Aretha "Zoomed" again!

An Aretha Franklin CD release appears to been hexed by bad luck once again! Her last recording, the long awaited "A Woman Falling Out OF Love" had a defective track that wasn't noticed by the pressing plant before being shipped out to Wal-Mart who held the exclusive rights to distribute it for the first month or so. When the avalanche of returns started, they seemed to be unaware and totally unprepared to properly handle the situation. By the time the problem was finally resolved, the release was yesterday's cold potatoes.

Aretha's much eagerly anticipated two disc expanded set just re-released, "Who's Zoomin' Who" appears to be problematic for fans shelling big bucks for what held promise to be a true collectable.
Funkytowngrooves who released the two disc set, has confirmed that Sony USA had used the wrong sound references and not the ones originally approved in the first place.

Apparently audible surface noise indicates the "extended 12 inch mixes" used on the second disc were recorded directly off the actual vinyl pressings.

Customer complaints have caused a new mix to be released. Consumers are advised to check for the new catalogue number FTG-282/2 in order to ascertain they are obtaining the proper version of the release. Cavet Emptor. [[Let the buyer beware!)

Those guys need to hire Andy and George to do their rereleases.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jobeterob

Those guys need to hire Andy and George to do their rereleases.

---

I believe the people at Funky Town Grooves work hard and do put a lot of labour and love into their reissues, as do Andy and George. I don't think it's easy to run these types of labels. I'm sure there's a level of risk involved, because you never know how much a particular title is going to sell. The audience for many of these reissues are quite limited. You also have to have sufficient capital to maintain your operations. Reel Music recently ceased its activities. Hopefully they will continue sometime in the future.

It sounds like this error was Sony's faulty and not theirs?

I love the titles that Funky Town Grooves has been reissuing. I bought all of the Nona Hendryx albums and my copy of Bonnie Pointer's "If the Price is Right" just shipped today! :)

Unfortunately, Aretha's most recent album "A Woman Falling Out of Love" was not available at Wal-Mart stores in Canada. I was finally able to obtain a copy online and it ended up having that same volume error in track 5. The seller sent me a replacement copy and it also had the same flaw in the disc. Both copies were from the first pressing. What a bummer. The good news is I didn't really care for "A Summer Place" all that much anyway. Overall, it's a great album. I've been playing it every day.

I will love to have Who's Zooming Who someday soon.

Carlo, I agree that Aretha's "A Woman Falling Out of Love" is a great album. It appears that Aretha and Clive Davis have patched up problems that led her to leave his label. Hopefully a new business deal will see her Aretha Records release more widely available.

Yes, I'm looking forward to Aretha and Clive working together again. Hopefully they do some great original music together. I am hoping they don't end up going the jazz/standards route, as it seems like everyone is doing that these days.

Aretha recently did an interview and she mentioned she's working on two albums for Clive's label at the moment. She said the first one should be out in June. Exciting!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carlo

Yes, I'm looking forward to Aretha and Clive working together again. Hopefully they do some great original music together. I am hoping they don't end up going the jazz/standards route, as it seems like everyone is doing that these days.

Aretha recently did an interview and she mentioned she's working on two albums for Clive's label at the moment. She said the first one should be out in June. Exciting!

---

I'm looking forward to the albums as well.

But Aretha is somewhat notorious for announcing projects that either don't happen at all or happen long after she said they would. I remember going to see her in 1997 and she performed the songs HERE WE GO AGAIN and NEVER LEAVE YOU AGAIN. She said they would be on her new album to be released in two weeks. I thought that was a bit strange, as there had been no promotion of it. But two weeks later, I ran to the record store looking for this new album. As it turned out, it wouldn't come out until 1998.

I don't think we'll see anything from Aretha in June, unless it is stuff that is already in the can. Like the songs I ADORE YOU and BETTER THAN GOLD which she has sung in concert for years, as well as duets with Faith Hill and Dennis Edwards, saying they would be on an upcoming album. But as of yet, they haven't been.

A record company needs to please the fans and release well done product.