Review: Carly Simon, Randy Newman, Seals and Crofts, and Mongo Santamaria in “Quadio”
Last month, Rhino announced its newest batch of Quadio titles, re-presenting vintage quadraphonic surround mixes on Blu-ray Audio Discs. This time out, the label has turned its attention to four ‘70s classics from three artists returning to the series (Carly Simon, Randy Newman, Seals & Crofts) and one making his Quadio Blu-ray debut (Mongo Santamaria). All four titles, also containing high-resolution stereo mixes of the original album, are shipping now exclusively from Rhino.com.
Carly Simon’s self-titled debut album arrived on Elektra Records in the spring of 1971, nestled in the label’s discography between singer-songwriter Paul Siebel’s Jack-Knife Gypsy and folk band Farquahr’s eponymous LP. Carly wasn’t quite a stranger to the music business, having recorded three albums for the Kapp and Columbia labels with her sister Lucy as The Simon Sisters, but her solo debut augured for a major talent. She was signed by the label’s founder, Jac Holzman, beginning an association with Elektra that would endure for the entirety of the 1970s. Carly Simon, produced by Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker), introduced the singer-songwriter’s distinctive and personal voice on songs including the haunting hit single “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” (co-written with Jacob Brackman), the folk-rock-flavored “Alone,” country-tinged “One More Time.” With “That’s the Way…,” Carly earned a Grammy nomination and her first top ten hit – no small accomplishment for what’s essentially an art song, beautifully crafted and intimately performed. It takes on a new dimension in this thoughtful and imaginative quadraphonic mix.
“That’s the Way” immediately makes an impression with strings and piano in the rear channels, and Carly’s voice joined by drums in the fronts. Though most of the album is mixed with piano and voice up front, drums often extend to the rear channels where they’re joined by background vocals and additional instrumentation such as steel guitar. (Ed Freeman and Pat Rebillot are responsible for the striking string charts throughout.) Guitars are beautifully spread on “Alone,” with well-defined bass up front.
The quad mix brings out the details in “One More Time,” too, both in Simon’s vocals and the twangy instrumentation. The choral section of “The Best Thing” features one of the strongest uses of the quad soundscape, both gentle and enveloping as the song marries country-and-western and baroque textures. The mix cuts loose on “Just a Sinner” with its prominent, front guitars; the rollicking “Rolling Down the Hills” similarly sparkles in four channels. Carly Simon would experience her commercial breakthrough two albums later with 1972’s No Secrets, also the recipient of a strong quad mix (available on Rhino’s recent Blu-ray Audio presentation), but this self-titled debut has never sounded better or more powerful than in this pristine issue.
A bona fide masterwork from Randy Newman is next up. The singer-songwriter’s third studio album, Sail Away (1972), remains one of his most musically rich sets. Produced by Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman, Newman’s song cycle combined the orchestral pomp of his debut with the rawness of 12 Songs, but the songwriting was even more focused. The beautiful title song, sung from the perspective of a slave trader enticing humans to “sail away” to America, didn’t pull any punches as it juxtaposed its frightening narrative with melodic and orchestral splendor conducted by Newman’s uncle Emil. It’s appropriately enveloping in quadraphonic.
Newman wasn’t pulling any punches on Sail Away, and the four-channel mix reflects that. Vocals and instrumentation are spread around fairly liberally and unexpectedly, varying from track to track based on the mood and feel of each song. The quad treatment of “Lonely at the Top” places the listener in the center of the woozy horns, laconic brass, and sly piano. “Last Night I Had a Dream” is more subtle, with good use of the rear channels first for the instrumental flourishes that stab into the soundscape like a knife and then build to a rocking crescendo. Drums, coming from behind, anchor the track and its various musical shifts while the bass gains definition in the front. One of the best-loved songs in Newman’s canon, “Political Science,” also hails from Sail Away. This foreign policy admonishment to “drop the big one now” has unfortunately never seemed timelier. The drums are placed in the front channels, giving them heft even as the brass adds color from the rear channels. “God’s Song,” the musing of a deeply cynical Lord, is spare and haunting but still effective.
“Dayton Ohio” moves the vocals to the back and the piano in front, a dramatic change that jolts the listener into the world being conjured by Newman’s music and lyrics. The wry “You Can Leave Your Hat On” is richer and fuller in quad, making good and unexpected use of all four speakers. (Ry Cooder plays the indelible slide guitar on both “You Can Leave Your Hat On” and “Last Night I Had a Dream.”) A lighter touch is applied to the delightfully dry “Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear.” Shifting gracefully in mood and tone, Sail Away is an American classic that only grows in stature with each successive listen, and this quad release gives it a layer of additional luster.
