With the introduction of stereo fidelity in 1958, most albums by pop artists and singers were released in two formats: mono and stereo. In some cases artists recorded the same material twice. In other cases gear was in place to record both formats at once. Stereo recordings involved the special placement of musical instruments in the studio and a more dynamic recording process, enabling the left-hand side of the orchestra to predominate through the left speaker and the right-hand side in the right speaker. The result was a radically vivid and exciting sound, since stereo records and a stereo phonograph produced a much more panoramic listening experience. One artist who recorded at the dawn of stereo technology was Peggy Lee.
Her first mono/stereo effort for Capitol was Jump for Joy, with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. For years, the only CD version of the album available was the mono version released by Capitol EMI U.K. as part of its mid-1990s two-fer series. But the mono release suffered terribly from narrow fidelity, shallow depth and pinched dimension. Now DRG/EMI has issued a remastered stereo version for the first time on CD, and the mixed and mastered result by Alan Silverman is positively stunning. But not necessarily for the reasons you'd expect.
I love Lee, but I never thought Jump for Joy was her best outing from the period. In all likelihood, the new stereo technology may have compelled producer Lee Gillette to urge Lee to lay back after delivering her lyrics to allow the Riddle orchestra to come up fast in stereo behind her. So Lee rarely lingers on notes, and the result in most cases sounds a bit too relaxed, as though Lee were singing from a sofa while filing her nails. Or pulling back from the microphone. (The rare exception is Ain't We Got Fun.) By comparison, Things Are Swingin', her next Capitol release recorded six months later in 1958 with Jack Marshall arrangements, featured a much more engaged and lingering Lee.
After listening to the stereo and mono versions of Jump for Joy, it's apparent that the real champ on this date was Nelson Riddle and his king-sized arrangements. On the mono version, the orchestra sounds as if it had been placed across the street from the Capitol Tower studios in Hollywood. But on the new stereo release, all of the textures and colors are in your room. There are horns, a harp, vibes, flutes, tympani drums, assorted woodwinds, a gaggle of reeds and a swinging crushed-velvet string section. It's the whole Riddle sha-bang, tamed and decked out, see-ing and sawing throughout the session. What a pleasure to hear the full effect.
The real delights here are Riddle's song intros. Each one glistens like chrome, and the instrumental collages Riddle creates never fail to startle and dazzle—even after five or six listens. Dig the vivid bass trombone downbeat and muted trumpets on the opener to Jump for Joy. Or the reeds getting scalded by muted trumpets and sweetened by circular strings on the intro to Four or Five Times. And how about that ascending walking figure on Just in Time? By my second spin of Jump for Joy in stereo, I must confess that I found myself listening more for Riddle's surprising instrumental sprays than Lee's tentative vocals.
With the new stereo version, you hear instantly that this was by design or by accident Riddle's date, with Lee along for the stereo ride. But this is no real knock on Lee. Even in relaxed mode, Lee is a seductive singer, and her talents are only graced here by Riddle's restless surf underneath her kittenish delivery.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find the new stereo mastering of Jump for Joy as a download at iTunes and at Amazon here. The album includes two rather interesting rock and roll bonus tracks recorded by Lee and Riddle as singles in 1957. I recommend buying the CD, since you'll get Will Friedwald's fine liner notes and the album's complete discography, including a listing of the musicians on the session.
A special thanks to Ivan Santiago for late-day answers to key questions about Jump for Joy. You'll find Ivan's definitive online discography of Peggy Lee's recordings here. Peggy Lee's official site is here.
JazzWax clip: Not sure what the technical difference is between mono and stereo and want it explained as though you were 12 years old? Dig this...
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This is an interesting circumstance because in most cases the mono versions of early Capitol mono/stereo releases are far superior to the stereo versions. They have far more depth and richness of tine and the instruments are recorded with a fidelity that is not hearable, if it is even present, on the stereo equivalents. This is long acknowledged by collectors of Kenton, Cole, Sinatra and others.
