I'm looking to make a list of true mono versions of albums vs folds. Such as : John Wesley Harding - US true mono - UK fold Satanic Majesties Request - US true mono - UK fold (apart from the uncommon 1P/P1 first issue) Bookends - US true mono - UK fold Sweetheart of the Rodeo - US true mono - UK fold That sort of thing. If there is already a thread on this feel free to direct me to it!
A complex subject and hard to organize on a thread like this. 'Generally' UK pressings of US recorded artists in the mid to late 60's are fold downs. I believe they were typically sent a stereo copy tape, which they could master as stereo or fold it to mono when cutting lacquers. Apparently plenty of folds occurred. An occasional forum member from Sweden has an interesting site discussing this subject in some detail at: http://monolover.blogspot.com/
People were unsure if the mono mix of Dr John - Babylon (now available as a Hi-Res download) was a fold down or not.
Ah ! Thanks James - will have a good look at that I was hoping to compile this list though to help 'new-to-mono' collectors avoid any potential buyers remorse by getting a fold vs the real thing.
I have some UK mono Sinatra albums on Capitol from (presumably) the 1950s or early 1960s, and they use the true mono recordings as opposed to the stereo. This would suggest that, at some point at least, EMI in the UK wanted mono masters from the US. I wonder if the situation varies by label, year, or a combination of both.
I found a promo of BLIND FAITH at my local indie a couples months ago. It's mint except the promo sticker fell off so I reproduced it. A little research here I found it's mono and a fold down for AM radio play (and quite rare). It's a tinny listen and actually a bit fatiguing but it was never meant for modern stereo equipment.
Yes Im thinking that as the years went by EMI and CBS (for example) either only asked for the stereos and folded them or were only given the stereos by the US label(s). Up to around '66 there are true mono's by Dylan (BoB) on CBS then folds for JWH (and Nashville Skyline which is a fold in the US as well). The BB - well Pet Sounds is supposed to be true mono but the jury is still sort of out on that but Wild Honey, Friends and 20/20 are folds. So the year is '68 or thereabouts and at least 2 labels were doing it.
Are you sure there is a true mono mix of "Sweetheart"??? Never heard of it. I thought "Notorious Byrd Brothers", released in January 1968, was the last dedicated mono mix. "Sweetheart" was released in August 1968, a bit late for mono albums. According to my brief internet research, the album was only released in stereo in the US. The UK mono is a fold-down, obviously. The tracks released as singles are dedicated mono mixes, of course.
Aftermath: US fold - UK true Between the Buttons US true, UK unsure? Satanic Majesties: US true, UK true (1st pressing), fold (later pressings)
There's definitely no true mono mix of Sweetheart of the Rodeo, it was only released in mono in the UK and it was a fold. Does anyone know if the UK Songs of Leonard Cohen mono a fold-down?
The same theme also holds for some UK mono mixes that only saw fold-down mono mixes in the US, mostly as promos, such as the Bee Gees' "idea".
OK so we have now: John Wesley Harding - US true mono - UK fold Satanic Majesties Request - US true mono - UK fold (apart from the uncommon 1P/P1 first issue) Bookends - US true mono - UK fold Monkees - US true mono - UK fold Wild Honey - US true mono - UK ?? And our first from the other way around: Bee Gees - UK true mono - US fold and off the list: Sweetheart of the Rodeo - US stereo only - UK fold
Darn it - another off the list. So really there are only a few and it seems that the the UK monos of the post 67 US releases seem to be folds of those stand alone stereo releases.
Huge and interesting subject with no easy answers. Just a few thoughts. The reason US SMR mono only came with the take one mix is it was never reissued there while UK Decca continued to press monos way into 1970 and post 1967 mostly used folds. And as I've seen the UK "1P" is still more common as monos slowly was phased out there and "T2" sold less. It seems the UK habit of folding instead of releasing true US mixes mainly was used by a couple of labels as Columbia/CBS and sometimes Elektra, but to my experience not by Atlantic or Tamla Motown. I also think it's important to point out that sometimes a fold is more that just a straight reduction. Some are treated with more (or less) compression or limiting, making the listening experience totally different and not always to the worse. For some thin or badly panned stereos a fold actually works better to the ear. Two exemples where I prefer a fold over original stereo are Zappa's "Ruben And The Jets" and Savoy Brown "Raw Sienna". Kindly/Erik
A simple alphabetized list everyone could contribute what is sure mono or fold and their locations would be nice. A dodgy matter to first take on, but it would probably work itself out over time. Now...who will pick up the baton and run with it? Certainly not me...or you.
I can add a few. UK Buffalo Springfield Again - not fold UK Leonard Cohen 1:st - don't have the US mono anymore, but remeber that sounded bigger and clearer so - probably fold UK Doors Strange Days - fold Back with more later...
I have a UK mono Songs of Leonard Cohen. It is definitely true mono. It has the ragtime band mixed WAY forward in Sisters of Mercy. Is there a US mono promo of Songs From a Room? That's what I want to know, I've seen UK monos.
