Cliff Englewood

No question, Paul and Ringo - as musicians - are the greatest beneficiaries of these remasters. The bass and drums sound superb... I agree 100%. Thinking back, the drums and bass didn't even register with me on the old recordings. How about that cowbell in "Drive My Car" or "Taxman." Never even noticed it the first time around. Ringo's drumming, I've discovered, is fantastic...I guess this makes me a little puzzled over the story I've heard that Paul would come into the studio during the recording of the White Album and lay his own drum tracks for some of the cuts, discarding the work that Ringo had done. I still can't wrap my head around that...either my assessment of Ringo's skill is not accurate, Paul was a dyed-in-the-wool perfectionist with a big ego, or these stories regarding Paul are unfounded. At one point when Ringo was proclaiming himself to be the best drummer in the world, Paul reportedly said "best drummer in the world, he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles". True story, he could be just as acidic as John. Not to sound like a shill for "Revolution In The Head", but it has loads of juicy details about the fights and bitching that went on during the sessions, eg Ringo isn't even on a good few tracks on the White Album, ie ones with drumming of course, and it's actually Paul doing the guitar solo on "Taxman".

Let's hope so.

Really???

So you're going to disagree with the special one???, according to him it had everything. I only saw the highlights myself, lots of near misses. The Liverpool game took a lot to sit through, the Wenger boys almost got a bit of a shock though. And I was joking about that, if it wasn't shown you missed nothing.

I don't think anyone is talking about Bing's fan base, it's whether or not any of them are even aware of Mosaic and if so, would they shell out on a set like the one being proposed.

If it's a bio you want, 'Revolution in the Head' won't do the trick. It is as you suggest more analytical/descriptive of the music (without being technical). It also has an intriguing social analysis in the long introduction. But don't be scared of it - you won't need a detailed chronological knowledge to make sense of it. I always find it greatly increases my pleasure in the albums to read the Macdonald descriptions first. I once went through most of the albums song-by-song, pausing to read what he had to say first. The thing I love about 'Revolution in the Head' is that Macdonald is not at all in awe of his subject/subjects. He really is quite harsh on them and doesn't go along with the whole everything they did was amazing atitude you sometimes encounter with the Fab Four. I think he writes very well, I picked up some of the Stereo individual discs, chickened out on the box, and while I was playing "Abbey Road" I was perusing the book. His description of "You Never Give Me Your Money" is fantastic, but sometimes you read some of them and you think "Jesus, I hope none of the Beatles read that, it was scathing". If you get it make sure you get the updated one.

More appealing than Liverpool - Debrecen, at Anfield???? Are you nuts. I didn't really watch either any of the games last night. The MU and Chelski game were on but both of them looked fairly shite in entertainment terms.

It would be $119 plus shipping. 7 cd Mosaic sets are usually that price. I don't know if there are 1000 people in the world who would pay that for a 7 cd set of Bing, especially with just a trio backing him on all 7 discs, in good times or bad.

I see your point, but would like to add I've really enjoyed the Jimmy Witherspoon and have listened to it repeatedly. Me too! That's a great album and kudos to Mosaic for reissuing it. I can't comment on the Wein album as I don't own that one. I think JAW's point was not that these aren't good albums--they are--but that they're odd choices, and I have to concur on that point. There are some odd choices among those singles even by the "more established" artists. I was surprised by the J. J. Johnson choice, for example, because there was some really good jazz stuff he recorded in his other RCA albums (especially "The Total J. J. Johnson") that had to be left out. Likewise, while "Woody's Winners" is a great album, Woody's Columbia material would have made a fine select. greg mo Eh, it wasn't JAW's point, it was my point, well sort of. If your re-issueing stuff to what is an already very limited market and charging top $ for it, surely your criteria should not be albums that happen to be obscure yet are available for release and then talked up to a point to make them seem a definitive release. The Art Farmer Single was a good idea, the Art Blakey Single, not so sure, although now that I've typed that I know someone is going to say it's his best album. You're right though, the choices are odd and it's more than likely why they haven't had the sales they were hoping for with the Singles series and have stopped releaseing them. Not withstanding 3 or 4 people on a Jazz message board of course. :rolleyes: I get the impression that Mosaic thought their customers will go for anything as long as it has the "Mosaic" name on it. They are right to a certin extent, there's a few of those customers on here. I'm not naming names though. :w My bad. I confused posters. Hope NEITHER of you is too insulted! greg mo You'll be hearing from my team of Lawyers in due course.