My thanks to Marc for the mention of the Peggy Lee discography, which is still a work in progress. Opinion about the mastering of this DRG CD seems to be very divided. Some listeners are loving it, whereas others are expressing disappointment. If you go to Amazon, for instance, you'll find a trio of customer reviews that run the gamut from positive to negative. My own opinion is mixed. I am very happy that DRG released this disc, and do find a lot to like in it, but I can't say that I am fully satisfied with its remix. (On the other hand, I do love Alan Silverman's remastering of the other Peggy Lee-Nelson Riddle CD that DRG released in tandem with this one, "The Man I Love.")
I basically share the viewpoint expressed by British record producer Ken Barnes in his Amazon review. Here's part of it: "While I agree with almost everything ... said about the sound balance and the placement of Nelson Riddle's fine orchestra, there are some tracks where the audio is decidedly lacking. Why, for example, is the front line so far in the background in Four Or Five Times? And why make a secret of Harry Edison's muted trumpet on certain other tracks ? I don't mean to sound churlish because this, in all other respects, is a truly gorgeous CD and DRG are to be congratulated for finally bringing it onto the market ... Riddle's arrangements for Sinatra were more successful than his work here with Peggy Lee. With Sinatra he offered a springier and sprightlier quality that drove the singer to more dynamic results. This is not to say that his charts for Peggy are less appealing, but from time to time - though not too often - there is a 'heaviness' that derives more from his attention to orchestral textures rather than to out-and-out swing.No one admires Riddle more than I and this effect is entirely intentional on his part, but it gives certain tracks more of a Las Vegas feel than the exciting jazz quality that I was hoping for.Of course, this is purely personal and jazz musicians-even those who played for Riddle -generally agree with this point.But Nelson Riddle was a unique artist, a perfectionist and a law unto himself. He took great pride in his work and it certainly shows. Who else but Riddle would think of taking Just In Time at such a leisurely tempo with such a large orchestra and elicit one of Peggy Lee's sexiest vocals ? As for Peggy, she too was a law unto herself, and a natural swinger under any circumstances. She could hold an audience spellbound with her rhythmic poise even if the musicians failed to turn up. Her work on this album is perfection from start to finish."
Other listeners have made additional complaints about the disc's audio ambiance, (e.g. "Peggy sounds like she is trapped singing in a box in front of the orchestra and like Houdini, I am waiting for her to escape."). I think that a dividing line here is whether you have or have not listened to the stereo LP. Those of us who have listened to the stereo long play seem to be the same ones who are less enthusiastic about the new remastering for the CD.
As for the vocals and the music, my reaction to them seems diametrically opposite to Marc's. The DRG remastering causes me to concentrate more on the singing that on the music. I do feel that Marc makes various smart points (as usual) and I could very well agree with his speculation that "the new stereo technology may have compelled producer Lee Gillette to urge Lee to lay back after delivering her lyrics to allow the Riddle orchestra to come up fast in stereo behind her. So Lee rarely lingers on notes, and the result in most cases sounds a bit too relaxed." And I definitely agree that her next album, "Things Are Swingin'," is a better, far more representative of her personal approach. I have to fully disagree, though, with the description of her vocals in "Jump for Joy" as "tentative," or with the implication that they do not succeed because they are "too relaxed." On the contrary, the general feel of relaxation strikes me as a successful and intentional strategy, aiming at communicating the "joie de vivre" which is the album's main message. Far from tentativeness, I hear a thoroughly self-assured vocalist from beginning to end, with an excellent control of what she is trying to communicate. If anything, I am taken aback by the large number of vocal detail (turns of phrase, changes of tone, and other subtleties) that she uses to communicate elation. (It's also worth nothing that those vocals have their fans. A couple of well-known critics have cited her "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" as either the best or one of the very best versions of that ditty. I love the title track, in particular -- or at least, I love it in the stereo LP version). Vive la différence, n'est pas?
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.
This is an interesting circumstance because in most cases the mono versions of early Capitol mono/stereo releases are far superior to the stereo versions. They have far more depth and richness of tine and the instruments are recorded with a fidelity that is not hearable, if it is even present, on the stereo equivalents. This is long acknowledged by collectors of Kenton, Cole, Sinatra and others.
