from Ed @ Harvested-weeds

Hi All,

Well it's that time again!
Another 'rev A' release is ready to go.

This time the treatment goes to HRV-CDR-008 - BBC Archives 1967-1969.

Back when this title was orginally released, Marc-Olivier did an exhaustive comparison between it and the RoIO known as "At Dawn v4.00". He found neither entity to be superior to the other. Each one had its strong points in different areas and he suggested an amalgamation of the two.

A little later, we also learned that the speed used for Scream Thy Last Scream and Vegetable Man were incorrect.

Another flaw existed with the 1967 sessions. These were originally mono broadcasts. But due to "old age" of the tapes, the original BBC6769 Harvested release had some channel balance problems.

All this, and more, has been fixed on the 'rev A' release. Here's a track-by-track breakdown...

Track 01 - Flaming
Our original release was a little hissy. The "At Dawn" version had been equalized to eliminate the hiss, but this was overdone and resulted in a "bassy" track. I've reequalized our original track. The rev A version is not hissy and not bassy either. The balance has been recentered to mono too.

Track 02 - Scarecrow
The balance has been recentered to mono.

Track 03 - Matilda Mother
The "At Dawn" version was slightly clearer than our original. This rev A release uses the "At Dawn" version with the balance recentered to mono. Ron also reFrankentooned the first note. In addition, the tray artwork has been updated to give the correct spelling of 'Matilda'.

Track 04 - The Gnome
Again, the "At Dawn" version is used here as it had slightly better SQ. We used our version to restore the start of the song that was missing on "At Dawn". The balance was recentered to mono.

Track 05 - Pow R Toc H
The balance was recentered to mono.

Track 06 - Vegetable Man
The "At Dawn" version is used here. And the balance was recentered. But that's not all...This is the biggest change on this release. The speed has been significantly slowed down.

The recent Omnibus special on Syd Barrett and the Pink Floyd included some snippets of Vegetable Man. The RoIO used for this BBC show came direct from the BBC Archives. As such, we feel we may have found a valid speed reference. The speed of Vegetable Man on our rev A release matches that used in the Omnibus special. This is a lot slower than you're probably used to hearing for this song. But, it is very nice and natural. Enjoy!

Track 07 - Scream Thy Last Scream
A balance recentered, speed corrected version sourced from "At Dawn" is used here.

Track 08 - Jugband Blues
A balance recentered "At Dawn" version is used here.

Track 09 - Let There Be More Light
Our original unchanged.

Track 10 - Murderistic Women
Our original unchanged.

Track 11 - Julia Dream
"At Dawn" version used. Pop at 1:09 fixed.

Track 12 - Massed Gadgets of Hercules
"At Dawn" version used. Pop at 0:24 fixed.

Track 13 - Point Me at the Sky
Our original version with the original patch job at the beginning rebalanced to have a more natural transition. Glitch at 2:36 fixed.

Track 14 - Embryo
Our original unchanged.

Track 15 - Baby Blue Shuffle in D Major
Our original unchanged.

Track 16 - Interstellar Overdrive
Our original unchanged.

Track 17 - Daybreak
Our original unchanged.

Track 18 - Nightmare
To conform with the Man and the Journey theme of this performace. The title 'Cymbaline' has been changed to 'Nightmare' in the revised artwork. The song is our original unchanged.

Tracks 19/20 The Beginning / Beset By Creature of the Deep
Our originals unchanged.

Track 21 - The Narrow Way
Our original unchanged.

So, as you can see, this new version of BBC Archives 1967-1969 has a lot to offer. Let the weeding begin.

ftp.harvested.org
Login: harvested
Pass: BBC6769reva
Port: 21

Remember, for a single disc release such as this, only 3 weedlings are required to fullfill your obligations (not 5).

Regards,
Ed.