Although it’s derived from the same set of early recordings that all “grey market” compilations draw from, this release has legitimacy on its side. The main reason is that it’s on Island, the label that was officially signed to in his later years and the label the estate chose as distributor for its Tuff Gong imprint. Vital tracks like “Nice Time,” “Small Axe,” “African Herbsman,” “Sun Is Shining,” and “Concrete Jungle” are all present, and with much better sound quality than you might find on other releases. Since it barely overlaps, this is a nice companion piece to, the popular collection of his later recordings.
I was just having a listen to Steve's quite excellent 'Young Mystic' from Audio Fidelity, now sadly OOP, but it features a lot of the Lee Perry stuff in a quasi-mixed form - the two track multis aren't entirely mixed to mono, one of the tracks is kept panned to the side. Out of curiosity, how many, if any, CD releases preserve the twin track recordings as they exist, hard left & right?
I would certainly be interested in acquiring anything like that. Somewhat unrelated - I also picked up an older disc of similar material which isn't by DCC but it was distributed by DCC. The sound is horrendous - all needledrops. What's up with that? The only Bob Marley & The Wailers release that I can think of right away that has what some call 'twin track' stereo all the way through, with instruments in one channel and vocals in the other, is the first disc on this CD: CD 1 is Soul Revolution, the second Jamaican LP released from the Lee Perry sessions. The second disc has the instrumental companion album with 'versions' to all the tracks. I'm sure there are more tracks here and there that are mixed like this, but this is the one I know of where all of a records is like this (these tracks are around in other mixes as well on other releases).
The Complete Wailers Vol 2, Part 2: Soul Revolution Part II. Labels: Bob Marley and the Wailers, JAD, Lee Perry, Soul Revolution Part II.
I read somewhere that Steve used these 'split stereo' tapes and panned one channel to the center (the vocals?) for that A.F. CD, is that what you're hearing? I have never heard that done anywhere else. The only Bob Marley & The Wailers release that I can think of right away that has what some call 'twin track' stereo all the way through, with instruments in one channel and vocals in the other, is the first disc on this CD: CD 1 is Soul Revolution, the second Jamaican LP released from the Lee Perry sessions. The second disc has the instrumental companion album with 'versions' to all the tracks.
I'm sure there are more tracks here and there that are mixed like this, but this is the one I know of where all of a records is like this (these tracks are around in other mixes as well on other releases). I read somewhere that Steve used these 'split stereo' tapes and panned one channel to the center (the vocals?) for that A.F.
CD, is that what you're hearing? I have never heard that done anywhere else. The only Bob Marley & The Wailers release that I can think of right away that has what some call 'twin track' stereo all the way through, with instruments in one channel and vocals in the other, is the first disc on this CD: CD 1 is Soul Revolution, the second Jamaican LP released from the Lee Perry sessions.
The second disc has the instrumental companion album with 'versions' to all the tracks. I'm sure there are more tracks here and there that are mixed like this, but this is the one I know of where all of a records is like this (these tracks are around in other mixes as well on other releases). I read somewhere that Steve used these 'split stereo' tapes and panned one channel to the center (the vocals?) for that A.F. CD, is that what you're hearing? I have never heard that done anywhere else. There are many Reggae records that are mixed like this, I thought the OP wanted Marley, maybe I misunderstood? And what is funny is that there's a Musical Dub Attack LP which is just the instrumental channel of the Musical Shark Attack LP, that's economical!
I don't remember if the Marley instrumental disc of the Trojan set (aka. Upsetter Revolution Rhythm) is like this as well? Yes, that is the thread I read, and he said he panned the vocal channel to the center leaving the instruments to one side. I thought that seemed strange, like it would be very lopsided to listen to, but maybe it works.
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I think these 'split stereo' mixes are hard to enjoy, more of academic interest, I sometimes sum them to mono when listening. Click to expand.Like early 60s 'stereo' pop records. I don't mind it so much unless I'm listening on headphones. This particular old Trojan disk sounded so much better to me when I first got it than the other Trojan sets of this period's material available at the time that I sort of fell in love with it. Seemed the only place I could really hear the grain and detail in the vocals. But yes, the split is basically weird.
Steve's set does sound very good, and his narrowing approach helps with the split problem while preserving some of the nice vocal isolation. There are many Reggae records that are mixed like this, I thought the OP wanted Marley, maybe I misunderstood?
And what is funny is that there's a Musical Dub Attack LP which is just the instrumental channel of the Musical Shark Attack LP, that's economical! I don't remember if the Marley instrumental disc of the Trojan set (aka. Upsetter Revolution Rhythm) is like this as well? Yes, that is the thread I read, and he said he panned the vocal channel to the center leaving the instruments to one side. I thought that seemed strange, like it would be very lopsided to listen to, but maybe it works. I think these 'split stereo' mixes are hard to enjoy, more of academic interest, I sometimes sum them to mono when listening.
Click to expand.I agree. The disc doesn't sound bad by any means, the mono material sounds relatively great as a matter of fact. But I think if everything was mixed to mono it would have been a more consistent and enjoyable listen.
My personal choice would have been to leave the 2 tracks hard panned as is, but rebalance so that when summed to mono an authentic listening experience can be had. But the tracks can be preserved, studied, admired, and enjoyed with wide separation if one so desired.
Best of both worlds. From what I can see a lot of people preferred the approach ultimately taken due to the lack of a mono switch on their own equipment.