Posted by: Franklin T. Moorehead | September 08, 2009 at 01:56 AM
My thanks to Marc for the mention of the Peggy Lee discography, which is still a work in progress. Opinion about the mastering of this DRG CD seems to be very divided. Some listeners are loving it, whereas others are expressing disappointment. If you go to Amazon, for instance, you'll find a trio of customer reviews that run the gamut from positive to negative. My own opinion is mixed. I am very happy that DRG released this disc, and do find a lot to like in it, but I can't say that I am fully satisfied with its remix. (On the other hand, I do love Alan Silverman's remastering of the other Peggy Lee-Nelson Riddle CD that DRG released in tandem with this one, "The Man I Love.")
I basically share the viewpoint expressed by British record producer Ken Barnes in his Amazon review. Here's part of it: "While I agree with almost everything ... said about the sound balance and the placement of Nelson Riddle's fine orchestra, there are some tracks where the audio is decidedly lacking. Why, for example, is the front line so far in the background in Four Or Five Times? And why make a secret of Harry Edison's muted trumpet on certain other tracks ? I don't mean to sound churlish because this, in all other respects, is a truly gorgeous CD and DRG are to be congratulated for finally bringing it onto the market ... Riddle's arrangements for Sinatra were more successful than his work here with Peggy Lee. With Sinatra he offered a springier and sprightlier quality that drove the singer to more dynamic results. This is not to say that his charts for Peggy are less appealing, but from time to time - though not too often - there is a 'heaviness' that derives more from his attention to orchestral textures rather than to out-and-out swing.No one admires Riddle more than I and this effect is entirely intentional on his part, but it gives certain tracks more of a Las Vegas feel than the exciting jazz quality that I was hoping for.Of course, this is purely personal and jazz musicians-even those who played for Riddle -generally agree with this point.But Nelson Riddle was a unique artist, a perfectionist and a law unto himself. He took great pride in his work and it certainly shows. Who else but Riddle would think of taking Just In Time at such a leisurely tempo with such a large orchestra and elicit one of Peggy Lee's sexiest vocals ? As for Peggy, she too was a law unto herself, and a natural swinger under any circumstances. She could hold an audience spellbound with her rhythmic poise even if the musicians failed to turn up. Her work on this album is perfection from start to finish."
Other listeners have made additional complaints about the disc's audio ambiance, (e.g. "Peggy sounds like she is trapped singing in a box in front of the orchestra and like Houdini, I am waiting for her to escape."). I think that a dividing line here is whether you have or have not listened to the stereo LP. Those of us who have listened to the stereo long play seem to be the same ones who are less enthusiastic about the new remastering for the CD.
As for the vocals and the music, my reaction to them seems diametrically opposite to Marc's. The DRG remastering causes me to concentrate more on the singing that on the music. I do feel that Marc makes various smart points (as usual) and I could very well agree with his speculation that "the new stereo technology may have compelled producer Lee Gillette to urge Lee to lay back after delivering her lyrics to allow the Riddle orchestra to come up fast in stereo behind her. So Lee rarely lingers on notes, and the result in most cases sounds a bit too relaxed." And I definitely agree that her next album, "Things Are Swingin'," is a better, far more representative of her personal approach. I have to fully disagree, though, with the description of her vocals in "Jump for Joy" as "tentative," or with the implication that they do not succeed because they are "too relaxed." On the contrary, the general feel of relaxation strikes me as a successful and intentional strategy, aiming at communicating the "joie de vivre" which is the album's main message. Far from tentativeness, I hear a thoroughly self-assured vocalist from beginning to end, with an excellent control of what she is trying to communicate. If anything, I am taken aback by the large number of vocal detail (turns of phrase, changes of tone, and other subtleties) that she uses to communicate elation. (It's also worth nothing that those vocals have their fans. A couple of well-known critics have cited her "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" as either the best or one of the very best versions of that ditty. I love the title track, in particular -- or at least, I love it in the stereo LP version). Vive la différence, n'est pas?
Posted by: Ivan Santiago | September 17, 2009 at 03:03 AM