By Joe Klein

 

For the last couple of months, I have been posting stories about the new JACKSON 5 album I WANT YOU BACK! UNRELEASED MASTERS and the role my long-time friend RUSS TERRANA played in the project. Well, now, as tough as it is to admit, I only got PART of the story right!

Since the new album was released last week, I learned that only three of Russ’ mixes were included on the new album, and that he hadn’t mixed the entire album as I had believed and wrote about. What I did write was what I believed to be true and accurate at the time, based on information received direct from the sources involved in the project, including Russ himself.

Our first story about the new J5 album broke online in mid-September, while Russ was still in the midst of his mixing chores. A little over a week after he was done mixing, UME issued their initial  press release about the release of the album, to occur on November 10. The story released by the company had information about the twelve songs that would be included in the new album.

But, in what is a good example of just how crazy things are (and always have been) in the music business, there were changes made and events that occurred up until the last minute that lead to the information posted on this blog and elsewhere that turned out to be not correct once the new Jackson 5 album was released last week.

Russ first told me about the project back in late August. He had been contacted by HARRRY WEINGER, the producer of the album for the company who distributes all the catalog product for Motown Records, UNIVERSAL MUSIC ENTERPRISES. Weinger recruited Russ to mix down several recently-discovered Jackson 5 tracks from the Motown vaults for an anticipated November release. Russ and fellow engineer RICK VIERRA worked for about a month on the project, finishing up around the end of September, and UME made the first official announcement about the new album in early October.

It wasn’t until after the release of the entire album, on November 10 that I, and Russ, first learned of the final track listings and the sound mixing credits. My own blog stories were written assuming that all but one of the tracks on the album would be the new mixes that Russ performed (except for one song, called “Buttercup” which was a collaboration between the J5 and STEVIE WONDER). But the credits listed on the new album only indicated that Russ had mixed three of the tracks contained on the release! So, as surprised as I was, I needed to set the record straight once and for all, and correct the misstatements that were inadvertently made by me online. Last weekend, I set out to research all the facts, in an effort to get the story as correct and complete as possible to post online. Of course I spoke with Russ once again and, for the first time, spoke with Rick Vierra, the owner of the studio where the mixing process took place. I also contacted Harry Weinger for a bit of additional information and comment for this story as well. I even spoke with Russ’ daughter, CHRISTI TERRANA-HUNZIKER about this story. I took all the new information, threw in into my “writer’s crock” and boiled it all down for this post. Here’s how it all shakes out…..

At the end of August, Weinger sent Russ the digitally-encoded multi-track masters for four songs. Then, over the next couple of weeks, Weinger sent the masters for seven more songs to Russ for him to review and start performing mixes on. According to Weinger, “These were songs that were being considered for this, and possibly future J5 projects, that Russ could consider mixing down. I sent Russ some tracks for him to listen; they were not necessarily tracks for something. They could be. They might not.”

The mixing process for a project of this nature is pretty complex in this day and age of digital audio and video. The procedure for each song begins with the digital audio pre-production, processing, and preliminary mixing of the individual tracks. Next, the tracks are converted from digital back to the analog audio realm, where the final adjustments, tweaks and detailed mixes are performed. At the end stage the tracks are converted back to digital audio again. Whew! If you understood all this, you are better reader than I am a writer!

Immediately after receiving the first four (digitally encoded) multi-track masters from Weinger, Russ and Rick dove right in, and began the preliminary steps of the process. Just after all the technical wizardry got underway, the additional seven tracks were received, and  things started heating up fast.

The usual chain of requests for changes and revisions from the producer followed.  Russ and Rick then found themselves in a dizzying frenzy of multi-tasking that lasted for weeks. Rick comments, “We were working our butts off. man! One day we’re doing preliminary production and pre-mixing on one set of tracks and then moving on to the final mixing of others. At the next session, we’re doing revisions to the final mixes of certain tracks while still working on the preliminary steps on other songs. It was just crazy!”

