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AMANDA MCBROOM GROWING UP IN HOLLYWOOD TOWN XRCD24 |
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 Click Here for Sound Samples!
Hollywood is the kind of place that doesn’t seem to be anybody’s hometown. Most people you talk to have gravitated here from someplace else in search of fortune and fame. The transient nature of the population, along with the exploitative "quick buck" philosophy of business in Southern California, does not foster the sense of history and tradition that one finds in other parts of the country. But, having been born and raised here, I find as I enter my forties that, indeed, I have a rich past in this town, from early childhood and adolescent fascination with the entertainment industry, especially Radio, through more than twenty years of professional musical activity.
And so it came to pass that in the course of a day’s work as pianist for a motion picture recording, I met Amanda McBroom. I had been asked by Paul Rothchild, musical director for the film "The Rose," to record a solo piano accompaniment for the title song which Bette Midler would sing over the final credits. Paul asked me if I had a preference for a certain recording studio, and I recommended the scoring stage at MGM because of my familiarity with the excellent acoustics and the fine Steinway there. At the time, construction was in progress adjacent to the stage for the new Sheffield Lab recording facility, and my long-time partner Doug Sax was overseeing the project. According to normal procedure, Bette Midler was to record her voice at a later time to the background track I was preparing. Although my accompaniment is heard on both the motion picture sound track and her phonograph record, I have not had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Midler!
Paul played me a cassette of the song as performed by the songwriter Amanda McBroom. Hearing this beautiful voice on the tape, and feeling in an expansive mood, I said to Paul in my best Movie-Mogul style: "Get me that girl that goes with that voice! Get her down here right away!" Paul, much to my surprise, had her on the phone in two minutes, and in less than an hour she had driven the considerable distance from Woodland Hills and was standing by the piano, singing to my accompaniment. At that moment, Doug walked in and listened intently to our performance.
While Amanda was talking to Paul, Doug took me aside and said, "Are you thinking what I’m thinking?" We agreed that Amanda was surely one of the finest singers we had ever heard. Could we persuade her to make a direct disc record with us? That afternoon we approached her on the subject and found her very enthusiastic, although later I learned that Amanda, having "grown up in Hollywood Town" too, thought we were putting her on.
Instead of improving the software technology like other formats do, JVC has chosen to do some serious homework on the hardware side. Developed from its well-known K2 20-bit proprietary digital processor, engineers at JVC Mastering Center spared no effort in refining and extending the K2 system into a K2 24-bit configuration. The most remarkable breakthrough is the application of a unique timing system called "Rubidium RF Distribution" technology. Instead of using crystal as the medium for laser clocking, they implemented a timing system based on rubidium, a rare material that is used for space applications. This device is 10,000 times more accurate than conventional crystal clocks. (Detailed information of this system will be found elsewhere in the liner notes.) In a nutshell, XRCD24 produces the finest analog sound: warm, musical and dynamic, but in a normal 16-bit PCM digital format, meaning the disc is playable by any CD player without any additional equipment or different player!
Musicians: Amanda McBroom, vocals; The Orchestra conducted by Lincoln Mayorga.
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1. Amanda
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2. You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling
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3. The Rose
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4. Love Letters
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5. The Portrait
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6. Dusk
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7. Peter the Hermit
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8. Silent Lady
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9. Hooray For Hollywood/Growing Up In Hollywood Town
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