Sixty Years Ago Today

[twocorgis]

An album was released that changed music as we knew it to that point.

My old German pressing still sounds great, but I couldn't find the mono mix, which I'm pretty sure I had a British import of.

 

[GGJaguar]

I beat you to it, Sandy.

On this day

Two of my favorite albums were released: 1988 - Green Thoughts by The Smithereens 1963 - Please, Please Me by The Beatles

letstalkguild.com

 

[twocorgis]

I beat you to it, Sandy.

On this day

Two of my favorite albums were released: 1988 - Green Thoughts by The Smithereens 1963 - Please, Please Me by The Beatles

letstalkguild.com

Oops!

 

[walrus]

The whole album recorded in 12 hours in one day!

walrus

 

[Midnight Toker]

Do yourself a BIG favor if you are a big Beatles fan....get the remastered boxed set....Mono, Stereo, or both. Best remasters of any band out there...ever You'll hear nuances you never noticed before! It's that good! I have both, and enjoy them equally. Many of the early album Mono takes are not the same as the stereo. If they recorded 12 takes of a single tune, chances are, even if they are all very similar, one take was used on the Mono version, and a different take was used for the stereo mix. The band were known to hang about only during initial Mono mixing just for overall balance of instruments and vocals. ....giving the false impression that they themselves only cared about Mono...but that's not true. They all owned state of the art stereo units in their homes and cared more about stereo than Mono. Especially from Rubber Soul on. But honestly...for everything pre Rubber Soul, I likely prefer the Mono versions....if anything, just because the separation isn't as jarraing and odd. (Like having the drums/rhthym guitar completely in one channel, and bass and lead guitar in the other. If you listen to stereo mixes of any early Beatles records on headphones...it's not good. In a big room w/ good speakers, it works. But the Mono is better..until around Rubber/Revolver. (iMO..of course)


Edit: forgot to add....IF anyone seeks out a Beatles Mono boxed set, do some research first, as there are many counterfeit copies being sold out there, but they are pretty easy to detect if you know what to look for.

Double edit: even better are the newer remastered vinyl editions of Beatles records (in Mono as well!) Unlike almost all the other bands that are issuing anniversary remasters of iconic albums, The Beatles ones aren't just culled from previously digitized masters and getting a simple treble boost to make it seem more "revealing". They went the full distance in using all analog...and the results are astounding. Best versions of any Beatles records I've ever heard, and that includes all the blue box audiophile and mobile fidelity issues.

Here's info from an insert in my latest Mono vinyl of Rubber Soul. Honestly, it's like hearing it for the first time again.

 

[GGJaguar]

But the Mono is better..until around Rubber/Revolver.

Totally agree with your assessment.

 

[Guildedagain]

Wasn't it Meet The Beatles?

I likely prefer the Mono versions

I fiddled with some car old stereos all summer last year and came to the conclusion that Mono sounds quite excellent, as good, better? Stereo separation isn't really necessary, and from a single speaker in a dashboard or old home radio sounds really good. Just because we have two ears doesn't mean that we need to hear separation of sounds, or that you hear things that way, like a band, you just hear the whole thing as one sound live, and it's quite satisfying.

 

[Midnight Toker]

Wasn't it Meet The Beatles?



I fiddled with some car old stereos all summer last year and came to the conclusion that Mono sounds quite excellent, as good, better? Stereo separation isn't really necessary, and from a single speaker in a dashboard or old home radio sounds really good. Just because we have two ears doesn't mean that we need to hear separation of sounds, or that you hear things that way, like a band, you just hear the whole thing as one sound live, and it's quite satisfying.

Meet The Beatles was the US release on Capitol records and wasn't released until Jan of 64. Please Please Me was the true first...on the U.K. Parlophone.

As far as stereo separation, yes, for early Beatles, it isn't really neccesary, and in many cases, a hinderance. But once you start getting into their more experimental and adventurous records, full of horns, strings, sound effects and such, stereo is king.