Seals & Crofts’ 1973 Diamond Girl, produced by Louie Shelton, spun off its hit title song as a timeless summer anthem. The loose, funky, and breezy “Diamond Girl” was joined on the LP by the lush ballad “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)” which barely missed the U.S. top 20 but fared much better on the AC chart (not to mention scoring many high school graduations). Seals and Crofts were joined on the album by England Dan and John Ford Coley – the hitmaking duo formed by Jim’s younger brother Dan Seals and his friend Coley – plus David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Wilton Felder, John Guerin, Harvey Mason, Bobbye Hall, and engineer Dave Hassinger for this cornerstone of their discography.
Despite its two substantial hit, Diamond Girl is a less consistent album than the previous two discussed here. The quad mix is also more conservative than either Carly Simon or Sail Away, often resembling “expanded stereo.” Still, there are pleasures to savor. The title track finds its woodwinds a bit more pronounced, and “Ruby Jean and Billie Lee” nicely uses the rear channels for the background vocals and rich strings. “Intone My Servant” gains a pleasing crispness and the rock sound of “Standin’ on a Mountain Top” also benefits from the immersive soundstage even if “We May Never Pass This Way Again” doesn’t envelop the listener as one might hope for such an anthemic production. “It’s Gonna Come Down on You” employs a fun circling effect and the jazz-meets-funk instrumental closer, “Wisdom” (led by Jim Seals’ sinuous saxophone) ends the LP on a high note.
The late Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria’s Mongo at Montreux (1971) is a high-energy set from the conga titan. He brings his trademark Afro-Cuban rhythms to a remake of The Temptations’ psychedelic soul showstopper “Cloud Nine” and revisits his hit version of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” in addition to reinterpreting the traditional “Comé Candela.” The set also includes his 1967 favorite “I Wanna Know” (composed by Hubert Laws) and the powerful “Conversation in Drums.”
Mongo at Montreux offers a thick, full, and rich sound. As a live album, it’s not quite a demonstration disc for quad; it’s mixed as a standard front row-style listening experience (band in front of you, crowd behind you). But occasionally the rear right channel offers discrete percussion, making for a somewhat jarring if not uninteresting listening experience. The energy is infectious on the scene-setting “Comé Candela,” the raucous “Climax,” atmospheric “Disappear,” boisterous “Marty’s Tune,” and swaggering “Soleil.” The driving “Conversation in Drums” expands the soundstage before the album culminates in triumphant readings of “Watermelon Man” and “Cloud Nine.” In stereo or in quad, it’s Latin jazz at its most excitingly visceral.
You’ll find the track listings and pre-order links for all four Quadio titles below!
Carly Simon, Carly Simon (Elektra 8Q/ESTQ-4082, 1971 – reissued Elektra/Rhino, 2026)
- “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be”
- “Alone”
- “One More Time”
- “The Best Thing”
- “Just A Sinner”
- “Dan, My Fling”
- “Another Door”
- “Reunions”
- “Rolling Down The Hills”
- “The Love’s Still Growing”
Mongo Santamaria, Mongo at Montreux (Atlantic ATLL 1593Q, 1971 – reissued Atlantic/Rhino, 2026)
- “Comé Candela”
- “Climax”
- “Disappear”
- “Marty’s Tune”
- “Soleil”
- “Conversation In Drums”
- “I Wanna Know”
- “Watermelon Man”
- “Cloud Nine”
- “Watermelon Man”
Randy Newman, Sail Away (Reprise RSTQ 2064 QF, 1972 – reissued Reprise/Rhino, 2026)
- “Sail Away”
- “Lonely At The Top”
- “He Gives Us All His Love”
- “Last Night I Had A Dream”
- “Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear”
- “Old Man”
- “Political Science”
- “Burn On”
- “Memo To My Son”
- “Dayton, Ohio – 1903”
- “You Can Leave Your Hat On”
- “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)”
Seals & Crofts, Diamond Girl (Warner Bros. BS4 2699, 1973 – reissued Warner/Rhino, 2026)
- “Diamond Girl”
- “Ruby Jean And Billie Lee”
- “Intone My Servant”
- “We May Never Pass This Way (Again)”
- “Nine Houses”
- “Standin’ On A Mountain Top”
- “It’s Gonna Come Down (On You)”
- “Jessica”
- “Dust On My Saddle”
- “Wisdom”
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