Valid points. Stereo was still considered experimental technology in the early 1960s, although the albums I'm referring to were recorded and issued several years after Capitol released successful mixes to stereo with the vocals in the center channel where they belong. As Steve mentioned above, it's possibly due to a conflict of interest between the marketing and engineering department of the time. That seems to be the most plausible explanation. It would be nice to get actual remixes of classic material, although most reissues don't want to seem to go to the trouble of locating the original session tapes. For many labels, the session tapes no longer exist, and for others they are misplaced or mislabeled. I would imagine that it is cost prohibitive and time consuming to locate the originals or safety copies for less than only the most ambitious reissue projects.
It shone for a while, but then rain poured all over it once more: I just went to post something there, and found it closed again. (No big deal, though; I'll probably post what I had in mind eventually, whenever the same topic is brought up.)
Here is Peggy Lee inside Capitol's LA record plant. The year is 1948. Anyone cares to identify or comment about the machinery?
So happy to have just picked up a copy of I Like Men! Mono (Pure Pleasure vinyl) mastered by Mr. Hoffman and KG - sounds wonderful - I am a sucker for Capitol Studio recordings esp. from the 50s. Ah those amazing reverb chambers and the sound of tubes everywhere!
Thanks for corroborating that it is mono. I assumed that it was, but, for a long time I have been waiting to hear confirmation from an actual owner. Most of the other versions of the album out there are in stereo. For that reason, this mono album comes with a couple of extra bonuses: two of the tracks are alternates issued only in the mono editions. Though naturally very similar, I feel that both mono-only takes are better than the ones found in the stereo editions.
I've just picked up a mint mid 80s UK vinyl reissue of The Man I Love and am amazed at how much better it sounds than the UK original, which never impressed me. I'm enjoying this album for the first time. The original is so muffled I couldn't get into it. This 80s pressing has presence and detail I'd never noticed before. The mid 80s UK and French reissues of Capitol albums do seem to consistently sound excellent and have no surface noise. I highly recommend them to anybody struggling to find nice condition originals.
I'm finding myself gravitating towards 50s Capitol a lot. Wanda Jackson, Gene Vincent, Peggy, Nat 'King' Cole, Sinatra, June Christy, Dakota Staton. This could be the peak of recorded sound to me. It just sounds beautiful. Some of the stereo mixes from the 60s are dreadful though. I have Peggy's If You Go and I'm A Woman in stereo. I really don't know what they were thinking. Peggy's voice hard panned in one channel for the entire albums. The recording quality is still excellent, which makes them more frustrating. Both excellent albums though.
Now I have to go to my collection and see if I have those in mono. The rule, when you are in a used record store trying to choose between mono and a stereo copy, is: always buy the mono (even if the stereo is in better condition)
Just wanted to alert any "vinyl lover" not yet in the know: just about each and every one of those 1980s French-British reissues of Capitol albums sounds great. A long thread about them can be found here: Pathe-Marconi mid-80s Capitol LP reissues » The front covers of these LPs are very similar to the originals, and hence not easy to distinguish. The back covers or the vinyl itself are far better options. Sometimes, though, as in the case of If You Go, there is some noticeable difference. Check it out (British, American, French-1980s): The series came not only on vinyl but also on cassettes, which sound great as well:
That's the one. I can imagine that it is rare in the UK due to it's age. It's probably one of the earliest vinyl albums released in Britain. I got it cheap though. I was the only bidder for only £3 on eBay. Great for me but seems a shame too. Sugar and Spice is hard to find in the UK as that was US only, I found out recently. I have a US original of that one. I've been reading the Pathe Marconi Capitol 80s reissues thread. Very interesting. I'll have to look out for the Julie London - Lonely Girl reissue as that did not get released in the UK originally. There's quite a lot of those reissues I'd like. I love the sound on them.
It's a very well done series. The only Julie London title I have from that batch is Around Midnight, but you can hear some audio from my transfer of that LP here: JULIE LONDON Album By Album: 1960 - 1961 / Julie At Home to Whatever Julie Wants. » Oh, and I'll also vouch for the high quality on the 1980s EMI (or was it Pathe -- I forget) LP of Peggy's The Man I Love LP, which I bought new upon its release. It's very well mastered, IMO.
Great stuff. I don't have Around Midnight either. I got that pressing of Peggy's The Man I Love a couple of days ago. The sound quality is a revelation compared to the UK original. Listening to Peggy - In The Name of Love as I type this. Beautiful.
Today, I went off on a drive to an old village that had once been a mineral water spa in the 1800's, but has since deteriorated and been abandoned. There was an old Inn there that had recently been shut down by local officials supposedly for code violations (he used extension cords, as every household does), but mostly because he was an eccentric who did not get along with the new mayor. His eccentricity was expressed by the lobby and public rooms being crammed with odd antiques and ephemera, including a Victrola, and some stacks of 10 inch LPs. I spotted a 10 inch LP original of Peggy Lee's greatest masterpiece, and her first concept album - Black Coffee (the 8 song original). When I commented about the very special quality of the album, he told me to take it. I did give him some good money, as I prize the first editions of such masterpieces. The original cover was different from the 12 inch and CD cover, most notably for the cigarette holder, but also "common" dinnerware. This was a very cool find, and extremely special to me. The owner who was being driven out of business appreciated my comments in support of him against overbearing local inspectors who obviously had a grudge against him. This album (April & May, 1953 - issued shortly afterward) was one of the small handful of major masterpieces in the history of jazz/pop vocals. It is every bit as important and influential as any of Sinatra's early concept albums. P.S. This image is the UK Brunswick cover, not my Decca cover, otherwise identical)
For what is worth, the Capitol Jazz CD version of Sugar 'n' Spice is pretty good. (It was produced by Michael Cuscuna, of Mosaic Records.) It has the added advantage of including the entire album sessions, which means that you get three bonus tracks, none of them on the LP. One had been previously available only on a 45 and another is this previously unissued track (though it sounds far better on the CD itself):
The Lee Estate is still alive and litigious. They no like it, it get shelved. ...move away from the mixing board NOW! My opinion, but probably close to the truth.