I had a funny feeling you'd fold. :rhappy: I have not as of yet. As a kid I had the Hunter Davies book The Beatles which was written before they broke up. I now have: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road by Mark Lewisohn A Hard Day's Write : The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song by Steve Turner Anthology (which should be called Mythology but makes a nice coffee table book) The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz I think the Spitz and Lewisohn are two that offer good insight without a lot of personal interpretation by the authors. Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles by Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey looks like a good read that I want to check out. I don't know if it's still in print, but I always loved this book: Nobody recommending "Revelution In The Head"????? :unsure: I think it's amazing.

:rofl:

I see your point, but would like to add I've really enjoyed the Jimmy Witherspoon and have listened to it repeatedly. Me too! That's a great album and kudos to Mosaic for reissuing it. I can't comment on the Wein album as I don't own that one. I think JAW's point was not that these aren't good albums--they are--but that they're odd choices, and I have to concur on that point. There are some odd choices among those singles even by the "more established" artists. I was surprised by the J. J. Johnson choice, for example, because there was some really good jazz stuff he recorded in his other RCA albums (especially "The Total J. J. Johnson") that had to be left out. Likewise, while "Woody's Winners" is a great album, Woody's Columbia material would have made a fine select. greg mo Eh, it wasn't JAW's point, it was my point, well sort of. If your re-issueing stuff to what is an already very limited market and charging top $ for it, surely your criteria should not be albums that happen to be obscure yet are available for release and then talked up to a point to make them seem a definitive release. The Art Farmer Single was a good idea, the Art Blakey Single, not so sure, although now that I've typed that I know someone is going to say it's his best album. You're right though, the choices are odd and it's more than likely why they haven't had the sales they were hoping for with the Singles series and have stopped releaseing them. Not withstanding 3 or 4 people on a Jazz message board of course. :rolleyes: I get the impression that Mosaic thought their customers will go for anything as long as it has the "Mosaic" name on it. They are right to a certin extent, there's a few of those customers on here. I'm not naming names though. :w

That's actually a good point, unless they can market the living daylights out of a Set like that it will probably just sit on the warehouse shelf, there's no guarantee that it will be a cash cow that could fund other Sets. 7 cds will make it expensive even for Bing Crosby's biggest fans.

I know what you mean. The Beatlemaniac in me that's been suppressed for the last 20-odd years has broken free and I feel like I'm hearing this music fresh for the first time all over again. Only this time, I have a passenger: my son, who is also enjoying all of this to no end! We also have Rock Band Beatles and have yet to get tired of playing those songs, despite the fact that we've played them at least ten times each. I know what you mean, although I really thought I was done with the Fab Four, used to listen to them a lot 10 years ago. I was always curious about the Mono stuff just because those in the know used to swear by them. Listening to Pepper in Mono proves the point, "She's Leaving" is just kinda mind blowing, I never really liked the song before, always though it was too sappy but it just works for me now. BTW, I dug out "Revolution in the Head" again and was flicking through it while giving the White Album a spin, I had totally forgot how bitchy Ian Macdonald could be about some of the tunes.

I went into this with only a passing interest in the stereo remasters, I was more interested in the mono stuff, but to my surprise the stereo set is just fantastic. Even my missus commented on the sound quality and she's usually into Brahms and Rachmaninoff . OK, that's not helping me, or what's left of my bank balance, not helping at all. :tophat:

How the fuck did this happen??? Uefa rescinds Arsenal striker Eduardo's two-game Champions League ban

Yes, Mosaic is defintely trying to break out of the world of "Jazz Nerds" that has been it's stock and trade since it began, this one just confirms what I was already thinking. I would have no interest in this one.

