Shangri-las Blog

Mary in The Studio

These pics I was sent a long while ago…. They look to me like stills taken from that footage on the girl groups doco. I have sat on images a very long time.

In the footage Mary is laying down what looks like a lead vocal while Mary-Anne, Margie and Betty are outside in another sound booth doing their vocals.

I have always wondered how much preparation the girls did before they went in to record. That would be a really interesting question for Mary.

The thing is  alot of people forget when they listen to music from the 50’s and 60’s was that the luxury of multi track recording  did NOT occur till the mid-late 60s. and even then it was bouncing down the recording to clear tracks to lay on another.  Bouncing down  meant mixing what you had on 3 tracks down to one track, then re recording over those 3 tracks with other parts and you hoped the balance was right.. Today the Multi Tracking goes 100+ tracks.

I remember reading a long time ago about Jimi Hendrix recording Are You Experienced on a four track ! Most computers have multi track recorders complete with pitch correction software if your singer likes to sing in various keys at once… and most bands today have access to this , but is the music any better, are the songs stronger and original ? In my view, not really.  Look at whats considered fresh today, and you will see its sound, style and feel were already performed a long while back.  I suppose I could be considered biased, but its not very often I hear something new that makes my ears twitch with excitement.

Lex

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