Listening to Now in MONO. Blasphemy!

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Quad Linda

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Like most of you, I much prefer to listen in Quad or 5.1, where possible. Prior to the late '50's, even stereo wasn't possible. My first new record was a mono 78. Still, some of the most fantastic music EVER, IMHO was only released in mono. It would be great to hear about some of your faves only available in mono. Please don't list mono versions of albums available in 2ch/Quad/5.1, just music only available in mono. Any title available in Duophonic or "electronically rechanneled for stereo" slop constitutes an album available only in mono.

Here are some mono faves I've been listening to lately:

Jazz at Oberlin - Dave Brubeck SACD
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Tenor Madness - Sonny Rollins SACD
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Complete Prestige Recordings - Miles Davis 8 CD Many individual albums contained here available on mono SACD.
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Complete Recordings voll 1 -5 - Bessie Smith 5 2CD sets complied & liner notes written by Chris Albertson, an old client of mine. TRULY The Empress of the Blues. Best blues singer EVER.
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Complete Hot Fives & Sevens - Louis Armstrong 4 CD Many say they're his best.
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Complete Works in Chronological Order vol 1 - 15 Tampa Red (Hudson Whittaker) 15 CD's on Blues Document. My vote for the best bluesman EVER. I bought dozens of LP's over the years, but wasn't entirely complete. There are two forgettable Prestige/Bluesville albums from the early 60's that aren't included here.
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Complete Works in Chronological Order vol 1 - 10 Roosevelt Sykes 10 CD Actually, they aren't complete. Sykes recorded for another 30 years. They are complete from the 20's until the late '50's. Ribald barrelhouse piano is his style. Double Dirty Mother in QS is what introduced me. I was hooked. IMHO, second only to Tampa Red as a bluesman.
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The Quintet - Bird 'n' Diz, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell SACD So the fidelity isn't great, but what a band. Bird: "And now we'd like to play a new tune by my worthy constituent, Dizzy Gillespie....Salt Peanuts." I have a tape of the original radio show with announcements. The fidelity here is as good or better, without the announcer's annoyances. Your jazz collection is incomplete without this.
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Stan Getz Plays SACD Japan One of his first and one of his best. Originally on Norgran (Norman Grantz) in 1954.
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You should allow for music that was available in both Mono and Stereo. Some people believe in the superiority of a lot of the 60's mono mixes. Some of them are quite drastically different from the stereo fare and add a different perspective on the recordings. Also there are some records that most people have in mono because the stereo mixes are more rare. I had about 3 mono copies of Winchester Cathedral till I found a stereo copy.
 
Good point and I thought of that. We could get into the differences on mono mixes of Beatles, Dylan and others. My aim here was to turn folks on to some great music in mono that they have never heard.

Milestones - Miles Davis SACD Mobile Fidelity One of his best.
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You should allow for music that was available in both Mono and Stereo. Some people believe in the superiority of a lot of the 60's mono mixes. Some of them are quite drastically different from the stereo fare and add a different perspective on the recordings. Also there are some records that most people have in mono because the stereo mixes are more rare. I had about 3 mono copies of Winchester Cathedral till I found a stereo copy.
 
As a collector I've made it a point to collect both mono and stereo editions of an album when both were available...and that has led to some interesting listening. One great litmus test is when you play the mono SGT. PEPPER for someone familiar with the stereo. They hear right away there's more going on than it simply being mono...because it IS entirely different (as was MMT and WHITE ALBUM). And if you wanted to hear Mr. Morrison swear during "The End" for decades it was the mono s/t album or nothing, because the stereo mix removed or obscured his naughtiness (later restored, of course).

What I liked about the mono/stereo years was that you could buy the same album but have two different listening experiences, both enjoyable in their fashion. I still lament the phasing out during 1968 of regular mono editions, and there were more than a few albums in dire need of one. Some of those are obscure and even rare these days, but worth seeking out. S&G's BOOKENDS is an essential mono mix; so is Jimi's AXIS.

ED :)
 
Many mono mixes from late '67 on were foldovers, no different than pressing your mono button (remember those?) Some Columbia titles were only released in mono on promo copies for airplay, at the time they went to stereo only releases.

I strongly suggest UK Beatles albums in mono. Don't Pass Me By and Helter Skelter on the Beatles (white album) have different endings than in estereo.

