MONO Masterpieces

[jamestkirk]

There are many MONO lps that far exceed the stereo remixes...as most pre-1967 records were mixed in mono and then a stereo separation mix was mastered. It was MONO first,and stereo was many times an afterthought.

What are your favorite MONO mixes...and do you prefer them over the stereo twin?

I will start with a rarity.

RAM-Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney (1971)
Here are the RARE mono mixes at youtube...you can compare them to the regular stuff below

Too Many People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompVDodf ... re=related

Ram On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PSds58h7OU

Monkberry Moon Delight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqnMIz5JL8Y&NR=1

The rest from the MONO promo are at youtube too!





The only McCartney album credited to both Paul & Linda. Though panned by Rolling Stone and others at its release....by the 80's it was generally hailed as one of his best and Rolling Stone gave it four of five stars.


Despite the phase-out of monaural albums by the late 1960s, Ram was pressed in mono (MAS 3375) with unique mixes which differ from the common stereo album (SMAS 3375). These were only made available to radio stations and are among the most valuable and sought-after of Paul McCartney's solo records. -wiki Below are the regular LP stereo mixes....

Too Many People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P_HKQGq ... re=related


Monkberry Moon Delight....love his vocal work here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O83CrS-K ... re=related


the Lennon-McCartney feud-

According to Peter Brown, John Lennon believed that songs on Ram included jibes at him in the lyrics, including "Too Many People" and "Dear Boy".[3] Brown also described the picture of two beetles copulating on the back cover as a description of how McCartney felt the other Beatles were treating him.[3] McCartney later said that only two lines in "Too Many People" were directed at Lennon. "In one song, I wrote, 'Too many people preaching practices,' I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko. There wasn't anything else on [Ram] that was about them. Oh, there was 'You took your lucky break and broke it in two.'"[4]




Lennon's response was the song "How Do You Sleep?" on his Imagine album.[3] Early editions of Imagine included a postcard of Lennon pulling the ears of a pig in a parody of Ram's cover photograph of McCartney holding a ram by the horns.[5]

[jamestkirk]

Since it's never been released, here is a Dr. Ebbett's mono release....

http://zambonisoundtracks.wordpress.com ... mono-1971/


This is a straight transfer of the mono. There is noticeable surface noise however. To give the benefit of the doubt to the label, virgin copies may be almost impossible to find, but it sounds as if no attempt was made to clean up the recording. Despite that it has the good Scorpio mastering job sounding very natural and warm. It comes packaged in a single cardboard glossy paper sleeve with an insert with the track listing on the inside.

.... I think this sounds just great to me, just as direct transfer..