Lady Sings The Blues: The Lost Sessions

[djessie]

I just bought a beautiful looking CD on e-bay called Lady Sings The Blues: The Lost Sessions. I was wondering where the material on the CD comes from - has it ever been released anywhere before?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272604181050?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

There is also another 2017 unoffical CD with rarities that I bought:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272604180300?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[mowsville]

they both look absolutely stunning....very well put together...i guess this is what it has come to what with digital only releases being put out.....would love to see what this person could do with "baby its me" expanded etc...i would buy a copy in a heartbeat bootleg or not if the quality was this good.

[djessie]

I agree 100%. While I of course prefer official releases, if they are not made available to fans then this is the way to go - for me at least.

These two look really beautiful - if only that person would follow up with "Baby It's Me", "Funny Girl" etc - unless official releases come along...

[kenneth]

I'd love to hear if you're satisfied with the quality on these. They are sure nice looking packaging-wise! Please let us know. If they're decent quality, I'll buy them in a heartbeat.

[carlo]

Funny because I saw these this morning for the first time as well and was impressed with the packaging. Very curious about the LSTB trio rehearsals that this cd claims to contain. I was intially debating whether to purchase it and then saw it was the last one and decided I better jump before it's gone. Maybe they will sell more.

[kenneth]

@Carlo, I imagine they will repost it after they "sell out." But of course with that really deluxe packaging, it would take more time and trouble to produce more of them, rather than pretty plain "generic" bootlegs. Carlo, please let us know as well how the quality is.

I've been very pleased with many of the bootlegs I've purchased. They get better all the time. And Carlo, you were the one who shared with me a copy of the MSS Farewell Concert, live in Montreux [[?). Can't remember just now, but really enjoy that performance.

[carlo]

Kenneth, you're probably right. It will only be a matter of time before they list it again. I will keep you updated. I'm extremely curious.

Hmmm. I can't remember if that was me! :) The Farewell concert was at Drury Lane in 77...and the Montreux concert was from 76. ;) Either way, Im glad you enjoyed it...even if it wasn't me!

[kenneth]

Kenneth, you're probably right. It will only be a matter of time before they list it again. I will keep you updated. I'm extremely curious.

Hmmm. I can't remember if that was me! :) The Farewell concert was at Drury Lane in 77...and the Montreux concert was from 76. ;) Either way, Im glad you enjoyed it...even if it wasn't me!

Oh I know it was you. I think it was the Drury Lane Farewell concert. Someone else shared with me the Montreux. Thanks again for reaching out and sending that to me.

[carlo]

No problem! That must have been at least several years ago :) Funny how time slips away!

[sansradio]

These do look wonderful! Please give us a full report on quality.

[jobeterob]

It should be concerning to Universal that devoted, committed, involved fans like Carlo and Kenneth and I'm sure many others have to reach outside the official releases to buy product.

[daviddh]

I am under the impression that iF Supremes A Go Go does well,...it may open the door for the other projects to be released on cd

[jobeterob]

A lot of them already did well if selling 10000 copies is successful-and that didn't seem to make any difference

I bet the digital only were quite unsuccessful comparatively because that didn't appeal to the market the product was aimed at

And they've realized to be successful, the need physical as well as digital

[RanRan79]

I bet the digital only were quite unsuccessful comparatively because that didn't appeal to the market the product was aimed at
And they've realized to be successful, the need physical as well as digital

I would offer that perhaps the decision to go digital only for a release like "Funny Girl" was out of fear that the product wouldn't rake in the money that it would take to put everything together. While Universal's failure to capitalize on the 50th anniversary of the first number one pop album by an all female group offends my business common sense, I can imagine that they feel better about the prospect of selling 10,000 of a once popular album.

[kenneth]

It should be concerning to Universal that devoted, committed, involved fans like Carlo and Kenneth and I'm sure many others have to reach outside the official releases to buy product.

Hi Rob, I certainly agree with you.

I recently found a bootleg of the "Metropolis" soundtrack, of the 80s release where Giorgio Moroder did the soundtrack with folks like Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, Loverboy, and so on. The soundtrack has never been released in an extended version even though there were 12" mixes of several of the album tracks. The bootleg I found didn't include those but did have quite a lot of instrumental music which had never been released. Although it wasn't sequenced in the way a commercial release might have been it was still great to have over an hour of previously unreleased music. My thought is always that if the record companies are so myopic they don't see or care about the potential sales or interest of the devoted fans - and let's face it the record companies have always been short sighted when it comes to their own product - then it's not taking anything away from anyone else. So for me it is a guilt free purchase!

