Pet Sounds Mono CDs

So while Mark had a flat digital transfer, the flat transfer was not released but was remastered/tweaked/EQ'd, which explains why the 40th ann. version to my ears sounds worse than the PS box mono (from the NY tape) and much worse than the DCC. And the "flat" transfer, depending on the A/D converters in use at the time, was likely not as good as Steve's later transfer.

Could the "better" sound of the Greenline be due to a lack of no noise processing, which was used for the 1990 release and Pastmasters, but perhaps had yet to be used when Mark sent the tape copy to japan in 1987?

My understanding of why the original Japanese PS was pulled was because the bonus tracks had not been authorized for release - likely because the BBoys BRI had not signed off on them yet although Mark had included them with the tape sent to Japan.

 

I don't know if that's the case (I doubt it), but if it was duophonic it was "folded" down to mono. Japan was going to release a duophonic Pet Sounds CD in 2006, but apparently it never came out, and I never heard another word about it. Brian Wilson may have vetoed it's release.

 

For a very limited release, the 1987 Greenline Japan CD seems to be in plentiful supply. It's been listed on Ebay regularly for years, and I've picked up two sealed copies from that source.

 

Well, this is finally starting to make sense, I have long wondered about the exact details of the Greenline CD. What it's all starting to sound like is this: it was a digital transfer, but without the noise reduction on the 1990 Pet Sounds and all the two/fers. Apparently the idea for the no-noise didn't come up until then, when the whole catalogue was released. So there would have been no reason or inclination to no-noise the Greenline CD. Is that pretty much the story?

 

Wait, now I'm confused. If the Pet Sounds Pastmasters CD was made from whatever copy of the master tape that Japan was sent in the 1960's, then what kind of tape would that be? It couldn't be a digital remaster, couldn't be NR'd, and couldn't have had intros spliced in from the multi-tracks, which is what I read in previous threads on this subject. Everybody says it sounds horrible, but if it does it can't sound horrible for any of those reasons. What's the bottom line?

 

There are two different versions of the green label PS though. One has the duophonic WIBN and the other has it in mono (presumably cut from the NY tape?). Either way, you want to be sure it has "Mastered By Capitol" in the deadwax.

 

The Pastmasters Pet Sounds is no-noised. It contains the same mastering and remixed intros as the original US CD.

 

Now I'm confused. I understood that the Pastmasters PS (which I don't have) was simply a CD reissue of the 1960s-era Japanese master tape -- like the rest of the Pastmasters series. If it's the same mastering and remixed intros as the 1990 U.S. CD, then that would mean it came out concurrently with the two-fers -- and that's not right, is it?

So a couple of questions:
(1) Does it include the three bonus tracks that were on the 1990 U.S. CD?
(2) Was there a Japanese release of the 1990 CD, with the three bonus tracks?

 

Nope, it was the one broken egg in the Pastmasters Series. That's why it's the only one no one wants.

 

Correct me here if I'm off base, but my understanding is that the Pastmasters series did not use any "60's Japanese master tapes" - i.e. tapes used in japan for previous vinyl releases. They were sent copies of the Capitol master tapes, flaws and all (which is why some tracks have dropouts/speed variation etc, Steve has said these are all on the master tapes but can be corrected with work, as was done on the US twofer reissue), which were used without tweaking for the Pastmasters series - EXCEPT for Pet sounds, where the no noised, spliced intros master was sent and used. The reason why that was available was because Capitol was working on a US/UK Pet Sounds release - they hadn't gotten to the other albums yet, otherwise Pastmasters would have gotten the same tapes that were used for the first 2fer series.

The Greenline must have been a work tape source before the splicing and no noise - perhaps it was from the very digital "flat" tape dub Mark made and lost, that was found and tweaked for the 40th anniversary PS issue?

 

Can someone please clear up the references to "LA cut" and "NY tape" used here?

 

Yes, which is what?
Which tape has the dropouts on I'm Waiting For The Day (tympany intro), Pet Sounds (second verse), Sloop John B. (so---hoist up the..) that were on all the LP releases until the 1987 Japanese disc.

 

Steve, could you set the record straight on a few things?

Was the master tape you used for the DCC Pet Sounds the "L.A." master? I read on a Beach Boys forum that you used the "L.A." master for the whole thing, except "WIBN" and the train/dogs coda, which was reported to come from the "N.Y." tape copy.
Do you know how many generations down the L.A. and N.Y tapes are?

Also, in an interview you mentioned that PS "took months" to get it where you wanted. Yet, in another interview, you mentioned that you had the PS master for "about two hours" before returning it to Capitol. Was the "months" the time it took to normalize the volume of each track to achieve the best result AFTER the tape was transferred? What exactly happened here? When did you decide to do a "flat" transfer? (I use this quote from an interview to back up my question: "...So then one day I was just playing back the tape, and I thought, "it sounds great just like this. I'm going to do it straight." So I just transferred it straight...")

