Millie Jackson Exposed

[heikki]

Hi!

Some of Millie's recordings from her peak period in the 1970s have been remixed... or restored to their original glory:

http://www.soulexpress.net/milliejackson_exposed.htm

Best regards
Heikki

[sophisticated_soul]

Thanks for the review. I love Millie and hadn't heard about this release yet. Just ordered.:)

[daviddesper]

I have looked over this track list and decided that this collection doesn't sound like it would grab me so I will likely pass. Not that I didn't love Millie J back in the day!

Did anyone else go as wild as I did over her version of "You Knocked the Love Right Out of My Heart?" I think the Pointer Sisters also did a version of it, but Millie's was far superior in my opinion.

[Bluebrock]

Hi!

Some of Millie's recordings from her peak period in the 1970s have been remixed... or restored to their original glory:

http://www.soulexpress.net/milliejackson_exposed.htm

Best regards
Heikki
It came out in the UK last week. It is a very interesting project which i think works very well. I am probably the worlds no,1 Millie Jackson fan, and i miss the days back in the 70's and 80's when we got a new album every six months. Those Spring albums contained many gems that have really stood the test of time. I think it is high time this lady received the acclaim her magnificent voice deserves. There was much more to her than the cursing and swearing that she is often best remembered for.

[reese]

Interesting timing for this post. Last week, I was making a tape [[yes, a cassette :D) of my favorite Millie Spring tracks. She really did have some gems on those albums and they stand up without the raps.

Even though I have the originals, I am looking forward to this release [[although I just received an email from Amazon saying it has been delayed). But I do have one small quibble: photos from the session on the cover have appeared on quite a few cd releases in the recent past. Surely there are many other Millie photos in the vaults.

[heikki]

Hi!

I'd still like to add that if you have half an hour extra time please have a look at the video, where Steve Levine tells about that remixing process and how different it was working with eighh tracks compared to 24 tracks later. It's quite fascinating.

Best regards
Heikki

[Bluebrock]

Interesting timing for this post. Last week, I was making a tape [[yes, a cassette :D) of my favorite Millie Spring tracks. She really did have some gems on those albums and they stand up without the raps.

Even though I have the originals, I am looking forward to this release [[although I just received an email from Amazon saying it has been delayed). But I do have one small quibble: photos from the session on the cover have appeared on quite a few cd releases in the recent past. Surely there are many other Millie photos in the vaults.
I hear what you are saying, and whilst i would have to say you raise a valid point, i think we can both agree that it is the music that counts.
I totally agree about the quality of much of the music Millie recorded. They still sound fresh and relevant. She was a maverick, and deserves much more respect than she receives.

[smallworld]

This set is also available as both a CD quality download and a Hi-Res 24-bit download. Is this because the new mixes are owned by Ace? Ace, when they offer downloads, tend to do so only in lossy quality [[mp3 etc.).

[reese]

I hear what you are saying, and whilst i would have to say you raise a valid point, i think we can both agree that it is the music that counts.
I totally agree about the quality of much of the music Millie recorded. They still sound fresh and relevant. She was a maverick, and deserves much more respect than she receives.

I totally agree, although I would counter that a less-informed buyer might pass over this cd thinking they already have it. That said, it is most definitely the music that counts.

I have loved Millie since I was a kid, even when I didn't understand most of what she was talking about. It was the voice on ASK ME WHAT YOU WANT and MY MAN, A SWEET MAN that captured me. I can still remember buying IT HURTS SO GOOD for $.50 while on vacation with my family. For my high school graduation present, one of my aunts took me to my first Millie concert. Quite an experience to say the least. :D

[soulster]

Hi heikki,

Remixes always make me wary because you can never recreate the exact sound of the original mix no matter how hard you try. You can get mighty close, but if it isn't a technicality, the producer just can't resist putting their own little sonic signature on it. The second Steve Levine stated that he "enhanced" things, and used parts from outtakes and such, I stopped listening. Producers just can't resist changing stuff. It must be ego.

