Chat Board Archives: August, 1998




This page contains all the messages put onto the BSN Stereo Chat Board during August, 1998, with the exception of a time period that was lost. They are in chronological order from first to last. To search for specific topics, use the "find" utility on your browser. For a search of the complete archives, please go to the Stereo Chat Board Archives Main Page.




Name: Hugh Wagner
From: Pa.
Time: 1998-08-01 08:48:11
Comments: For Graham, Connie Stevens' "16 Reasons" in nice clear wide stereo is available on I Wish I were A Princess [Collectors Choice DPSM5189] from the CC catalog only, a really good various artist CD and TV Stars Sing! on K-Tel 3388-2, a not bad 9 song collection including "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" also w/Connie.The CC would cost you in the high teens with shipping and the K-tel could be around $10.

Name: Dan Murphy
Time: 1998-08-01 18:16:02
Comments: While doing some web surfing today, I noticed that the Collectables label is apprently coming out with some 2-LP-on-one-CD releases of several artists for the latter part of 1998. Some of the artists listed were Ruth Brown, the Clovers, the Drifters, Fats Domino, and Gary Lewis & the Playboys. I have no personal experience with Collectables, but aren't most of these artists' output already under fairly tight control? The EMI stuff I can see, as Capitol has leased material before (e.g., Peter & Gordon), but the Atlantic artists are the ones I question the most. As far as I'm aware, any Atlantic label material is solely under Rhino's domain. If anyone has more information, please pass it on. By the way, the URL for the list I saw is www.oldies.com/future.htm.

Name: Tom Daly
Website: Skyline
From: Metro Boston
Time: 1998-08-01 22:55:43
Comments: Regarding those Collectables two-fers of Atlantic albums... having been involved with the mastering of some of the new Collectables releases, I can say for certain that digital dubs of original album masters were furnished for these releases and that WEA is doing the disc replication. I only did one track out of all of the Atlantic material: finally, "Stand By Me" will be issued with absolutely NO TAPE HISS! Of the other future releases, I did the Alive 'n' Kickin' package (Roulette masters are now owned by Rhino/WEA) and the two albums formerly on Vibration, Sylvia's Pillow Talk and Shirley & Company's Shame, Shame, Shame. For the latter, I obtained a better source than what was provided on the album master, which had narrowly separated stereo. My source had a more normal stereo mix. All of these discs are being manufactured for Collectables by WEA, which is what also happened in the case of the Golden Classics by Barbara Lewis. While I had nothing to do with that disc, it sounds fine to my ears.

Name: Bob Olivia
From: Burbank, California
Time: 1998-08-05 03:26:27
Comments: Does anyone know if the new release Connie Francis Rock and Roll Million Sellers is in Stereo? I have an original album which is in stereo. Some wrote in the past that the Stereo version of "Runaway" is not the same as the single version. I have the CD "Little Town Flirt" which has "Runaway" on it in stereo, it sounds the same as the single version to me. If this is an aternate take, where can I get the single version in Stereo? Bob Olivia.

Name: Ken Rogers
Website: Discjockey.com
From: Carolinas
Time: 1998-08-05 08:36:45
Comments: I have been searching for stereo cuts on some of the Atlantic product from late 1958. Cuts that include: "Drip Drop" - the Drifters, "Moonlight Bay" - The Drifters, "Teasure Of Love' - Clyde McPhatter, Plus tapes by Chuck Willis, Joe Turner, Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Dean Beard, etc. Many of these artists were recorded in stereo in August through December of 1958 in NYC, mostly at Bell Sound. Is it true that Atlantic records had a fire in the early 60's and lost most of their early masters?

Name: Marty Natchez
Time: 1998-08-05 12:05:40
Comments: Bob Olivia's question about the differences between the single and LP versions of "Runaway" by Del Shannon is a valuable lesson in rock 'n' roll minutia. For starters, both versions are different recordings from the same session at Bell Sound, and only by comparing the instrumental break can that fact be detected. Between 1:18 and 1:22 on the stereo version, the rhythm remains the same, but the mono version -- THE HIT -- has accented beats during the same two measures. So although Shannon's vocal was virtually identical on both takes, the music is slightly different. All of Del Shannon's mono 45 mixes are found on Rhino's Del Shannon: Greatest Hits CD.

