Classic UK rock/psych album. Has all the elements, but goes beyond average due to the members individual skills and singer Roger Chapman's special vocals. Was originally supposed to be produced by Jimmy Miller, but since "Beggars Banquet" took most of his time he only did two tracks and Traffic's Dave Mason was called in for the rest. The group wasn't happy with the first stereo mix of the album, so they later re-mixed four of the tracks and put them on the 1971 album "Old Songs New Songs". The mono only figured on first release and may have been forgotten, but it's a good one. As far as I can hear most tracks have separate mixes. Although the cuts differs a little in audiophile quality non is bad and a few really lifts off. Very enjoyable listening. First US on Reprise (RS 6312). Premiere UK had ridged label as shown here, thick unflexible vinyl, laminated flip/back cover and picture insert. (YMÖ*) (FÄXI*)
I finally got me a decent copy of this. It's one of my favorite British Psych albums, although that description really doesn't do it justice.
SvaraRaderaThe mono mix is quite different from the stereo and I don't think they are folded tracks here. All the cross-fades are exactly the same as the stereo, and one can tell that this doesn't really help the overall fidelity of the album (since they had to sacrifice one tape generation). The mono versions with uninterrupted fades of Me My Friend and Hey, Mr. Policeman can be heard on the UK 45.
Because of the lathe that PYE used, the mono album NEEDS to be heard with a dedicated mono cart for optimal sound quality. A stereo cart is gonna add a lot of unnecessary surfacenoise overall because of its inability to track the intricate grooves and will make softer tracks like Mellowing Grey sound distorted and mushy. Odd, but true.
Cheers! Happy to get a reliable confirmation since I have no means for comparing the issues. Congratulations on Your find. I've had my copy for ages and always cherished it. It's one of those where the music and audio interacts to make it 150%. I agree what You say about the equipment...and also always use round stylus for mono. Btw have You seen I'm updating all old posts - crisper images, more pics, correcting the worst lingual errors and sometimes adding more facts. It's a hell of a job, but I hope someone take notice. Almost done 200 first now :)
SvaraRaderaThanks! I'm still checking in regularly. Please make sure to bump your updated posts, so I don't miss them. Keep going. :)
SvaraRaderaI got the orig. UK stereo of this as well but those are much easier too find. I'm guessing of all copies with the tri-tone steamboat label that the mono is outnumbered on a 10:1 ratio. John Whitney has even said it was withdrawn because of its cuttings problems (it skipped on many of the old phonographs).
I also heard it disappeared quickly while stereo was pressed on the first label for quite a while. I will post updates as long as I'm doing the re-makes...time isn't on my side and the "new" ones can wait.
SvaraRadera