Are all of Nat 'King' Cole's Capitol's albums presented in mono and stereo? Are any exclusively stereo releases? Are any of the early releases exclusively mono? Are all of the mono albums true mono, i.e. did the label at any point just record Cole in stereo and produce 'fold down' mono versions of his albums? Are all of Cole's stereo releases true stereo, and are all fake stereo versions such as "duophonic" or "electronically reprocessed stereo" clearly marked as such on the record covers?
All of Nat King Cole's albums were available in real mono. IIRC, the first stereo LP was "Just One of Those Things" from 1957. All the fake stereo LP's are clearly marked.
Love is the Thing, from 1956, was his first stereo Lp. Everything before it was mono, some of which was repackaged in the mid 60s, getting the dreaded duophonic treatment. From Love is the Thing on, all albums were recorded simultaneously to mono and 3-track.
No. No. Yes. All albums prior to and including After Midnight were recorded in mono only. The first stereo album was Love Is The Thing in 1956 (being his first recorded with the new stereo setup at the then-new Tower). All albums after After Midnight with the exception of the mono-only Cole Espanol (1958) were simultaineously recorded in dedicated mono and stereo. Of course, stereo was only available on open reel tapes until the first stereo LPs in 1958; therefore the original LPs of Love Is The Thing (1956) and Just One of Those Things (1957) were mono only with a stereo edition issued later on. These two early stereo albums have a few quirks. Two of the Love Is The Thing tracks weren't recorded in stereo due to technical problems. In the case of Just One of Those Things, the stereo and mono editions have a couple of tracks which used portions of different takes. I suggest early mono editions for those two particularly, ignoring the Capitol stereo LPs (and CDs) in favor of Steve's (fantastic!) releases of 'em. All original mono releases were true dedicated mono recordings, never fold-downs. This was still the case up to the time of his last session in '64. Yes. All marked as "Full Dimensional Stereo" are true dedicated stereo, while any fake stereo versions are marked as Duophonic (and of course those are to be avoided if sound is any concern). A few more notes. The difference isn't just a mix. These weren't recorded to multi-track and then mixed to stereo or mono. They were recorded with two sets of mic arrays, sharing Nat's mic. Stereo and mono recordings in the '50s differ more than they tended to from some point in 1960, when the stereo and mono setups were merged into the same recording booth. Generally the mono should be considered definitive as far as representing producer intended sound, balances etc, while the stereo can be considered an alternative perspective that, particularly when well mixed and mastered such as when Steve does 'em, can be wonderful in their own right. This applies to other Capitol recordings of the '50s and '60s including Sinatra, not just Nat. Some of the non-album Nat sessions from 1957 on were also recorded in stereo. If there's any more questions I'll be happy to elaborate if I can.
There is a stereo re-make for the 1961 The Nat King Cole Story, recorded March 23, 1961. It has been put on other compilations since, but others will have to name them.
I am not at all a fan of those 1961 stereo re-makes. Cole's voice by then had taken on a huskier quality, and the rhythm section lacks the punch of the originals, probably because of mushy stereo miking and/or mixing.
My goodness. Have you heard Steve's gorgeous remixes on Analogue Productions' release of The Nat King Cole Story on SACD or LP? Like you, for many of his earlier hits I prefer the original versions to the stereo remixes just because those are the versions I grew up with, but for home listening the stereo re-recordings are sublime. The backing ranges from sweet strings to the band that packs a wallop, and Nat's voice is still in excellent shape (this album was recorded up through 1961, although sadly by around '64 his voice did start to sound pretty shredded).
I'm with @ShockControl in terms of the performance preference, but sonically, those 1961 recordings are fan-tabulous (IMO), and the performances are still excellent....just not quite as good as the originals (to me).
Sorry for the thread crap... What's amazing to me is the fidelity that the Nat King Cole Trio was recorded in.... Mosaic put out a box set (now long out-of-print -- I just paid $350 for a sealed copy) of these recordings direct from the Capitol masters and it's amazing what great sound they had. I couldn't believe that what I was listening to was recording in 1942 (especially when compared to the very marginal sound of such artists as Frank Sinatra on Columbia). If you want a great cheap sampling of these magnificent recordings (as well as a compilation of ALL of the Nat King Cole Trio's recordings PRIOR to Capitol (they were on Decca U.S. and some other small labels), there's a $17 10 CD box set available on Amazon that sounds great.... Nat King Cole - Nat King Cole - Amazon.com Music » What's amazing about the Trio recordings is how accessible they are. Beautiful vocals by a young Nat King Cole and incredible improvisational work by the Trio.
