Acetate of "Love Is The Same Anywhere" LP on Ebay

[cyp21]

Hi, i have noticed there is a rare acetate of the Matt Monro Album "Love Is The Same Anywhere" LP on ebay at present. I wont be bidding as im skint. The seller doesnt say if its Stereo or Mono i wouldnt know if acetates get cat no before they are realeased. The seller does list some info about who its signed by a B.G.Snelling maybe Richard might know more info on this?

I wonder how much it will sell for item no is: 280800919934

[john]

Yes, looks a rare item, I noticed someone has bid, but the reserve hasn't been met. With 5 days to go I think it will go for a good price.

[Rmoore]

I do know more but need to look up some paperwork.

We (the estate) hope to win this auction ourselves! We'll see!

[cyp21]

That would be great Richard i hope u win! I look forward to hearing more info.

[Rmoore]

Hi,

As i was double checking some track details for Matt Uncovered - The Rarer Monro I thought'd look up the info you asked about.

Considering this was the earlist of Matt's Parlophone LP's this is the album with the most detailed paperwork. Matt's recorded the tracks between 11th January and 30th June 1961.

The paperwork say that the primary edit (putting all the completed takes on two reels - one for each side) was done on 6th July with the first set of laquers (or acetates) cut on 17th July. From this George would make notes about the mastering (some of which he did by phone the same day according to the paperwork). The mastering notes from 17th, the second attempt on 19th and the final master on 26th all exist.

The sessions were all recorded in both Mono and Stereo, but instead of creating a master reel from the Mono reels a copy was made in mono of the completed Stereo tape (14th July).

In those days mastering took place as the master laquers were being cut (on this occasion by B.G. Snelling). Georges notes give EQ changes that he wanted and instructions like 'When transfering please bring the voice forward if possible on the title 'No one Will Ever Know Band 6 XEX350' - XEX350 is the master laquer matrix number.

The notes state that 'Process Laquers' were required - which would have been identical to the final production laquers and these were known as the second set - both were cut on the same day as the masters - 26th July 1961

This 'second set' is what appeared on Ebay. (I spent a while negotiating with the seller but they wouldn't accept a realistic price so they are currently unsold. They may well re-surface at some point at a more sensible price as I suspect they won't find anybody who is willing to pay what they wanted - they are interesting artifacts but do not contain any rare recordings which is what matters most to collectors.)

Richard

[cyp21]

Very interesting shame the seller wouldnt negotiate a fair price with you. As much as i like Matt Monro he doesnt really command high prices so i think the seller is a bit crazy hanging on to them and should of sold them for a realistic price with no reserve. Thanks again Richard for taking the time to get this information.

[Rmoore]

After a lot of haggling these are finally on their way to the estate archives!

Richard

[Marian]

Great result Richard!

[karl]

So there may be a Rarer Monro Vol 2 ?

[Rmoore]

Nothing on the disc that is unreleased Karl, but it's of historical importance as these are the first ever copies of the 'Love is the same anywhere' album made for George Martin - we even have copies of the original paperwork asking for the discs to be cut and the engineers notes.

After this release we need some major new finds to make Rarer 2 (or Rare 3!) possible.

We do have more material but not much of releasable quality.

Richard

[karl]

So did you or the estate just want it for posterity Richard?

Would be rather nice to have all of Matt's albums on cd in the original format the way we have with Dusty, Petula, Sandie & Kiki to name but a few.

[Rmoore]

Basically yes.

It's part of Matt's history.

Yes I too would like to get Matt's original albums issued properly. I would actually like to put out three Box sets - The Parlophone/Liberty years, The Capitol Years and The EMI/Columbia years. Perhaps one day!

Richard

[cyp21]

Thats nice Richard that you finally managed to negotiate a price! I dont suppose you paid much as you did say that you wouldnt earlier as there isnt anything not released before just great that they are back where they belong.

On the Matt albums yes that would be great if you finally get the go-ahead to re-master them as you always do a great job!