[smallworld]

The second Steve Levine stated that he "enhanced" things, and used parts from outtakes and such, I stopped listening.

Do you avoid Extended Versions/12" Mixes for the same reasons?

[heikki]

Hi Soulster!

Fair enough... and Steve actually has made his individual changes.
As a proud owner of [[I think) every record Millie ever made, it was however stimulating to listen to slightly fresh approach to these sounds. Also I think partially it's true, when Steve says that he has "restored some of these sessions to their former glory" - especially in the case of "I Cry."
And it was fascinating to hear how in those tracks he can define the location of instruments in the studio and how in the remix he was able to move two instruments closer to each other. I'm not an engineer, but I found it interesting.

Best regards
Heikki

[alanh]

This set is also available as both a CD quality download and a Hi-Res 24-bit download. Is this because the new mixes are owned by Ace? Ace, when they offer downloads, tend to do so only in lossy quality [[mp3 etc.).

Ace actually own all the Spring masters, among a number of other labels. Whenever they have ownership they generally make the release available as a download as well as in any physical form. Licensing and rights issues make it hard or impossible for them to make 'non owned' releases available, for example their Motown compilations. So it's not just this remix they own, but the original master recordings.

[soulster]

Do you avoid Extended Versions/12" Mixes for the same reasons?
No, because the intended purpose of a 12" remix is to make it sound different, to create something new and apart from the original mix.

In this case, his plan is to "improve" on the original mix of vintage recordings by changing little things. That's not acceptable. Modern-day producers should not put their creative stamp on things.

What too often happens is that the "new and improved" remixes replace the originals. Not acceptable! It's re-writing history.


Hi Soulster!

Fair enough... and Steve actually has made his individual changes.
As a proud owner of [[I think) every record Millie ever made, it was however stimulating to listen to slightly fresh approach to these sounds. Also I think partially it's true, when Steve says that he has "restored some of these sessions to their former glory" - especially in the case of "I Cry."
And it was fascinating to hear how in those tracks he can define the location of instruments in the studio and how in the remix he was able to move two instruments closer to each other. I'm not an engineer, but I found it interesting.

Best regards
Heikki

It's changing history. We shouldn't be second-guessing the original producers and engineers. Sure, one could argue that they struggled with the recording and mixing gear of the day, but they couldn't have struggled if that was all they knew. If a drum was placed, say, center-left, I don't want it panned differently. If a guitar dominated a right channel, I don't want it panned to the center-left. I don't want the vocals suddenly boosted by two db. I don't want slightly distanced strings now enveloping the entire soundfield. I don't want extra reverb on a background vocal where it wasn't before. I don't want a squeaky-new digitally-mixed recording that was originally mixed to analog.

Just give me a good mastering of the original two-track analog mixes from the first generation tapes. Thank you. Don't f*ck with history just because you can. A good remixer and/or mastering engineer should not let their ego get in the way of the recording.

[Boogiedown]

No, because the intended purpose of a 12" remix is to make it sound different, to create something new and apart from the original mix.

In this case, his plan is to "improve" on the original mix of vintage recordings by changing little things. That's not acceptable. Modern-day producers should not put their creative stamp on things.

What too often happens is that the "new and improved" remixes replace the originals. Not acceptable! It's re-writing history.



It's changing history. We shouldn't be second-guessing the original producers and engineers. Sure, one could argue that they struggled with the recording and mixing gear of the day, but they couldn't have struggled if that was all they knew. If a drum was placed, say, center-left, I don't want it panned differently. If a guitar dominated a right channel, I don't want it panned to the center-left. I don't want the vocals suddenly boosted by two db. I don't want slightly distanced strings now enveloping the entire soundfield. I don't want extra reverb on a background vocal where it wasn't before. I don't want a squeaky-new digitally-mixed recording that was originally mixed to analog.

Just give me a good mastering of the original two-track analog mixes from the first generation tapes. Thank you. Don't f*ck with history just because you can. A good remixer and/or mastering engineer should not let their ego get in the way of the recording.
Very well said
and I agree 100 per cent.

