Listening to Now in MONO. Blasphemy!

[EMB]

If you use a graphic equalizer, as I do, for stereo, for mono you have to be sure both channels are evenly balanced, something you generally don't do for stereo playback.

My most recent score was on eBay. Won about a hundred '60s stereo jukebox mini-albums in a lot, which included a few stereo singles. Odd collection, mainly pop (four Tom Jones, for instance, plenty of Enoch Light, too), mostly released by Seeburg (and maybe dozen through Little Lp's) and jazz (Basie, Goodman). Some are pretty clean, others are gonna need the old VPI treatment. Going to take a while to clean and catalog--let alone play back--but that's the fun of a big score, you can take your time appreciating the oddball stuff that was never sold to the public in this form.

ED

 

[EMB]

Mr. Tambourine Man - Byrds SACD

Original album tracks are in mono.
Bonus tracks are in 2ch.

Which I found rather odd--why not all mono?

Baby, I'm Yours - Barbara Lewis LP
View attachment 12431

Yet another example from Atlantic where they used white models on the cover in place of a black artist. She appears on a few later ones, but why not this title is as mysterious as that gal on the catamaran on MILES AHEAD, something the artist eventually insisted Columbia change (they did).

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

The same thought crossed my mind. Likely the Byrds' bonus tracks were only mixed for stereo, as they were first released in '98(?) on remastered/expanded CD's.

As to the Barbara Lewis cover, it is a bit strange, but often done back in the day. A few months ago, I bought a Japan 2ch CD. It still uses the same cover:


BTW: I have the Japan single-layer SACD of the Miles album, as well as a Japan conventional CD with the original cover. I also have a stereo CD (replacement cover) and various 2ch takes/mixes on the Miles/Gil Evans box. Most versions of this album are mono, including many CD's. In the '90's, it was mixed to stereo, albeit from different takes. The original LP was mostly spliced from a number of takes, so it became a major undertaking to re-do it. Many complained of the original US CD not being from the same takes.
View attachment 12443

US replacement cover:

View attachment 12444

Which I found rather odd--why not all mono?

Yet another example from Atlantic where they used white models on the cover in place of a black artist. She appears on a few later ones, but why not this title is as mysterious as that gal on the catamaran on MILES AHEAD, something the artist eventually insisted Columbia change (they did).

ED

 

[elguapo511]

I am most intrigued when I learn that the artist had a preference in the format and participated in the mix.
Zappa mono is the most fun for me. But there isn't too much.

I also remember reading that some of the beach boys sided with mono because they didn't trust the consumer to set up their equipment correctly.didn't they know we had this forum?

 

[Quad Linda]

Brian Wilson was deaf in one ear, reportedly because his Dad Murry, tossed him against a wall when Brian was small. Because of this and that much of his music was targeted toward AM top 40, he preferred mono.

I am most intrigued when I learn that the artist had a preference in the format and participated in the mix.
Zappa mono is the most fun for me. But there isn't too much.

I also remember reading that some of the beach boys sided with mono because they didn't trust the consumer to set up their equipment correctly.didn't they know we had this forum?

 

[Quad Linda]

Beatles usually participated in the mono mix, but left the stereo mix to George Martin & the engineers.

 

[jefe1]

I have the mono version of the second Byrds album I found in a used records store. Its been a while since I listened but I don't remember it sounding very different.
I have a couple of late 60s A&M records with a CSG sticker on them. This was a process where one of the channels was phase shifted to make it mono compatible so the company didn't have to have dual inventory but I read that it does affect stereo playback so should be corrected for better stereo. I agree that many of the mono 45 singles have better punch and sound to me as the definitive versions of those hits.

 

[jefe1]

I also have a mono copy of Sony Bonos solo lp, Inner Visions, which does have radically different versions of a couple of the songs compared to the stereo version, which I still don't have.

 

[EMB]

I also have a mono copy of Sony Bonos solo lp, Inner Visions, which does have radically different versions of a couple of the songs compared to the stereo version, which I still don't have.

That's not surprising; in fact, major differences between mono and stereo editions of albums on Atlantic or Atco are fairly common, have been since the early days. Herb Alpert's TJB albums are similar in this regard, probably because Larry Levine mixed the mono, while Herb himself supervised the stereo mixes (which is obviously his preference, since the Shout! Factory reissues are stereo).

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

I have a mono LP version of the second Byrds album, Turn, Turn, Turn. It is a Sundazed reissue. They also did Mr. Tambourine Man, 5D, Younger Than Yesterday and Notorious Byrd Brothers. Younger is available on a Gold CD in mono. Both Notorious and Mr. Tambourine Man are mono SACD's, with bonus tracks in stereo. I bought the two SACD's, and the other three on Sundazed. Since I've always been an audiophile, all my Byrds' original LP's were in stereo, as was virtually everything else that was available in mono. In the vast majority of cases, I prefer the stereo, better yet, surround where available..

