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Author Topic: Jan Berry's Original Music Scores Published  (Read 4913 times)
Joshilyn Hoisington
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« Reply #25 on: October 13, 2022, 02:01:40 PM »

Thanks, yeah that makes sense.  I'm just hoping against hope that I can get my hands on some surviving arrangements.  I was just listening to the isolated horns and woodwinds from the Turtle's "So Happy Together" and that's just such a masterclass in middle-brow pop arranging.  I hope some of those are still around from any number of artists.

Mark, I have one general question and then one specific question.

Generally speaking, what state is the J&D tape vault in as far as original multitracks?  I'm really interested in how different producers and engineers used tape in the 3- and 4-track era.  Did Jan do reduction mixes to mono and then add overdubs on a second tape like Brian would?  Like, on Anaheim, etc, I'm assuming he cut the basic to three track, did a reduction and then did the vocal and percussion overdubs onto that?  Has there ever been any talk of synch-up remixes?  It would just be thrilling to hear some more track-only mixes.

And specifically speaking about the AFM for Anaheim -- does it specifically assign Fender duties to Jimmy Bond and Upright to Lyle, or is the usual "not label the instruments" deal?  I'm curious because that would be a really interesting choice on Jan's part, since Jimmy was much less of a Fender guy than Lyle.

Thanks as always, Mark.
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Mark A. Moore
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« Reply #26 on: October 13, 2022, 05:15:37 PM »

Joshilyn,

I'm not an expert on the recording process, but Bones Howe told me they devised a way of recording using two tracks, initially. They left the middle track open so Jan could put the first lead vocal on. Bones: "Lay down the track, do the lead vocal, double the lead vocal, combine the tracks, open up a track to do background vocals, double the background vocals..." Then combine and free up a track for horns, strings, or percussion, etc.

Bones said that Jan sometimes tweaked the track after the vocals were on. And sometimes Jan would fix a vocal part during the mixing process. Bones said they tried all kinds of experiments like that, mindful that depending on what they tried, they might not be able to undo it later.

As part of my research, Capitol-EMI scanned the tape boxes for me. So, I have color scans, and they also scanned any notes that were in the boxes for me. There are various reels with 3-track masters compiled on them. But most of those probably have the vocals. There are also a few reels with 4-tracks. Ron Furmanek used the multi's for his remixes in the '90s.

When Jan died, he had a few 3-track reels in his possession that he had absconded with back in the '60s. Those were transferred to digital. Among them are some good examples with just the Wrecking Crew instrumental backing. Multiple takes for each song. But based on some news I received recently, those tapes may have since been stored improperly and possibly damaged. Really disappointing, if true.

Ron Furmanek told me a United Artists (pre-EMI) employee named "Bert" copied many J&D LP masters to brand new (cheap) Ampex tape, via Dolby, in the early 1970s. And Ron said "Bert" then destroyed the originals from the '60s. Astonishing. By the 1990s, the new copies had to be baked, and they had added hiss because the dubs were inferior. Ron was horrified by this, but obviously relieved that "Bert" did not do the same to the multi's.

As for "Anaheim," Hal Blaine told me it was Lyle on standup. But Lyle did play electric bass on other tracks on Jan's sessions (specifically stated on the contract). Could Hal have been mistaken? Certainly. Jan would sometimes add a musician's name to his part in the music score, but not so for "Anaheim."


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Joshilyn Hoisington
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« Reply #27 on: October 13, 2022, 05:34:09 PM »

That would be really disappointing if some tapes fell victim to improper storage.  Popular music has a LONG way to go when it comes to thinking of their assets and intellectual property as archival treasures to be preserved carefully.  I am glad that there's been some digitization, in any case.  Would be really wonderful to hear some nice quality transfers of some J&D backing tracks, really would!  Really important to be able to understand the different ways that different people put together tracks.

Obviously, probably no way to know for sure, barring a fortuitous mention on hypothetical session tape, but it would be, as I said, an odd choice to put Jimmy on Fender over Lyle, when Jimmy was sort of a reluctant electric guy and Lyle was happy to play Fender.

Thanks Mark.
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