[Jaap]

I'm in principle not against bootlegs, as they can make some material available to fans that for one reason or another is not made available in a different way. What I found curious about these two "bootlegs" is that they are designed to appear as legit products of Universal/Motown, as "promo -- not for sale" items, and that seems like fraude to me, except of course if they are actual promo CDs that were never commercially released.

[PeaceNHarmony]

Bootlegs have been an interesting challenge for the industry since Dylan's 'Great White Wonder' series. After that the industry had their panties in a twist about LP owners taping each others' LPs, and the industry tried to get a big copyright surtax on blank tapes!


My opinion is that the only act that handled the issue properly was the Dead, who openly allowed live taping and ultimately issued their own CDs of every live show. Pearl Jam followed, as has Bruce Springsteen.

The difference now is that we are talking about vintage product for a small audience. I agree with all here and most personally id with Kenneth - if the industry is so stupid and greedy that they can't issue and present decades-old product properly we fans need to get it however we can. Case in point: 'This Is the Story' was an immediate sellout as a pricey, lavish box set, which was great for those who ordered it in time. I did not. So my choices now are: to pay hundreds of dollars for a flipped copy, not hear the music anymore, or simply stream the music on Spotify, guilt free, because at least I pay a monthly subscriber fee. If ANY company chose to release even bare-bones editions of the Jean Terrell years separately [[and the Tops titles) for reasonable prices I'd buy.

[Jaap]

And interestingly, the discogs website does list the CDs as Motown promo's released in 2017

https://www.discogs.com/Diana-Ross-Soul-Kiss-Motown-Lost-Found-1970-1995/release/10000119

https://www.discogs.com/Diana-Ross-Lady-Sings-The-Blues-The-Lost-Sessions/release/10000056

[jobeterob]

I agree with what you guys are writing.

Some of the stories and excuses never seem to add up.

The numbers of copies printed being limited to 10,000 maximum was pretty small. That's paltry. Even if Motown was not as popular as the white rock bands, to not be able to sell 10,000 copies is hard to believe.

Nothing is ever put into marketing or advertising the product; unless you belong to this type of forum or go hunting, you'd never find the product. The average music fan would never know about this product. So how can you expect it to sell much?

Then they cut some of the offering to digital when clearly, their market is not to the 20 year old [[Brad excepted). Their main market is to the people who want to hold the physical CD and who want the booklet containing the "detail" that a real fan wants.

It must all boil down to money; it's a sunset industry in many respects. And the big companies must feel they can rake in bigger dollars somewhere else.

[RanRan79]

if the industry is so stupid and greedy that they can't issue and present decades-old product properly we fans need to get it however we can.

I don't have a problem with fans acquiring product not made available. Two weeks ago I downloaded seasons 5 and 6 of "Mr. Belvedere" off of Youtube [[I'm a child of the 80s...don't judge me) because, for whatever reason, the last two seasons of the series in all likelihood will never be released. My feeling is that if ABC [[or whoever owns the rights at this point) doesn't care to make approximately 15 bucks a season off of me, then God bless the person who uploaded every episode to Youtube because I would certainly rather have official disks.

I also faced the same issue as PeaceNHarmony did in regards to "This Is the Story". I didn't pick up "This Is the Story" when it was released and by the time I got around to it, the prices being charged couldn't be justified to my budget. Luckily another fan that I had kept in touch with from another forum was kind enough to make me a copy of the entire set for free [[minus a booklet). We fans do what we have to do to enjoy the music/shows that have become so special to us.

My problem is with people who charge for these things to make a profit but don't seem to be interested in sending along a percentage to the artists [[singers/writers/producers/musicians). As cheap as cds are today, I'm not even willing to reimburse someone the cost of the cd. It should all be for the love of the music [[and Mr. Belvedere), not fans wanting to get something for nothing or people wanting to make money off of what they legally have no right to make money from.

