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The Atlantic Warehouse Fire


nmorin

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I was reading the liner notes to Ornette's "Beauty Is a Rare Thing", and it was mentioned that as a result of a fire at an Atlantic warehouse, three times as much material was lost as was released!?!?! What else was lost in the fire? Other big-time master tapes?

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"With minor exceptions, every unissued pre-1969 Atlantic tape was destroyed." - Joel Dorn (from Coltrane Atlantic boxed set).

Copies of some stuff have been found elsewhere.

Mike

Good Christ, that fire must rank as one the most enormous jazz tragedies that didn't involve someone dying.

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That would be RCA, and unless Sonny's had a change of heart over the years, I don't think he wants them released, at least in his lifetime.

What a shame! I think Sonny's RCA work is some of his very best. I really began to appreciate Sonny after spending considerable time here. I would love to hear some of his live work during this same period.

Jim, are you also aware of Sonny's objections to their release?

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Here's what I know, none of it "firsthand".

Sonny's apparently doesn't like to "live in the past" in terms of his recordings. Somewhere in the very early 1980s, French RCA released an outstanding 2-LP compilation of previously unrelased studio material. Sonny supposedly raised holy hell, and not just because he wasn't paid. The agreement that I heard was reached was that the stuff that had come out would be allowed to stay out (thus all the "new" material on american CD issues of the RCA material), but that that was to be it. No more.

Around the same time as the French release, Coda magazine published a discography of unreleased Rollins RCA studio material, with the caveat taht it ws by no means complete. Some of the sessions listed appear on paper to be very enticing. I wish I had that issue today.

All of this is in addition to the unissued Village Gate material, which is indeed some of my favorite Rollins (and which I've heard consists of anywhere from 4 to 8 hours worth of material). My guess is that when Sonny passes, it will all start to come out in some form or fashion. But if that's the way it's gonna be, I'm in no hurry.

But you never know. Sonny might indeed have a change of heart about this. Time will tell. I do get the feeling that the RCA years were "problematic" for him in some ways, musically and personally, although I'd not venture to guess why that was.

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  • 8 months later...

Famously gone in the Atlantic fire ("famously" for the few who care about these players, but those who do care a lot) is an unreleased Tony Fruscella album with Brew Moore. There's not much Fruscella on record, and everything he played is potentially precious -- Moore likewise, though he recorded more.

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Chuck, did you listen to it? Is this as good as the Fruscella Atlantic album?

I'm pretty sure it is. And if so, is there any way this can be released legally?

On Atlantic,? Rhino? Uptown? Anywhere else?

I should say Uptown does not have it. I have not heard it but I know who has it.

Clunky, the Fru 'n' Brew Uptown project is still possible but not a current priority.

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Chuck, did you listen to it? Is this as good as the Fruscella Atlantic album?

I'm pretty sure it is. And if so, is there any way this can be released legally?

On Atlantic,? Rhino? Uptown? Anywhere else?

I should say Uptown does not have it. I have not heard it but I know who has it.

Clunky, the Fru 'n' Brew Uptown project is still possible but not a current priority.

All I hope is that it surfaces some day so that everybody can enjoy it!

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  • 5 months later...

So master tapes for the recordings that were actually released were not destroyed in the fire?

The reason for my question is that it appears the sound of some, not to say many, Atlantic CD reissues are not comparable sound-quality-wise with many other contemporaneous recordings, and I was curious to what extent original reels still existed.

Is there any point in hunting for LP copies of albums with particularly muddy sound, or are the tapes that have survived the same as those used for mastering the original LPs in any case?

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So master tapes for the recordings that were actually released were not destroyed in the fire?

The reason for my question is that it appears the sound of some, not to say many, Atlantic CD reissues are not comparable sound-quality-wise with many other contemporaneous recordings, and I was curious to what extent original reels still existed.

Is there any point in hunting for LP copies of albums with particularly muddy sound, or are the tapes that have survived the same as those used for mastering the original LPs in any case?

They lost many/most first generation masters of the era. Many Atlantic cds originate with the lp "production masters" and master copies sent to foreign licensees.

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