What's your standpoint on the "recently discovered" digital transfer (per Mark Linett) that was used on the 40th Anniversary edition?

And finally, for your new remaster, what tape will you be using?

Also, on a whim, have you ever considered finding a mint Reprise vinyl pressing of PS and transferring that to the digital world?

 

As Steve has repeatedly told us - it should be in a search somewhere here - the LA tape IS the master tape as prepared by Brian and Chuck Britz. The NY tape is a copy of the master tape, sent to New York as a back up BUT my understanding is it was not used to make the vinyl on the East Coast, all came from the LA tape (someone confirm this for me?).

the Reprise vinyl was made from the same tape Steve used, the LA tape - although I'm not sure if Wouldn't It Be Nice was damaged and replaced before they cut the Reprise or after - so why would we want a needle drop when Steve has an analogue and digital transfer of the now missing master?

 

If this is true, then you'd have to say that what we got with the Pet Sounds Pastmasters is what Capitol actually would have intended it to be, and that the other Pastmasters discs were in fact not, and we got them that way, warts and all, only because Capitol hadn't had time to tweak them yet. And so the Greenline Pet Sounds disc, though a different animal altogether, sort of fits in better with the other Pastmasters discs than the actual Pet Sounds Pastmasters CD did.

 

I'm getting a headache!

 

I think that I can help a little here. The Greenline series was a Toshiba-EMI promotion for catalogue albums that were being released on CD at a (then) reduced price of 2800 Yen. Pet Sounds was released in December 1988, and pulled fairly soon after that. I don't recall the exact reason, but I also remember hearing that the bonus tracks had not been approved. When it was pulled, collectors bought up all of the copies on the market (which explains the number of sealed copies that are available). It was a hot item at the time because the bonus tracks could only be found on that disc. Of course, the tracks were then issued on subsequent official releases, and the Pet Sounds Box opened the floodgates, so much of the collectability of the Greenline Pet Sounds disappeared. It's still a nice item to have. It sounds pretty good to me - comparable to the DCC, which also sounds good; I don't hear an inferior tape, but I've never listened to it that carefully. I wouldn't pay a fortune for it, but its nice to have. I have Summer Days, and I don't think that there were any other Beach Boys titles in that series although I could be wrong. Here's a scan of an actual promo version of the CD. Note the promo language printed on the hub.

 

Members should note that this is the early SAMPLE version and you find this with many CD releases - my Roy Orbison "The All-Time Greatest Hits" and Genesis "A Trick Of The Tail" are SAMPLE copies - and all of the CP28 "Pet Sounds" I found on the shelves in Tokyo are normal CDs and don't have this writing.

I don't know about sources for any of these discs (or care, the sound out of my speakers is what counts). The CP28 is my favorite. Some members I've talked to via PM like the CP28 and others like the DCC.

 

Thank you for that explanation! That actually makes sense!

From strictly an aural evaluation, the Reprise vinyl seems to date from before "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and the trains/dog coda were removed from the master. What I've heard about those "removals" is that the tracks actually were excised for use on other releases -- "Wouldn't It Be Nice" for the 1975 single put out to capitalize on the use of the song in the film "Shampoo" (and that tape reportedly has been recovered now from the Warner Bros. archives) and the trains/dog coda for inclusion on the Warner Bros. "loss leader" set, The Whole Burbank Catalog. If that's true and Warner Bros. actually chopped up the master tape (and a licensed one at that!), that doesn't speak very well of their care and respect for archival recordings! Shame on you, Warner Bros!

 

That's correct. The disc in the scan that I posted is the same as the commercially released copy except for the hub print.

 

I'd really like to get that Greenline CD of Summer Days, since it presumably would sound as good as Pet Sounds, and also presumably would not have two tracks in collapsed to mono Duophonic, as did the Summer Days Pastmasters CD.

 

I'd really like to get that Greenline CD of Summer Days, since it presumably would sound as good as Pet Sounds, and also presumably would not have two tracks in collapsed to mono Duophonic, as did the Summer Days Pastmasters CD. Was this CD also pulled from release? It seems to be much harder to find than Pet Sounds, I wonder if it too had unauthorized bonus tracks.

 

No bonus tracks. I have both the pastmasters and the Greenline, so I could compare, but have no idea what two tracks you are referring to. Could you confirm?

I have no idea if it was pulled from release, but if I remember correctly, it was on sale for a very short period (probably a year or so) before the pastmasters replaced it. I suspect that it just did not sell particularly well, as it's an awfully short album, and generous hits collections were available on CD at the time.

 

The two collapsed to mono tracks were "Amusement Parks U.S.A." and "I'm Bugged At My Old Man". Those two were left off of abridged versions of the album. back when Capitol thought it a great idea to present the albums in abridged form.

 

I took a screenshot of iTunes. CDP 7 48421 2 is above, and below is Greenline. Running time is completely same (except bonus tracks), and lossless bitrate is nearly close. BUT, Only WIBN is different bitrate... I feel Greenline is dull,but natural sound.