Date:Wed, 28 Jan 2004 12:48:52 -0500
Reply-To:Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:Aaron Luis Levinson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:Re: A "modest proposal" based on the Elvis master tapes
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1.Just to be clear a 2" master was not available in the fifties. These
are
I think 2" segments of 1/4 or 1/2 inch two track recordings. The 2"
format
was only introduced in the 70's with the advent of 16 and ultimately 24
track machines.
2. This is no way lessens the idiocy and greed which animates the
entire enterprise. It is perhaps the most crass example of monetizing
what should permanently remain a cultural treasure.
3. The thought of doing this same "service" to Glenn Gould or The
Beatles cannot be far away...
Maybe we could simply chop up the entire handwritten manuscript of
Finnegan's Wake
or maybe the Dead Sea Scrolls, no wait how about the Declaration of
Independence?
Why stop with Elvis?
aa
On Wednesday, January 28, 2004, at 11:58 AM, Watsky, Lance wrote:
> Thought everyone should know that there is a company that is selling
> "clippings" of Elvis 2" master tapes. They are cutting the tapes into
> little chunks and selling them with a numbered certificate!
>
> According to the website, the folks at Mastertape believe that what
> they are doing is audio preservation. They actually stated in their ad
> that "Tapes from that era are fragile and are ultimately vulnerable to
> deterioration regardless of efforts taken to protect them".
>
> Unbelievable!!
>
> <http://www.elvismastertape.com/>
>
>
> Lance Watsky
> Preservation & Media Specialist
> The Georgia Archives
> 5800 Jonesboro Road
> Morrow, GA 30260
> 678-364-3764 (phone)
> 678-364-3860 (fax)
> [log in to unmask]
> www.GeorgiaArchives.org
>
