Rolling Stones UK vinyl pressing question

My copies seem to confirm what MHP claims and refute what Man at C&A claims. I have 1 UK mono unboxed Decca (grooved, tax code KT - thus pre-mid '68) and two UK stereo unboxed Decca's (one grooved, tax code KT - thus pre-mid '68; one un-grooved, no tax code - thus 1969). All have a green tinted sleeve (although the '69 stereo copy is ever-so-slightly less green).

My copies refute your banner and height claims. The pre-mid '68 mono copy has a larger banner, but is shorter than either stereo copy. The '69 stereo copy has the same larger white banner. The pre-mid '68 stereo copy has a smaller banner.

I suppose the stereo copies could have been swapped along the way so they are not necessarily definitive, but the mono LP and cover (green tint, wide banner) were only produced in the 60's and contradicts the tint and banner claims made above.

 

Are you talking vinyl only? Otherwise, have you heard the cd?

 

a picture of your mono would be good if you are able ??

 

Why?

 

I've heard the .mp3 download that came with the mono vinyl set. I assume this is from the same digital master as the CD.

 

I don't know about avoiding late 1970s pressings. It depends upon the stampers that were used. I have late 1970s UK pressings of Beggars Banquet and Aftermath. Both sound fine to me.

 

I'm only going by the Between the Buttons one I used to have. It was OK but nowhere near as good as the mono original. A lot duller sounding. I've never heard a stereo original so it could just be a mono / stereo thing. It isn't like Decca to produce poor sounding records.

 

because i've never seen a green sleeved mono before.

 

this is a fairly representative example of a UK stereo original OOOH

ROLLING STONES OUT OF OUR HEADS RARE ORIGINAL 1965 UK DECCA LP STEREO SLK 4733 | eBay

and this is a copy from 68/9, same sleeve,

ROLLING STONES OUT OF OUR HEADS RARE ORIGINAL 1965 UK DECCA LP STEREO SLK 4733 | eBay

this is a nice mono from the granada tv library

The Rolling Stones - Out Of Our Heads ORIGINAL UK DECCA MONO Vinyl LP Granada TV

here is a 70's copy still with the small banner and non green tint

THE ROLLING STONES OUT OF OUR HEADS SCARCE DECCA STEREO LP 1965 | eBay

this is a wider banner 70's stereo

The Rolling Stones - Out Of Our Heads UK LP 1970 //5

and this is the closest to a green tint 70's sleeve i can find, looking at the inner it is a mid-late 70's copy

The Rolling Stones - Out Of Our Heads UK LP 1970 //5 | eBay

Research could be done on these as i suspect the green tint may be a makers variation, ie green or monochrome could be clout & baker or robert stace etc etc, ie all the green tints are from one specific maker and it is easy to confuse a monochrome for a green tint as the hues can be subtle but if you see a real in your face green tint they are unmistakable.

 

The green doesn't come through with my iPhone (which may be why the photos which claim to be green tint don't look that way). But trust me it's a light minty green - similar to early 60s Fender pick guards (if that reference means anything to anyone). It's noticeably green compared to the border.

 

Of course it's probably just a maker's variation. Most of these variations are not due to some defined intentional or unintentional delineation.

I'll say this yet again...records were just product. The record companies weren't concerned with nuanced variations - they were just manufacturing records for kids to listen to. They contracted with some companies for ink and typesetting and grabbed some of these and some of those and some of this and some of that and made records. Not in their wildest dreams did they think obsessed record collectors would be comparing these nuances (ink tones, fonts, border sizes, etc. etc.) 50 years later to try to ascertain with a degree of certainty when a particular record was pressed. Sure, there are some definitive nuances but many that get claimed to be definitive are just random variable errors that some guy on the internet -- through some modest observation of relatively small sample sizes - proclaims is an absolute determiner of vintage.

From my very limited sample size, this record is just another example of some old wives' tales being shown to be just that.

