Well, dear readers, this week has flown by, like a gazelle doing the Frug. I must write these here notes in a hurry because she of the Evil Eye will be here both bright and early and early and bright, and I shall be out the door doing the long jog by nine. I spent almost the whole of yesterday mixing the Brent Barrett album. The engineer’s rough mixes were already halfway there, and I just finessed each one, occasionally swapping out a vocal line, raising a reed here, or feathering in the guitar there, or deciding to simplify things by removing an instrument that might have been getting in the way of the vocal – all the minutiae that I really love doing. I just close my eyes and let the track wash over me and I don’t stop until I know it’s right and sounds as good as it can sound. Brent’s vocals are just terrific – warmhearted, full, vibrant, and just right. The song selection is also terrific, from standards and stuff like O Holy Night, to a couple of original tunes that I think you will really like. It took longer than I thought it would, but I was still out of there by three and home before the traffic got bad. I went directly to pick up a couple of packages and from there went right to Hugo’s for some Pasta Papa and a small Caesar salad. I did some work whilst eating, and then I came home and had to answer a whole slew of e-mails and do some stuff around the home environment. And then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled A Hard Day’s Night, an all-region Blu-Ray from Canada. I’d heard that it was simply a port of the DVD transfer, but at 1080i rather than 1080p and I’d read online that the DVD looked better upscaled than the Blu-Ray did, which, of course, is poppycock and just another example of armchair experts knowing not whereof they speak. I did a comparison of the upscaled DVD and Blu-Ray and the Blu-Ray, while not anywhere near stellar or perfect, beat the DVD in every regard – sharper, better contrast, and really, no contest at all. Could it be better? Of course. Is it the disaster they were all crying like babies about? Of course not. The only disaster, as was also the case with the DVD, is including only a new 5.1 remix, which nobody seems to like, me included. How they could not include the original mono track is anyone’s guess, but it’s an egregious omission on both DVD and Blu-Ray. The film remains a joy from start to finish. Its style and freshness has been imitated so many times that one can forget just how exciting and invigorating this film was on its initial release. And even now it is so filled with youthful spirit and élan, and the boys are so charming and funny that you just sort of grin like a goon whilst watching it. And those songs. The supporting cast is great and the whole eighty-eight minute running time just flies by with nary a dead moment in between.
After that, I listened to a bunch of CDs, including some new Varese Sarabande limited editions. One of them is an Elmer Bernstein score called A Walk In The Spring Rain – it’s not one of his greats, but I have to tell you that it is really not a well put together CD. Those of us who do this regularly always have a dilemma and that dilemma is how much source music, even though written by the composer of the film, do you actually include within the score – or do you include it as a bonus at the end. Some source music is okay – That Man From Rio has a few things like that but I went back and forth for weeks about where they should occur so as not to disrupt the flow of the album. I’m having this dilemma right now with two scores and I will not rest until I feel the sequencing is right and if that means using some of those source music cues as bonus tracks then that’s where they’ll go. Or, if I can make them fit musically within the score and make the whole seem of a piece, then that’s what I’ll do. But with A Walk In The Spring Rain, a thirty-two minute CD of which there is really only about nineteen minutes of actual score, if that, there are sometimes three source cues in a row and it just takes you right out of the mood of the score tracks – some of that could have been alleviated with careful sequencing, but that’s a lot of source music to put on a score CD. Some of the cues are pretty, but, for Bernstein of the era, it’s a really small orchestra – the string section doesn’t sound like it’s got more than six violins. Still, we do love Elmer who, for me, can do little wrong. So far, the best of the new batch is Franz Waxman’s Crime In The Streets, a great jazz score. I haven’t gotten my copy of Escape From The Planet Of The Apes yet, but it’s Goldsmith and a fun score. I also listened to a very peculiar 60s CD by singer Caterina Valente, where she tries to do pop songs of the day in pop arrangements – a very odd album indeed, but I kind of liked it. She just doesn’t sound very much like the Caterina Valente one is used to.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I forgot I was supposed to be writing these here notes in a hurry.
Today I shall do the long jog. I just found out that the Hollywood Collector’s Show is this weekend, so I’ll toddle over there and spend a couple of hours. There are some interesting people this weekend, including the first ever appearance (at an event like this) of my old pal David Cassidy. He’ll be there on Sunday and I’ll definitely stop by and say hey. There are other interesting people, too, like the beautiful Helen Slater, Jackie Cooper (his first time – he must be 100 years old), Jane Withers, Angela and Veronica Cartwright, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, and a lot of Twilight Zone alums including the first ever appearance at one of these events of my neighbor Earl Holliman. I’ll probably say hey to him, too. I will, of course, have a full report. Then I shall sup with my friends, the Jones.
Tomorrow, other than stopping by the show to say hey to Mr. Cassidy, I have no plans at all and I shall keep it that way. I do have to write some liner notes, in fact two sets of them, and I’ll probably start that ball rolling today and try to finish both sets by Tuesday or Wednesday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must visit the collector’s show, I must write liner notes, and I must sup with friends. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite Beatles songs? What was the first one you ever heard? And what is your favorite Beatles album? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I relax, get my beauty sleep, and be happy that the mix is done and to my liking.