Members Mandolin Picker Posted June 12, 2019 Members Share Posted June 12, 2019 The fire at the Universal Studios back lot in 2008 was huge, taking over 24-hours to extinguish. At the time, there was concern about the loss of film and video archives lost to the fire. What no one really knew (and what wasn't really reported on) at the time was the losses related to the history of music. The New York Times as an in-depth article on the fire and the losses that were incurred, such as: "There were recordings from dozens of record companies that had been absorbed by Universal over the years, including several of the most important labels of all time. The vault housed tape masters for Decca, the pop, jazz and classical powerhouse; it housed master tapes for the storied blues label Chess; it housed masters for Impulse, the groundbreaking jazz label. The vault held masters for the MCA, ABC, A&M, Geffen and Interscope labels. And it held masters for a host of smaller subsidiary labels. Nearly all of these masters — in some cases, the complete discographies of entire record labels — were wiped out in the fire. "Among the incinerated Decca masters were recordings by titanic figures in American music: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland. The tape masters for Billie Holiday’s Decca catalog were most likely lost in total. The Decca masters also included recordings by such greats as Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five and Patsy Cline. "The fire most likely claimed most of Chuck Berry’s Chess masters and multitrack masters, a body of work that constitutes Berry’s greatest recordings. The destroyed Chess masters encompassed nearly everything else recorded for the label and its subsidiaries, including most of the Chess output of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Little Walter. Also very likely lost were master tapes of the first commercially released material by Aretha Franklin, recorded when she was a young teenager performing in the church services of her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, who made dozens of albums for Chess and its sublabels." The full article can be found at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/m...ecordings.html Update: List of Artists Whose Masters Were LostThere is an update over at Digital Music News that lists the artist that lost master recordings in the fire.https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/06/12/artists-masters-lost-2008-universal-studios-fire/ "It’s impossible to determine what exactly was lost in the fire, though Rosen estimated more than 500,000 different recordings were obliterated. Here’s a list of all of the artists mentioned in the Times article that lost original masters. 50 Cent Aerosmith Al Green Al Jolson Albert Ayler Alice Coltrane Aretha Franklin Art Blakey B.B. King Barry White Beck Benny Goodman Big Mama Thornton Bill Haley and His Comets Billie Holiday Bing Crosby Bo Diddley Bobby Bland Bobby Brown Buddy Guy Buddy Holly Burl Ives Burt Bacharach Cab Calloway Captain Beefheart Cat Stevens Charles Mingus Chuck Berry Clara Ward Coleman Hawkins Count Basie Dizzy Gillespie Don Henley Duke Ellington Ella Fitzgerald Elton John Eminem Eric B. and Rakim Eric Clapton Ernest Tubb Etta James Fats Domino George Jones George Strait Gladys Knight and the Pips Guns N’ Roses Hole Howlin’ Wolf Iggy Pop Ike Turner Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats Janet Jackson Jimmy Buffett Joan Baez John Coltrane John Lee Hooker Joni Mitchell Judy Garland Kitty Wells Lefty Frizzell Les Paul Lionel Hampton Little Walter Loretta Lynn Louis Armstrong Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five Lynyrd Skynyrd Mary J. Blige Max Roach Merle Haggard Muddy Waters Neil Diamond New Edition Nine Inch Nails Nirvana No Doubt Ornette Coleman Patsy Cline Patti LaBelle Pharoah Sanders Queen Latifah Quincy Jones R.E.M. Ray Charles Rufus and Chaka Khan Sammy Davis Jr. Sheryl Crow Sister Rosetta Tharpe Snoop Dogg Sonic Youth Sonny Rollins Sonny and Cher Soundgarden Steely Dan Steve Earle Sting Sun Ra The Andrews Sisters The Carpenters The Eagles The Flying Burrito Brothers The Four Tops The Impressions The Ink Spots The Kingsmen The Mamas and the Papas The Mills Brothers The Police The Roots The Weavers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tupac Shakur Willie Dixon Yoko Ono" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 This just makes me sick... All those priceless masters - gone forever. I remember that fire - and I remember them saying at the time it was just video copies that were lost - no originals. And zero word - in fact, strong denials - that any audio masters were lost. I can't imagine why they'd keep that a secret. Sure, the bands and engineers are going to be ticked-off (and with good reason - questionable sprinkler systems? They should have had a halon system in place to protect something like that IMO...), but didn't they submit an insurance claim? You'd think the audio masters and the value of them would have to be listed as one of the losses. Tape and film both burn readily, and fiercely. Not having it better protected from a fire just makes zero sense. Again, this just makes me sick to my stomach to even think about... and angry too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alndln3 Posted June 22, 2019 Members Share Posted June 22, 2019 That's horrible news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alndln3 Posted June 23, 2019 Members Share Posted June 23, 2019 I wonder how many of those Masters were transferred digitally? I know Frank Zappa transferred his entire catalog once he learned that tape eventually oxidizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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