Question regarding DRG reissues

[follies85]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 7:48pm

Several years back, DRG started reissuing some out-of-print titles from the Capitol and RCA Victor catalogues such as "Ben Franklin in Paris," "Skyscraper," "Flahooley," "Milk and Honey," and "Wildcat," among others. Does anyone know if all of these titles were remastered or improved sound-wise from their original CD releases? I was recently surprised to discover the difference in the clarity and detail of the newer DRG issue of "Golden Boy" when compared to the early 1990s EMI/Broadway Angel release, which sounds more compressed and muddied. Any knowledge and/or observations would be appreciated!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 7:57pm

I had always assumed they hadn't been remastered--I can't find a remastering crediton my Seesaw release, for example... Hrmm

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 9:13pm

I'm not sure about actual re-mastering, but I do agree about the sound quality of those Angel re-issues being somewhat "veiled". DRG may have, in some instances, gone back to the original Capitol LP masters. Take recordings like FLAHOOLEY and BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA, for instance. The newer DRG releases sound better than the Angel releases.

Updated On: 7/22/12 at 09:13 PM

[bk]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 9:46pm

the best Golden Boy sound was Bay Cities original release, if I do say so - humbly, of course :) I've heard 'em all. Perhaps DRG used that one.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 9:53pm

Don't be humble, bk. I can say the same thing about several Bay Cities releases. Especially CELEBRATION. Can't be beat. Keep championing Harvey Schmidt and the gods will bless you.

Updated On: 7/22/12 at 09:53 PM

[follies85]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 10:37pm

The remastering credits for the two Golden Boy releases are as follows:

EMI/Broadway Angel - Bob Norberg
DRG - Alan Silverman at ARF! Digital

It looks like the Bay Cities release of "Golden Boy" is going for a fairly decent price on Amazon so I might just have to grab a copy if it is indeed a different remaster.

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 11:09pm

Deleting what I originally wrote because it was partly speculation. Sorry.





Updated On: 7/22/12 at 11:09 PM

[bk]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 1:38am

Norberg was their guy back in those days. Sounds like DRG got a flat copy of the album master (Capitol does not let their tapes out of the building), and did whatever they did at whatever ARF is. The Bay Cities was mastered by Danny Hersch (my guy back in those days) and we worked really hard, and back then they DID give us the tapes. None of the Capitol show CD masters were much to my liking, but Celebration was the worst of them. Some of the very first issues (before Angel Broadway) were better - they didn't do anything at all to those, just put up the LP master and put it on CD. The Angel Broadway stuff was all redone - sometimes for the better and sometimes not. But, for me, the Bay Cities Forum and Golden Boy are much superior to the later CDs - that's my memory at least - I should pull them out and listen. :)

And, of course, the new Follies mix and remaster is almost here.

[follies85]

Posted: 8/31/12 at 6:14pm

For anyone who wants to know part of the answer to my original question, I have learned that most if not all of the RCA and Capitol titles reissued by DRG have indeed been remastered. Whether the sound quality on all of these is an improvement over previous releases is another question, though as I stated before I notice improvement on the DRG release of GOLDEN BOY as compared to the early 90s Angel release.