My first meeting with Franklin van Liempt was in June 2023,
when we first discussed the plans for a Patricia Paay box online - I on behalf
of Red Bullet, which not only has Patricia's album Dreamworld in its catalog,
but also the three Star Sisters albums . And since I had been producing
reissues of albums by Golden Earring, Focus, Jan Akkerman, Shocking Blue, Nova
and Stars On 45 at Red Bullet for many years, Franklin asked me in that first
online conversation to join his new project.
Of course I
agreed right away. I knew his label, and especially his beautiful Dolly Dots
box set. I sense passion in it, but also a sense of authenticity. And that's
exactly what reissues are all about for me. Do not practice milking, but handle
the back catalog with love and affinity. After all, it is cultural heritage
that we must handle with care. And producing an oeuvre box set by a group or
artist can only be done once. Hit. Getting the most out of it as much as
possible. It was exactly on that level that Franklin and I immediately clicked.
And if someone even takes the initiative to create a box set of oeuvres by
Patricia
Paay - an artist about whom you have harbored secret hopes for years
that someone will dare to take the chance to put together such a collection -
then I cannot possibly say no.
Plans were
made, ideas were shared. We got to work in the middle of summer. For
consistency's sake, when I offered Franklin to master all the other material
for the box, he immediately retained my services. Purely on the basis of good
faith and the painstaking work that lay ahead of us. Working together is the
best thing there is. And you get the most out of each other's efforts and work.
First I
collected and selected all the Red Bullet items. I was able to get started on
that right away, while Franklin was waiting for the other material for the box
that had to be requested from other companies and rights holders. Together with
my good friend and technical right-hand man Wout de Kruif, I found the original
master tapes of Dreamworld and the Star Sisters albums in the Red Bullet
archive. That took little effort, they were quickly found. No one had touched
them for over 25 years, but they all sounded beautiful. Wout made the tape
transfers to the digital domain (24 bit, 192 kHz) using a Studer A80; of course
using the relevant test tones to digitize the tapes as tightly as possible.
And as always, he did not disappoint. Then I could get started with the remastering; a precise process in which the new digitization of the master tapes is processed as optimally as possible. A polishing job with authenticity as the key word; less is more. A process that, based on my more than 20 years of knowledge and experience, I regard as a kind of blacksmith's secret. And where every tape, every album, every artist deserves a unique treatment. No assembly line work. As long as the end result breathes, radiates color and, above all, sounds warm.
I realized
that this was the opportunity to make Patricia Paay's oeuvre 'future proof'.
The definitive - and also very last - editions of her work in physical form.
Within a
few weeks we had all the Red Bullet material in order. Including a number of
work tapes from Danger and some 'loose ends', such as the master of the
compilation album Yesterday & Tomorrow, from which I could use Love Of My
Life, but also You Make It Alright and We Don't Make Love Anymore. Fortunately,
because it turned out that the master tapes of these singles were no longer
available at the relevant record company.
Over the
course of the fall, all of the Red Bullet items for the box set had been
mastered. Still, a few tapes were missing, such as a number of 12-inch Star
Sisters mixes and the single Godzilla. Franklin did have the vinyl singles, so
he called on Rudolf Ondrich. He received so-called needle drops of Franklin's
vinyl copies to use as a starting point for the remasters. It turned out to be
the only option to include essential tracks such as the Mary Quant single and
the single version of Now (Is The Moment) in the box. Rudolf already proved
with the Dolly Dots box set that he achieved wonderful results in that area and
who was I to pass him. He has done top work.
Thank you
Rudolf for your wonderful contributions to this box set. Cherish your ears!
As
for material from other companies, I had digital files (16 bit, 44.1 kHz) at my
disposal. If the source was analog tapes, I unfortunately had no control over
the origin, the so-called 'chain' of the recording: did I receive a 1:1 copy of
the analog master tape or a CD rip of an earlier release? Partly due to the
approaching deadline for the project, I had to work with the resources I had at
my disposal, with the aim of achieving the best result.