[PeaceNHarmony]

It came out in the UK last week. It is a very interesting project which i think works very well. I am probably the worlds no,1 Millie Jackson fan, and i miss the days back in the 70's and 80's when we got a new album every six months. Those Spring albums contained many gems that have really stood the test of time. I think it is high time this lady received the acclaim her magnificent voice deserves. There was much more to her than the cursing and swearing that she is often best remembered for.
I, too, love Jackson's Spring lps. I got totally turned off with the swearing and toilet sitting period but always wish her well and remain a fan of the Spring sessions.

[sophisticated_soul]

My copy just shipped. So cool, really looking forward to this.:cool:

[Philles/Motown Gary]

I, too, am a devoted fan of Millie Jackson's music. I bought all of her Spring albums as they were released on vinyl throughout the 1970s and early '80s, and replaced them all on CD as well as her follow-up CDs on subsequent labels.

I just checked out the 30-second samples of each newly remixed track on Millie's new "Exposed" CD on Amazon. I've gotta agree with Soulster here. There are some recordings that simply shouldn't be tampered with. Just as a quick example, Millie's ""It Hurts So Good" is one of my all-time favorite tracks -- not only because it's a great tune -- boosted by Millie's soulful performance, but also because of Millie's back-up girls [[Brandye) whose vocals have always shined on it. To me, they're an integral part of the recording. In this newly-remixed version, however, the girls are now way back in the mix to the point where you can barely hear them. Imagine, if you will, only one vocal mic in the entire recording studio -- the one in front of Millie. Brandye now sound as though they were singing their background parts in a different room with the door closed. They just barely leak through on Millie's mic. That's the impression I was left with on the new remix.

Just a couple other examples are "If Loving You Is Wrong [[I Don't Wanna Be Right)" in which Millie's lead vocal is now riddled with echo to the point it reminds me of a cheap, budget monster movie from the '60s where an evil magician is warning of the danger to come. [[Come to think of it, not unlike Melvin Franklin's spoken intro on The Marvelettes' "My Baby Must Be A Magician" which, on the other hand, was highly appropriate and typically clever of Smokey and Motown). But on "If Loving You Is Wrong"? Uh-uh. It doesn't work for me.

The only other remix I'll comment on is "A House For Sale" which is one of my favorite Mille J. dance tracks. That tune has always been perfect as it was, although it could have benefitted from an extended version. That aside, the new, remixed version now has handclaps. As a devout fan of Phil Spector and Motown, nobody loves girl-group handclaps more than me, but on "A House For Sale", they just don't work.

Now, some fans may love these new versions, and, I admit, I only heard 30-seconds' worth of each track, but, for me, I'll stick with Raeford Gerald's original productions on Millie's Spring CDs. They were so good, I wouldn't change a thing.

[rrussi]

I liked Millie's music in the late 70s/early 80s. I went to see her perform a few times. I think the mistake she made, in my opinion, is becoming too vulgar. In the beginning it was shocking to see a glamorous woman dropping the "F" word. But after a while, its really not funny anymore. And then it became like "are you a singer, a comedian"? That's my opinion! That "live" lp she did where she's sitting on a toilet on the cover, I think it's titled "Back To The Sh*t", was terrible!!! It was just vulgar and not even funny. I live in Florida and I think she does also. I think she lives in Pompano Beach.

[heikki]

Hi "rrussi"!

Millie's own comments on that album:

"I was very discouraged with it, because I let him [[Clive Calder at Jive) talk me into doing that album. It was supposed to be the album plus the video, and I gave them the budget for that. They said it was too much. They thought I could do the video for the budget less than they agreed for me to do an hour special, for less money that they did for "Love Is a Dangerous Game" single; so I was totally bewildered with them.
Believe it or not, I didn't name that album. That was their idea. The album cover was mine - I mean, since it had a title like that I thought I should have a cover to match the album.

Best regards
Heikki