New "Psychedeilc Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators" CD

Any thoughts on the new Fuel 2000 reissue of The Psychedeilc Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators? The old Collectables version was typically wretched, I got rid of it almost immediately.

Granted that this album may never sound good on CD, but is there any improvement?

 

How does the mono mix compare to the stereo? I've always heard it's much better.

Chris

 

Well, I'm not sure...half of the Collectibles version sounded like it was reprocessed, is there even a true stereo version of this album?

The only thing I've been able to compare is that every stereo version I've ever heard of "You're Gonna Miss Me" starts with what sounds like mangled tape on the first note. The mono version on Rhino's Nuggets box has a clean intro.

 

You're Gonna Miss Me has always been a mono only mix, however it usually gets reissued as rechanneled garbage. The IA catalog is a mess to put it mildly, and who knows where everything/anything is master tapewise. If I'm not mistaken, the Psychedelic Sounds lp came in true stereo except for You're Gonna Miss Me (and 13th Floor devotees swear by the mono mix for the entire lp). The Nuggets box certainly has the best sounding YGMM currently out there (mono, naturally, which is a verrry good thing in this case - Bill Inglot musta sold his soul for finding a decent source)...

 

So I guess the question is, which version is on the Fuel 2000 disc, mono or stereo?

Or, is there ANY decent sounding CD of this title anywhere in the world?

 

I don't have the Fuel 2000 Psychedelic Sounds cd; I have the Absolutely the Best set and it's not a sonic treat (rechanneled stuff, nothing sounds like it's from a master tape). I'd search out a store and give it a listen on a listening station - buyer beware when dealing with International Artists material...

 

The mono is the way to go with this album. Period. I have heard it once and it was balsy and sounded every bit the monster it is. The stereo is bad sounding. Problem is - it is one of the greatest LP's ever recorded. (next to "Easter Everywhere")

Now I am curious...mono or stereo for the Fuel2000?

 

This smacks of the old Life commercial: "I'm not gonna try it - you try it! - Hey, let's get Mikey"!!! I don't like the album enough to be a guinea pig - nothing comes close to the insanity/intensity of You're Gonna Miss Me. I wonder if Bill I. found a mono copy of it in the Hanna-Barberra tapes...

 

I remember, some years back, sitting over a pal's house, and we were listening to his import Radar records of "Psychedelic Sounds" and "Easter Everywhere," (they came out about '79) and we thought we heard tape drop outs in some of the songs, but over all I thought the Radars were better than my dodgy '60's pressing of "sounds", which was harsh and practically unlistenable.

Then, I saw this post:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=94801&highlight=andrew+lauder#post94801

So's the Radars were needledrops...but maybe there were dropouts on the original albums? I wish I could give those Radars a good listen to...
I'm not getting my hopes up for a quality reissue.

 

I don't have it (just like everyone else here), but I'd like to mention that Fuel rarely innovates in any way (see their recent, very-retread reissue of Ogden's Nut), so their disc probably isn't an improvement.

 

How to get the good stuff

The original pressings are the only way to get the non-processed stereo mixes and they are very good. I've never found a re-issued LP or CD with these correct mixes, everything is that crappy enhanced "Radar" stuff.
There are now albums (bootleg I guess) of the mono pressings and they are very good. Finally you can sign up at the Texas Psychedelic group on Yahoo and they offer CD copies of some of this stuff and more, with the money going to Roky. How can you beat that and their cheap too, 3 bucks a disc?

 

I've got the orginal releases by the Elevators on vinyl , I grew up in Texas -listening to these guys and another Tx group the Bubble Puppy.
I think the best releases on cd are on the original Charly label(UK). Charley Ltd. own the rights to their catalog overseas.I've
listened to the Collectibles releases and they sound horrible. I believe the Charley releases are still available overseas . I buy and sell stuff on a p/t basis and have a good feedback rating on Ebay(80). If you can't find these on the net somewhere ,let me know and I'll check my contacts overseas.
txguitar