I think there is a slimy side to all of this.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I don't have a problem with fans acquiring product not made available. Two weeks ago I downloaded seasons 5 and 6 of "Mr. Belvedere" off of Youtube [[I'm a child of the 80s...don't judge me) because, for whatever reason, the last two seasons of the series in all likelihood will never be released. My feeling is that if ABC [[or whoever owns the rights at this point) doesn't care to make approximately 15 bucks a season off of me, then God bless the person who uploaded every episode to Youtube because I would certainly rather have official disks.

I also faced the same issue as PeaceNHarmony did in regards to "This Is the Story". I didn't pick up "This Is the Story" when it was released and by the time I got around to it, the prices being charged couldn't be justified to my budget. Luckily another fan that I had kept in touch with from another forum was kind enough to make me a copy of the entire set for free [[minus a booklet). We fans do what we have to do to enjoy the music/shows that have become so special to us.

My problem is with people who charge for these things to make a profit but don't seem to be interested in sending along a percentage to the artists [[singers/writers/producers/musicians). As cheap as cds are today, I'm not even willing to reimburse someone the cost of the cd. It should all be for the love of the music [[and Mr. Belvedere), not fans wanting to get something for nothing or people wanting to make money off of what they legally have no right to make money from.

I think there is a slimy side to all of this.

Slimy side there is, without a doubt - but we go full-circle back to the copyright owners not making product available. I think a possible answer is that the copyright owners should maintain a data base that we can access and, for a fee, download sound and cover graphic that we can burn to CD ourselves. As an aside unrelated to RanRan, when music fans get on a high horse about royalties I always have to remind them that YouTube, which we all access and repost, pays ZERO royalties for anything we watch - including the many, MANY, YouTube posts here! None of us are squeaky clean when it comes to the royalties question.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I agree with what you guys are writing.

Some of the stories and excuses never seem to add up.

The numbers of copies printed being limited to 10,000 maximum was pretty small. That's paltry. Even if Motown was not as popular as the white rock bands, to not be able to sell 10,000 copies is hard to believe.

Nothing is ever put into marketing or advertising the product; unless you belong to this type of forum or go hunting, you'd never find the product. The average music fan would never know about this product. So how can you expect it to sell much?

Then they cut some of the offering to digital when clearly, their market is not to the 20 year old [[Brad excepted). Their main market is to the people who want to hold the physical CD and who want the booklet containing the "detail" that a real fan wants.

It must all boil down to money; it's a sunset industry in many respects. And the big companies must feel they can rake in bigger dollars somewhere else.

Without as doubt it's a $ question, but also an interest question. I always come around to the fact that small labels are somehow able to issue official re-releases of fairly obscure titles [[recent examples: Love, Peace, and Happiness' 'Here 'Tis', The Other Side of Darkness, etc...) see my suggestion to RanRan about downloadable reissues. Greed is always the answer in this industry. They won't release the rights for fear that someone else will make the $, but they won't release the material themselves for fear of losing $ !

[jobeterob]

That sounds like a pretty accurate analysis of what they are doing.

They don't make a lot of $$$ on these titles so they are very reluctant to do much.

But they won't let much go because they can make "some" money off it.

So between the two positions, they don't have lots of wiggle room and so for true fans of this kind of music, you wait years and don't get much.

[djessie]

I think that when it comes to certain artists, making downloads available just isn't going to do that well. However doing that AND releasing a CD is catering to all the fans out there.

CD's are still very much alive, especially for artists that appeal to a broad section of people. For example, the majority of the latest Ed Sheeran sold mostly on physical formats- in the first three days 63% of sales were physical formats, 31% digital and streaming was just 6%. He is an artist that people like to own a CD or vinyl by. Why anyone thinks that a Diana Ross/The Supremes fan would care for a digital download [[over a CD) is beyond me! Thankfully, we are finally going to have a glorious CD next month from The Supremes.

[RanRan79]

I think a possible answer is that the copyright owners should maintain a data base that we can access and, for a fee, download sound and cover graphic that we can burn to CD ourselves. As an aside unrelated to RanRan, when music fans get on a high horse about royalties I always have to remind them that YouTube, which we all access and repost, pays ZERO royalties for anything we watch - including the many, MANY, YouTube posts here! None of us are squeaky clean when it comes to the royalties question.

Great minds think alike. I've had the idea for years that there should be somewhere for copyright owners to make music and shows available for a pay by pay basis for things that they don't think will sale in large quantities and can't justify putting much money into. Maybe that will eventually be a thing.

