Posted by Thanks to today’s new technology, audio engineers can extract separate tracks from mono recordings and remix them into stereo. This new technology can work wonders on mono recordings, and “Get Happy” from Summer Stock is a perfect example.
Our friend Mark Milano has shared this amazing audio recording with us, married to the film footage. Here’s his explanation:
Many recordings made during the Golden Age of film musicals survive in stereo because their original multichannel tracks survived. But some of the very best were lost, including Judy Garland’s iconic performance of “Get Happy” in “Summer Stock” (1950).
Now, thanks to audio master Bob Zwolinski, we have this Digitally Extracted Stereo version. After decades of hoping this would turn up, here it is – Judy finally gets the lush sound she deserves. Sing Hallelujah!
I think you’ll agree that the results are just amazing. Be sure to put on your headphones and enjoy this iconic number as never before! Thank you, Mark and Bob!!
Below is a video explanation of how this new software works and is able to extract the music and vocals into separate tracks to make a true stereo recording.
Thanks, Scott! So great to hear this in stereo after all these years – it give this amazing number even more punch!
Robert Parker’s remasters, as great as they sound, are not actually stereo. They’re enhanced to sound like stereo. This “Get Happy” has been converted to stereo thanks to this new technology that is able to extract the various instruments to create a true stereo track. It’s amazing and something Parker would have had a field day with if he were still with us!
Here’s another of his great CDs: http://www.thejudyroom.com/soundtracks/moviemusicals.html
Wow. This is truly amazing. Thank you so much. Really fantastic. Gives me delicious goosebumps all over.
Great! If only they’d do the same with MGM’s “Johnny One Note”, which boasts a florid, complex arrangement.
Parker didn’t have the technology to isolate the separate music tracks to create true stereo. That’s why I say “enhanced” – because although his work has a stereo sound to it, it’s still not stereo.
This new technology is something Parker could only dream of, due to the technology of his time. That’s no slight to him, his work sounds great even with that extra reverb that is at times annoying. I am constantly amazed at how much audio software has advanced in the last five years or so.
they are wonderful.when with tree be cd of Bob”s work.I will first in line to get especially the Decca Judy output (also Peggy Lee,Billie Holiday,other legends) in his stereo process.What a treat! I’m getting my wallet ready for his recordings with liner notes and his technical explanation of the new technology. THANX,BML
I had a stereo or probably a stereo enhanced Get Happy on YouTube. They took it down without warning and gave me a strike. 3 strikes and your account is closed, so I took all my videos down. I had a rare unreleased Donna Summer song. Junior Vasquez or a rep for him sent me an email to immediately remove it, but I didn’t see the email until 3 days later & YouTube had already taken it down, too. My Get Happy has the exact same intro and syncs up with the video but has a full end with no audience applause. The vocal has more separation than the version here. I think the one I have was sourced from the Judy 32 Records blue box and was “stereo-ized” from that. It is still on my PC.
For laughs: YouTube also sent me a copyright infringement warning for using Africa. Then I put up a video with giraffes grazing in Africa…. and I got another warning!