Can I Say" was performed in the 1983 shows, but "Too Early To Tell" was still the opening song, as in 81. "She's Mine" was not in the setlist. IIRC, the set list was about half of the songs from Younblood, and half of the songs from the first album. Sure would be great if some kind of audio recording from the 83 shows turns up, but so far the closest thing we've got is Carl doing a couple of the Youngblood songs with the Beach Boys.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I really would like to hear a "Youngblood" show. Apart from no recordings having come to light, do we know if any radiobroadcasts even happened at all?
Please ecuse me for repeating myself, but I just want to say again, what great vocals Carl put on at the Bottomline show and how tight the band sounds (including Gerald Johnson on bass). Man, they were really rocking and it's sad that this doesn't come across on the album, although you certainly can listen to and enjoy it for what it is. If just the material was better.

Hey Micha,

I thought a second about going since I just moved back to Hannover. But after seeing the Beach Boys in 2012 I said that's it for me, I've seen the real Beach Boys and I won't go to a Mike&Bruce or Brian&Al show, although I probably would think twice about it if Blondie is with them. But otherwise I'm not really interested anymore after seeing the real thing - but if any of the band reads this and wants to share a beer afterwards, I'm up for that, let me know. Hope you'll enjoy it, Micha! Let us know how it was.

I hear what you’re getting at, but I think a lot of it just has to do with the production techniques of the era.  One thing I find interesting is how much better Carl’s solo material sounds when it’s performed live (for example, on the Bottom Line CD).  I think others on this website have pointed the same thing out.  Material that’s pretty lacklustre on the albums sounds so much better on the live recordings.

Yes, I have listened to the Bottomline recording just recently. The performance sounds really great even if some songs are just not that strong. His band is cooking and Carl's vocals are top. If you'd get that sound and feeling (and some better songs) on the record, it'd be a different story with Carl's first album. The second one obviously is stronger and has a better production. Are there any live performances like the Bottomline show out there to promote the second one? Would love to hear "She's mine" in a live setting.

The soundtrack to Ken Burns' "Country music" is up for pre-order:


Various Artists - Country Music - A Film By Ken Burns (The Soundtrack) - Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA_lDXSteW8



"If you write the truth and you're writing about your life, it's going to be country. It'll be country 'cause you're writing what's happening. And that's all a good song is." Loretta Lynn COUNTRY MUSIC, the eight-part, 16-hour film by Ken Burns, chronicles the creation of a truly American genre of music through the songs and stories of its greatest trailblazers. Country Music A Film By Ken Burns (The Soundtrack) includes more than 40 timeless classics as heard in the film on 2 CDs, including songs by The Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and many more.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S86HPVJ?fbclid=IwAR1gWopl5lI-K-I_X6rYBJSWRhOn03R7ESwMuu-EADRQmZHHgGIiKvWL-Vk&tag=linkfire03-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=as2&ascsubtag=828bdda3d0d6873a488a9ab45eab2fbc