Name: barry margolis
From: Minneapolis, MN
Time: 1998-08-05 18:58:47
Comments: Mike & Gang: I just picked up 2 of the new UK Kinks remastered CDs, they sure do get a mixed review from me. The 2 CDs I bought, Face To Face (Essential/Castle ESM-CD-479), and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (Essential/Castle ESM-CD-481) on the surface have loud, punchy sound quality. The liner notes and general information/photos are great. However, these are two more examples of this "Mono is superior to Stereo" mindset. Face To Face contains the 14 track album in mono, followed by 5 singles tracks ("I'm Not Like Everybody Else", "Dead End Street", "Big Black Smoke" & "Mr. Pleasant") in the same mono as always. None of these tracks have ever been issued in stereo. (Indeed, of the 14 LP tracks, only 6 of the tracks were ever in stereo, and the stereo mixes were very, very closely mixed.) There're two previously unissued tracks, "Mr. Reporter" and "Little Women" in stereo, although "Little Women" is a backing track.

Name: Luke Pacholski
Website: LukPac.org
From: Racine, WI
Time: 1998-08-05 20:31:06
Comments: Spencer Davis Group - is anything available in stereo? I just picked up the great Steve Winwood - The Finer Things set, but alas, all of the SDG tracks are in mono...

Name: tom moulton
From: nyc
Time: 1998-08-05 21:14:15
Comments: Ken, it is true about Atlantic Studios having a fire. The vault where the unreleased masters were kept was destroyed. My former neighbour and good friend Jerry Wexler told me the whole story, and said he had lost a completed album of Aretha Franklin which was never mixed down. "Treasure Of Love" was never recorded in stereo. The Clyde session that was lost included "Since You Been Gone." There were two other songs on that same session.

Name: Marty Natchez
Time: 1998-08-06 12:25:10
Comments: "Gimme some STEREO! " has to be one of the most common requests about the Spencer Davis Group's catalog. As far as the hits, Mike Callahan previously reported the existence of a true stereo mix of "I'm A Man" on a Canadian-issued LP, released on the Stone label. Having also heard this track, the downside is that it is a completely different and much-longer recording, which is probably why it has never been considered for a CD reissue. And even though it is NOT the hit version, it does lend creedence that the SDG's sessions at that time were recorded on multi-tracks. It is well worth noting, too, that the original British single of "Gimme Some Lovin'" -- available on the double CD import The Spencer Davis Group: Eight Gigs a Week (Island 524 180-2) -- was not the U.S. hit. Often said to be overdubbed with more percussion for its American release, the truth finds the U.S. track to be an alternate recording of the song with different lyrics, sung by Stevie Winwood. The late Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, who heard the British single before UA's stateside release, always favored the U.K. hit over the American-ized version. It is worth seeking out Eight Gigs a Week for the original, even if it is only a mono curiosity.

Name: Dave Sampson
From: Nepean, Ontario. Canada
Time: 1998-08-06 14:18:12
Comments: Re Marty Natchez's Spencer Davis Group comment. The stereo version of "I'm a Man" is NOT a different recording at all. If the version that appears on Rhino's British Invasion series is an example of the single-then the stereo version is simply an unedited mix of the same recording. Another good example of small edits being done would be Brenton Wood's "Oogum Boogum Song" The mono version has about 5-7 seconds cut out of the track-which is audible in the stereo version. Personally, in both cases I prefer the unedited versions-even though the edits are quite minor.

Name: Dave Daugherty
From: Dublin, OH.
Time: 1998-08-06 17:32:14
Comments: Regarding the comments about "I'm A Man" and "Gimme Some Lovin". I've got DAT dubs of both cuts and "I'm A Man" is definitely the hit version, and is in true multi-track stereo, not binaural. If it is an alternate version, it's incredibly close to the original. It does make it obvious that it was done on a multi-track machine, or at least the overdubs were. The version I have of "Gimme Some Lovin" fooled me at first. I originally thought it was an underdub of the hit version, minus most of the backing vocals, but after repeated listening, it is an alternate take, at least on Winwood's vocal. He definitely sings it differently......it's close, but there are obvious differences that stand out.

