TP-027, Jerry Garcia / David Grisman wins a Writer's Choice Award from Myles Astor of Positive Feedback Online

Author Topic: The Beatles @Shea Stadium  (Read 3608 times)

Offline ironbut

  • Global Moderator
  • leader in spreading disinformation
  • *****
  • Posts: 2503
  • rs1500>repro amp#1
    • View Profile
The Beatles @Shea Stadium
« on: June 06, 2012, 04:14:08 PM »
There was a very interesting thread on the ARSC list lately regarding films of concerts and the issues that make getting anywhere close to decent sound nearly impossible in some instances.
As you can well imagine, the screaming mobs at the Beatles concerts made use of the film sound a joke.
Apparently, Robert Fine did the post production sound and we're lucky enough to have Tom to tell the tale (even though he had to hear it from his dad since he wasn't even born at the time of the concert).

"Here's a little history, told to me when I was a kid just discovering the Beatles so I might not be 100% accurate in my memory.

The concert was indeed filmed on-site with the PA system unable to bust through that wall of sound of the fans! The resultant sound recording was a mess, no mic was directional enough not to be overwhelmed by the crowd noise. My father re-recorded the Beatles lip-syncing and re-playing their instruments over the film and then mixed that with the live sound.

Alas, the studio magnetic films were lost as of when a search was underway in the 90's. It's great if any elements were eventually found. Masters of everything were turned over to the client at the time, as needed for further processing and preparation for broadcast. As of the 90's, the only elements intact were mono master mixes, maybe only optical prints. Not to beat a dead horse, but those re-recordings were done on magnetic film and, I was told, the base elements were 3-channel and could have been remixed to something approaching "stereo" or "surround."

It's not clear to me where the recordings took place. Bob Eberenz specifically remembered my father going over to England to do it, but my mother specifically remembered it taking place at Fine Recording in Manhattan. I don't know if someone has dug into the Beatles' date books or travel calendars to know the exact details of this. If it was done at Fine Recording, it's highly likely that my father would have worked in 3-track because the studio was set up for that and you could lock things up easiest that way. Probably the field recording would be dubbed onto one track as the Beatles' new performances were recorded onto the other two, probably vocals on one track and music on the other to allow for easy final mixing. Remember that film recorders of that era didn't have "overdub" capabilities, although you could just use separate dubbers to build tracks as you liked. You'd be using sprocketed media so as to lock up to the picture, which is what the Beatles would be using as their reference. I doubt any consideration would have gone to an end result other than mono, since this was a TV special. I might be wrong, but I think Ed Sullivan's company was behind the whole thing.

My father got the Beatles to sign autographs for my two older brothers, but I wasn't a twinkle in his eye yet, so I missed out. He said the Beatles were very professional and pulled off the lip-syncing quickly and well, and were able to laser-focus despite what you can imagine was swirling around them at the time. Enough of a connection was made between him and the Beatles' people that he later worked on the multi-channel mix for George Harrison's "Concert for Bangladesh" movie and also the John Lennon concert at Madison Square Garden that was filmed either for TV or movie release in the early 70's. One of my older brothers remembers briefly meeting George Harrison at Reeves Cinetel during the mixing of Concert For Bangladesh. By the time I discovered the Beatles in the late 70s, this was in the past, but my father did specifically praise them as creative and skilled musicians and said they were easy to work with, and called them "true professionals." When I brought home "The Beatles At the Hollywood Bowl" right when it came out, he took one listen and gave me a "been there done that" look.

For those not alive when the Beatles hit America, myself included, it's hard to imagine the excitement and cultural impact on the youth. I suppose Michael Jackson was a huge thing when I was a teen, but his star power was confined to the worlds of radio play and MTV. The Beatles were everywhere at once and I don't recall girls of my generation going nuts and screaming over anything like 1964-65 teenage girls did with just a look at the Beatles. There might be a certain age of white girls who went that nuts over Britaney Spears and then Hannah Montanna, but that was only a segment of the teen population."

-- Tom Fine

Later discussion disclosed that the dubbing did indeed take place in England.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2012, 07:33:53 PM by ironbut »
steve koto
 Sony scd 777es(R. Kern mods)> Vpi Aires>Dynavector XX-2mkll>Bent mu>CAT ultimate>CJ premeir 140>Magnepan 1.6qr(Jensen xover)Headphone Eddie Current Zana Deux>AT ad2000,HD800 ,Metric Halo ULN-2 (battery powered),
 HE Audio Jades

Offline docb

  • Administrator
  • leader in spreading disinformation
  • *****
  • Posts: 1345
    • View Profile
    • Bottlehead Corp.
Re: The Beatles @Shea Stadium
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2012, 06:28:49 PM »
The last paragraph reminds of an excerpt from Keith Richards' biography. In the early 60's the Stones would sometimes hide backstage for an hour or two until the theater was empty (because Richards was almost strangled to death by two teeny boppers fighting over a scarf he was wearing when he was mobbed trying to leave the venue). As they were leaving the janitor was cleaning up the theater. They asked him "How was the show?"

He replied "Excellent, not a dry seat in the house".
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project

Offline Listens2tubes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 284
  • Reel Analog
    • View Profile
    • Listens2tubes
Re: The Beatles @Shea Stadium
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2012, 08:35:44 PM »
:-)
Neal - Ampex Fineline F-44, 3 - Otari MX5050BII-2, Revox A77 Mk II , Teac A 4010s, 4070, Sony TC102A, Magnecord 1020, Systemdek IIX/Dynavector Karat 17D2MKII, CEC CD3300 CDP, K Works NanoMax DAC, Van Alsine Transcendence Eight+ tube preamp, Dynaco MkIV amp pair, Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v1