Info, & Help Wanted: Star Wars "Story Of" LP's (The Definitive Collection)

I am in the process of putting together a set of covers for the story LP’s for Star Wars, Empire and Jedi (as an official release is never going to happen).

I’ve always loved these soundtracks with dialogue and have waited long enough for the labels to pull their fingers out, so I’ve started designing a matching set of covers for them myself. I intend to make these sets the definitive version, so even if some label does release them, mine will hold up, and hopefully still surpass them.

What I need though is perfect (or as near as) copies of the vinyl records. I know there are several mp3 rips of these doing the rounds on various sites but I was hoping to get hold of a “professional quality” lossless WAV rip. I see that the rips by ScottyBalls are considered the best around, having been used for the DVD version. Does anyone know how to get hold of him so I can ask for master copies?

If anyone reading can help with ripping/remastering these LP’s, I would be very grateful for lossless copies of them.

Obviously I’ll keep you guys informed of the progress of this set and gladly send out “hard copies” of the finished covers to anyone who helps with the audio.

Thanks in advance!

I have all three albums and I could feasibly do lossless (WAV) transfers of all them and create WAV & FLAC sets for trading. I could even create 24 bit 96 kHz high-resolution versions and create DVD-A/V versions.

My 'Story of Star Wars' LP has not even been played yet - I have an absolutely mint copy. (I also had the box set of the cassette version so played that instead - to death, in fact. By the end of the 80s it had stretched so much that it was probably twice its original length!)

My Adventures of Luke Skywalker (Story of Empire LP) seems to be very clean. I bought it 2nd hand, but it's in excellent condition. Again, the version I  played at the time was the cassette release.

But I played my Return of the Jedi LP a LOT back in the 80s (no cassette!) so it would potentially need some attention in terms of pop/crackle removal.

But I guess if I went to all the effort of doing this I may as well create my own releases because I'm also a professional designer who has created a lot of CD and DVD art in the past. In fact, if memory serves, I actually started a full hi-res reconstruction of the 'Story of Star Wars' vinyl art and booklet a while back...

Here's an image of my copies:

Larger version here:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/46342630.jpg/

Thanks for the input raphael.

I guess from the lack of replies, I've either picked a subject that not many readers are interested in (which I can't believe!), or there just aren't that many people with both the vinyl and equipment to do the transfers.

As you mentioned above, if you are going to spend a LOT of time transferring the records, you may as well do the covers yourself too. I'm no professional designer but if I do say so myself, I can whip up some pretty cool looking covers ;)

"I have all three albums and I could feasibly do lossless (WAV) transfers of all them and create WAV & FLAC sets for trading. I could even create 24 bit 96 kHz high-resolution versions and create DVD-A/V versions."

That statement of yours just about makes my mouth drool. To hear these babies in high resolution audio would be a dream come true. If you do ever get around to doing this then please let me know, I would be more than happy to donate a few notes for your trouble.

So, where does that leave us then?

I'm not sure how to proceed at the moment. I guess I'll see if anyone else can help out. I was expecting a little more feedback on this but maybe all the forum members are more video orientated.

Regarding the vinyl tranfers:

I do actually have copies of all three but unfortunately they were done for me by a friend many years ago (early-mid 90's) using a very dodgy hitachi turntable, you know the ones with a crappy fixed needle, so the quality is not exactly reference :)

And just to rub salt in the wounds there are jumps where this poor old turntable tried to navigate the groove but failed :)

I still have the records (though sadly not in mint condition) but don't have the equipment to transfer them, nor do I have the programs or technical know-how to remaster them. This is where I thought the amazing community here would come to the rescue. The absolutely incredible work some of the guys here produce puts most professional companies to shame, so I thought at least several of the readers would already have top quality lossless rips already done!

I'll keep on working on the covers (still need to find a couple of things on ebay to complete them) and maybe by the time I'm done someone would have been kind enough to help out with the audio.

Thanks

Jay

I'm also surprised that more people haven't taken an interest in this.