Name: barry margolis
Time: 1998-08-06 18:55:52
Comments: I just this piece of mail from dte@cs.rit.edu (Dave Emlen): "Though I love The Kinks, I've been eagerly awaiting someone to properly 'punch-up' and remix into stereo their Pye/Reprise era recordings. Whomever did the remastering, they certainly didn't do the kind of job that someone like Bob Irwin (Sundazed) would've done!"

A "remix" would be impossible -- Pye was very frugal in those days and they reused tapes. Nearly all of the Kinks' multi-track recordings were taped over or otherwise destroyed. Well, some things on the mostly mono Kinks reissues are pretty different -- the mono mix of "Little Miss Queen of Darkness" is quite different from the stereo mix. But the mono VGPS tracks weren't nearly as different as I thought they were going to be (having never heard them before the CD release). Sill, I'm glad to have them in my collection. And like yourself, I don't plan on getting rid of my old CD's. Dave's probably right about the remastering, but to be fair, they didn't have much to work with.

Name: Joel Goldenberg
From: Montreal
Time: 1998-08-06 19:38:28
Comments: I was horrified to realize that my Red Bird-Blue Cat CD skips on the Tradewinds "New York's A Lonely Town." I am losing faith in CDs, and I was lucky to have taped that CD before it skipped. This may be heresy, but I'm loving vinyl more and more. I sometimes find that my home tapes of vinyl sound better than my home tapes of CDs. (By the way, gang, take note of my new e-mail address. Please address responses to joelsg@hotmail.com, and not suburban@generation.net. Thanks)

Name: Glenn Murphy
From: Rockland, MA
Time: 1998-08-06 19:46:24
Comments: Hi, just wondering: I have the Who's Direct Hits LP (Japan pressing) w/stereo "I'm A Boy" (single version) and "In The City"-- are these on CD anywhere as far as anyone knows? Thanks.

Name: Luke Pacholski
Website: LukPac.org
From: Racine, WI
Time: 1998-08-06 22:52:13
Comments: Who - stereo "I'm A Boy": US Who's Better Who's Best. "In the City" - A Quick One remixed CD.

Name: Graham
From: California but live in Colorado
Time: 1998-08-06 23:25:20
Comments: Hey Joel, don't give up on CD's yet. My Beatles For Sale skips and I was frustrated too. Also I made a greatest hits tape from Stereo records of the Beatles (German pressings from "Please Please Me"...to "Help!")and it sounds good but not as good as CD's. By the way does anybody know if they are going to release current mono Beatles CD's in Stereo?

Name: Steve Baird
From: Baton Rouge, LA
Time: 1998-08-07 09:14:32
Comments: Has anyone had any experience with this website -- http://www.cddb.com/about/index.html ? Doing a Yahoo search the other day, one of the links that resulted was this CD search engine, which purports that "Blame It On The Bossa Nova" as well as several other elusive songs ARE available on CDs. My searches for various songs brought me several results that looked encouraging. BUT, I have yet to go to a single CD internet seller to find these titles. Does anyone have any good info? CDNOW pays for a link from the database to this site, but when you click on the "Order This CD" button, nothing happens except the switch to CD Now.

Name: Marty Natchez
Time: 1998-08-07 11:27:39
Comments: So is the stereo mix of "I'm A Man" by the Spencer Davis Group the hit version or an alternate take? If you live in America, the answer is a qualified "neither." I had to go back to vintage vinyl to vindicate myself, and the truth will, indeed, set the record straight. The U.S. single of "I'm A Man" (United Artists 50144) differs from both its mono and stereo versions. As a former disc jockey who used to "talk up" the intro, what threw me was the beginning of the stereo mix. The song plays for 45 seconds before Steve Winwood's vocal begins, whereas on the aforementioned 45, the intro was shortened to only 30 seconds. Timing-wise, that 7-incher clocks in around 2:34 versus the 2:48 album cut and the 2:50-plus extended fade on the Eight Gigs A Week retrospective. Therefore, while I take back my initial claim that the stereo mix is an alternate take, it is not the EXACT hit edit heard in the states. I thank Dave Sampson, our Canadian contributor, for suggesting that the stereo master was an unedited tape, and I agree with him that it is. But anyone who has heard "I'm A Man" in stereo could easily be fooled into thinking that it is a different recording. In stereo, the organ lines are much more audible than what's revealed on the mono mix, giving it a very different layering. But since the stereo master is differently edited, it is NOT, in my opinion, the HIT. And to throw another wrench into the group's U.S, discography, the original single of "Somebody Help Me" (UA 50162) contained prominent organ overdubs that were added to the original British master. Even so, the later "Spotlight Series" reissue 45s reverted back to the untampered mix. That's right! Only in America! And that's my history lesson for today.