That Mosaic Contemporary website is just bizarre. They'd maybe have done themselves a favor with the Braxton to exclude the Four Orchestras thing and sell it as a snappier, easier-to-shift 6 CD set. I agree about the big-name big boxes, though not about Selects which I can't quite be bothered with. The big boxes suffer a little in some cases from incompleteness, which annoys collectors, and in some cases from the terrible booklet texts. But when big-name sets come out they go on everybody's wishlist, and, as you say, unlike George Wein, that is a huge plus. Yea, I checked the Mosaic Contemporary website when I was typing my post and it is, as the Trailer Park Boys would no doubt say, fucked in the head!!!. It also looks like they have already bailed on it.

Turning off the signatures was definitely a good move for me! Turning off signatures is essential. You see enough pretentious shite in the world as it is.

The Mono versions of Revolver and Peppers are just amazing. I never really liked Peppers all that much for some strange reason but the Mono version just did something for me. I am already reconsidering my decision not to get the Stereo box because I just know I'm going to want to hear all the Stereo versions in the end. It really is "put a smile on your face" kinda music. :g

Thanks for the link, never saw this site before.

I saw that match at a soccer pub in Chicago. The place was packed with Gunner fans and I don't know if I've ever heard Gunner fans scream and curse so much as they did every time Adebayor came up on the screen. My Villans won their derby this afternoon. I'm happy. I really missed the piss and vinegar of the League after watching the bland Internationals. The Adebayor thing or MADebayor thing, was bound to happen but I didn't think to such a degree. He is going to get banned for a long time, there is talk of 4 to 6 games maybe, both for the stamp and inciting the crowd. If there was so much ill feeling between him and most of the Arsenal squad you wonder what Wenger was thinking by keeping him there last season. It was a good weekend though, loads of goals including Israel's angry man and B. Goren's favorite getting a hat-trick.

I don't want to sound harsh but if Mosaic is experiencing problems, either because of the recent disaster or because of the general shitness of the economy in general, I can't help but feel they brought a little of it on themselves. I know every business needs to grow to suceed but things like Mosaic Contemporary and going back to producing Vinyl didn't seem to me to be great ideas. The Complete Thelonious Monk At The It Club for $100 doesn't really make sense even in the good times. And although Mosaic Singles was a good idea, some of the choices seemed a little strange, did anybody out there really want George Wein - Is Alive And Well or Jimmy Witherspoon - Goin To Kansas City? I know they are limited in what the can do with regards to licences and what the majors will let them have but when you're charging top dollar for a single cd surely there must be more inspiried stuff than this? Judging by the majority of the recent big sets they were going for artists with a bit more universal appeal, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Oscar Peterson etc rather than or indeed to help pay for the Anthony Braxton type sets. I do like the big boxes and the Selects, maybe not as much as I used to, and obviously I want to see them continue but maybe they should stick to doing what they do best, ie the big boxes and the Selects?

I guess most folks already have the 2008 Euro-Sony Original Masters Ellington 1932-1939? Those are 'gray-market' in the USA for exactly the same copyright/royalty issues as affects 'Andorran' imports or 'Euro-Mosaics', so some may have scruples. If you can find one though they are dirt-cheap and well worth a few $$$ investment as a bulwark against the non-emergence of the proposed Mosaic 10CD epic. I don't think the Original Masters Ellington 1932-1939 was ever a "grey" market release and it has since gone OOP. There is a new one avaiable for £179.39 on Amazon.co.uk though.

Thanks for that, I think I'll skip the stereo box then and just get a few of the later albums in the single disc format. I went for the Mono box and even though it's very expensive it is worth it. Really well done overall. I sampled the first few of the early albums and was very impressed, as previously I had only really listened to "Rubber Soul" onwards. The early stuff is what it is, nice pop music and some covers but some of the singing is just great. Also the guitar solo on "A Hard Days Night" might just be the most perfect guitar solo. In short, the hype about the mono box, and indeed mono Fab Four, is correct, well worth getting. IMHO.