Best remembered for the mega-hit “You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon’s breakthrough third studio LP No Secrets arrived via Elektra Records in November 1972. The album was recorded primarily at London’s famous Trident Studios, produced by Richard Perry (Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Art Garfunkel, Ringo Starr, etc) and mixed by Bill Schnee (who went on to work with acts such as Steely Dan, Pablo Cruise, and Boz Scaggs later in the decade). Though Simon had already made waves with prior hits like the Grammy-nominated “That’s The Way I’d Always Heard It Should Be” and the title track to 1972’s Anticipation, No Secrets catapulted her to international superstardom.
Elektra spared no expense on the making of No Secrets, as Simon and Perry sought to collaborate with some of the best musicians of the era. The album’s all-star lineup includes, but is not limited to: Beatles collaborators Nicky Hopkins (piano) and Klaus Voorman (bass), Little Feat founders Lowell George (slide guitar) and Bill Payne (organ), master string arranger Paul Buckmaster (who’d already worked with both Elton John and David Bowie at this point in his career), plus now-legendary session drummers Jim Keltner, Jim Gordon, and Andy Newmark.
The album proved so popular that in 1973, it was chosen as one of the inaugural quadraphonic LP releases from Elektra. Label head Jac Holzman was among the new format’s staunchest supporters, going on to commission four-channel remixes of popular albums from other Elektra artists such as The Doors, Judy Collins, David Gates, and Bread before its untimely demise just a few years later. All of Carly Simon’s albums released between 1971 and 1975 were issued on quad vinyl and tape, with the exception of 1972’s Anticipation (though the title track and “Legend In Your Own Time” were mixed to four-channel for the 1975 Best of compilation).
Editor’s Note: Prior to this Blu-Ray edition becoming available, the best way to hear the 1973 quadraphonic mix of Carly Simon’s No Secrets was via the 7.5 IPS discrete four-channel reel-to-reel edition (ESTQ 5049-QF). This tape has exchanged hands for three-figure sums on second-hand sites like eBay and Discogs.
The quadraphonic version of the album was created by Bill Schnee, who was also responsible for the bulk of the original stereo mixes (according to Schnee's 2021 autobiography Chairman at the Board, Richard Perry and mastering engineer Doug Sax opted to use Robin Geoffrey Cable's mix of "You're So Vain" in place of his own at the last minute). Schnee has worked on a number of other surround music releases, including the 1975 quad mix of Art Garfunkel's Breakaway–which was reissued on Super Audio CD by Dutton-Vocalion in 2018–and the 2002 5.1 remix of Miles Davis' Tutu (1986).
Nearly three decades later, No Secrets was once again used to showcase multichannel sound when it was reissued in the DVD-Audio format with a brand-new 96-khz/24-bit 5.1 surround mix by Grammy-winning producer/engineer Frank Filipetti. Filipetti is responsible for many of the best releases from that early-2000s 5.1 music era, including James Taylor’s Hourglass, Billy Joel’s The Stranger and 52nd Street, and Elton John’s One Night Only concert DVD.
Fast-forward another two decades and the album has been remixed for a third time, again by Filipetti, in Dolby Atmos. The immersive mix–mastered by Brad Smalling at Evergroove Studio–quietly became available on streaming services towards the end of 2022, though you can now purchase it on a standalone Blu-Ray Audio edition from Rhino Records. The Blu-Ray also includes the never-before-released-digitally 1973 quadraphonic mix, freshly-transferred from the ½-inch 15 IPS master tape, along with the out-of-print 2001 5.1 surround mix.
It’s fascinating to toggle between the three different surround audio options on the disc, as each presents the music in a unique way. The quadraphonic mix is a surround demo piece that spreads the musicians far and wide around the listener, often even featuring the drum kit in the rear speakers. The newer 5.1 mix adheres closer to the balance of the original stereo, with less extreme separation of the individual instruments and vocals. The Dolby Atmos mix, while perhaps not as aggressive as the quad version, sees Filipetti taking a more active approach and adding newfound dimension to the album via judicious use of the side surround and height channels.
