James Taylor Quadio

[Peacekeepr73]

Any chance these will be put together in a quad box set? Are there any other unreleased quad JT albums?

Sweet Baby James: Unreleased (announced but for one reason or another only appeared in tape catalogs)
One Man Dog: CD-4, Q8, Q4
Gorilla: CD-4, Q8

 

[rtbluray]

Any chance these will be put together in a quad box set? Are there any other unreleased quad JT albums?

Sweet Baby James: Unreleased (announced but for one reason or another only appeared in tape catalogs)
One Man Dog: CD-4, Q8, Q4
Gorilla: CD-4, Q8

Even if "Sweet Baby James" exists, I don't think that's enough Quadraphonic mixes to warrant a dedicated Quadio box set.
I think we would need at least 4 Quadraphonic mixes in order for a box set to be released.
However, maybe the Quadraphonic mixes could be released via miniature deluxe editions (similar to the "Moondance" deluxe edition).

I'm all in favor of any James Taylor Quadraphonic mixes being reissued via whatever means Rhino sees fit.

 

[JonUrban]

I would love a legit Gorilla BluRay Audio, that's for sure. It's the best and my favorite WEA Quad mix of them all. However, I think it's been pretty much verified that "Sweet Baby James" was never mixed for quad. If ForagingRhino sees this thread, he might be able to confirm that. Then again, he might not. But I'm pretty sure if you search the Steve Hoffman forum there was a guy over there who knew and he said that there was no SBJ quad master. They might have looked when they did the AF SBJ a few years ago. I don't remember the details, other than I was bummed as it would have been nice if it existed and came out one day.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I would love a legit Gorilla BluRay Audio, that's for sure. It's the best and my favorite WEA Quad mix of them all. However, I think it's been pretty much verified that "Sweet Baby James" was never mixed for quad. If ForagingRhino sees this thread, he might be able to confirm that. Then again, he might not. But I'm pretty sure if you search the Steve Hoffman forum there was a guy over there who knew and he said that there was no SBJ quad master. They might have looked when they did the AF SBJ a few years ago. I don't remember the details, other than I was bummed as it would have been nice if it existed and came out one day.

Speaking of Gorilla and the mention of Steve Hoffman...I'm playing the Hoffman mastered AF Gold CD of Gorilla right now...a nice album...love the opening song Mexico...this CD sounds excellent

 

[JediJoker]

Speaking of Gorilla and the mention of Steve Hoffman...I'm playing the Hoffman mastered AF Gold CD of Gorilla right now...a nice album...love the opening song Mexico...this CD sounds excellent

Even the standard WB US CD of Gorilla sounds quite good. Sonically and musically, it's probably my favorite James Taylor album (maybe tied with New Moon Shine). I'd love to hear the quad mix, and though I'm sure I could find it digitized somewhere, I'd much prefer to pay for a disc or download mastered from the original tapes.

 

[EMB]

SWEET BABY JAMES was an album execs at the label would have liked to issue in quad during the 1972-75 time frame when WEA was very active with quad; and later during their brief foray into DVD-Audio. SBJ is a classic example of a best seller catalog title guaranteed to sell regardless of format. Why? Wish I knew and somebody would spill, since it's so logical a choice one wonders why it wasn't done.

GORILLA is a fun quad album, probably JT's loosest song-by-song performance. It got its quad issue, and though a very logical choice for an MC release even now, no one seems interested, and it's possible the artist himself isn't, either. That was always a big problem with the digital formats: even if a label wanted to, sometimes the artist could veto or express scant interest, and so, no release.

A box set? Not enough unless you combine Warners and CBS, and in this climate, just about nil it would happen.

ED

 

[key_wiz]

Well, not everything must be a “Quadio boxed set” just because they did one for Chicago, must it?

We got the Best of the Doors quad as a bonus disc on the Singles set. Who would have thought of that?

So let’s start thinking a bit more creatively for ways this stuff could get released.

