Rolling Stones UK vinyl pressing question

I've decided I want to get the U.K. versions of the stones 63-67 catalog on vinyl (preferably original pressings). So from shopping eBay, all the 45s and EPs are pretty affordable and plentiful.

Those first 5 LPs seem to get way more pricey and don't seem to show up as often. (Self titled, no 2, out of our heads, aftermath, between the buttons). I would ideally like to get original presssings of these.

So my question is....if I decided that I didn't wanna shell out for the original pressings, are there any later pressings that are known to sound good that aren't so expensive?

Thanks!!

 

The UK Decca's from the 1970's with the boxed logo all sound great.
I think they may be solid state cut as opposed to the originals which are tube cut, much like the Beatles UK LP's.

Avoid the Stereo "Out of Our Heads" at all costs.
Even though it says Stereo, it is in fact some of the worst sounding simulated Stereo you will ever hear.

 

Well, Decca kept The Stones albums in print up until the 80's and the grey label, so you're in luck.

 

Are these later Decca pressings well regarded sound quality wise?

 

What make model TT arm and Cartridge do you use ?

 

uk MONO's can actually be had quite cheaply as these were pressed in huge numbers, specific rarities have a premium but decent bog standard mono's prior to satanic can be sourced quite cheaply although quality can be a bit of a crap shoot !

 

I'm not finding this to be true, but I've only been trolling for a couple of months. The 45s and EPs seem to go for reasonable prices, but these LPs aren't showing up nearly as often, and seem to go for much more comparitively.

 

Ortofon 2M bronze. Just bought a Denon DP 300F

 

To be honest I would save your money for a better quality TT.

 

early 70's Decca stereo's are very high quality and at least as good as the originals imho, mostly better actually as they usually survive in better condition than the originals

 

in the UK they can go for peanuts under 30 dollars but of course there are the mail costs to add....

 

is the export Decca stereo just as bad ??

 

Lol what in the world are you talking about?

 

Just the usual equipment trolling. It's one of the reasons people are reluctant to fill out their profiles.

 

Yes, it's exactly the same.
There is no proper Stereo mix, just awful fake Stereo.

 

The UK early 70s boxed logo pressings use the same stampers as the unboxed originals and sound the same. They also have the very nice laminated sleeves too. They can be had for a fraction of the price of the unboxed originals. I've just bought those issues of the two UK Decca Them albums on the early 70s boxed labels and these are both of the same high quality, with the same stampers and laminated sleeves. Both in mint condition and only £35 each. First pressings are only from 3-5 years earlier and would sell for hundreds in this condition. I've also found the same with the boxed logo pressings of the Small Faces debut from the early 70s. They are very nice records, pressed on very high quality vinyl.

The only one to avoid on these boxed logo label issues is Out of Our Heads. They only reissued this one in reprocessed stereo in the early 70s and it's not great. It could be a lot worse though. It's still enjoyable. They also slightly tinted the sleeve a light green for some reason. I've no idea why. The black and white original is one of my favourite album covers.

Avoid the late 70s, still on boxed Decca repressings. I had one of Between the Buttons and it was substantially inferior to the original. Very dull and muted sounding in comparison. They also don't have laminated sleeves or as high printing quality. They lack the class of the originals and early 70s pressings, feeling and looking cheaper. If it interests you, they did reissue the three 60s Rolling Stones Decca EPs on 12 inch at this time. They sound great and the original 7 inch versions are very hard to find without a lot of surface noise, wear and crackle.

Best of luck tracking them down. It could take time. The first two albums in the early 70s issues are mono, Out Of Our Heads fake stereo - which is a shame and the rest genuine stereo.

 

The worst thing about this forum, joyless equipment snobs.

 

Even more funny - the dude doesn't even own any audio equipment!

 

Absolutely spot on apart from oooh which was not just released in " stereo " in the early 70's but was released that way at the same time as the mono in 1965.

 

Yeah, I knew about that, luckily there were never fake stereo versions of the first two, the Them albums or the Small Faces albums released at the time, as we would probably ended up with that at the expense of the monos too in the early 70s.

I've never seen an original "stereo" Out Of Our Heads but loads of monos. They must be very scarce.

 

they are very scarce indeed, I wonder why Decca issued a fake stereo version for this, as as you say they thankfully never did it on most other releases.

 

The original UK Out Of Our Heads WAS rinted green from the start. It's the later re-pressings that used the b/w version.

 

I found an original UK Stereo at a car boot sale when I was around 13 years old for £1.50.
I couldn't believe my luck, that was until I put it on the turntable.
Even with my untrained ears, I could tell it sounded like rubbish.

The same applies to the original "Big Hits (High Tide And Green Grass)", dreadful fake Stereo.
Luckily sometime in the early 70's, that was re-issued with True Stereo cuts where possible.

The first 2 UK albums did get the fake Stereo treatment, but those atrocities were only issued on Cassette and 8-track.
Thankfully, they never made it to vinyl.

 

It's All Over Now sounds fantastic on the 70s true stereo Big Hits.

 

Not true, unless extremely few of the very first ones were, or it was only stereo copies. I've seen loads, possibly hundreds of the original unboxed Decca mono pressings and not one including mine has had a green tinted cover.

The originals have a dark black and white sleeve, late 60s, still unboxed labels have a lighter, more grey sleeve - these are scarce.

The very noticeably green tinted sleeve first appears on boxed label early 70s issues.