Friday, October 17, 2014

"Mono Pt. 2": THE WEEKEND MIX





Last month, "Anonymous" suggested a second edition of Mono 45s for a Weekend Mix, so here we go.

The original post is here, if you missed it.

For this round, we have eight original mono singles, six tracks from mono LPs (though the Zombies track is questionable since it has been said that the original mono masters of "Odessey & Oracle" have been lost and it seems unlikely that the mono CD version was mastered off of vinyl), one promo mono album mix and one fold-down, explained below and included because of its scarcity.


Led Zeppelin II...unlike most mono promos, this isn't simply a left channel blended with the right channel mono but has actually been specifically remastered using the CSG process, exclusively for AM radio stations. This was done because the lead vocals & instruments would often sound too loud when heard played back in mono. When the left and right channels were simply added together, the lead vocals or instruments, being equal in level on both channels, would add up to be 3 decibels louder than the mix in Stereo, so the CSG [Compatible Stereo Generator] process was used to neutralise this effect & create a more natural sounding mono from an original stereo master.

TRACKLIST

Jumping Jack Flash- Rolling Stones
Lucifer Sam- Pink Floyd
The Letter- The Box Tops
Rain- The Beatles
The Trip- Donovan
Love Is A Beautiful Thing- The Rascals
She- The Monkees
The Mighty Quinn- Manfred Mann
Wichita Lineman- Glen Campbell
Brief Candles- The Zombies
Substitute- The Who
A Hazy Shade Of Winter- Simon & Garfunkel
21st Century Schizoid Man- King Crimson
White Room- Cream
Whole Lotta Love- Led Zeppelin
To Sir With Love- Lulu


Have a great, one-channel weekend!

zip

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great work.

dogbreath said...

Being as ancient as I am, my first 45s and LPs were all mono recordings & even later stereo versions were mono to me as they were played on single fixed speaker record players like my beloved Dansette (which I wish I still had judging by the price they now fetch). Anyway, it's a warm & fuzzy feeling weekend mix down memory lane, for which many thanks. May your weekend be as good as you want it to be - but not better than mine - cheers!

Ccjctwo said...

Mono, quad or 5.1 - this looks like a great mix!
I'll bite, what's a fold-down?

Sal Nunziato said...

The paragraph below "explained below" Charlie.

Christine said...

Love this mix! Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I always go for the mono versions of re-releases, they're the ones the artists cared about because no one could/did listen in stereo.... thanks very much for this!

Anonymous said...

Ah Sal

Memories Memories when life was so much simpler and music was a 7 inch black vinyl

Regards


Rhod

A walk in the woods said...

Damn, looks like a GREAT mix - thank Sal! Nothing beats mono...

iggy said...

Love that mono, Sal. Kinda reminds me of my Dad's '58 DeSoto. Now THAT was a car! All the best,

Iggy

Anonymous said...

May I second that emotion: THX a lot! Best, The Chairman

ken49 said...

The mono mixes do seem to have a more punch in the gut feel to them. There are songs on here that I am tired from over the years listening but sound surprisingly fresh and alive. Thanks

Sal Nunziato said...

"There are songs on here that I am tired from over the years listening but sound surprisingly fresh and alive."


Ken49, that's what I was hoping for, so thanks.

Gene Oberto said...

I really get into these mono mixes including the Beatles mono singles. But why do I? Why does Pink Floyd, the kings of multi-channel delivery, sound so great in mono?

While doing the laundry, I had this question bouncing in the brain when, I had this thought. It may be that this is the way I heard these songs, in mono, the first time. Could it sound better because this is the way I memorized them?

Ex-users of hard drugs say the reason they take more and more of their drug of choice because they can never recreate the first high. Is music the same way? Do we stay with it with the passion this group does because we are constantly trying to recreate the first time we heard the opening chord of "Hard Day's Night?"

I took away a few thoughts in listening to the set. One they sure leaned on the bottom end. Every bass is right out front. Of course, those cardboard speakers in the family car could be shrill.

Bill Wyman on Jumping Jack Flash is amazing. He's original and imaginative and I continue to believe that Mick, Keith and Charlie never recovered from Bill's leaving.

The Rascals were amazingly good and it's unfortunate that outside the tri-state they are not appreciated as much as they should be. This is a band that should have ONLY recorded in mono.

Thanks for this one.