How about a boxed set of all 6 JT albums for Warners with a bonus CD of the re-recorded songs for the GH and whatever outtakes and live stuff exist and a blu ray of the two quads and video footage to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his first album for the label next year?

 

[JonUrban]

I for one would love a JT WB Quadio release, even if it were single BluRay's of his two Quadradiscs, but I have a feeling that will never be.

It's said the old JT and WB still do not get along. If you recall back in the '70s JT left WB for Columbia and there was some serious bad blood between the two parties, and if anyone knows the legend of James Taylor and bad blood (ask Carly), he does not mend fences easily. He may be a great guy and all, and I do love his music (bought everything, seen him countless times), but apparently he can carry a grudge for decades.

In order for WB to release Quadio's (or even a stereo set of his albums), they would need his permission. Honestly, there should have been a stereo JT WB box by now, but it never appeared. That may be a clue. Also, during the "remaster with bonus tracks" CD era, none of the WB JT albums got any kind of special treatment, and there are some things that could have been added to remastered CD's to give them more appeal, such as "Country Road", the 45 version (which is totally different than the album version), and "I Can Dream of You", which was the B side to "Shower the People" that never appeared on an album.

Now, it's true that AF did release Gold CD's of most of his WB albums, and I am speaking with absolutely NO AUTHORITY on this topic (Heck, the JT Quadio could come out tomorrow for all I know), but I might guess that since these were reissues on another label, maybe JT thought that was OK, or maybe he had a relationship with Marshall or AF that facilitated the deal.

Anyway, like Brian and others have said time and time again, there is a lot of things that have to go right for something like a James Taylor surround release to see the light of day.

Sadly.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Ironically, James Taylor's debut was on the APPLE Label....have a copy of that album somewhere. Saw JT on the Stephen Colbert Show Last Night. He's currently doing a 'stint in Vegas.' Was NOT impressed. As Jon surmised, the likelihood of ever having a Warner's remastered JT box set is NIL! Artists and their acrimonious relationships with their music labels......

 

[sjcorne]

It's said the old JT and WB still do not get along. If you recall back in the '70s JT left WB for Columbia and there was some serious bad blood between the two parties, and if anyone knows the legend of James Taylor and bad blood (ask Carly), he does not mend fences easily. He may be a great guy and all, and I do love his music (bought everything, seen him countless times), but apparently he can carry a grudge for decades.

I once read that Sweet Baby James was planned for Warner DVD-A release with a new 5.1 mix...I assume that release was killed by the artist
then?

I got so excited when this thread title popped up...

 

[key_wiz]

I for one would love a JT WB Quadio release, even if it were single BluRay's of his two Quadradiscs, but I have a feeling that will never be.

It's said the old JT and WB still do not get along. If you recall back in the '70s JT left WB for Columbia and there was some serious bad blood between the two parties, and if anyone knows the legend of James Taylor and bad blood (ask Carly), he does not mend fences easily. He may be a great guy and all, and I do love his music (bought everything, seen him countless times), but apparently he can carry a grudge for decades.

In order for WB to release Quadio's (or even a stereo set of his albums), they would need his permission. Honestly, there should have been a stereo JT WB box by now, but it never appeared. That may be a clue. Also, during the "remaster with bonus tracks" CD era, none of the WB JT albums got any kind of special treatment, and there are some things that could have been added to remastered CD's to give them more appeal, such as "Country Road", the 45 version (which is totally different than the album version), and "I Can Dream of You", which was the B side to "Shower the People" that never appeared on an album.

Now, it's true that AF did release Gold CD's of most of his WB albums, and I am speaking with absolutely NO AUTHORITY on this topic (Heck, the JT Quadio could come out tomorrow for all I know), but I might guess that since these were reissues on another label, maybe JT thought that was OK, or maybe he had a relationship with Marshall or AF that facilitated the deal.

Anyway, like Brian and others have said time and time again, there is a lot of things that have to go right for something like a James Taylor surround release to see the light of day.

Sadly.

