Anthony Stuchbury Interview

 
EIN: Hi Tony and thanks for taking time out so quickly for this interview. While I do think from previous discussions that we agree about a lot of the Mono <> Stereo debate, it's great to chat to you and ask you a few questions about these new Memphis Mansion releases.

First of all the nineteen track 'From Elvis At Sun' in stereo release. These tracks have been done in "fake stereo" before  - such as 'Elvis Reborn’ - what does this new release offer that's different?

Anthony Stuchbury: I’d like to think that it offers a more original sound if you’re playing at a distance and not concentrating on the ‘stereo’, a separation that in itself is better balanced and more authentic.

EIN: What do you mean by ‘original sound’ - the sound in the actual studio or the sound Sam Phillips might have mixed for release?

AS: The sound that most people would recognise as Sam's mix if you’re not listening in stereo.

EIN: Do we really need stereo versions of these mono classics? I know a lot of people would consider it sacrilege.

AS: Do we really ‘need’ the mono classics? We don’t really need anything, it’s our own personal choice, but I get the point entirely, each to their own. Polite and constructive criticism is always welcome.

EIN: Who first thought of this idea, was it you or Henrik?

AS: Other labels first thought of this idea, and it was their work that ultimately inspired me to see what I could do, after a personal investment that is. Just ‘fiddling around on a lap top’ is not going to cut it for this kind of work.

EIN: You’ve raised a good point there. There are a lot of bootleg albums supposedly “remastered in a high-quality studio” that are obviously just frequency and reverb setting tweaks on a home pc. Was the main portion of your work the deconstruction or the re-construction and I’m guessing, like ERIC records, you probably used multiple DES techniques?

AS: De and re construction was the main part, but once deconstructed the individual elements could then be individually remastered too. The two tracks this should be most notable on are ‘Trying To Get To You’ and ‘I Forgot To Remember To Forget’. You are correct that multiple techniques have been used, four in total.  

EIN: You have done a few projects with Henrik and Memphis Mansion before. Which project are you most proud of?

AS: The one I’m most proud of would be the ‘Welcome Home Elvis’ vinyl box set.

So much work went into that from everyone on the team that I really can’t fault it, and believe me when I say that. I hold myself and the Memphis Mansion team to the same standards that I apply elsewhere, but like everything in life there are ups and downs that have to be dealt with. In the end it’s how these things are overcome that make the difference to a project.

EIN: Great title ‘From Elvis At Sun’ – has that never been used before?

AS: What do you mean? Like From Elvis In Memphis or From Elvis In Nashville perhaps?

EIN: laughing .. No I meant how odd that RCA used ‘Elvis At Sun’ and ‘Sunrise’ etc when ‘From Elvis At Sun’ is such a neat tribute to ‘From Elvis In Memphis’ and as far as I know has never been used before …

AS: I just liked the sound of it, but yes, it is in tribute to those other albums. I think it works.

EIN: So what to you defines a good quality “Stereo” version of a mono recording?

AS: That’s something I can’t answer, I just use my ears and rely on what sounds good to me, it’s basically what I like. It’s all subjective anyway when it comes to audio, some people don’t even like or enjoy Elvis, believe it or not.

EIN: How long have you been working on this project? How long does each particular track take?

AS: Some tracks take longer than others, but the ‘From Elvis At Sun’ release was a week and a half’s work, six or seven hours a day, in total.

EIN: You have also announced the UK HMV ‘Best Of Elvis’ vinyl stereo release. That’s a neat collectible. Why a second release already, and why that particular one?

AS: My very first Mono II Stereo work was for the forthcoming ‘The Best Of Elvis’ 10” vinyl LP and I honestly thought it might be the first release, but it didn’t turn out that way. It’s been ‘in the can’ for months already, but vinyl production is slow these days due to varying factors. When you think about it though, SUN came first anyway, so it’s worked out pretty well.

EIN: You and I have mentioned ‘ERIC Records’ before and they have done some stunning releases in fake stereo. Their ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ is so incredible it is hard to believe someone hasn’t found the stereo tape. How does your work on Elvis differ from theirs?

AS: ERIC really have set the standard, and I’ve been shouting their praises to others for years already, but personally I find some of their work over complicated. This may sound to be a contradiction considering we’re talking about mono to stereo conversion, but I try to keep it as simple as possible in respect to the original mix, and Heartbreak Hotel by Eric Records is a perfect example of this in my opinion. I feel they’ve separated things a little too much on their version, and they didn’t use the best source in the first place. My Mono II Stereo version is simpler and less complicated, more in keeping with what might have been done at the time had stereo been available. It’s already been provided to a few sources in the Elvis world, and the feedback has been very positive.

I was immensely proud to hear back from someone who knew Chet Atkins, they said they were sure Chet himself would have loved it. To corroborate this I’d like to quote Chet speaking to Alanna Nash in her book ‘Behind Closed Doors: Talking with the Legends of Country Music.

Q: So if you were producing now, what would you do? Come up with something totally new?

Chet A: I’d be more enterprising and experimental than the people are. I’d try all kinds of new sounds and new things to try to get million-sellers. And maybe I would fall flat on my face, but I’d give it a try. That’s the advantage I had back when I was making a lot of records. I was a guitar player, and I could play concerts and make a living. So I didn’t care that much if I got fired. You know, I loved the money I got, but it didn’t matter that much to me, so I experimented a lot. And then after I had a little success, I really experimented, because it gave me confidence, and I knew I could try a lot of different things.

And then there was Sam Phillips himself who said ‘Be different, different!’ so here we are I guess.

EIN: MRS also brought out their ‘Stereo 56’ release which was to my ears rather hit and miss. (laughing..) So will Elvis’ ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ guitar back-slap be correctly positioned in your version?

