Lama,
Thanks for all the interesting info on one of my faves. I don't have the
HDCD version of STAS yet (probably because I have 3 vinyls of it ;-) but I
am amazed that they were able to engineer out the bell jar sound. I'll be
looking forward to hearing the CD. (I like the bell jar sound, though ;-)
In addition to the background you posted, I've also heard in interviews with
Joni and Crosby that part of that bell jar sound was intentional - Croz had
this wild idea of having Joni play and sing into (the wires of?) a grand
piano for some kind of effect. Also, the master tape got messed up somehow
and then the engineer died suddenly in the middle of the process. Croz has
also indicated that the release of the "flawed product" was because the
original engineer was not around to fix the tape and they were under
pressure to get the album out on schedule. You've shed some more light on
the legend.
Do you think our original "flawed" vinyl will have some collectible value
someday? ;-)
Kakki
