Re: [ARSCLIST] Early stereo mass market tapes

[George Brock-Nannestad <pattac@xxxxxxxx>]

From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad

Hello,

Steven C. Barr(x) (rhymes with barracs?!)            was one who commented on 
Beatles. George Martin had quite firm views on that aspect of their 
distribution

He tells us very precisely why it was so damn ridiculous when a number of 
Beatles tracks were sold in stereo: the original four-track tapes (yes, those 
were the conditions in the early 1960s) that he had used to make a mono mix 
for the original mono distribution were simply combined two and two into a 
set of stereo tracks and issued! 

You may read all about it and much more in:

Tobler, John & Stuart Grundy ed.
	 
The Record Producers - Exclusive interviews with 13 of the greatest hit-
makers, including Tom Dowd, Leiber & Stoller, Phil Spector, George Martin & 
more - complete with discographies + photos 
BBC Books, London, 1982. 248 pages. B&W photos
 
Interviews with the producers, people like the Tom Dowd, who started in 1948 
as an engineer, and went on to work with Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart; Leiber 
and Stoller; Phil Spector; George Martin;Todd Rundgren; Chris Thomas; Glyn 
Johns. 

This is not a rare book, but seldom cited in the US. It is a book that I have 
learnt a lot from, not having had the least interest in the subject when I 
had that age. But my ears confirm what I read.

Kind regards,


George




> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Karl Miller" <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > As for the discs...I have a several dozen discs at home in a section of
> my
> > collection which I call, "It's Stereo." It includes everything from
> games
> > of Ping Pong to choruses moving from the left to the right speaker, also
> a
> > series of discs on RCA, the LSA series plus electronic works like
> > Stockhausen's Kontakte which made heavy use of panning.
> > 
> > Most of these are especially fun listening with headphones.
> > 
> Well, in those early days, the idea was to show off the fact that one
> actually owned a STEREO sound system! Common novelty items also included
> trains and/or racing cars moving from one speaker to the other (which
> could have been disquieting if one's speakers were hooked up
> "backwards!").
> 
> The ones I recall were the first stereo Beatles LP's...on which,
> when one played only one channel one only heard half the group!
> 
> Steven C. Barr