Enoch Light & The Light Brigade: Spaced Out (1969) Original Project 3 Vinyl Transfer

The last of my Enoch Light themed posts, this album is perhaps Light's most notorious, but also his most celebrated work. Enoch Light & The Light Brigade take their sound innovations up out of the stratosphere with tripped out interpretations of Bach, the Beatles and Burt Bacharach songs featuring Enoch's favorite new toy, the Moog Synthesizer. And just when you thought it couldn't get any cooler, the Free Design do all the background vocals. Here's an entertaining liner note excerpt from the back cover:

"In this new album, Enoch Light explores the new age of Supersound. You will hear all of today's musical and electro-musical discoveries that have sky-rocketed stereo into a new, exciting dynamic direction: Far out and Light years away.


This "Spaced Out" record spearheads the entire sound spectrum. With side trips into some turned-on tonal zones. Like the mind-bending Moog, electric harpischords and flipped out flugelhorns.


The songs we recorded are all established hits covering a period of more than 250 years: From Bach to Bacharach and the Beatles.


We believe you'll enjoy the hip harmonics we adapted for these familiar melodies; then recorded with the most advanced electronic instruments.


The result, we think, is a total in-put of spectacular stereo reproduction.


Lift Off!"


Ripped from my original vinyl LP using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed to .mp3 @ 320vbr with dbpoweramp and LAME 3.97. Enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?o4jc7khi6558w4i

-Casey

The Free Design - Heaven/Earth (1969) Original Project 3 White Label Promo Vinyl Transfer

They were dream pop and twee 20 years before the terms even existed. The masters of soft-pop, this East Coast family foursome, made up of siblings Chris, Bruce, Ellen and Sandy Dedrick, has gained a well deserved cult following 40 years after their brief lifetime. Their light-as-air vocal harmonies and jazz-pop arrangements were too complex for teens, but too sugary and innocent for adults, and thus, the Free Design never found the success they deserved. Other reasons also were a factor, namely their producer Enoch Light and his Project 3 label's confusion on how to promote a young, self-contained vocal group, as opposed to the label's usual output of instrumental and easy listening records which were aimed squarely at adults and audiophiles. It's unclear to me whether this record was recorded on the 35mm film that Enoch had started to use some years prior to the recording of this album. I know that the first two Free Design LPs, Kites Are Fun (1967), and You Could Be Born Again (1968), were indeed recorded on 35mm film as indicated on the album cover, like all Project 3 LPs were back then. But on this record, their third for Project 3, 1969's Heaven/Earth, there is no mention of the recording process or what kind of tape or film was used for the master recording and I know that he eventually did stop using 35mm film because of it's high price tag.

Regardless, this is their best album by a long shot. This record found the group easing away from the child-like themes of the earlier albums (kites, umbrellas, little brothers...), and on to more adult themes like the music business, romance and self-discovery. The haunting arrangements by principle songwriter Chris Dedrick are the best he would ever conceive and the male-female vocal interplay among the group is as sharp as ever. The covers here are the most mature the group would attempt, covering standards like Gershwin's "Summertime", as opposed to their earlier records where they covered contemporary pop acts like Simon & Garfunkel, and the Turtles. Dedrick's originals steal the show though, with masterpieces of jazzy sunshine-pop like "My Very Own Angel", the bitingly cynical "2002 - A Hit Song", and the absolutely beautiful and haunting choral piece "Dorian Benediction" on which Enoch Light's session musicians lay down some of their best jazzy touches over the group's, reverb drenched, cathedral-like vocal parts. Enoch Light's production is absolutely wonderful and spacious, and he gets great help from Command/Project 3 staple Tony Mottola and awesome engineering from the brilliant Phil Ramone. Fantastic record.

This album is only available for a very limited time on this blog because this record is currently in print. Light In the Attic, a Seattle-based re-issue label has released all the Free Design's albums on nice sounding CDs. Use this rip as a preview and buy the reissue for yourself on Amazon, or go the extra mile like I did and find an old, vintage used copy of an original LP, which this rip is sourced from. Flat transferred from an original promotional vinyl copy using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed to 320vbr .mp3 using dbpoweramp and LAME 3.97. Enjoy and grab it while you can, cause it'll be gone soon:

EDIT 5/30/2012: As of May 30th, this LP rip is no longer available to download because it is still in print in CD format, issued by Light In The Attic records. See the amazon.com link above to order a copy!

