Diana Ross - Diana official release vs. original
deej
5,125 Posts
Apologies if this has been discussed already but i've only been here a year...feel free to link to the older post if this is old news but...
The Diana deluxe reissue includes both the officially released album mix and the original Chic mix. Apparently Diana had some engineers mix it again after she decided her vocals were moved too far back in the original version; in a commercial sense, she may have done the right thing. I just picked this up yesterday and after A/B'ing them there are really distinct differences - I'm just not sure how to express what those are yet. I was wondering what people thought about the two versions, whether they preferred one or the other, what they saw as the key differences between the two etc. And was wondering if DJs had a preference - if they thought maybe the Chic mixes are better for the dancefloor where the originals work nicer on the radio.also enthuse about Diana here
The Diana deluxe reissue includes both the officially released album mix and the original Chic mix. Apparently Diana had some engineers mix it again after she decided her vocals were moved too far back in the original version; in a commercial sense, she may have done the right thing. I just picked this up yesterday and after A/B'ing them there are really distinct differences - I'm just not sure how to express what those are yet. I was wondering what people thought about the two versions, whether they preferred one or the other, what they saw as the key differences between the two etc. And was wondering if DJs had a preference - if they thought maybe the Chic mixes are better for the dancefloor where the originals work nicer on the radio.also enthuse about Diana here
Comments
This is worth a read. Daryl's my boy so I'm biased, but I've been a Chic fan for a long time and a serious attempt to re-evaluate them was long overdue. There's some interesting tidbits about the "Diana" sessions. Even more interesting are the stories about the shelved Johnny Mathis album they did, which looks set to rot in Sony's vaults forever, or at least until Johnny Mathis dies. It seems there are continuing concerns from his people that an r&b album would be bad for the man's image on account of how it might make him look "too black".
Anyway, I always meant to cop that reissue, especially after years of wondering how different Chic's "Director's Cut" mix would have sounded. I heard it a couple of times when it finally came out and was a little disappointed by it. It's good and all, and some of the arrangements and mixes are fascinating (especially "I'm Coming Out"), but I never had a problem with the o.g. anyway. I wouldn't blame Nile & Bernard for being salty about the way they were treated, though. They pretty much made her hot again - she certainly never made another record I'd have wanted to spend money on after that one.
Why? Mathis had already been there and done that - he did that I'm Coming Home album in 1973 with Thom Bell producing. Contemporary black audiences LOVED him after that (remember that duet album he did with Deniece Williams?), yet it didn't hurt his middle-aged-white-folks fan base any. If he could survive the Philly Sound, then his career could withstand Nile Rodgers.
According to this, it is Sony/CBS, not Mathis, that is responsible for the album not being released.
Mathis and Chic
SG