1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions - About The Box Set

About The Box Set

1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions was compiled from all thirteen reels of multi-track reel-to-reel tape that held every note and snippet of studio dialogue. Twelve reels of tape had been used during the sessions; the thirteenth reel was the one that held the takes that would be used for the album. In 1999, Rhino house engineers Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch mixed down every tape from end to end, placing the master takes that had been used for the master reel of the album back in their rightful position for the boxed set.

Six of the seven CDs in the box set hold every note, word, and sound from the sessions. The seventh CD replicates the original "Down On The Street"/"1970" mono 45 rpm single, featuring edited versions of the aforementioned tracks. The single version of "Down On The Street" features overdubbed organ, most likely played by producer Don Gallucci, who had played the same instrument when he was a member of The Kingsmen on their notorious garage rock classic "Louie Louie".

For the obligatory liner notes, Stooges expert Ben Edmonds interviewed all of the surviving Stooges as well as several others who either were involved with or who admire the original album, including Henry Rollins. Instead of a book, this boxed set features Edmonds' extensive liner notes printed a section at a time in each of the first six discs's jewel case inserts.

The outer lid of the boxed set incorporates the original Fun House album artwork, while the inner box replicates the look of a cardboard record shipping box with the Elektra "stencil E" logo on the side, and the inserts of the first six CDs reproduce the front covers of the original session reels. The seventh CD is packaged in a reproduction of a plain paper 7" 45 sleeve.

1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions was one of the early releases from Rhino Records' limited-edition imprint Rhino Handmade. It was released in a one-time pressing of 3000 copies, sold out within a year of its release, and helped fully establish Rhino Handmade's reputation for collector's-interest releases. The set was re-released in November 2010 by Rhino Handmade and is not individually numbered to maintain the collectability of the original release.

In 2005, highlights from the many unreleased tracks on the album, plus the single versions of "Down On The Street" and "1970", were compiled by Rhino for use on the second disc of the deluxe double-CD reissue of Fun House (which contained one short track not released on 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions). The box set was also reissued in digital download form on August 27, 2005 exclusively at the iTunes Music Store, to commemorate Rhino Records' 27th Anniversary. The box set is also notable for the long version of "L.A. Blues" titled "Freak", clocking in at over 17 minutes in length and featuring more sonic violence than the official release.