 

i agree for sure that there are a lot of old wives tales and hyperbole on many things concerning records, too many to list, the fully textured sleeves for Meddle being the earliest immediately springs to mind but there are so many others.

However in regard to oooh heads having handled hundreds of these over 40 plus years I am quite confident that the small banner sleeves are the earliest although these may have gone on until the early 70's and into the early boxed decca era, swapping is the bane of Decca collecting on this because the changes from 65 to the late 70's were so slight for many Decca albums. Equally i am certain that the unlaminated rears pre 67 are rougher to the touch and smoother after.

The green tinting however i am less certain of , the vivid green tints are i am certain from sometime in the 70's, but the hues can be subtle and as you quite rightly say can be hard to pick out in a photograph. I've yet to see a bright green mono but i am not certain enough to never say never on that.

 

Except of the 3 pre-1970 records I looked at, two have an appreciably larger border than the other (although not as large as the right-side border of the large border example you provided above). I'm too lazy right to go through all of my other Stones Decca records to see if I sense a pattern - but I'm usually skeptical of such claims.

Here is an example of a (reissue) mint green Fender pickguard that I referenced above (I'm familiar with this tint because I have one like it). This is fairly similar to the mint green tint of all three my OOOH covers (albeit the pick guard is maybe just a hair darker, but you get the idea). Unfortunately when I take a picture, the covers appear to have a slightly off-white tint that looks nothing like the green tint to the naked eye.

s.

 

"The first versions of the cover were almost black and white in colour, only a slight greenish tune was there. The so called "green cover" is only exisiting on boxed label LP's and this cover is made in the mid 70's."

From: Stones on Decca

 

Either I'm color blind or Stones on Decca is simply incorrect. My copies clearly appear green at first glance. There is no mistaking them for a slight greenish tint.

Why do people continue to believe some self-proclaimed expert with a webpage on the internet is a definitive opinion even in the face of contradictory evidence?

I'm out of this. People can believe whatever nonsense they want to believe.

 

I'd go with the first . The Stones on Decca page is very well researched.

 

Thanks for all the info on this thread. I am a little bit surprised that the boxed decca are available for cheap in the UK. Here in Belgium, they are scarcer than ever and when you see one in a record shop, the price is bordering 40 to 50 euros (it was only 25-35 euros two or three years ago and they were more common. It's very difficult to find in second hand record store a mono UK boxed decca from the first three records and on discogs it isn't cheap either. Am I missing something ?

The same goes I think for the grey label decca from the eighties. Concerning these grey labels, are they in general (stones, them, small faces) as good sounding as the boxed decca ?

 

Agreed, some sites do contain the odd errors and i am sure there are one or two hiding in Stones on Decca but i agree it is generally a very well done site and so far i have found nothing on it that i can disagree with.

 

the stones 1 & 2 boxed mono's always fetch a premium, even though they are not that rare. Let it Bleed is a different story.

 

Absolutely, picked up a Blue label early 70's stereo issue of OOOH a few years back and thought my luck was in! Wrong!

Sounds like poo.

 

Not well enough. If that top photo is the green cover, the green tint was absolutely not restricted to the 70's and those who claim otherwise are simply incorrect - regardless of how obsessed they might be.


I have no real dog in this fight. I'm just reporting my findings.

Here's the best pic I can get that shows the green. To the naked eye, the green tint is a hair lighter and mint green like Stones on Decca's pic (as reference note that the white border also appears darker than it would to the naked eye). Note the LK 4733 which was only used in the 60s - until recently of course.

 

1 & 2 boxed mono's?

 

i meant stones 1 & 2 lps with boxed decca labels

 

who is the sleeve maker lets see if we can find a pattern...

 

The mono sleeve is Clout & Baker. The stereo sleeves are both Robert Stace. All three have similar green tint.

I can't imagine it's that uncommon with little 'ol me finding 3 of 3 60's pressings with green tint.