Entire Canadian EMI archive to University of Calgary

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Entire Canadian EMI archive to University of Calgary

Postby jon » Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:00 am

Universal Music gifts entire Canadian EMI archive to University of Calgary
Archive includes 5,000 boxes of original recordings from a long list of musicians
By David Bell, CBC News
Posted: Apr 01, 2016 7:28 AM MT
Last Updated: Apr 01, 2016 7:46 AM MT

A massive music collection has a new home in Calgary.

Universal Music Canada has donated the entire Canadian EMI archive to the University of Calgary.

The archive is made up of more than 5,000 boxes of original recordings from acts like the Rankin Family, Anne Murray and Tom Cochrane.

Universal Music Canada's president and chief executive officer Jeffrey Remedios says the archives are an important part of Canadian history.

"It's to be studied and I have a feeling it's going to have a respectful home here. So go to town on it, have a good time with it, and study it," Remedios said.

"This donation represents an opportunity not only to preserve EMI Canada's archives, but to make available Canada's history for students, researchers, scholars and music lovers."

"So I think it will appeal to those who are interested in business, who are interested in cultural studies, who are interested in video music production," Murray said.

EMI operated in Canada from 1949 until 2012, when it was bought by Universal Music.

With files from Andrew Brown
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Re: Entire Canadian EMI archive to University of Calgary

Postby CubbyCam » Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:58 am

So what format would the bulk of this collection be in? Or is it a vinyl collection? Are these the original master tapes or what? Enquiring minds want to know... ;-)
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Re: Entire Canadian EMI archive to University of Calgary

Postby albertaboy4life » Fri Apr 01, 2016 12:09 pm

Hey Cam, I'll buy you a beer and a tomato juice when you come back to this "one hearse town." :razz:

Here are a few more details from the Herald -

"And as a collection it is massive. According to the U of C it consists of 5,500 boxes that, measured in linear metres, would be “nearly a mile of boxes end to end.”

As for those boxes, which Hickerson estimates will take three years to fully move from the commercial storage space out east to the U of C, they contain more than 21,000 audio recordings and 18,000 video recordings in 40 different formats, and over two million photographs and documents, including marketing plans, drafts of song lyrics and correspondence between artists, producers and EMI Music Canada executives.

A further breakdown of the audio and video haul sees approximately 13,000 original audio session tapes and master recordings (an estimated 4,200 hours), 3,100 original studio two-inch multi-track reels (an estimated 700 hours of audio recordings), 183,000 metres (600,000 ft) of film and 5,000 compact discs.

All of them, and the collection as a whole, Hickerson says are in “outstanding condition — it’s remarkably clean.”

“I have a long career in this area,” he says, “so when I say that this is a collection in remarkably good shape, I know what I’m talking about.”

As for what it contains, although they’ve only received approximately one-tenth of the collection, Hickerson says it has already yielded some priceless and remarkable historical finds, such as, on a purely Canadian level, demo tapes of such EMI artists as Corey Hart, April Wine, Triumph, the Rankin Family and Barenaked Ladies, and, on the international side of things, production masters of such artists as David Bowie and Van Morrison.

“It certainly has been one of those exciting times for anyone who has gotten to work with the collection,” Hickerson says, before noting one of his wow moments.

“Actually there’s a master tape … that I looked at the other day, and it’s a master tape for the Beatles Rubber Soul album — that’s pretty amazing in and of itself. But I noticed, and it just happened to be a fact that I knew, that Drive My Car was on the list of songs. In fact, Drive My Car was not on the Capitol release of Rubber Soul that everyone in the world has. It actually only appeared with the other songs on Rubber Soul on a Parlophone release — a different label that George Martin managed."

http://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ ... da-archive
Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .
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Re: Entire Canadian EMI archive to University of Calgary

Postby CubbyCam » Fri Apr 01, 2016 1:53 pm

Wow thanks Albertaboy4life!!! That's exactly the kind of information I was wondering about. What an archive! Oh, and thanks for the beer offer too! You never know... ;-) :occasion5:
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