-Casey

Enoch Light Presents: Patterns In Sound Volumes 1 & 2 (1966, 1967); Original Project 3 LP Transfers

As I've been on a massive Enoch Light kick recently, I decided to post a special two-fer of Light LPs. 1966 found Enoch Light heading a new label, Project 3, after his Command Records label had been bought and sold by ABC-Paramount in '65 or early '66 (I believe). As discussed in previous posts, Light had recently began experimenting with the use of master recording his records on 35mm film rather than tape to achieve maximum sound quality, or as Light called it, "total sound". He had released an LP of film themes and scores as early as 1962 that were mastered on 35mm film. He continued his experiment on Project 3, by producing a slew of records featuring his usual line up of "All-Star" session musicians and orchestral accompaniment, one of the most prolific periods of Lights recording career. By end of year 1966, Light had enough material released on his still brand new label that he began to compile what he considered to be the label's best material, and the best examples of "total sound". The result was Patterns In Sound: An Emotional Experience In Musical Communication, a series of compilations that would eventually reach nine volumes in total. Presented here are the first two, which were probably the most commercially successful of the series, although they did not chart.

The music here is typical Enoch Light, cinematic, bold, swinging and sweeping, as the first track on Volume 1 sets the stage for whats to come perfectly with a rousing take on "April In Portugal", with propulsive strings and and crisp, clear bongo rolls. The sound quality, as expected, is fantastic throughout both volumes, Enoch Light fans will certainly enjoy these records. Note: I removed two tracks (5 and 6) from Volume 1 by the Kissin' Cousins because they are already included on my earlier post here: http://caseysway.blogspot.com/2012/05/enoch-light-presents-kissin-cousins.html

These LPs were flat transferred to .mp3 @ 320vbr by using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed with dbpoweramp using LAME 3.97. Enjoy:

Vol.1: http://depositfiles.com/files/ocdv0c0sx

Vol 2: http://depositfiles.com/files/gz8l5spxe

-Casey

The Mystic Moods Orchestra: Mexican Trip (1967) Original Phillips Records Stereo Vinyl Transfer

Another fun Easy Listening record, this time from audiophile and found-sound innovator Brad Miller (not to be confused with the former NBA center of course...). A couple years before this record had come out, Miller and the Mystic Moods released an album called One Stormy Night a mostly instrumental album with orchestral covers of jazz tunes mixed with sounds of real rain and thunderstorms that Miller had recorded himself with primitive portable recording equipment. For the time it was quite innovative in terms of it's concept and ended up selling surprisingly well.

In 1967 the Mystic Moods Orchestra released their 3rd found-sound infused Easy Listening record, with the theme of the record being the sounds of Mexican beaches, villages and town squares, all mixed in with a Latin-esque orchestral pop sound ala Herb Alpert. Gorgeous strings, luxuriant flamenco guitars, mariachi trumpets setting the stage a midst a backdrop of the sounds of crashing waves and the bustle of Mexican city life indeed make this an easy, and fun, listen. The material here is a mix between traditional Mexican music and Mystic Moods originals, written by the Orchestra's conductor and arranger Don Ralke. Is it a bit cheeseball at times? You bet your ass it is. But it's a fun concept, and immaculately arranged and performed. A must have for fans of the Mystic Moods material and the A&M Latin pop acts like Alpert and the Baja Marimba Band.

This vinyl rip was flat transferred to .mp3 @ 320 vbr using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed using dbpoweramp and LAME 3.97. Enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?bm8y39aux1d6fe5

-Casey

Enoch Light Presents: The Kissin' Cousins Sing with Lew Davies And His Orchestra (1966) Original Project 3 Records Vinyl Transfer

An excerpt from the liner notes:

"THE KISSIN' COUSINS...a new vocal group with arrangements by one of America's greatest innovators in pop music development; Lew Davies enjoys the enthusiastic cooperation of the "top pros" who perform on this record. The exposé of musical patterns and the development of harmonic ideas will, we believe, give you the great pleasure of personal involvement in performances of unusual color.


All the essentials of good stereo are brilliantly present...sharp definition of solos and sections...warm presence of musical colors and instrumental characteristics...plus the excitement of "in-depth," Total realization of orchestration and dynamics."


