Beach Boys Pet Sounds Quandary: Original 1966 mono version or modern stereo remix?*

Excellent. Can you help me arrange a substantial bank loan to pay for a copy? This OOP limited-edition gold CD costs more than its weight in gold.

 

Per http://www.stevehoffman.tv/dhinterviews/HoffLesson2.htm

Audio Class With Professor Hoffman:

Lesson 2: Remixing

Why doesn’t DCC use the new stereo versions of things like Pet Sounds? In fact, since you sometimes get original multi-tracks, why don’t you remix them to make things sound better?

"I hear all the time, ''Well, Pet Sounds is great, but it's in mono, why don't you use a stereo mix?' No. Brian Wilson was standing there, that's the one (the mono mix) they chose at the time, it was exciting, they were all there,..that 'karma' was on it. That's the real mix. A friend of mine at MCA once told me that anyone who remixes a classic record ought to be shot, and I said, "no, listen to how much louder I can make the drums on this Mama's & Papa's song!" And she rightly argued that the karma of the original mix, no matter how crappy it sounds, is the original mix. Anything else is just jerkin' off. And she's right! Thank you Diana!"
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The fact that they chose that mix is a very compelling argument. Why they chose the mono mix might be a separate discussion.

Even a person who is deaf in one ear can hear "stereo" in their ongoing life of sound and sensation.

Real life isn't mono, it's multi-dimensional, with sounds coming from different angles, with differing volume, providing a complex and varied array of sounds, sensations, and vibrations.

Even if it's not crafted stereo.

Having said that, putting value in the choice of a musician isn't something I would ever find fault in, especially when it comes to Brian Wilson.

Even as I LOVE Pet Sounds in Stereo.

 

I dug out my DCC vinyl (Mono) and reminded myself how of how magical it is. Yes, the Stereo reveals a lot more but it's A DIFFERENT NOT BETTER ANIMAL - I then listened to the Mono Gold DCC CD all the way through just to make sure! I'd forgotten, as much as I like the Stereo a lot, the Mono is more rounded, more complete.

 

I assumed the stereo remix would be the definitive "Pet Sounds". First hearing I thought "Gee that's well done." Second hearing was "Yeah that's cute". There wasn't a complete third hearing: I went back to the mono. Steve Hoffman's "Pet Sounds" is as good as it will ever get.

 

Yes, I do think it's definitely possible for each to have their strengths.

I need to relisten to both the mono and stereo again.

The varied sound colors Brian produces through his choice of instruments and voices may be an important factor in all of this.

I also love Pet Sounds because the music seems to be so in sync with his lyrics and the emotions he's expressing.

The music and lyrics line up so well together.

They fit together in an authentic and powerful manner. They mesh seamlessly with the personal experiences and feelings Brian is sharing with the listeners.

Maybe that translates well to mono as well as stereo somehow.

 

I don't have Steve's Pet Sounds and would never argue against the point you are making.

 

For fans like me who love their vocals, Pet Sounds in stereo steals the show. To be able to hear the background vocals on songs like Wouldn't It Be Nice, Here Today and I Just Wasn't Made For These Times makes the stereo version indispensable and the go-to version for me since it's release in 1997.

 

I immediately knew something was "off" sound wise upon my first listening on my stereo in 1966. It was rather simple to hear that there was infinitely more going on and wasn't hearing the whole deal. 30 years later I packed up my mono copy forever and haven't looked back since. STEREO ALL THE WAY FOR THESE EARS.

 

The re-issused mono version of 'Pet Sounds' on vinyl from the late '70s (catalogue # N 16156; "Mastered by Capitol") is a great sounding alternative to the DCC. [I have no idea what this sells for, today.]

As well, I believe a Kevin Grey remastered vinyl (and SACD) version of this album (and other BB titles) is due later this year.

But yeah ... sellers want crazy money for the DCC versions.

 

Any love for the 70s mono on Reprise?

 

If you can't do duophonic, go for mono. Forget the true stereo, it's revisionist!

 

The 5.1 mix!

 

MFSL SACD is the one.

 

That's my go to version -- I dig it.

 

Mono though I'm a stereo guy.

 

Wow that original speed Caroline No is a debbie downer. Murray was right -

 

Just give him the album cover let him walk about with it, impress friends( or not) get his heart broken and give it a spin .. his soul will thank him.

 

Yeah the stereo brings things out that were buried.

It's a slight murky mono mix. Not exactly perfect. Maybe the machines were noisy or whatever. It's just not a Rubber Soul or Revolver Parlophone mono. (Don't let Brian read that please).

So the stereo finally reveals the layers of the painting. I can't think of another album where the passage of time demanded a stereo mix.

 

To keep you/debbie from getting down, here is an upbeat one from Pet Sounds. (The train at the end of Carolina No beginning at 2:20 (original speed) is a good example of why stereo is so dynamic.)

 

Yes, even as the 2009 stereo Please Please Me CD sounds so much better than the 87 mono Please Please Me.

 

Onom

 

MONO......it's contagious!

 

Music for me is about the songs and the performance. And that's captured on the original multitrack. The mix is just a compromise for the consumer made at some point in time and also sometimes under a lot of limitations.
So I see a later mix not as "revisionism", as long as they do not alter the performance, add or change instruments or vocals.
"Pet Sounds" had so many details and ingredients, that came to daylight with the various later stereo and surround remixes. And that made me really appreciate that album. Before that and before the box "Pet Sounds" for me was a bad sounding album with songs, that sometimes faded out before they really began.

 

Mono. This shouldn't even be up for debate. The Beatles catalog comes up for discussion all the time around here and if you even utter that dirty S word (mind out of the gutter - STEREO!) about their catalog, you will be hung up by your toes, but this? Come on. Give this album some respect too. Brian mixed it in mono and that's how it was intended to be heard. Mono!