My Dad used to say that No Secrets was one of his three favorite releases of the ‘70s quad era (along with Deep Purple’s Machine Head and Santana’s eponymous third album), perhaps because it was one of the very first popular albums he purchased in the ‘CD-4’ vinyl format. He was amazed at how the quad mix wasn’t just a three-dimensional presentation of the familiar stereo mix, but rather a completely unique interpretation of the album with different balances–for instance the electric rhythm guitar part throughout “You’re So Vain” protrudes loudly from the right rear speaker, giving the song a harder-rocking edge. There are several other instances of this sort of thing throughout the quad version of No Secrets, little deviations that give the album a different flavour.
Several years ago, we managed to acquire the rare 7.5 IPS reel-to-reel quad edition–which sounded far superior to the four-channel LP–but still not as clear as the 5.1 DVD-A, even though the multichannel mix on that release wasn’t as engaging. So when Rhino restarted their ‘Quadio’ Blu-Ray program in the Summer of 2023, he was very excited at the prospect of finally hearing the ‘70s surround version in the highest quality possible. So listening back to the 192-khz/24-bit digital transfer of the quad master on the new Blu-Ray roughly a year-and-a-half after his passing was a strangely bittersweet experience, though I’m certain he would have enjoyed it.
“The Right Thing To Do” opens the album with Simon’s piano stretching from the front stage out into the side surrounds, while her voice is mostly isolated in the center speaker. Ray Cooper’s congas are spread across the side and rear channels, with the acoustic guitar coming from completely behind. The backing vocals emanate primarily from the rear height speakers.
Conversely, the 5.1 mix focuses more of the action upfront. The backing vocals seem to be placed mostly in the front speakers, while the lead vocal is more forcefully isolated in the center channel. You do get the sense that the music is wrapping around you, but it’s difficult to pick out specific instruments placed completely in front of or behind the main listening positions–everything seems to float towards the middle of the room.
The ‘70s quad version, as expected, is very different. Andy Newmark’s drums are spread diagonally from the front left speaker over to rear right, while a previously-unheard horn part pops up in the front right channel. The rear speakers also feature acoustic guitar, backing vocals, congas, and reverb from the lead vocal upfront.
I remember when I redid the Carly Simon album No Secrets with ’You’re So Vain’ on it, and the studio that I mixed in had a quad panner, a knob I could use to move sound anywhere between four speakers. I kept the mix pretty normal, but when that guitar solo happened, I remember moving it around the speakers; it was just a fun moment. Multichannel is a different palette, and it’s a lot like the complaints you hear from people when the first Beatles or Beach Boys records were in stereo. You get used to what it is and everything else is different – a lot of people love it; a lot of people don’t love it.
Bill Schnee, 2021
“The Carter Family” pushes the orchestration behind the listener, while Simon’s voice seems to float out further into the room. The 5.1 mix is similar, with the piano upfront acting as a nice counterpoint to the strings and oboe mostly in the rear. In the quad mix, the ‘oh’ phrase at the end of each verse amusingly switches to the back speakers.
The Atmos mix of “You’re So Vain” is surprisingly back-heavy, placing just about everything except the drums, bass, and lead vocal in the side or rear channels. The backing vocals during the chorus pop up in the front height speakers, which is very cool. The ping-ponging guitar solo in the quad version may annoy some, but I thought it was done in a fairly musical way–at least in comparison to other vintage surround mixes with nonsensical 360-degree movement, like The Guess Who’s American Woman or Santana’s Abraxas. I especially like that four-note sequence at 2:12 bouncing off the four corners.
“His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin" keeps most of the action at ground-level, only engaging the rear heights for the synth horns that pop up first at around the one-minute mark. Acoustic guitars fill up the side surrounds, while the piano remains largely upfront. The quad mix makes interesting use of the diagonal planes, spreading the piano between the front right and rear left speakers and acoustic guitars across front left and rear right.