I received a more seasoned assessment from Russ himself, who has been through it all so many times before. “Yeah, it reminded me of the times working for Motown so many years ago. The company was cranking out so much music back then. I’d come into the studio day after day, and do mix after mix. Lots of times it got so busy that I lost track of what projects I was working on! I’d just try to concentrate on the session or mix I was doing at the moment.”

Russ and Rick ended up doing the pre-production and preliminary mixing on all eleven tracks presented to them, and proceeded to work on “final mixes” on a total of nine of the tracks sent to them. “You know how it is, man,” Rick says. “The label wants changes to some mixes and then wants us to move on to new mixes. Certain tracks become priorities over others.” Some of the songs were, in fact, mixed several times, in attempts to get the mixes just right for Weinger. Russ performed eight final mixes on MAN’S TEMPTATION, one of the songs on the new J5 album. “They ended up using the fourth mix,” Rick recalls. “But you’ve got different people at the label with different ideas. So, it’s cool. All the tracks we worked on turned out really great, and I hope we have a chance to mix more.”

Of the nine completed mixes submitted to the label by Russ and Rick, three made the final cut to the new J5 album.The album included three other new mixes of old tracks, performed in by another very talented engineer named KEVIN REEVES, who currently works for Motown in New York City. Weinger remarks, “Kevin is the amazing Universal Mastering Studios engineer who studied the old mixes to get a handle on the three tracks he did (The Medley, and the alternates of Never Can Say Goodbye and Dancing Machine).”

The new Jackson 5 album has detailed credits listed on the insert to the CD package. Six of them were new mixes performed this year. Three of them were mixed by Russ, assisted by Rick. They are MAN’S TEMPTATION, LOVE COMES IN DIFFERENT FLAVORS and the lead single from the album, THAT’S HOW LOVE IS. The other three new mixes were done in Universal’s New York mastering studio by Kevin Reeves. Those tracks are NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE, DANCIN’ MACHINE and the album’s opening track, a medley of I WANT YOU BACK/ABC/THE LOVE YOU SAVE. The remaining six tracks on the album are noted as being from the “original two-track masters.” But, what about the engineering credits for those mixes on the original maters? As Russ, himself, mixed most, if not all, of the early Jackson 5 hits, it’s likely that he mixed at least a few of these six original masters. But, as it turns out, detailed notes of recording session personnel were not always made at the old Motown sessions, and engineer notations were missing from all but one of the old masters included in the new J5 release.

“I was hoping to find evidence Russ did the other six originally, but the tapes don’t have the engineer notations.” says Weinger. “He did not do the original mix of LISTEN I’LL TELL YOU HOW back in 1969, as the engineer code on the tape box is not his. None of the other previously mixed tracks indicate a mix engineer.” Harry added, “I do recall that DEKE RICHARDS, the original head of The Corporation writing-producing team, mixed the version of ABC that’s on the album.”

I asked Russ about the other tracks, “Joe, I mixed thousands of songs for Motown! Probably hundreds of those were of the Jackson 5 and Michael. There’s no way I can remember the names of all the songs I mixed all those years ago.” Russ adds, “I usually do recall a song when I hear it and most of the time I’m able to tell if it is one of my mixes! But keep in mind that so much of the work was done thirty or even forty years ago, and memories do fade.”

Having known Russ for thirty-five of those years, I also know his children as well but lost touch with them many years ago. Recently, however, his daughter, Christi, and I reunited over the internet! Until this online reconnection, I never realized how proud Christi was of her father’s accomplishments. Christi and I have communicated quite a bit via email and phone over the last couple of months, and she chimed in on this story as follows: “Dad would be so into the project he was working on and like you said, he would not remember what he mixed the week before, because there was so much material plus A LOT of long hours….and that’s putting it mildly! That’s why I would spend so much time at the studio with him, just so I could learn from him.” She added, “Dad always did go from one project to the next and often felt that ‘daze,’ as you said, because he was always working in the studio! "

For Russ not to be able to remember all the titles of songs he worked on so many years later is certainly understandable. Still, there is a high probability that Russ mixed at least a couple of the other six songs on the new album. But I don’t want to go out on a limb again! Nor do I want to burden Russ with listening to the six tracks without engineer credits and then going on record stating that he did, or did not, mix them decades ago. (Russ had told me in a prior interview that he does remember working on the collaboration of the group with Stevie Wonder, but doesn’t remember the name of the song or songs.)

