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treaclefingers
Thanks MileHigh...and I've waaaaaaaaaay far from being knowledgeable in these sorts of matters.

I purchased the Beatles Mono box when it first came out and it almost brings tears to ones eyes, when you hear how good it sounds when compared to the stereo versions.

What you described may have happened for some bands, but the material in the Mono Box goes to the extreme in explaining that the Beatles recorded and mixed EVERYTHING in mono...that is the way they did it. It was then handed over to engineers to fiddle with it to create the stereo version. The mono version was the priority for the Beatles, and until Abbey Road, then weren't involved at all in the Stereo version.

I believe the situation was the same for the Stones up to around Let It Bleed. I've read the 'true' version of this recording is mono, and the engineers subsequently created the stereo version from the mono. I'm less sure about the Stones though. I read something a few years that told me as much, but I don't recall the source so I can't really say that is definitive.

It just seems highly likely that during the 60's, the Beatles were a bit more on the 'cutting edge' with regards to the recording side of things, so I would be surprised if the Stones ventured into full albums in original stereo even before the Beatles did.

I know what you're saying about the 'logic' around just recording in stereo and doing 'folddowns' to mono, however it is fairly well documented that wasn't the case for either the Beatles and Stones up through the mid-sixties, and for the Beatles at least, until 1969.

If you haven't heard the Beatles Mono Box you really should as it is a treat...doing a side-by-side you can really hear the power of the mono versions for a lot of the songs, it makes sense to me that these more powerful versions are the way the band intended it to be heard.

I only hope that if we get the entire sixties catalogue yet again, that we get the original mono mixes of the albums, (not the folddowns).

That would be worth buying the material again!

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His Majesty

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treaclefingers
Thanks MileHigh...and I've waaaaaaaaaay far from being knowledgeable in these sorts of matters.

I purchased the Beatles Mono box when it first came out and it almost brings tears to ones eyes, when you hear how good it sounds when compared to the stereo versions.

What you described may have happened for some bands, but the material in the Mono Box goes to the extreme in explaining that the Beatles recorded and mixed EVERYTHING in mono...that is the way they did it. It was then handed over to engineers to fiddle with it to create the stereo version. The mono version was the priority for the Beatles, and until Abbey Road, then weren't involved at all in the Stereo version.

I believe the situation was the same for the Stones up to around Let It Bleed. I've read the 'true' version of this recording is mono, and the engineers subsequently created the stereo version from the mono. I'm less sure about the Stones though. I read something a few years that told me as much, but I don't recall the source so I can't really say that is definitive.

It just seems highly likely that during the 60's, the Beatles were a bit more on the 'cutting edge' with regards to the recording side of things, so I would be surprised if the Stones ventured into full albums in original stereo even before the Beatles did.

I know what you're saying about the 'logic' around just recording in stereo and doing 'folddowns' to mono, however it is fairly well documented that wasn't the case for either the Beatles and Stones up through the mid-sixties, and for the Beatles at least, until 1969.

If you haven't heard the Beatles Mono Box you really should as it is a treat...doing a side-by-side you can really hear the power of the mono versions for a lot of the songs, it makes sense to me that these more powerful versions are the way the band intended it to be heard.

I only hope that if we get the entire sixties catalogue yet again, that we get the original mono mixes of the albums, (not the folddowns).

That would be worth buying the material again!

Beggars Banquet mono mix is a stereo foldown, but I have read Sympathy For The Devil is an actual unique mono mix, regardless this means The Rolling Stones appear to have intentionally focused on a stereo mix as their supposed artistic statement before The Beatles.

In saying that, I think folks put to much emphasis on such things and really they were just concerned with it all sounding good whether it was a mono or stereo mix.