As for Youtube, isn't that the reason why so many videos are deleted and accounts suspended? I think some copyright owners care more than others. Prince was notorious for getting in Youtube's ass if any of his stuff ended up there.

[sansradio]

Great minds think alike. I've had the idea for years that there should be somewhere for copyright owners to make music and shows available for a pay by pay basis for things that they don't think will sale in large quantities and can't justify putting much money into. Maybe that will eventually be a thing.

As for Youtube, isn't that the reason why so many videos are deleted and accounts suspended? I think some copyright owners care more than others. Prince was notorious for getting in Youtube's ass if any of his stuff ended up there.

Capital suggestion. Something akin to Warner Brothers' Archive division, where classic DVDs are manufactured on demand, would be dreamlike.

[kenneth]

Bootlegs have been an interesting challenge for the industry since Dylan's 'Great White Wonder' series. After that the industry had their panties in a twist about LP owners taping each others' LPs, and the industry tried to get a big copyright surtax on blank tapes!



I remember those stickers which were plastered on new record albums - "Home Taping is Killing Music." Give me a break!

They tried to do the same thing to keep people from taping TV shows and movies in the early days of the VCR. At least that time they lost their case in court against such a practice.

Aren't they awfully short sighted not to realize that the more people who hear the music, the more people will ultimately buy it?

[RanRan79]

Capital suggestion. Something akin to Warner Brothers' Archive division, where classic DVDs are manufactured on demand, would be dreamlike.

Exactly that. I don't know why more companies aren't doing it.

[djessie]

There have been a lot of issues with many MOD titles - for DVD's at least. High price, bad quality, episodes out of order, duplicated discs with several episodes missing, discs that freeze, artwork that looks like you printed out yourself etc. That said, I have a couple of recent MOD DVD's that are not that bad [[from Amazon).

I have only one MOD CD [[EP from Olivia Newton-John). Haven't played it yet but the artwork is very minimal. Looks OK though. In any case I would much rather buy a Made On Demand CD of, say, "Funny Girl" rather than downloading it. At least that is some kind of a release - I have bought some terribly looking, overpriced bootlegs over the years and I have also put some titles on CD myself. Just isn't the same.

I believe I read here that Universal does not want to license out to other companies albums from The Supremes or Diana Ross. If they really want to do their catalog justice they need to start taking care of it again, like they seem to be doing with Go-Go. Since these are catalog titles they are never going to get much exposure - but there have been loads of expanded releases in the UK in recent years by artists that are never going to sell more than maybe 1-2.000 copies.

There have also been loads of releases lately with music that falls into public domain [[live recordings by Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson for example). The same recordings repackaged several times on CD's [[some in beautiful fold out digipacks) and vinyl. If costs of producing physical formats were so high we would not be seeing releases like these. In the case of Universal/Motown they own the recordings so surely the would not have to spend much money on getting these albums out on CD.

Like I said, Go-Go is thankfully coming! Hopefully that means more will follow.

[djessie]

Just received the CD's and I'm currently listening to Lady Sings The Blues: The Lost Sessions.

As it says in the notes, the sound was not remastered or remixed in order to to keep the original feeling of the recordings. That means the sound is quite low and differs a little bit between recordings. No problem when you turn up the volume. The CD has the complete recordings Diana did in early 1972 during these rehearsals and they are just beautiful - rough and unpolished but beautiful.

The CD's themselves look beautiful. You can see they are not official releases but they still look great. Looking forward to listening to Lost And Found next. Hope there will be more CD's like this in the future.

[carlo]

Glad you are enjoying the music, djessie! My cd's arrived today. The quality of the artwork and packaging is great! Currently listening to the Lady Sings Lost Sessions...I lost my mind as soon as I heard the first few notes from Miss Ross! I can't believe these rehearsals have been sitting in the vault all of these years. THIS is Diana as Billie Holliday! I remember when Blue came out, there was talk that Diana initially sounded too much like Billie in the early rehearsals/recordings and was told to scale it back. We hear some of that on Blue...but THIS...these rehearsals have way more of Diana's emulation of Billie. So impressed and blown away! Gonna listen to the other Lost and found CD later too.

Universal is missing out by not releasing this stuff! What a shame. These rehearsals are genius!