I previously posted stories about Russ and the new J5 album, including one on this blog on October 7, just after the official press release about the project was issued by UME and the first single from the album, which was mixed by Russ, became available online. That contained an exclusive interview with Russ, in which we talked about the mixing project for the first time.

In another article posted here, on October 22 (just after four additional tracks from the album were “previewed” online), I included my own first reaction to the just released tracks, assuming Russ had mixed all of them.

Then, on November 11, the day after the release of the new J5 album, I posted another article. This one was a story about the new Jackson 5 album, which included another short interview with Russ and more of my own feelings about all of the tracks on the new album. As the album had just been released on the day I wrote the post, I had not yet seen the physical CD package of the album (which includes detailed engineer credits on the insert inside CD case). Neither had Russ, for that matter. Harry Weinger states, “As you can imagine, and Russ will tell you, album track choices change all the time. This experience helped me to understand why the tracks were not on any any original J5 album to begin with. Plans, priorities, etc., change.”

So, as embarrassing as it is that I am now one more blogger who has posted inaccurate or erroneous information, I’ve reflected over the fact that this story now serves an apt example of the way events have transpired in the music business for decades. It’s always been very common for record labels to have artists record and mix more songs than are needed for an album. The extra tracks were then just put the on the shelf and held for a possible future release by the same act or, in some cases, included on a compilation package at some later date.

A few days ago I did ask Russ if Harry Weinger had told him which tracks that he had mixed made the final cut at any time before the new J5 album was released. He responded, “Around the time I was finishing up the whole batch of mixes, Harry sent me an email mentioning that he may be including some old, original J5 mixes on the new album, and wondered if they were mine. I don’t recall the names of the tracks he mentioned in that call.” Russ went on to say, “Once I finished the project a few days later, I moved on without giving it much more thought, just as I used to do at Motown a zillion times before.”

Russ and I laughed a bit (well, I was crying, actually) about me getting it all wrong, after being so careful to get it all RIGHT! “Don’t kick yourself over this one, Joe” Russ said, in an attempt to comfort me. “This kind of stuff happened all the time back in the day. Most times I never had a clue which tracks I recorded or mixed got included on albums or released as singles. It was only when they became big hits that I would realize I worked on them!”

I felt relieved and, at the same time, a bit grateful. Russ had just given me the hook line for the blog article I I had to post, for the sake of my own credibility. In the music business, SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE, EXCEPT THE STORY!

The only remaining mystery is the status of those six other tracks Russ completed mixes on and delivered to Harry Weinger. Then there are the two additional songs still residing in the data files at Rick’s Scots Valley studio that are yet to be completed. Does this hint at the possibility of future Motown releases from the Jackson 5 or Michael Jackson? Russ himself wouldn’t utter a word on that, and, frankly, I don’t blame them! Weinger commented, “If something pops, we’ll let you know—and all the better if Russ is involved.”

So, there it is. All that is left now is to offer my most heartfelt apologies to all for posting stories that were somewhat “less than factual.” I promise never to do it again—if I can help it!

I confess that this really was a tough post to write, and it is a huge relief to now have it behind me! Next, I’ll be posting a comprehensive and in-depth look at Russ Terrana’s storied career as the most accomplished sound recoding engineer in pop music history. It will even include another quote or two from Russ’ adoring daughter! This one’s been in the works for many weeks now and I had originally planned to post it over a week ago. But, let’s just say that another story presented itself in the meantime.

The big story about Russ is coming soon, right here on the NEW MEDIA CREATIVE company blog, and promises to be a great read! Meanwhile, enjoy this cool little video of The Jackson 5 performing a medley of their first two #1 hits mixed by Russ, I WANT YOU BACK and ABC, on The Ed Sullivan Show in !970!

 

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