I have the mono version of the second Byrds album I found in a used records store. Its been a while since I listened but I don't remember it sounding very different.
I have a couple of late 60s A&M records with a CSG sticker on them. This was a process where one of the channels was phase shifted to make it mono compatible so the company didn't have to have dual inventory but I read that it does affect stereo playback so should be corrected for better stereo. I agree that many of the mono 45 singles have better punch and sound to me as the definitive versions of those hits.

 

[elguapo511]

Can we talk hardware?

Anyone have a favorite mono pre amp?

I just got an Electrovox Aristocrat corner speker re conned.
and a merantz ma700 mono amp used for thx center speakers - I think.

I have been hoping to make this my mono set up. Set it up in my bathtub with some bubbles.

just need one more piece right?
is a mono pre amp even needed?

 

[Quad Linda]

Yow! Although my first record was a 78rpm, I didn't have any mono hi-fi gear. By the time I started buying stereo gear in 1962, mono was gone. My first 7" reel deck was mono, from 1960.

Mono enthusiasts, check out this thread, albums available in surround, stereo and mono:
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...n-all-3-formats-These-are&p=198837#post198837

Can we talk hardware?

Anyone have a favorite mono pre amp?

I just got an Electrovox Aristocrat corner speker re conned.
and a merantz ma700 mono amp used for thx center speakers - I think.

I have been hoping to make this my mono set up. Set it up in my bathtub with some bubbles.

just need one more piece right?
is a mono pre amp even needed?

 

[elguapo511]

. that thread rules

 

[Quad Linda]

Quadromania - Red Nichols 4 CD

 

[Quad Linda]

Magical Mystery Tour - Beatles US Mono Promo LP


Moby Grape LP


Big Bill Blues - Big Bill Broonzy French CD

 

[EMB]

Over the holiday, played a few mono Xmas Lp's on the TT, including the relatively hard to find Stevie Wonder SOMEDAY AT CHRISTMAS.

Unlike Atlantic/Atco and some other labels, Motown wasn't always consistent with including the 'hit' version of a song on any given album. On the contrary, Motown's mono Lp's of the '60s have scattered about (and just about every act got the treatment) alternate (albeit sometimes subtle) alternate mixes, early/later fades, different takes, etc. There's probably a website or book detailing all those variants, although I've never come across such a beast.

Needless to say, over the years the stereo catalog has been equally treated, with one mix made and then, maybe on the next reissue or two, a different mix turned up. Apparently 'quality control' applied mainly to the singles, which got some TLC (and serious tweaking) before release. Which is why, if you're a Motown collector, those original 45's are a must.

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

Warm Leatherette/TVOD - The Normal 45
The original - five years before Grace Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5QErPDNcj4

Leaving on a Jet Plane - Mitchell Trio (w/John Denver) promo 45
Predates Peter, Paul & Mary version by a year

 

[timbre4]

TVOD/Warm Leatherette - Have it on 45rpm vinyl and the CD3 issued by Mute in 1989.

 

[EMB]

Ah, the Mitchell Trio. With Chad, they were easily the loosest, coolest of the 'urban folkies' of the time. Milt Okun--producer, arranger, svengali, you name it--was the connection between everyone from Albert Grossman (manager, mover 'n' shaker, since he handled Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Simon & Garfunkel), the Trio, PP&M and Denver, who was signed to Cherry Lane Music, one of Grossman's publishing interests. This of course made it easy for Denver to get his songs placed with big acts like PP&M, but you can hear, early on, why he was going to eventually become big on his own: fine, often moving songs so very honest it was impossible not to be moved; that Voice that could pierce the night air; and he had a strange look about him, something...exotic? Unusual? Visually he didn't fit in with the remaining two of the original Trio, but for a time, it worked well musically if not commercially. I have a copy of the above single, which I believe was either issued just before or after PP&M's ALBUM 1700 came out, although JD may have recorded a demo much earlier. I've always wondered why it took two years for WB to put "Jet Plane" out as a 45, it seemed a strange and belated thing to do in the fall of 1969, but it went to #1 (the B-side was the haunting "The House Song," also from the album, another gem I've never gotten over) in the midst of ABBEY ROAD, HAIR, and other music that seems more of its time than some of those. Recently pulled SHANGRI-LAS '65, retitled (cover only) as I CAN NEVER GO HOME ANYMORE, the 2nd press with the current hit replacing "The Dum Dum Ditty" on Side 2 (boo, shoulda just added the hit). It's one of those easy-to-crack-and-ruin styrene pressings Monarch made with labels glued on that sometimes would later fall off, leaving a blank side and a label inside the cover. Jeez! As a side note, although the group's two Lp's (the other being LEADER OF THE PACK) were issued only in mono, at least half the tracks were later remixed to stereo (several mixes exist for some, too).



ED

 

[Quad Linda]

Original Mono Recordings - Bob Dylan 9 CD box