[carlo]

One thing I failed to mention is that these are rehearsals, so you hear some microphone rattle once in a while or something falling over in the studio lol. But it's part of the genius of these recordings...Diana is performing in a room with a few musicians and is singing from start to finish, with no multiple takes, no multi tracks, etc. At the end of "Good Morning Heartache", the musicians applaud Diana for her fantastic performance, hauntingly similar to Billie. Very cool!

I wonder if these were never released by UMG because of the fact that they are rehearsals and therefore the quality is somewhat lacking because of the reasons I mentioned above? Or perhaps they had planned to include them as part of the proposed Lady Sings Deluxe, which was later shelved in favour of releasing the single disc Blue album?

[PeaceNHarmony]

That's a great overview and I will order my copy. Thanks.

[kenneth]

That's a great overview and I will order my copy. Thanks.

I totally agree. Thanks djessie and carlo. I think I will have to buy these as well. It sounds great to hear Diane "live in the studio," so to speak. Thanks again for the reviews!

Did you guys order these from the Ebay seller from Germany? Maybe that's covered above...oh yes I see that was the case.

@djessie, are you in the US? How long did it take the CDs to get to you? Did you get a break on the shipping for buying both?

[vgalindo]

He is also selling Baby It's Me Expanded with a 12 page booklet and GIT on Broadway. They look really good. I am really interested in Lady Sings the Blues and the Lost and Found. I have all these songs on the Lost and Found but the package looks really good. I wonder if he gives a discount on postage if ordering more than one.

[mowsville]

ive just ordered G.I.T...looks like he puts a lot of work into these..they cant be that cheap to make...wish i had the knowledge and skill to do it.

[mowsville]

The "Baby It's Me" CD looks absolutely stunning...and the "Diana and Marvin" Quadraphonic one too.

[carlo]

Oh goodness! I didn't realize there's more titles available now! Thanks for the heads up :)

To answer one of the questions above, when I ordered two CD's, I ended up paying a shipping charge for each CD and then the seller kindly refunded me one of the charges.

[carlo]

Also, I didn't realize that there was a Quadraphonic version of Diana & Marvin. Does anyone know how different this would be from the original album? Are all of the mixes noticeably different?

[djessie]

I just bought the three new CDs from the same seller. So happy to finally get the expanded Baby It's Me on CD, it looks beautiful with booklet and everything!

I live in Iceland and the CD's took about a week to arrive. I waited for an invoice and only paid shipping for one CD. I have listened multiple times to The Lost Sessions now - what a treasure!

[vgalindo]

Yes he told me if I bought 4 of them he would pay the shipping.

[longtimefan]

I bought two CDs with the understanding that I would pay postage for each. This dealer is so honest he unilaterally refunded my credit card for the postage for one of the CDs!!!

Besides that, many fans on SDF have begged for CD versions of Supremes' material [[vs. downloads and out-of-print). This USC the vendor that we should support!!!!!

The two that I received are of immaculate quality!!!!

[carole cucumber]

I just bought the three new CDs from the same seller. So happy to finally get the expanded Baby It's Me on CD, it looks beautiful with booklet and everything!


Is the booklet the same as the one that could be downloaded if one purchased the digital download of Baby It's Me [[Expanded Edition)?

[kenneth]

Is the booklet the same as the one that could be downloaded if one purchased the digital download of Baby It's Me [[Expanded Edition)?

Oh, is it a rip from that product then? That's good to know. I couldn't find a track listing and the fellow doesn't seem to be listing that one right now, at least not on EBAY US or UK.

[carole cucumber]

Oh, is it a rip from that product then? That's good to know. I couldn't find a track listing and the fellow doesn't seem to be listing that one right now, at least not on EBAY US or UK.

It is currently listed at ebay U.K. But I've made a personal choice to wait knowing that George, Andy & Harry have been trying to get a physical copy of this 'Officially' released. I'd rather wait and see if 'A Go Go' physical is a success and if it opens the door for past 'digital only' releases as well as the next in sequence Supremes & Diana Ross deluxe packages. I'd rather a percentage of the money have a chance to go to the artists/estates rather than a bootlegger, no matter how attractive a temptation the quick access ebay might offer. Just my personal conviction and no reflection on those who desire the product now. .

