"Dusty in Memphis" in mono on HDtracks?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Joshua277456, Oct 25, 2014.

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  1. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    HDtracks is offering her 1969 album "Dusty in Memphis" in mono on their site:

    http://www.hdtracks.com/dusty-in-memphis-mono-182674

    Does anybody know if this is a fold-down or are at least some of the tracks distinct mono mixes?

    I'd be interested in buying the album from HDtracks if I had some more info on it but it literally says nothing about the recording/mixing process. I can't even find a way to contact anybody at HDtracks. They have no "contact us" link. No email, telephone number, nothing. I couldn't even find any contact info on their facebook page.

    The only thing I could gather, according to Wikipedia, was that the album was recorded in September 1968 at American Sound Studios
     
  2. ottoman79

    ottoman79 Forum Resident

    I know this album had mono singles, but I have never seen a mono mix of the LP. That makes this very interesting.
     
  3. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Do you remember which singles were originally released in mono? Do you know if they were distinct mono mixes?
     
  4. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Mono singles:

    "Son Of A Preacher Man" b/w "Just A Little Lovin'"
    "Don't Forget About Me" b/w "Breakfast In Bed"
    "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore" b/w "The Windmills Of Your Mind"
    "In The Land Of Make Believe" b/w "So Much Love"

    They are on the 2002 "Dusty In Memphis" Mercury reissue - 063 297-2. The album tracks are horribly de-noised, the bonus mono singles escaped the processing (these were transferred from US tapes by Rhino and sound untouched).

    They sound like folds to me.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2014
    crispi likes this.
  5. Easy-E

    Easy-E Forum Resident

    They sound like folds to me too.

    Did Atlantic release any true mono LP's in 1969? (or folds?)
     
  6. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    The only thing I could find was on discogs.com, a 1969 New Zealand release (Philips ‎– BY 844238) that, on the label, says "stereo also plays mono"
     
  7. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Just the singles. The album tracks are stereo but sound like crap.
     
  8. Remy

    Remy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    There's a Mercury version that contains most of the album in mono which all suffer from the usual sins of her recordings, but I like it (and its cheap)
     
    Simon A likes this.
  9. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Oh, my bad on that. Didn't realize what you were saying.
     
    Mal likes this.
  10. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    What exactly do you mean by her unusual sins of her recordings? I know some of her recordings are very sibilant

    Also, which Mercury version are you referring to?
     
  11. Remy

    Remy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    The 19 track 2002 version with the last 8 tracks being in mono (which I'm listening to right now). Noticeable hiss. But like I said, I like it anyway. And course, its cheap.
     
  12. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Many of her earlier hits have the AM radio compression sound, but there are some good CD masterings (insert search engine link here) that retain the "murk and goosh" and although they can never be considered high fidelity, they are highly enjoyable and a pleasant listen.
     
    rxcory and Remy like this.
  13. MartinR

    MartinR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm, Sweden
    I found this (old) post. So, dedicated or fold down? Anyone know?
     
  14. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    The mono tracks are fine for what they are but the stereo portion is heavily de-noised (Gary Moore details his history mastering this album over the years in the booklet). His earlier mastering attempt in 1990 (Philips 846 252-2) is a little less severely filtered but comparison with the Rhino (R2 75580) shows how much noise filtering has been applied. It's a hissy master but it sounds great to me without the filtering/NR. Perhaps it's a little bright and thin (it's Rhino, afterall) but it's the best I've heard for this album on CD.
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2014
    Simon A likes this.
  15. Remy

    Remy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    Dusty's voice always kills me. But the more I listen to Dusty in Memphis, the more I love Jerry Wexler.
     
    Simon A and Mal like this.
  16. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, too.

    :love:
     
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  17. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    This promo 45 for "Son Of A Preacher Man" sounds like a fold to me. Same as the one on the 2002 CD but this 45 sounds like it has some compression added.

     
  18. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Best sounding version of Memphis I've encountered is the stereo HDTracks. Others like the SACD, but I find it suffers from the same problems as the NoNoised UK remaster from around 2000 - they conquered the hiss by chopping off the high-end (although more artfully, and they re-equalized the rest to try and compensate).

    I have both the mono mixes from the old UK remaster AND the HDTracks mono. No contest - the HDTracks version is superior. More hiss, but much more presence, and cleaner/stronger bass. Might be slightly compressed - certainly reads as louder. But the UK mono sounds NoNoised to me - either that or heavily equalized to zap the treble. Feh.

    Mixes strike me as identical or almost identical to the stereo versions. I'd get the HDTracks stereo version first. I'd avoid that awful UK remaster.

    I now have more versions of DiM than any other record in my collection - 5 are loitering around on my hard drive, and the 6th - the original Rhino master from the '90s - I had but gave away to friends...
     
    Remy likes this.
  19. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    The mono singles on the 2002 CD sound about the same hiss-wise to folding the 1999 Rhino except that the EQ is a little fuller on the Mercury - sounds a little better to me.

    I'd be surprised if the mono digital tapes referred to in the 2002 booklet weren't just folds made from the Rhino CD master. They sound identical except for a little level shift and EQ (Mercury is quiter and less thin, tonally).

    How does the mono HDTracks compare to a fold of the stereo HDTracks? Identical?
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2014
  20. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Okay, regardless of which remasters sound better, are any mono tracks from the album distinct? And which remaster, if any, have the original, distinct mono mixes?
     
  21. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Dunno. Haven't tried. The mix sounds almost identical to my ear, so I'd imagine it's a fold, but one done back in the '60s of the stereo mix to create the original mono.
     
  22. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    Why would HDtracks use a folddown?
     
  23. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    I suppose the difference in tone between the monos on the UK Mercury CD and the stereo on the Rhino could be because of transfers of vintage folds being sent from Rhino to the UK.

    I thought perhaps they just folded the flat CD transfer they had of the stereo master without the 'Rhinophonic' mastering moves. However, it would make more sense that these mono tracks are off original mono masters (albeit folded from the stereo masters by the sound of them). Otherwise, why re-issue them at all?

    Anyone hear anything to suggest these are dedicated mono?
     
  24. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I've never read anything about a separate mono mix being done for DiM. By that point ('69) I think it was becoming commonplace to do the stereo mix first. It would certainly be cheaper to do a single mix and then just fold to a mono master for AM radio...
     
    Nick Dunning likes this.
  25. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    If Atlantic have an original mono LP master then it's a valid release, I guess - like the vintage Beatles Capitol folds (not the screw-ups!).
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
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