“We Have No Secrets” opens with the twin acoustic guitars completely isolated in the side speakers, as the drums thunder across the front stage. The quad mix interestingly places the bass guitar in back center, which surprisingly wasn’t an uncommon choice during the ‘70s (you’ll hear this also in the vintage four-channel mixes of Deep Purple’s Machine Head and The Doobie Brothers’ Toulouse Street). All three multichannel mixes of this song place the string flourishes behind the listener.
“Embrace Me, You Child” shows off the huge dynamic range of the album, going from the whisper-quiet first verse to a massive chorus. Strings float between the rears and rear heights, while the lead vocals extend from the center out into the side surrounds. The quad mix not only features the strings in the back channels, but also the bulk of the drum kit.
Nicky Hopkins’ piano appears spread across the side and rear speakers for the intro to “Waited So Long,” with Lowell George’s slide guitar cascading across the height array. Whereas the 5.1 mix had James Taylor’s vocal in the front ‘phantom’ center and Carly Simon’s completely isolated in the center speaker, the Atmos version instead pushes Taylor’s voice up to the front heights. The guitar solo moving around the room in the quad mix is a bit corny, but fun nonetheless.
When I started engineering in the ‘80s, I wasn’t afraid to fully utilize the stereo field. The same goes for 5.1, and the 7.1.4 format I’m working with now. I love the height channels and plenty of stuff gets sent up there.
Frank Filipetti, 2022
The country-flavored “It Was So Easy” kicks off with the acoustic guitars completely isolated in the side surrounds, nicely complimenting Simon’s voice from upfront. Harmony vocals gently emerge from behind, along with an additional rhythm guitar part. Andy Newmark’s drumming is spread diagonally from front left to rear right in quad, while the bass guitar migrates back to front center.
Fuzz guitars blast from behind for “Night Owl,” with Paul and Linda McCartney's backing vocals floating up in the front heights and Hopkins’ piano extending from the front stage out into the side surrounds. Conversely, the 5.1 mix seems to have little separation between the front and rear speakers: the most prominent unique element in the back is the vocal echo. Of course, you can always count on the ‘70s quad mix to deliver interesting results–we’re back to having bass centered in the rear, with Bobby Keys’ tenor sax and Jimmy Ryan’s electric guitar hard-panned in the rear corners.
The final track “When You Close Your Eyes” again foregrounds the lead vocal and piano, engaging the additional speakers for secondary elements like the acoustic guitars and orchestration. In quad, the rear speakers appear to be completely silent for the first minute or so of the song–but then they suddenly spring to life with tom rolls and strings during the first chorus. After the final vocal line (‘...so much fun to be with’), all the instruments move to the rear.
Though it sounds better than any analog copy I’ve heard (and it’s nice to finally not hear speed warble on the first few piano notes of “The Right Thing To Do”), the quad mix is undoubtedly the weakest sonically of the three surround mixes included on the disc. I was hoping to be completely blown away by the sound of the master tape–as has been the case with a number of modern reissues of ‘70s quads, like Frank Zappa's Over-Nite Sensation or The O'Jays' Ship Ahoy–but, at least to my ears, it comes off a bit thin and overly-bright in comparison to both the modern remixes.
Overall, regardless of what one may think about the different multichannel mixes of No Secrets and how they compare, the value of this disc is simply through-the-roof. The out-of-print DVD-Audio edition with hi-res stereo and 5.1 mixes regularly sells for at least double if not triple the cost of the new Blu-Ray on the used market, and it doesn’t even include the rare quad mix. Even the stereo-only Mobile Fidelity SACD edition retails for more than the new Blu-Ray.
Like the excellent Joni Mitchell The Asylum Albums 1972-75 box set released last year, this new standalone edition of No Secrets is simultaneously an entry in both the ongoing Quadio and Atmos Blu-Ray series. I’m curious if we’ll see more from Carly Simon’s back-catalog as part of either initiative–as mentioned before, she had several other albums released in quad and it’d be great to hear those from a higher-quality source. Additionally, Frank Filipetti mixed two more singles in Atmos–”Anticipation” and “You Belong to Me”–which are available to stream on Apple Music. I would love to one day see the entire Anticipation record receive an immersive mix, either in quad or Atmos.
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