Sometimes we were lucky: great finds were the previously unreleased German-language single and contributions by Patricia to the rare Zeg Het Met Bloemen album. In those cases I had beautiful hi-res transfers of the original masters at my disposal, for which I am very grateful to Marco Witkamp of Universal Music Nederland. These are important pieces of the puzzle from the early days of Patricia's career that we have now finally been able to bring together. But also beautiful material from the archive of Beeld & Geluid, which shows another side of Patricia's voice and talents.
At
Franklin's request, I approached Barry Hay for a piece of text in the booklet
of the box. Thanks to my work within the Golden Earring catalogue, the lines of
communication are short and of course Patricia was closely involved in the
group's recordings for many years. You can hear her singing voice in the
choruses of Back Home, Vanilla Queen and Bombay, to name a few. And of course
on Only Parrots, Frogs And Angels, Barry's first solo album that I remastered
two years ago. But what not many people know is that Patricia also made a
single with Golden Earring as a backing group.
Naturally, this single, released
in November 1970, can also be found in the box (CD 2, tracks 10 and 11).
All in all,
Barry was happy to respond to my request and came up with a text that we were
very impressed with. Straight from the heart. And don't you dare compliment
Barry on the fact that he had not forgotten his contribution during the busy
times surrounding the New Year. 'Of course not, what were you thinking! It's
for Patries!'
Around the
same time, Franklin of England received a contribution from Steve Harley
through his management. With today's knowledge, that turned out to be just in
time. In mid-March, during the period when the box sets were rolling off the
presses, we received the news that Harley had passed away. He was once
Patricia's brother-in-law. He will forever remain the man with whom she
recorded her first real album at Abbey Road Studios in London, with the cream
of the crop of English musicians of that time, including members of Cockney
Rebel and bass god Herbie Flowers.
The box was nearing completion at the beginning of 2024. 12 CDs suddenly became 13 CDs, because we found a tape with rough mixes from the Danger period and we were able to spend a total of two CDs on that album and all its tracks. And then came another surprise: as mentioned above, we had to use a vinyl copy of Godzilla, because the Red Bullet archive was missing the master tape of the single. Probably sent to Japan and never returned. We did find the 24-track master tape. When Wout and I played it on the Studer A 827 machine one evening, we made a nice discovery. Two tracks of that tape simply contained the released single mix. Just master it and you're done. Franklin happy. Another piece of the puzzle complete. All's well that ends well.
When I
recently had the end result on my desk, I took stock of eight months of work.
What a wonderful project this has been. So special to always hold the end
result in your hands for the first time. And I cannot repeat it enough: the
fact that Franklin stuck his neck out to collect Patricia's work deserves all
the praise and respect. In the hope that Patricia will only be remembered in
the future as one of the best and most versatile singers from our own country.
And who is also known for this far beyond the country's borders.
My
personal favorites from the box? I have a soft spot for the first Star Sisters
album. Danger was a nice new introduction for me. Beam Of Light surprised me
again after all these years.
But if there is one album that stands head and
shoulders above the rest, in my opinion it is Playmate. Thanks to John van
Katwijk and especially Pim Koopman - they have already recorded an instrumental
named after her in Kayak with Patricia (CD 3, track 12). As far as I'm
concerned, Tell It Like It Is is among the very best Patricia ever recorded.
This also applies to her performance of The Man I Love, live on television with
an orchestra conducted by Rogier van Otterloo. Patricia sings jazz like no
other.
And I
realize: this box set is not complete. How wonderful it would be if La Paay
ever makes one more album. With jazz in its own way.
Matthijs van Nieuwkerk
also asked her four years ago, in that memorable interview in the Forever Young
section of his TV show Matthijs Draait Door. A jazz album is the true missing
piece of this box. But never say never.
Franklin,
thank you for the great collaboration, as far as I am concerned this box is a
milestone in Dutch pop music. On to the next project!
I wish
everyone a lot of listening pleasure and have fun (re)discovering La Paay.
Wouter
Bessels
Journalist/mastering technician
March 2024