 

[Guildedagain]

Pull headphones off your ears one at a time to hear what's in each speaker, a stereo separation master class, besides Zep/Hendrix.

 

[twocorgis]

As far as I know, the only Beatles release recorded in true stereo is "Abbey Road".

 

[twocorgis]

Pull headphones off your ears one at a time to hear what's in each speaker, a stereo separation master class, besides Zep/Hendrix.

But that's not true stereo, that's just strict separation. They took the original mono recording, and "split it up".

 

[Midnight Toker]

As far as I know, the only Beatles release recorded in true stereo is "Abbey Road".

Correct. But theoretically, every studio multitrack recording is Mono until it gets panned during mixdown. But yes, Abbey Road was the first where Ringo's kit had mic assignments specifically for left and right.

 

[Midnight Toker]

But that's not true stereo, that's just strict separation. They took the original mono recording, and "split it up".

It's true stereo. They would first mix in Mono...just for getting the balance of instruments and vocals just right. Then, still using the multitracks, not the final Mono master, they would mix it in stereo, using notes on the precise levels used for the Mono mixes. In a few select song cases, completely different studio takes were used. Some variants between Mono and stereo have longer/shorter fading runouts, slightly differing guitar solos, etc. It's mainly the first 5-6 records that are "forced stereo", but mainly due to 4 track limitations.

 

[Cougar]

Seems like the day before Yesterday.

 

[Westerly Wood]

Pull headphones off your ears one at a time to hear what's in each speaker, a stereo separation master class, besides Zep/Hendrix.

Is Revolver not one of the most if not the most revolutionary project in rock and roll?

 

[lungimsam]

My mid-Atlantic sensibilities much prefers “monaural” not “mono”.
Pronounced “mun-are-uhl”.

I remember there was a red LP and a blue LP, or something. It was ~1976 for me before I got it.

 

[fronobulax]

My mid-Atlantic sensibilities much prefers “monaural” not “mono”.
Pronounced “mun-are-uhl”.

My first reaction to "mono" was to think of mononucleosis which seemed to be pretty common in high school. As a less naïve adult I wonder how often "mono" was a good cover story for something else?

I would say mon-or-l but my accent has always been strange.

 

[lungimsam]

I had mono once, as a teen. Friday my neck glands swelled up, all bruised looking. Like swallowing glass all weekend. I was all better by Monday. A few months later I had double vision that lasted 6 months. After many Hopkins visits and a week long study admission, they determined surgery was going to be needed if it didn't resolve after the 6 months point. Praise the Lord it did.

After that, the doc at Hopkins, having exhausted every other reason why it could be happened, asked my mother if I had had any infections within 6 months of the onset. She said that yes, I had Mono. He said that must have been it. Mono can weaken all the muscles of the body for months afterward and it must have effected the muscles that keep the eyes tracking correctly.

I only mention this so that, if anyone else gets mono and gets double vision, maybe wait before jumping into eye surgery.

 

[Midnight Toker]

I had mono once, as a teen. Friday my neck glands swelled up, all bruised looking. Like swallowing glass all weekend. I was all better by Monday. A few months later I had double vision that lasted 6 months. After many Hopkins visits and a week long study admission, they determined surgery was going to be needed if it didn't resolve after the 6 months point. Praise the Lord it did.

After that, the doc at Hopkins, having exhausted every other reason why it could be happened, asked my mother if I had had any infections within 6 months of the onset. She said that yes, I had Mono. He said that must have been it. Mono can weaken all the muscles of the body for months afterward and it must have effected the muscles that keep the eyes tracking correctly.

I only mention this so that, if anyone else gets mono and gets double vision, maybe wait before jumping into eye surgery.

So like an early Beatles album, you had mono, and forced stereo (vision) became a hinderance.

 

[lungimsam]

Hahaha!! The separation was incredible!!
I still drove and watched tv by keeping one eye closed. My parents started asking me why I was covering my left eye with my hand all the time. I gave the typical teenaged “I don’t know.” until they caught on.