hello
i found this on youtube and thought it sounded chilling and intersting the man who posted it and others have proposed that robert johnson's recordings where speed up and have been realesed at the wrong speed while i doubt this personaly since as far as i know no one that new and heard him perform has said his recordings where speed up i do think this sounds really cool and a bit closer to what it sounds like on exile in my opinion
but i'm not a musician and am not very knowledgeable on these matters and was wondering if anyone here who is more so may have a something intersting to add to this
youtube

Maybe the speeding up was to accentuate the disco mix that people so loved back then.

jb

funny

Here's an interesting article about this "controversy": [www.elijahwald.com]

thank you Cristiano Radtke that was very helpful

That slowed down is in A flat.

The normal one is in B flat.

Based on what I know, the song is in A and it "sounds" like he's playing in A (based on string chimes and open notes). Which means one of two things: it was sped up or he tuned high. Regardless, it sounds like the slowed down version is slowed down too much.

Quote
ProfessorWolf
hello
i found this on youtube and thought it sounded chilling and intersting the man who posted it and others have proposed that robert johnson's recordings where speed up and have been realesed at the wrong speed while i doubt this personaly since as far as i know no one that new and heard him perform has said his recordings where speed up i do think this sounds really cool and a bit closer to what it sounds like on exile in my opinion
but i'm not a musician and am not very knowledgeable on these matters and was wondering if anyone here who is more so may have a something intersting to add to this
youtube

"The Complete Robert Johnson" from 1990 has some speed discrepancies and generally bad sound, because it is based on an old compilation tape that was made in the 1970s. Some of those problems were corrected for the 1996 reissue. The best quality Robert Johnson set is "The Centennial Collection/The Complete Recordings" from 2011. The sound is much better than on the 1990/1996 sets as it was taken from original discs and/or metal parts. It sounds like you're in the room with Johnson and it runs at the correct speed as explained here: [lukpac.org] (bottom of the page).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-01-27 04:39 by MrEcho.

Thanks for the tip on The Centennial Collection/The Complete Recordings, I have the 96 issue of Complete Recordings but if this is an upgrade I am all for it. Cheap too, under 14 with shipping at Amazon.

jb

Been around for while now but this
is still the best sounding Johnson you'll hear ....

Cryin' shame there's only the ten tracks .... Spookily stunning stuff



ROCKMAN

I methodically slowed down and saved all of my favorite RJ tracks. I have to listen to them again to determine how much I slowed them down but they sound way better and more authentic slowed down.

I've got a collection of the slowed down tracks somewhere. Some are very convincing, others less so.

Quote
jbwelda
Thanks for the tip on The Centennial Collection/The Complete Recordings, I have the 96 issue of Complete Recordings but if this is an upgrade I am all for it. Cheap too, under 14 with shipping at Amazon.

jb

I used to have the 1990 version – terrible sound. The 1996 version is a little bit better, but The Centennial Collection from 2011 blows them all out of the water. It's like being in the room with Johnson. As I said, it's the only Robert Johnson collection, where every song was directly transferred from original discs and/or metal parts. They also corrected the speed according to the frequency of the mains hum (electric hum). Back in the 1930s the recordings picked up the hum of the electric current that was used for running the equipment and this hum had a fixed frequency (120 Hz), which can now be used to determine the correct speed. If a recording is played at the wrong speed, the frequency of the mains hum is not 120 Hz. Thus the correct speed of the recordings can be determined scientifically based on the laws of physics.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-01-27 12:24 by MrEcho.

Quote
MrEcho

"The Complete Robert Johnson" from 1990 has some speed discrepancies and generally bad sound, because it is based on an old compilation tape that was made in the 1970s. Some of those problems were corrected for the 1996 reissue. The best quality Robert Johnson set is "The Centennial Collection/The Complete Recordings" from 2011. The sound is much better than on the 1990/1996 sets as it was taken from original disc' and/or metal parts.

I concur. It's so much better it's baffling.

Quote
terraplane
I methodically slowed down and saved all of my favorite RJ tracks. I have to listen to them again to determine how much I slowed them down but they sound way better and more authentic slowed down.

I see your name is taken from an RJ song.

Foghat does a nice version, too.

The Centennial Collection sounds amazingly better. Wow.

thank you MrEcho & Rockman i just have the 1990 version love johnson and other early bluesmen thanks to the stones and had no idea there was a better version this will be great see if i can ILL it from my local libray

also check this out talk about in the same room
youtube

The above Johnson on Pristine XR is
only available on order from their UK site ....

Doubt you'll find it in any shop or library ....



ROCKMAN

you'd be surprised i've convincied my library to buy japanese exclusive cds before but thank you for the info

.... Hey yeah good that ya got some
sway over those librarian ladies ....

But seriously those Pristine XR Johnson
recordings are so good that you should own a copy ... and a spare


PS: Lurv ta know who the two multi platinum
recording artists are who contact Pristine with WOW! ... Brilliant etc

Clapton .... Keith ???? ..... Page .... wonder who



ROCKMAN

yeah that librarian lady is a retired army colonel who served in both iraq wars she gets sh-t done

I remember when I first heard RJ slowed down and I thought it must have been accurate. Then I read that it would have been strange that ALL of his recordings were sped up, and nobody that knew him ever said he sounded sped-up on his records.

So I tend to believe he just tuned-up and sang higher, as that was his style.

oh Rockman would it be possible for you to upload at least a taste of what that one sounds like

The Exile version is the best

I got no way ta do that Professorwolf ... ...

Ya can buy download files or CD from Pristine site ....

from memory they have a sample of track for each artist on their site



ROCKMAN

thank you Rockman

Yo yo Bro ....



ROCKMAN

is this what you have Rockman if so wow
youtube

Thats it Professor Wolfeeeeee ....

No reason ta kid around with Johnson stuff man ...
Just GET IT you wont believe the sound .... trust me ...



ROCKMAN

..... maybeeee Mr Zimmerman was one of the
Platinum cats who contacted Pristine with the WOW!!! brilliant remark...



ROCKMAN

Quote
MrEcho

I used to have the 1990 version – terrible sound. The 1996 version is a little bit better, but The Centennial Collection from 2011 blows them all out of the water. It's like being in the room with Johnson. As I said, it's the only Robert Johnson collection, where every song was directly transferred from original discs and/or metal parts. They also corrected the speed according to the frequency of the mains hum (electric hum). Back in the 1930s the recordings picked up the hum of the electric current that was used for running the equipment and this hum had a fixed frequency (120 Hz), which can now be used to determine the correct speed. If a recording is played at the wrong speed, the frequency of the mains hum is not 120 Hz. Thus the correct speed of the recordings can be determined scientifically based on the laws of physics.

Great info, time to update.