I didn't realize there was so much acrimony between JT and Warners but it DOES make sense considering there hasn't been any sort of "remaster with bonus tracks" issues. That all certainly doesn't really bode well for the future.

Beyond that, it isn't exactly as if "One Man Dog" and "Gorilla" were particularly great sellers or critical favorites at the time of their release either. I can't imagine there would be much demand for a "Moondance"-like deluxe edition for either of these titles. So that's why I figured seeing them tossed into a larger, comprehensive set might make the most sense.

As far as the AF releases go (and I have no idea how this works so I'm just throwing this out there---and I also know the contracts and details can vary from artist-to-artist and even album-to-album) but I've often wondered how much say the artist has over these releases when they are essentially just reissues of the same exact track listing and artwork. It seems we never (or very rarely) get bonus tracks or even new liner notes with these releases. It may be that he legally "signed off" on the album as-is decades ago and unless someone makes some substantial changes to it, he really has no say if they lease it out to another label or not?

 

[key_wiz]

Ironically, James Taylor's debut was on the APPLE Label....have a copy of that album somewhere. Saw JT on the Stephen Colbert Show Last Night. He's currently doing a 'stint in Vegas.' Was NOT impressed. As Jon surmised, the likelihood of ever having a Warner's remastered JT box set is NIL! Artists and their acrimonious relationships with their music labels......

Yep. This was one of those that was next-to-impossible to find for years during the time any non-Beatles Apple product was Lost in Litigation.

Sorry to hear the performance last night wasn't very good. Was it a faltering voice thing? Too bad if so, but he's what---just about to turn 70?

(Although Gladys Knight still seemed to be in good form!)

 

[JonUrban]

I once read that Sweet Baby James was planned for Warner DVD-A release with a new 5.1 mix...I assume that release was killed by the artist
then? I got so excited when this thread title popped up...

"The artists people" canned the DVD-A mix/5.1 release of "Sweet Baby James". Not sure why. This is info that came from the SHF many years ago. It's there somewhere in a thread.

ForagingRhino told me in an email that there is no unreleased quadraphonic mix of the album, even though it appeared in upcoming release sections of print media back in the '70s. Same with "Walking Man", the album in between the two quad releases. No quad mix.

So the prospect for a "box" is pretty much dim.

 

[hdlistener]

Even if "Sweet Baby James" exists, I don't think that's enough Quadraphonic mixes to warrant a dedicated Quadio box set.
I think we would need at least 4 Quadraphonic mixes in order for a box set to be released.
However, maybe the Quadraphonic mixes could be released via miniature deluxe editions (similar to the "Moondance" deluxe edition).

I'm all in favor of any James Taylor Quadraphonic mixes being reissued via whatever means Rhino sees fit.

Why would there have to be four releases in a box? There have been many instances of 'three pack' releases on CD over the decades, even if not in Quad.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

While there has been confirmation that James Taylor SWB does not exist , all is not so bad.

Besides "One Man Dog" and "Gorilla" quad masters at WEA , there is a UNRELEASED QUAD of James Taylor...namely "In The Pocket".

So it's a unique plus in my quadro opinion.

 

[hdlistener]

While there has been confirmation that James Taylor SWB does not exist , all is not so bad.

Besides "One Man Dog" and "Gorilla" quad masters at WEA , there is a UNRELEASED QUAD of James Taylor...namely "In The Pocket".

So it's a unique plus in my quadro opinion.

Three's a charm, I'll take that as a box!

 

[Francis Drake]

So let’s start thinking a bit more creatively for ways this stuff could get released.

At last someone else has said what i've been thinking, and shouting at the screen.

Stop living in cloud cooku land and be thankfull the originally available quad material is finally seeing the light of day on a format it deserves. If something is pulled out of the archive that was either known not about, or expected, then we can party like it's 1969.

 

[texeast]

Does anyone know if the Sweet Baby James album was ever done in Quad? I would love to have a Quadio of that one. It has the best version of Sweet Baby James as it is more acoustic than what is on the Greatest Hits one.