blue horizon story vol. 2

[lazy poker]

i guess (and hope) that the "chit chat" forum is the appropriate one for this question that's been naggin' on me for a long, long time, again and again:

i think nearly everybody's experienced that in one way or another. every now and then there's something coming up bearing "volume 1" in the title. you love it and you're waiting . . . you're beggin' for it . . . but there's nothing more to it - no "volume 2" (let alone even more) in sight. as you grow older the years have been flyin' by mercilessly - still no sign of that craved for follow-up.

in 1973 cbs released an album on its cheapo sublabel embassy called "the blue horizon story . . . (you've guessed it) volume 1". end of story.

but history tends to repeat itself from time to time - fast forward to 1997: "the blue horizon story 1965 - 1970, vol.1", the much appreciated 3 cd box set wets my appetite for more. i even remember a small note in mojo magazine about 1 year later, mentioning mike vernon being at work on "volume 2". and now that we're nearly about to sweep 2014 out of the door, the second part of that label's history from 1970 to 1972 (then distributed by polydor in europe and sire in the u.s.) is still missing.

is there anbody out there in the know about the circumstances of this case. okay, i can assume that the powers that be in the record industry probably don't reckon this to be a big time winner. on the other hand: the first blue horizon box set wasn't selling too bad, or else they would not have re-released it (in stripped-down form, though). sadly, i'm not capable of making contact to mr. vernon himself - if he doesn't know, who else will? but maybe some of you know more about it, and i would be more than glad if you could share your knowledge here!

martin

[wetcamelfood]

Wish I had an answer for you as this something that's always bugged me as well. Maybe I'm too cynical but my only guess is to put it down to being done by marketing people to peek people's interest, like if they see a volume 1 of something of interest then they get excited at the insinuation of other volumes following but also feeling like they are getting in on something early that could be a big fad and therefore be part of "the in crowd". With the Blue Horizon project, I wonder if CBS had a change of heart in terms of how they thought it would sell better in the future (by doing the "Complete BH Sessions" approach by artist and adopting their Sony Legacy thought process. Granted, this doesn't explain why little previously unreleased material outside of the FM CBHS set came out on the other BH artists CBHS sets (which must exist as did the FM master reels, perhaps they just tried harder to find the FM ones). Not to mention that some were not released at all, such as Martha Velez (as part of that series I mean, which would have had better session notes than the Wounded Bird reissue had) and like you had mentioned about the latter day BH recordings, though to be fair, that might have more to do with those recordings possibly being owned by Universal now (since they control the recordings that were released on Polydor, so CBS can't release them)? Just a thought.

John

[lazy poker]

Originally Posted by wetcamelfood

. . . Maybe I'm too cynical but my only guess is to put it down to being done by marketing people to peek people's interest, like if they see a volume 1 of something of interest then they get excited at the insinuation of other volumes following but also feeling like they are getting in on something early that could be a big fad and therefore be part of "the in crowd". With the Blue Horizon project, I wonder if CBS had a change of heart in terms of how they thought it would sell better in the future (by doing the "Complete BH Sessions" approach by artist and adopting their Sony Legacy thought process. Granted, this doesn't explain why little previously unreleased material outside of the FM CBHS set came out on the other BH artists CBHS sets (which must exist as did the FM master reels, perhaps they just tried harder to find the FM ones). Not to mention that some were not released at all, such as Martha Velez (as part of that series I mean, which would have had better session notes than the Wounded Bird reissue had) and like you had mentioned about the latter day BH recordings, though to be fair, that might have more to do with those recordings possibly being owned by Universal now (since they control the recordings that were released on Polydor, so CBS can't release them)? Just a thought.

John

thanks, john, for your opinions - you definitely got some points there (nothing to do with cynism at all, as it's simply down to business reasons) . . . and with this you're not too far from my assumptions.

though, as i mentioned already, if the bh story box would've been such a disappointing seller, they wouldn't have put it out once more (regardless that they stripped down the "book" design to a rather poor jewel case outfit - on the contrary: the cheaper, the more profit).

as for martha velez: i think the blue horizon albums front (during the cbs years) seems to be covered pretty well as the "complete (??? - i already came up with that topic in another thread here) blue horizon sessions". the velez lp was only a re-release (previously on decca), so that might explain some possible publishing reasons excluding this stuff from the cbhs series.

and remember "dupree 'n' mcphee - the 1967 blue horizon session". mike vernon reportedly offered these recordings to ace records to release them and thus obviously not having opted for placing 'em under the cbhs moniker.

anyway, there's still proof missing for the actual reasons behind all this. and (apart from these mysteries), quite frankly, i have my doubts that we'll ever be likely to see more blue horizon stuff (unreleased or not) showing up on cd. universal (i'm with you on this, too) doesn't seem to be interested . . . and there's not too much time left until the blue horizon "generation" (so to speak) will be gone. oh, my . . .