Name: barry margolis
Time: 1998-08-07 12:35:03
Comments: I have all the Stevie Winwood/Spencer Davis Group singles (both UK and US), and "I'm A Man" seems to be the same track. The UK Fontana single is (of course) not edited, and it was a very pleasant surprise when I discovered it (after loving the US edit for so long). More is Better. - You can't always buy into the mode of thought that the 'hit' version is everything. US radio screwed with plenty of songs. In the case of "Gimme Some Lovin'", I much prefer the US version - the UK original sound dull and lifeless. Regarding the stereo mix of "I'm A Man", I used to have an early issue of the UK Island Greatest Hits LP and the stereo mix was terrible. In this case, until someone mixes these better, I'll stick with the mono UK single.

Name: Mike Cloud
From: Houston, TX
Time: 1998-08-07 20:36:43
Comments: I just received my copy of Dean Martin's Long Lost Reprise Hits from Collector's Choice. The 11 cuts of 20 that I've heard so far sound great. Stereo, but all the instruments on the right, backup singers on the left, lead vocals in the center. Sounds that they only had a three track recorder at Reprise.

Name: Marty Natchez
Time: 1998-08-08 10:27:28
Comments: Tach it up, tach it up, but don't run any red lights when you rush to buy the August 11th release of Endless Summer by the Beach Boys, featuring the first-ever STEREO mix of "California Girls" and other two-channel collectables. After hearing a review copy, I can report that "California Girls," in stereo, is stunning and hiss-free, revealing every nuance of the six vocal tracks that went into its creation. The 25-song collection also reissues the "binaural" mix of "Surfer Girl" that Capitol once let escape on a "Starline" reissue 45 and, from the Today album, the official stereo unveiling of "Kiss Me Baby" -- sounding far superior to the bootlegged stereo tape that's heard on the Sea of Tunes label's Unsurpassed Masters, Vol. 7. Besides the vintage material, the previously unissued "Soulful Old Man Sunshine," a semi-jazzy performance by Brian Wilson and the group, and "Loop De Loop," just finished, in fact, with new vocals by Al Jardine this past July, add two more excellent stereo tracks. Special mention, too, must be given to recording engineer Stephen Desper's private mix of "'Til I Die" that is even more haunting than the memorable track on 1971's Surf's Up album.. Can't forget Mike Love's 1978 waxing of "Brian's Back," either. Well, those are just a few of the great stereo moments on Endless Harmony, and the mono ones are just as good. So get ready...get set...get it! I'll plan to be here, to catch your raves, too.

Name: chaz
Time: 1998-08-09 03:35:54
Comments: Dean Martin - The Long Lost Reprise Hits on Collectors Choice Music. Check out the song "In The Chapel In The Moonlight." What is going on here? This song sounds terrible!!! It also sounds identical on the New King of Cool Capitol Release. I can't believe that the same song can sound so much better on a bootleg from Portugal: All the Hits 1964-69. Any comments? Capitol, in their wildest dreams, could not or would not put out the amazing sound quality of the Sea of Tunes series. And most likely they put out the stereo "California Girls" because it will most likely be on the next batch of the highly anticipated Sea of Tunes continuing series of Beach Boys master tape quality series!!!!!! Thanks for the forum. Chaz

Name: Curtiss Carpenter
Website: The Cammy Awards
From: Pinebluff, N.C.
Time: 1998-08-10 00:58:16
Comments: Re: Spencer Davis Group Quote from the album The Spencer Davis Group [Golden Archive Series on Rhino R2 70172, rel. 1986] "All the recording those days was done four track with pingponging for additional tracks. Then it was all mixed to mono." Brian Humphrey was original engineer and Bill Ingot was responsible for the Audio Remastering according to the LP liner notes.

Note: Archives from August 10, 1998 to August 31, 1998 were lost.



Return to Stereo Chat Board Archives Main Page


Return to Both Sides Now Home Page