[kenneth]

It is currently listed at ebay U.K. But I've made a personal choice to wait knowing that George, Andy & Harry have been trying to get a physical copy of this 'Officially' released. I'd rather wait and see if 'A Go Go' physical is a success and if it opens the door for past 'digital only' releases as well as the next in sequence Supremes & Diana Ross deluxe packages. I'd rather a percentage of the money have a chance to go to the artists/estates rather than a bootlegger, no matter how attractive a temptation the quick access ebay might offer. Just my personal conviction and no reflection on those who desire the product now. .

Thanks carole...k

[Mark Desjardines]

Hello y'all! I've been off this site for a l-o-n-g time due to a lost password. I've been biting at the bit to comment on many posts, but let me start here with "Lady Sings the Blues Lost Sessions." It's got to be a good ten years or more ago when I was purchasing mix CD sets from a female DJ from the Pittsburgh area. She sold me the collection in question, stating she "paid a crazy amount of money for an acetate" which she converted into digital format. She didn't offer who sold her the acetate and in the tradition of "don't ask, don't tell," I let it go at that. Then about five years, a fellow with an online site was selling CD mix collections of Diana, Patti, Aretha, Chaka, etc, etc and I ordered a number of sets and got the "Lady" sessions thrown in. Reproducing CD's does not entail generation loss so The "Lady" sessions that were recently being sold in Germany, are basically the same recordings. My copy does not have the European Blue Motown CD label. Fast forward to about two years ago, I gifted a copy to our friends at Hip-O Select who release the "expanded" sets and received a warm note of thanks. They NEVER heard these sessions and were amazed. Maybe this gave them a road map to search deeper in the Motown vaults, I don't know for sure. I've listened to my "Lady Sessions" CD countless times, and it is Diana at her most relaxed and swinging. Maybe...just maybe a little TOO close to Billie, and may have troubled Berry Gordy in coaxing Diana to put more of herself in the eventually released tracks. Regardless, these first recorded attempts are stunning! Great small and tight jazz backing as well.

By the way, when Ralph gave me a new password about three years ago, he misspelt my name wile re-registrating me, and it has been difficult to set that right. I'm on FB as R. Mark Desjardins and just want to say that I'm very glad to be back on here. Check out my former posts if you have time or interest.So happy to be back!

[djessie]

It is currently listed at ebay U.K. But I've made a personal choice to wait knowing that George, Andy & Harry have been trying to get a physical copy of this 'Officially' released. I'd rather wait and see if 'A Go Go' physical is a success and if it opens the door for past 'digital only' releases as well as the next in sequence Supremes & Diana Ross deluxe packages. I'd rather a percentage of the money have a chance to go to the artists/estates rather than a bootlegger, no matter how attractive a temptation the quick access ebay might offer. Just my personal conviction and no reflection on those who desire the product now. .

I agree. But considering how the past few releases have been digital-only I am not going to wait forever, hoping there will eventually be official CD releases. If that does happen I will of course buy those as well. Hopefully Go-Go will be the first of more expanded albums on CD.

[vgalindo]

I agree. But considering how the past few releases have been digital-only I am not going to wait forever, hoping there will eventually be official CD releases. If that does happen I will of course buy those as well. Hopefully Go-Go will be the first of more expanded albums on CD.
I agree. This won't stop me from buying an official one if they are ever release on CD.

[carlo]

Same here, I would still buy the official releases of these titles, if they ever happen to come out.

[lakedistrictlad1]

I hope this situation finally convinces the powers that be at Universal that physical CD is not dead.
I'm so tempted to buy a copy of Baby It's Me.
Should I hold out in the hope of an official physical release?

[kenneth]

Like several others said, I'd buy it again anyway so I'm not waiting to buy the bootleg.

The guy will probably wonder what made his sales spike! We better hope there's not a price increase!

[jbpintus]

I've bought those CDs. "Lady sings the Blues sessions", "Love Kiss", "On Broadway", "Diana and Marvin Quadraphonix" and "Baby it's me expanded" and those are fabulous.

Of course I'll buy official physical CDs of those if they ever happen, as I had bought the download of BIM Expanded.

In the meantime, I hope "Merry Christmas Expanded", "sings the songs from the Wiz" and "Funny Girl" are coming on those 'promo' CDs. And the Motown Unreleased CDs. And many more...

I've always been very positive about the downloads as download is better than nothing, BUT... a physical cd is way better than a download. And Universal miss the point but not releasing physical CDs anymore - my apologize if the A GO-GO is a sign I'm wrong.