[wetcamelfood]

Originally Posted by lazy poker

thanks, john, for your opinions - you definitely got some points there (nothing to do with cynism at all, as it's simply down to business reasons) . . . and with this you're not too far from my assumptions.

though, as i mentioned already, if the bh story box would've been such a disappointing seller, they wouldn't have put it out once more (regardless that they stripped down the "book" design to a rather poor jewel case outfit - on the contrary: the cheaper, the more profit).

as for martha velez: i think the blue horizon albums front (during the cbs years) seems to be covered pretty well as the "complete (??? - i already came up with that topic in another thread here) blue horizon sessions". the velez lp was only a re-release (previously on decca), so that might explain some possible publishing reasons excluding this stuff from the cbhs series.

and remember "dupree 'n' mcphee - the 1967 blue horizon session". mike vernon reportedly offered these recordings to ace records to release them and thus obviously not having opted for placing 'em under the cbhs moniker.

anyway, there's still proof missing for the actual reasons behind all this. and (apart from these mysteries), quite frankly, i have my doubts that we'll ever be likely to see more blue horizon stuff (unreleased or not) showing up on cd. universal (i'm with you on this, too) doesn't seem to be interested . . . and there's not too much time left until the blue horizon "generation" (so to speak) will be gone. oh, my . . .

Agreed. I'm trying to remember when the BH Story jewel case reissue came out. Was it after the CBHS sets? This might tell the tale.

Oh of course, I forgot the Velez album was on Decca (and Sire in the US, being under WB, wonder why Rhino, or maybe Rhino Handmade would've been better for this one) didn't bite on that?).

John

[lazy poker]

Originally Posted by wetcamelfood

I'm trying to remember when the BH Story jewel case reissue came out. Was it after the CBHS sets? This might tell the tale.

the reissue of the "story" was launched in 2006 - amidst the "complete b.h. sessions" series. but that doesn't lead us any further really, does it?!

[wetcamelfood]

Originally Posted by lazy poker

the reissue of the "story" was launched in 2006 - amidst the "complete b.h. sessions" series. but that doesn't lead us any further really, does it?!

No I was hoping it would be either before or after the CBHS releases. Oh well.

John

[chiliD]

Could've been like the Traveling Wilburys. 1st album Traveling Wilburys, Vol 1. 2nd album: Traveling Wilburys, Vol 3.

[lazy poker]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Could've been like the Traveling Wilburys. 1st album Traveling Wilburys, Vol 1. 2nd album: Traveling Wilburys, Vol 3.

alright then . . . so we're waiting for volume 3 . . . BIG difference

but on a slightly more serious note - if you consider this: universal put out a VERY limited 19-cd (!!!) box set with the complete recordings by sandy denny (who never was a big seller at all, if you think in mainstream dimensions), for a princely price, though. and guess what: it sold out! this shows that there ARE ways . . . if there's a will, that is! and then they might call it whatever they like - volume 3, maybe.

[wetcamelfood]

Originally Posted by lazy poker

but on a slightly more serious note - if you consider this: universal put out a VERY limited 19-cd (!!!) box set with the complete recordings by sandy denny (who never was a big seller at all, if you think in mainstream dimensions), for a princely price, though. and guess what: it sold out! this shows that there ARE ways . . . if there's a will, that is! and then they might call it whatever they like - volume 3, maybe.

Tell me about it, I missed out on the original 200 price tag on that and now it's going for 1000 used/2000 new. The downside of "limited edition" releasing I guess. Hopefully the jewel case version of that will come out soon though (doubt it with the truncated "Notes & The Words" box being the answer to such speculations so far) but don't know if even the biggest jewel case will hold 19 discs! As long as the contents of the original box are still present I actually don't mind those jewel case reissues because they are sturdier and easier to file. The reissue of her "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" box set was a good example of the reissue being "better" than the original IMHO anyway due to those reasons.

At least we're all good here about letting each other know about upcoming releases though so I'm sure we'd all snap BH Story Part...whatever before it got to that stage for any of us.

John