I'm complete on Dylan, Beatles, Byrds, Paul Revere & Herb Alpert mono mixes.
 
My first foray into mono was the MFSL SACD of Coltrane's Soultrane. I was hesitant to buy it because it was mono only, but I'm really glad I did. This has since become my favorite Coltrane album and has opened up my ears and my mind.
 
In the '50's, crappy mono was replaced with "high fidelity" (mono.) Other than the spatial aspect of 2 ch, and later Quad and 5.1, late fifties recordings have sparkling fidelity.

Now's the Time - Charlie Parker SACD Japan
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Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall w/Gil Evans 2 CD expanded
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My first foray into mono was the MFSL SACD of Coltrane's Soultrane. I was hesitant to buy it because it was mono only, but I'm really glad I did. This has since become my favorite Coltrane album and has opened up my ears and my mind.
 
And of course a lot of music will always only be in mono...just the way it turned out. But sometimes you get lucky, like that later remix of MILES AHEAD. Didn't quite match up to the original mono mix--that would've been impossible--but nice to have, and there's plenty out there like it, like ELLINGTON AT NEWPORT, which in stereo is an expanded version of the original mono Lp. That stereo exists for any of this material is almost miraculous, since there was no reason to expect any, given that '60s 'stereo' editions Columbia put out were in lousy rechanneled sound.

To introduce someone to the glories of mono, though, I'd start with something basic, and virtually any decent '50s jazz Lp will do in that regard. Pop, rock & R&B are rather erratic in terms of recording techniques, equipment and sound quality, but I've found jazz and classical to be remarkably consistent on the main, regardless of label. For Miles, the original MILES AHEAD is a good start. On the other hand, there are times when nothing's gained by a mono mix, and the stereo really is better. Examples for me are things like KIND OF BLUE and SKETCHES OF SPAIN, Brubeck's TIME OUT, and a lot of early to mid-'60s Impulse! titles, many of which were 3-track recordings that sound spacious in stereo but flatten out too much when summed to mono.

ED :)
 
Those mono recordings that were done in hi-fi sound pretty dam good. remember the old school record players? they were all real hi-fi, and sounded really good. I've seen them selling for good money too. I have a copy of HDN mono. love it!
 
Being that all the early Beatles were recorded to three track, they definitely sound more solid in mono. Although I own them both ways, I prefer to listen to the UK mixes in stereo. They are very different experiences.

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Those mono recordings that were done in hi-fi sound pretty dam good. remember the old school record players? they were all real hi-fi, and sounded really good. I've seen them selling for good money too. I have a copy of HDN mono. love it!
 
Best of Doo Wop Uptempo. Stellar Rhino Doo-Wop CD collection: Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Come & Go Wth Me, Speedo, Denise, Little Star, Blue Moon, Book of Love & Manny Moore.
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Excellent Joan Baez live in San Francisco, before her 1st Vanguard LP. Vanguard sued Fantasy and this quickly went OOP. Mono LP on Fantasy.
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Ooh, Denise, doobie doo, I'm in love with you Denise, doobie doo...
 
Hard to believe it's been 45 years, but this month the ill-advised Stones' psych album THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST hit stores--and our ears. Personally, I find its misguided intent endearing (it was also their first self-production, having recently jettisoned Andrew Oldham) and some of it is certainly superior to the psych that was out there at the time, and to come, from far less talented bands.

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ED :)
 
Hard to believe it's been 45 years, but this month the ill-advised Stones' psych album THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST hit stores--and our ears. Personally, I find its misguided intent endearing (it was also their first self-production, having recently jettisoned Andrew Oldham) and some of it is certainly superior to the psych that was out there at the time, and to come, from far less talented bands.

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ED :)

Decades later, I can still taste the purple haze on my tongue every time I put this album on. :mad:@:
 
Decades later, I can still taste the purple haze on my tongue every time I put this album on. :mad:@:

Well, yes...but I was young (twelve) when TSMR came out, so I've a soft spot for it even though I know it's really not so hot.

One album that I did play today--both mono and stereo--is more fondly remembered: MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. We surely got our money's worth, since, unlike the UK, we got not only the MMT EP material but the rest of the 1967 single sides (if not all in stereo at the time). Still a good listen, actually, and the mono mixes different enough to keep it interesting. Roll up!

ED :)
 
Picked up a vinyl copy of Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited in mono today. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I've heard it's awesome!
 
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