The Lost Fine Gospel Tapes

[greenfuzz]

The tapes I have in the bunker are less than half the total tapes found in the Fine Recording Studio. The rest are stored in a warehouse, and consist of jazz, lounge, spoken word, ads and station breaks.

Do the ads include anything by the garage groups?

 

[bosshoss]

:oops: Soft rock and blues rock can go to hell, though.
!

The majority of the late 60s early 70s tapes fall into this unfortunate category.

 

[bosshoss]

Do the ads include anything by the garage groups?

I don't think so Mike. It's mainly ads for radio stations, which was a major part of the Fine Recording Studio's income generation. He used lounge and jazz singers to create the tedious jingles.

 

[Sebastian]

This lot is all soul and funk

Will you be digitizing any of these as well?
Is there a lot of unreleased stuff, or mostly masters for released 45's etc?

Once again, big thanks for posting all of this music, awsome stuff!

 

[bosshoss]

Will you be digitizing any of these as well?
Is there a lot of unreleased stuff, or mostly masters for released 45's etc?

There's quite a bit of unreleased soul and funk. However, I'm not sure if it's any good.
Things like The Soul Investigators, unreleased Soul Brothers Six, Lee Taylor & The Soul Twisters, Souled American, lots of unmarked tapes as well.

 

[Sebastian]

There's quite a bit of unreleased soul and funk. However, I'm not sure if it's any good.
Things like The Soul Investigators, unreleased Soul Brothers Six, Lee Taylor & The Soul Twisters, Souled American, lots of unmarked tapes as well.

That sounds very promising. I'd love to hear that stuff and I'm sure there would be a lot of interest if the music is anywhere near decent.

 

[HarvestmanMan]

Here's a few photos of the tapes as they are stored in the bunker. each shelf is a different genre. The last shot is my work area where I'm transferring the tapes to digital files ready to upload here.

Seeing that Sony PR-150 reminded me: have you had any problems with tape shed/sticky shed so far? Most of the reels look to be the bottom-of-the-barrel brands, rejects from major tape manufacturers - add in the water damage and I'd be surprised if they still played intact...

 

[bosshoss]

Seeing that Sony PR-150 reminded me: have you had any problems with tape shed/sticky shed so far? Most of the reels look to be the bottom-of-the-barrel brands, rejects from major tape manufacturers - add in the water damage and I'd be surprised if they still played intact...

Not really. Only about a dozen of the 3,000 tapes are really disintegrating to the point of unplayability. The rest are playable after winding and rewinding a few times.

 

[HarvestmanMan]

Not really. Only about a dozen of the 3,000 tapes are really disintegrating to the point of unplayability. The rest are playable after winding and rewinding a few times.

Interesting.

Maybe I've been doing it wrong all this time, and storing tapes in flooded, fire-damaged, moldy basements increases the lifespan!

 

[bosshoss]

I don't know the exact details, but it appears that tapes from different eras have differing characteristics when it comes to deterioration. The earlier, the better. The ones which have sticky residue and need to be baked tend to be late 60s and early 70s. Most of the late 50s and early 60s tapes I have are in great condition, even after the appalling treatment they have received.

 

[Hicksville Hogwash]

More proof humans made better things before advancing too far technically and cutting corners to save a few $$$$.?

 

[rontokyo]

There are also more unreleased Fine Recording Studio gospel mp3's, taken from the master tapes, here :
http://www.g45central.com/forum/index.php?forums/fine-recording-studio-excavation.24/

I'm ashamed that I hadn't visited this sub-forum until now. What a fabulous collection. Thanks to both Misters Hogwash and Bosshoss for the tip.

 

[chuckd]

It's about time I put this stuff out.
These songs have never been released, or heard at all as far as I know. They are from the 100 gospel master tapes I discovered in the remains of the Fine Recording Studio. I'll identify the artists wherever possible, but many of these tapes will remain mysteries forever. The time frame spans late 50's to mid 70s.

I hope you dig these screamin' gospel jams, which to my ears have some of the same qualities found in many of the records we discuss here every day.

You mean these songs aren't on the Gospel FLAC comp you put out a while back?

 

[chuckd]

Mark, this shit is absolutely mind-blowing! You have the best job in the world! Thank you for sharing this with the world!