Are Bob Dylan's Bootleg series downloads only? What about he 6 CDs collection of remixes and Outtakes of the Beatles SGT PEPPER coming May 22th? Physical CDs...

I hope Motown will see that the best way to sell today is physical CDs. I'm sure they'll do more money with The physical A GO-GO than with online only FUNNY GIRL. And what they miss is what we here wil spend on 'promo' CDs on eBay.

To the people making promo CDs available ... Keep em Coming

To the SDF members ... Get it while it's hot

To the powers that be at Universal ... It's all your fault

To HW, Andy, George, Keith, and the numerous friends who continue to give us great vaulted music ... For this I thank you!

:)

[lakedistrictlad1]

Well, I've just bought 'Baby It's Me'.

The packaging looks so good that I won't be tempted to buy again should an 'official' cd come out.

Universal's loss is a bootleggers gain.

But I have to say - I don't feel great about it.

[mowsville]

Looks like they have all gone...even his ad asking for rare tracks from fans.

[mrbfly]

I have talked to him a few days back and he told me that ebay deleted all the CDs.
He also told me if that he wouldn't sell them on ebay anymore, if someone is interesting in any of these CDs you can sent me a message and I will let him know.

[kenneth]

I have talked to him a few days back and he told me that ebay deleted all the CDs.
He also told me if that he wouldn't sell them on ebay anymore, if someone is interesting in any of these CDs you can sent me a message and I will let him know.

I was communicating with him and he said he could ship 3 or 4 CDs for the $7.50 price to the US. Then the listings disappeared, so I assumed Ebay got wind of the fact that they were bootlegs or something.

I'm still interested if possible to purchase several of them.

[vgalindo]

I bought 4 of them . I am anxiously awaiting their arrival. The packaging looks amazing. The one that I am most excited about is the Lady Sings the Lost Sessions since it is the only one that I have not heard yet.

[daviddh]

IF.... A GO GO does well , that will open the door for the other albums to be released on cd.
it is my understanding that Universal believes that cds are dead but not everyone else.
I am hoping that the fans could make Go Go hit #1 again but I know that is wishful thinking, but Baby Its Me hit #18 just on downloads alone.
we'll soon see

[jobeterob]

Are these not available anymore? Did he get chased or run out of supply?

[kenneth]

Are these not available anymore? Did he get chased or run out of supply?

Apparently, he got shut down because someone reported to Ebay that he was selling bootlegs. I'm dealing with him directly outside of Ebay, and he seem reputable to me, so I'm going to purchase 3 of the CDs. I'll let you know when they arrive in case others are hesitant to purchase directly from him. PayPal does provide some level of protection in itself.

I have no qualms whatsoever about purchasing these. If Motown/Universal wants to keep dribbling out its vault stuff, fine. I think the first bootleg I ever purchased was Prince "The Black Album" and I was never sorry I had it even though it came out in an authorized release years later.

And I don't feel I have to commit to buying any official release along these lines either. I view this as what they call "voting with your pocketbook." The music industry has always been myopic and short sighted about what the public will buy, and historically [[at least since the 80s) only wants mega-sales without having to invest in its rare titles or developing young artists. I probably would buy the official releases if they came out, but from what I hear from almost everyone who's purchased these "lost" titles, they are too good to miss. Can't wait to hear the "Lady Sings the Blues" especially!

As I said, I'll report back when I get the titles so if anyone else wants to deal with the seller directly, they may be more comfortable doing so.

[vgalindo]

Apparently, he got shut down because someone reported to Ebay that he was selling bootlegs. I'm dealing with him directly outside of Ebay, and he seem reputable to me, so I'm going to purchase 3 of the CDs. I'll let you know when they arrive in case others are hesitant to purchase directly from him. PayPal does provide some level of protection in itself.

I have no qualms whatsoever about purchasing these. If Motown/Universal wants to keep dribbling out its vault stuff, fine. I think the first bootleg I ever purchased was Prince "The Black Album" and I was never sorry I had it even though it came out in an authorized release years later.

And I don't feel I have to commit to buying any official release along these lines either. I view this as what they call "voting with your pocketbook." The music industry has always been myopic and short sighted about what the public will buy, and historically [[at least since the 80s) only wants mega-sales without having to invest in its rare titles or developing young artists. I probably would buy the official releases if they came out, but from what I hear from almost everyone who's purchased these "lost" titles, they are too good to miss. Can't wait to hear the "Lady Sings the Blues" especially!