In 1966, Enoch Light began the infamous record label Project 3, which would take his audiophilic obsessions to new heights. This time he recorded all the master reels on 35mm magnetic film, as opposed to the traditional 12.65mm (10 1/2 inch) Ampex tape that was the standard for most audio recording back then. Here's Light's explanation for the use of 35mm tape, given on the back of the LP jacket:


"Project 3 albums are master recorded on 35mm magnetic film. In spite of the fact that the film is fifteen times more expensive than most studio tape, the advantages of recording on film are irrefutable. The use of 35mm magnetic film recording equipment, because of its sprocket-driven, closed-looped recording, insures driven extremely stable , flutter-free sound. The film, with it's wider tracks, allows for improved signal to noise ratio; and the substance and solidity of the magnetic film completely eliminate print-through, a form of distortion."


Yes, that's a hell of a lot of technical jargon to be on the back of a record sleeve in 1966, or any year for that matter. This Enoch Light guy fascinates me, he was already approaching 60 when this record came out and he was still obsessed with refining the studio recording process to achieve what he called "Total Sound", the idea of having recorded music sound like it was being played live, in front of you. This record is definitely an odd one, even for Enoch Light. Most of his work up until this point was instrumental, Big-Band based pop music, but this record incorporated the Kissin' Cousins, a studio vocal ensemble that bares more than just a wee bit of resemblance to the Ray Conniff Singers. The singers old timey male-female harmonies are fine, but the instrumental textures are where this record stands out. The percussion is beautifully clear and precise in typical Enoch fashion and the brassy punches from the sax and trumpet players add just the right amount of that classic Light Big-Band flavor, seen on Provocative Percussion to things. Tony Mottola's guitar hasn't sounded better to my ears than on this record, a bit of warm tremolo is added to his already rich sound and it really adds the perfect accents to these jazz-lite pop songs. Pretty positive Light's favorite studio musicians, the All-Stars, were all present on this recording.


The material I'm not familiar at all with. These are probably standards from the 30s and 40s, or show tunes but I really haven't done much research so any help identifying the tunes would be awesome. Overall, it's just a fun record and a great listen for those who are as enchanted with Enoch Light as I am. I think this record represents the transition between Light's Big-Band driven material and the more modern pop sound he tried to capitalize on with the Free Design and the Critters, both of whom were signed to Project 3 Records a year after this record was released. 


This LP was flat transferred to .mp3 @320vbr using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed using dbpoweramp with LAME 3.97. Enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?gamdwdddudmah2v


-Casey

Enoch Light: Provacative Percussion Vol. 1 (1959) Original Command Records Stereo Vinyl Transfer

Perhaps Enoch Light's most famous releases, the Provocative Percussion series weren't so much albums as they were an experiment in exploring the possibilities of stereo sound, as I alluded to on my previous post. Enoch Light was a notorious audiophile and went to the greatest lengths possible to achieve top sound quality. The liner notes on the LP sleeve, where typically some record label promo guy would wax poetic about the content of the record, is instead filled with details on which microphones were used to the record the instruments, which kind of tape head and amplifiers were used to cut the master reel, and directions on how to properly weigh and calibrate your turntable as to not damage the record.

The music itself is deceptively simple, the record is mostly comprised of jazz standards and instrumental versions of show tunes. The selections are immaculately arranged and performed but they sometimes feel as though they are merely an excuse to show off Light's high tech studio wizardry. There's an almost sparse feeling to the songs as Enoch Light typically shows off one instrument at a time, almost like a demonstration for the listener to hear how incredible the clarity of each individual sound is. The clarity is indeed stunning, the brass play very loud and yet there's zero evidence of clipping or distortion, quite a feat for a recording studio in 1959. And as the album title suggests, crystal clear bongo drum rolls, shakers and scratchers zip back and forth between the left and right channels seemingly at random as a further demonstration of Light's prowess with the newly discovered stereo format. Tony Mottola's guitar is as smooth and silky as ever, as he picks the perfect spots to put his precise, jazzy touches on.

Highlights are the Cole Porter cover "You're the Top", "Somebody Loves Me" and "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps."

The LP was transferred to .mp3 @ 320vbr using EAC's .WAV editor and compressed with dbpoweramp using LAME 3.97. Enjoy: http://www.mediafire.com/?lvv8bo1w7x2606j

-Casey