AS: In a word, YES! (laughing too)

EIN: I have a fondness for discovering more about Bill Black’s amazing bass-work on these “stereo” versions. Was there anything particularly surprising that was revealed for you in your “Stereo” explorations?

AS: Yes, just how damned hard he worked that bass became so much clearer to me, especially on ‘Baby Let’s Play House’ for example, and on the instrumental breaks in particular.

EIN: It seems obvious to me that the more compressed and echo-y a recording the harder it is to extract the vocals and instruments. What were the hardest tracks for you to work with?

AS: The hardest track was actually ‘Harbor Lights’. The whistling was an issue, and I found myself not choosing to have a dry vocal for this one. I think as fans we’re all pre-disposed to remembering how we first heard something, and therefore I have a fondness for the version on ‘Legendary Performer Vol 2’. I’ve re-created that on ‘From Elvis At Sun’ but from a superior mono source.

EIN: That’s a very valid point as fans are so used to the RCA reverb versions. So which song is your favourite in “stereo”..

AS: Oh, c’mon, it’s Elvis, they’re all my favourites. I do lean heavily towards ‘I Forget To Remember To Forget’ though, purely because you’re going to hear percussion that isn’t easily audible in the current mono masters.

EIN: How has the response been from fans to this “stereo” project?

AS: Very positive overall. I went into this with my eyes wide open, and the blinkered minority have performed exactly as predicted. It is what it is, the Elvis world at its best. No one is being forced to purchase it anyway; in fact the criticisms have been very helpful in the publicity department by bringing more awareness to the release.

EIN: Let’s talk Beatles! Elvis’ early 60s studio albums, mixed by Bill Porter, were impressive in stereo whereas The Beatles early albums from years later often had all the music on one side and isolated vocals on the other! Why did George Martin do such a poor job?

AS: We have to remember that stereo recording technology in the USA was way ahead of the two track machines (Binaural) being used in Abbey Road. I don’t think George Martin did a poor job, he did the best with the technology available to him in England at the time.

EIN: I see what you’re saying but Abbey Road had 4-track machines by October 1963 so there was really little excuse for such basic binaural-type stereo Beatle mixes for anything after mid-1964. ‘Rubber Soul’ from 1965 has some woeful original stereo mixes that desperately need redoing..

AS: I was thinking primarily about their first album with the recordings made in 1962 and early 1963, but I’ll say you’re right about ‘some’ of the mixes after mid 1964. That said, stereo wasn’t really a big thing in the UK until the late 60’s so the primary focus was still on ‘mono’, and again it’s all subjective isn’t it?

EIN: That's very true... but now we have the fascinating position where his son Giles Martin is using ‘DES’ techniques to correct the bad stereo mixes of his world-renowned father! The just released new “Stereo” version of their 1966 album ‘Revolver’ surely challenges the “Don’t touch the classic mixes” complainers. What do you think of this release?

AS: I’m uncomfortable with you calling the original a bad stereo mix, because it certainly wasn’t at the time. In 1966 they were bouncing down tracks at Abbey Road to be able to expand the soundscape, and as a result of combining the elements to a single track the individual elements themselves were then thought to be no longer required, hence the use of DES technology today to separate the elements back out from the bounced down track. As for the release itself, I bought it and I love it!

EIN: My favourites are the new “Stereo” mixes of the ‘Paperback Writer / Rain’ single. Previously the stereo mix was a shambles. On ‘Rain’ John Lennon’s lead vocal was isolated left - and on ‘Paperback Writer’ all the musicians, except the bass, were similarly isolated left. They both sounded terrible and now - by using “FAKE” stereo DES - Giles Martin has created a brilliant true stereo mix that sounds as if it was recorded yesterday. Have you heard them?

AS: Yes, and guess what? I’ve done the same with one of my favourite Beatles tracks, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’.

EIN: Then I guess my real question is, that if “The Beatles” can do it then surely RCA could be officially doing something similar for Elvis?

AS: RCA, don’t you mean Sony? (laughing) I’m sure they could be doing something, but to my mind there are two issues. The first being the purists reaction, and secondly, and more importantly, the public domain issue. Unlike the Beatles, who I think have only two of their tracks in the public domain, the majority of Elvis’ 1950’s output is already out there. If Sony were to consider spending money on this kind of thing I don’t think they think it would be worth it from a financial perspective. I think in Elvis’ case the public domain and independent labels are going to be the place for this, purely for that reason.

EIN: There are several terrible sounding mid-sixties movie soundtracks that would benefit from a “DES” stereo remix as well as the obvious Elvis’ fifties mono recordings. I wonder if RCA / SONY would bother to put money into remixing the crappy movie soundtracks?

AS: Being realistic I’d say they should consider it for the soundtracks that are not in the public domain, that way at least, it might be profitable for them?

EIN: Your ‘Welcome Home Elvis’ was beautifully presented, and I need to acknowledge that you are a magnificent photographer as people can see from these SUN studio images. So with these new Mono II Stereo sets did you have anything to do with the design and packaging or is that someone else?

AS: The ‘From Elvis At Sun’ art was based on a concept/mock up that I did myself, so in a way yes, but Søren Karstensen is Memphis Mansions professional graphic designer, and he improved on my idea 100%. He does GREAT work for them.

EIN: Your earlier comment about the ERIC records "stereo" ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ being “separated a little too much and they didn’t use the best source in the first place” has me fascinated. So final question - Should people listen to your new mixes on quality headphones or loud-speakers?

AS: Either or, both should sound good, but if you really want to hear the ‘stereo’ stick on some good headphones.

Interview by Piers Beagley.
-Copyright EIN March 2023
EIN Website content ©
Copyright the Elvis Information Network.

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