Re: (TV) Adventure reissue comments

["Philip P. Obbard" <pobbard@yahoo.com>]

Great write-up Maurice. You've beat me to the punch! I was too busy listening
to write last night. 

--- Maurice Rickard <maurice@mac.com> wrote:
> Adventure: Turns out that this one *is* the one on the leaked 
> Adventure outtakes, but the sound on the reissue is so much better 
> that I've had to open both files and A/B them to convince myself.  I 
> think the boot may be a touch slower, as the sync drifts pretty 
> quickly when I play them simultaneously.  It's really much better 
> than I remember, actually.

I think the boot is definitely slower. This was a subject on the list a long
while back - whether or not the various ADVENTURE outtakes/alternate mixes were
too slow, or whether the tracks on ADVENTURE had been sped-up slightly for the
finished LP (a not-uncommon practice in r'n'r production). 

I agree that "Adventure" sounds better than I remembered, even though it's the
exact same mix (as far as I can tell). The improved fidelity clearly helps. I
can never get enough of the piano during the last two minutes or so of the
track. On the other hand, I can see why this song didn't make it to the final
LP, at least not in this version. Verlaine's lyrics sound unfinished compared
to the rest of the LP. I'm guessing this recording dates from early in the
ADVENTURE sessions, a belief reinforced by its earlier appearance on a tape of
early, working versions of ADVENTURE songs, including "Glory (Early Version)".

> Ain't That Nothin' (single): The liner notes quote Tom recalling the 
> differences between this and the LP version, and it seems about 
> right.  I remember the vinyl 7" being hotter (thanks, Leo!)

Tom's comments were funny. I, too, remember the 7" being hotter - distorted,
almost - making me wonder whether the original 7" was improperly mastered to
begin with. Given Tom's description of Elektra's barebones commitment to making
a decent single mix, it wouldn't surprise me. We might be hearing it "right"
for the first time.

> Ain't That Nothin' (run-through): ... Sounds 
> like the tape ran out.

Or someone shut off the tape?

> Annoying fanboy complaint: If the instrumental version of "O Mi 
> Amore" can be released on the MM reissue, why can't the astonishingly 
> poppy "Up All Night" instrumental be included here?  And did it ever 
> have lyrics?  In a more deserving world, it could have been a hit, I 
> tell you.

Because, despite what I/we used to believe, those last three final tracks on
the infamous ADVENTURE "outtapes" tape probably aren't from the ADVENTURE
sessions after all ("Last Night", "Grip of Love", "Up All Night", now all on
the I NEED A NEW ADVENTURE boot CD). All evidence - like Verlaine's liner notes
for the Collectors' Choice reissue of TOM VERLAINE and Mark Abel's post to
Keith's message board in May of 2003 - points to those three tracks dating from
the sessions for TOM VERLAINE, not the ADVENTURE sessions. Verlaine even
explains why John Jansen is credited on "Last Night".

Here's Mark Abel's message from May 14, 2003:
"This is Mark Abel, who played 12-string on "Last Night" on Tom Verlaine's
first solo LP. I also mixed live sound for Television nearly exclusively from
late 1976 until their breakup, and also did a lot of informal playing with all
four members.
I'd like to lay to rest your assertion that Tom Thompson, who played drums on
"Last Night," might have in fact been Billy Ficca. Not so. Tom was the drummer
in Architecture, my unrecorded New York band of the late '70s and early '80s.
Thompson and I played on a three-song demo that Verlaine recorded at Blue Rock
Studios prior to the full album. "Last Night" was recorded at that session,
along with a version of "Grip of Love" and another folk-rockish song whose name
I don't remember."

The "folk-rockish song" must be "Up All Night". How three outtakes from the TOM
VERLAINE sessions wound-up on a tape of seemingly early, working versions of
ADVENTURE songs is beyond me - particularly as the sound quality of the
ADVENTURE material vs. the TOM VERLAINE on that tape is identical. (That
13-song tape is now preserved as the first 13 tracks of I NEED A NEW
ADVENTURE).

BTW, I noticed that the ADVENTURE reissue no longer says the album was recorded
at Bearsville studio, NY - it credits a different studio. Error, or correction?

Finally, as for "Oh Mi Amore", I'm surprised they chose to include it on the
MARQUEE MOON reissue, rather than ADVENTURE, since it dates from the ADVENTURE
sessions. Perhaps they want to beef-up the bonuses on MARQUEE MOON.

Still, NO complaints from me so far! Just observations. More comments to
come.... 

Rhino rules!

--Philip


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