As I said, I'll report back when I get the titles so if anyone else wants to deal with the seller directly, they may be more comfortable doing so.
I bought one through EBay and 3 outside of EBay through PayPal. They all have been shipped and I should be getting them any day now I can not thank him enough.

[kenneth]

I bought one through EBay and 3 outside of EBay through PayPal. They all have been shipped and I should be getting them any day now I can not thank him enough.

Good to know, vgalindo. Thanks!

[mowsville]

im dealing with him personally now too...totally agree with you kenneth.

[whitesoxx]

Are the cd's silver pressed cd's or cd-r's? Thanks for answering :-)

[vgalindo]

Just received my 4 cds. Listening to Lady sings the lost sessions. I love it. "Baby it's me" packaging is beautiful. I already downloaded the expanded before but I love physical. Looks and feels like a professional release. Gotta listen to them all.

[kenneth]

Just received my 4 cds. Listening to Lady sings the lost sessions. I love it. "Baby it's me" packaging is beautiful. I already downloaded the expanded before but I love physical. Looks and feels like a professional release. Gotta listen to them all.

Can't wait to get mine!

[mowsville]

received mine today...just how Baby Its Me should have been done...im gobsmacked at how good the packaging is..its so good to finally have it on the shelf with the other expanded editions..it was worth every penny and some.

[vgalindo]

received mine today...just how Baby Its Me should have been done...im gobsmacked at how good the packaging is..its so good to finally have it on the shelf with the other expanded editions..it was worth every penny and some.
You are so right. Goes very well with all my other expanded releases.

[lakedistrictlad1]

I just got my 'Baby It's Me' CD.
Wow...I'm amazed at the quality of the packaging. You would never know it wasn't official.
I'm thrilled with it. Worth every penny.
So glad I didn't spend my money on the download.

[kenneth]

I also got the 3 CDS I ordered this week [[in less than 2 weeks all the way from Germany to Los Angeles). I had ordered Baby It's Me, Lady Sings the Blues Lost Sessions, and Soul Kiss.

These are fantastic, high quality CDs from the packaging to the design and imprint on the discs, to [[naturally) the recordings themselves. I can't imagine a Ross fan not buying these simply because they are not "official" releases. I am so, so glad that I ordered these. I give these the highest recommendation.

If anyone needs contact information for the seller, just PM me. I'll be buying others from him. I wasn't a fan of the "Diana and Marvin" album, but I know he has "GIT on Broadway" and some others.

To assuage any guilt you may have, just know that this gentleman simply cannot be getting rich off these. These are truly a labor of love. The prices were lower than if you bought them from Hip-O and the postage was only about $10 as I recall.

Between these and "A Go Go" this is an epic week for Ross fans.

[vgalindo]

I so agree. I got them as well. I also got the GIT. I am really enjoying these. The lost sessions are so good. Love the packaging of Baby Its Me.

[thommg]

Kenneth, tried to PM you but your mailbox is full. These sets sound fantastic Would love to add them to my shelf.

[kenneth]

Kenneth, tried to PM you but your mailbox is full. These sets sound fantastic Would love to add them to my shelf.

Sorry about that! I sent you a PM and deleted the excess messages.

[PeaceNHarmony]

Sorry about that! I sent you a PM and deleted the excess messages.
May I as well? I want my own copies

[kenneth]

May I as well? I want my own copies

Sure thing.

[JLoveLamar]

To assuage any guilt you may have, just know that this gentleman simply cannot be getting rich off these. These are truly a labor of love. The prices were lower than if you bought them from Hip-O and the postage was only about $10 as I recall.

Between these and "A Go Go" this is an epic week for Ross fans.

I'm a physical release fanatic, but I would kind of still feel bad about them, though I do want them. Does he still sell them?

[fightingirish46]

I'm a physical release fanatic, but I would kind of still feel bad about them, though I do want them. Does he still sell them?

Wondering the same thing here.

[Glenpwood]

Wondering the same thing here.

He got busted by Universal. They literally sent the police to his house. Then he tried sniffing around here for business last year and got called out and warned again by Andy Skurow. I'm pretty sure he's out of business now...