Other sources for Elvis Presley "reprocessed stereo" songs

I know that the "reprocessed stereo" AKA "electronic stereo" versions of the early Elvis Presley albums get universally panned. And yet, there are still people out there who prefer these versions and are willing to shell out "the big bucks" for the privilege of having these versions on CD - and no, I don't think this is just completest and collectors who are buying these CD's. I think there is a niche market for people who actually prefer the reprocessed stereo versions.

And I am one of those people. IMO, Elvis sounds "larger than life" and "otherworldly" on the reprocessed stereo CD's. They just sound more fun and "exciting" to me. The mono versions sound "flat" to me compared with the stereo versions. I happen to like this kind of sound, and I certainly understand I am in the minority.

I'm certainly not out to convince anybody that the stereo versions are better. My purpose for this thread is to point like-minded people in the right direction who are in search of a CHEAP, easy and legal way of getting reprocessed stereo versions of the Elvis Presley songs on CD.

On another forum, I found this information. Apparently, there were four Elvis Presley albums released on CD in reprocessed stereo (actually five, including time-life's "Great hits of 56-57"). Those CD's are:

1.) ELVIS PRESLEY (1st Album CD) Made in Japan for USA. This CD had also the Original Cat. number
2.) ELVIS (2nd Album CD) Made in Japan for USA. This CD had also the Original Cat. number
3.) GOLDEN RECORDS Made in Japan for USA. This CD had also the Original Cat. number
4.) GOLD RECORDS Vol.2 Made in Japan for USA. This CD had also the Original Cat. number

Now, in the mid 1980's, beginning around 1985, there were several companies that release a plethora of Elvis Presley compilations legally, due to a loophole in the copyright law. These are NOT pirates or bootlegs. Many of these labels apparently used the same source. Most of these compilation CD's - for the most part - used reprocessed stereo versions of the early Elvis songs sourced from vinyl.

Using these widely available and inexpensive CD's, you can create your own "reprocessed stereo" versions of the above albums (with maybe just very few exceptions where you may have to substitute a mono version). The CD's that I am referring to can be seen by following this link. Now, I cannot guarantee you that all of the CD's contain the reprocessed stereo versions - but I happen to know that many of them DO.... here you go:

http://www.elvisoncd.com/

Click on "Various Elvis CD's" for a full list. This list contains many CD's known to contain reprocessed stereo versions of the songs on the above referenced four albums. If you're further interested in "known CD's" of this ilk that contain the reprocessed stereo versions, I am currently working on a list. Inquire in this thread.

 

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Fake stereo is an ugly, evil thing, a blight on the face of humanity, and the scourge of good sound.

Give me real mono anytime. I don't dispute that there are people that got used to the sound of fake stereo; that's all I had to listen to for about 10-15 years when I started collecting Beach Boys LPs around 1970. The real monos were a revelation, once the (correct) CDs came out. And I also enjoy some -- but not all -- of the recent stereo remixes.

But that phasey, echoey, EQ'd-to-death stuff just makes my back molars hurt. It's a free country, and you have the right to enjoy them if that's what you're used to hearing.

 

Yeah... like I said, I know I'm in the minority - I just wanted to post this information for the small group of people who are interested in "reprocessed stereo" - in which I have been intensely interested in for a very long time. I just wanted people to know that there are - indeed - cheap and legal sources for digital sources of these songs available without paying $400 a piece for the RCA CD's.

 

I grew up on the two fake stereo Golden Records. Otherworldly indeed. Still fun to play once in awhile.

 

I heard the first album in reprocessed stereo recently when I accidentally bought a japanese vinyl re-issue. Sounds awful and I doubt I'll ever play it again.

 

There are fake stereo tracks on the "Stereo" disc of the 50 Worldwide Gold Award Hits 2 CD set as well as some true stereo and some mono.

 

Thank you for this - this is just the type of information I'm trying to get out in this thread. Care to identify the reprocessed stereo tracks?

 

Thank you for the agreement about the sound.

 

Rechanneled, murky garbage! Why? Why? Sounds which are painful to listen to. Can't be folded to mono either. Garbage like this forced me to buy 45 RPM Gold Standard reissues, which blows those rechanneled abominations into the next planet.

 

You just have to listen to this disc for yourself and you will notice but you can ask at bsnpubs.websitetoolbox.com and Mike Callahan will post the info.

 

Well that's one viewpoint.

 

I admit I am interested as well even though I still have the processed stereo vinyls, I don't have any of that stuff on cd. I much prefer the mono myself, those 60s stereo wannabes were pretty bad. But I was kind of used to them too, and just for collecting purposes a few of those would be nice to hear again (since my turntable is not currently set up).