In the days before VCRs this WAS Star Wars for most people in the 70s and early 80s - it was the only way they could relive the movie (unless they were incredibly rich and could afford a 16mm print). I still know the narration by heart!

These albums ARE my childhood and I'll always have a great big soft spot for them.

I do have the facilities to transfer these LPs from vinyl though to be honest, if I'm going to create an audiophile version, I'd rather use a better turntable (I have a bog-standard USB turntable from an unknown German company - DJTech).  That said, I can do some tests and see what comes out...

On the subject of 'Story Of' LPs, if I do get this up and running, I might do a series of preservations.

I also have a few others, including:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (made by the same people who produced the Jedi album; same narrator too)

Dr Who and the Daleks. The 'Story of' the hit BBC TV story from the late 70s.

Apocalypse Now. This one is actually a double record set, so the best part of 90mins long. I've never seen another copy before or since (but then I haven't looked, to be honest). Like the Raiders of the Lost Ark disc, this does not contain any narration.

I also have a couple of kids' Disney 'Story ofs' - The Rescuers and The Jungle Book.

But I guess this all ultimately belongs in the 'other preservations' thread

Thanks for that jerlgrain, you're a Gent!

raphael -

I've been a fan of these "story of" albums since I was a kid. I guess back then it was the only way to experience the films over and over, not like today where the kids are given all sorts of wonderful technology from birth :)

As well as the Star Wars LP's I also have the Raiders, Temple of Doom and The Black Hole. I used to have The Saga of Battlestar Galactica but it went AWOL for some reason (must try and get another copy). I also managed to pick up a copy of The story of Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade on CD, not sure if the fourth film has been given the story treatment.

Of all the story of records my own personal favourite has always been The Empire disc. I listened to that so many times when I was younger that watching the actual film became a strange experience as I heard the cool narration (by Malachi Throne) in my head. The Star Wars and Jedi narrator's never quite managed to inspire the same cinematic vision as he did.

back to the subject...

Do let me know if you intend to go any further with any of these projects. I fully intend to get this trilogy encased and on my shelf in the not-to-distant future......just remembered, I have a Phantom Menace story of as well, though it's more of a "turn the page" type of thing than the others.

OK, I have recorded before but on a different PC. Having some issues getting the correct input. I have not forgotten. I will probably hook up the other PC again and give it a shot but it may be a few days. 

@ Nearsighted Scrappile

Are your WAV/FLAC copies "clean"?  If they are really good copies I sure would appreciate a share ;)

I can't believe how hard it is to get high quality transfers of these albums, I'm sure there must be loads of people out there who own them!

The quest continues...

I will be including as much info on these releases as I can find, it's almost impossible to find anything on them though :)

The actual albums themselves don't have any background info and google is not throwing up anything. Does anyone have any information on these three story albums that would prove interesting to read in a booklet?

I'm a little confused by the double releases. From what I can gather, Star Wars and Empire were releases by 20th Century Fox Records and RSO Records respectively, then when Jedi came out, it was released by Beauna Vista, who then re-released the other two on their own label. Is that correct?

P.S.

STAR WARS RADIO DOCUMENTARIES

I was thinking of including a fourth disc which would include some audio documentaries. I know that the BBC (Radio 2 I think) did a two-part Star Wars documentary earlier this year but I can't find a download anywhere. Does anyone here happen to have a copy to share?

@ Nearsighted Scrappile

If you would be kind enough to send me all three (plus the 7") I would be forever in your debt. You can PM me a link if it's not allowed in the forums.

Thanks so much for this, you're a Gentlemen!

-Jay

Raphael, thought I'd just mention that since you were talking about possibly doing other vinyls after Star Wars, there is a vinyl album of the story of The Black Hole, which was very well done and contains some deleted dialog not used in the film. I have a lossless version that I made myself a while back of that album, and while it isn't pristine, it does sound quite good. I suppose if anybody wanted to tackle that album the ideal thing to do would be to find a sealed copy on Ebay.