 

I apologize in advance if this has been covered before, but I did a couple searches in the past and haven't come up with any definitive answers...in the mid-1980s RCA started releasing "restored to original mono" versions of the early Elvis albums. I remember reading at the time though, that RCA apparently had trashed the mono master tapes and these versions had to somehow be reconstructed or extracted from the fake stereo versions -- and just thinking about it, I can't imagine how on earth they did it. Can anyone shed some light?

I, too, remember the fake stereo Elvis from back then, and it might be fun to hear again some time but they would not be my "go-to" versions.

 

Can anyone confirm, or deny this?

 

I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is the first four RCA Japan-for-USA CD's were not from the 1962 rechanneled stereo masters. The LP's were drenched in delay and echo, whereas the CD's have a milder bass-treble filtering. I was a bit disappointed when I first obtained the first pressing CD of Elvis' Golden Records, since I was anticipating the same sound that was on the LP's that were pressed from 1962 through 1985.

 

Come to think of it, the first CD-R needledrop I ever did was the reprocessed Elvis Golden Records.

 

if you go here.... http://www.elvisrecords.us/sitemap/ about 25 records down in the LP section you will find th 6 records re-released in re-channeled stereo. I have most of them on vinyl. HTH

 

I'm agnostic, but "God" himself agrees with you. It was Satan who ran the record companies that came up with the greedy public-duping-for-money concept of fake "stereo".

I have both the Mono and phony "stereo" releases of the first "Elvis' Golden Records" (the mono bought in the early 1960s, the farcical "stereo" given to me by a person smarter than I). Stick to the mono, or find yourself with a free one-way ticket to Hades.

 

I was raised on the first Elvis album in stereo. That is what I want to hear.

About 2 months ago, I found a reprocessed stereo CD of that first album in the used bins. Mint for $6.

But, I would agree, it doesn't sound the same as the vinyl I remember. Still glad to have it though.

 

"Not Now" label released a 2-disc set in 2009 (UK) with 4 early Elvis albums on it.

"King Creole" is in stereo in the reprocessed kind of way.

It sounds like what the OP is looking for.

 

Hmmm, the old Harry Belafonte Calypso CD has exactly the same type of reprocessing RCA used in the early 1960s.

 

The Elvis double LP of greatest hits from 1973 (the RCA Special Products TV mail order album) is full-on reprocessed echoey fake stereo, correct?

 

I heard an 8-track tape of that in a friend's house, and to me it sounded very different from the 1962 reprocessing. It seemed actually tolerable, just more echo. But my memory could be playing tricks on me.

 

There are no ERS selections on WWGAH V1 2-CD set. CD 1 is all mono (some selections are LP versions with added echo and compression like I Was The One). CD 2 is mostly stereo except for these mono selections: Return To Sender, Where Do You Come From?, One Broken Heart For Sale, Bossa Nova Baby, Devil In Disguise, If I Can Dream and Don't Cry Daddy. Even though it is noted in the insert that all of CD 2 is stereo, they made a mistake.

A LOT of people think the original 1989 issues on CD of For LP Fans Only and A Date With Elvis are ERS. They are not. Even on the original mono LPs these songs had extra reverb and compression compared to the 45 single and 45 EP masters. In 1965, these two LPs were issued in ERS finally making available ALL 9 LPs from the 1950s in ERS. The mono versions of these LPs were discontinued around 1969.

So the original CD versions of For LP Fans Only and A Date With Elvis used the extra reverb and compression as on the original Mono LPs. Furthermore there are 3 CD issues of Elvis For Everyone, depending on which one you get, a few songs are featured in ERS.

I also understood that the "Restored To Mono" 50th anniversary LPs and CDs of Elvis Presley, Elvis, Elvis' Golden Records and Elvis' Gold Records V2 were mono reconstructed from ERS. (they just happen to be the very same 4 titles that were initially accidently released in ERS on CD) Maybe so? However, thankfully, all the RCA mono masters from the 50s have been found since then! Even back in 1955/56 many of the Sun sides had to be mastered from 78s and 45s by RCA as RCA either did not receive or soon lost many of the Sun magnetic tapes.

Off the top of my head, the original stereo LPs that contained ERS versions of song were:
Elvis For Everyone---Sound Advice, When It Rains It Really Pours, Your Cheatin' Heart, Tomorrow Night.
Elvis' Gold Records V4---Ain't That Loving You Baby.

Of course both 4-LP sets of WWGAH had ALL the songs in mono (unlike the CD versions of these two sets)

 

And if you continue just a bit further, you will see the remaining 3 1950s LPs were also released in ERS.