Re: [ARSCLIST] Mercury Living Presence mono-only recordings

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I should add one caveat -- there just aren't iron-clad rules with Mercury catalog numbers. The 
system changed several times, there are holes in sequences, etc. Same thing sorta happened with the 
CD's. Polygram changed their catalog numbering system at least twice during the CD reissue period. 
So the CD's don't necessarily go in exact order, although the 432's were issued before the 434's.

The good news is that Mercury issued plenty of catalogs over the years, so you can find them on eBay 
once in a while. The color editions from the late 50's and early 60's are particularly useful, as 
are the pocket-sized listings that field-sales guys and rack-jobbers carried. The inner sleeve 
listings are somewhat useful but should not be taken as complete. They are marketing tools listing 
highlights of the catalog being promoted at that specific time. The inner sleeve I think Jim refers 
to, from the mono era, is a very early catalog listing. Same goes for the inner sleeve of the first 
Living Presence sampler, the mono LP with the hanging U-47 on the cover.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Long" <JJimLong@xxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 12:49 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Mercury Living Presence mono-only recordings


> Hi,
>
> In recent months, I have taken to enjoying Mercury Living Presence mono LP's.
> I am wondering if anyone in ARSC-land can (easily) tell me which issues were
> originally recorded in mono only?
>
> I have an LP inner sleeve that came with MG-50022 (MF7/MF5, with "groove
> guard," so probably not the first pressing) that lists a number of MG's and OL's
> that are, from my imperfect and incomplete recollection, mono-only recordings.
> It is probably a good start to answering my question:
>
> 1.  MG-50000 to MG-50070 (with no listing of MG-50013, 14, 31, 32, 40, 41,
> 43, 44, 49-54 and 59-63).  Can any of these blanks be filled in?  Also, I have
> five Rafael Druian/John Simms issues that between themselves and other listings
> on their jacket notes encompass mostly higher numbers: MG-50089-99, 109 and
> 110.  These are all chamber music except MG-50109 (Boardwalk Pipes, with Robert
> Elmore, organist) and MG-50099 (Strauss: Suite from "Der Rosenkavalier"; Till
> Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony
> Orchestra).
>
> 2.  OL-2-100, OL-2-101, OL-3-102 and OL-3-103.  The six highest numbers in
> the MG-50000 listings above are single-disc issues of OL-3-102 and OL-3-103.
>
> 3.  MG-40000 to MG-40015, which appears to be an American music series.  Were
> any of these reissued in the MG-50000 series?
>
> 4.  MG-80000 to MG-80004, which appears to be a chamber-music series.  From
> the Druian/Simms MG-50000 LP's I have, at appears that MG-50089-92 and MG-50094
> are reissues from the MG-80000 numbers listed above.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jim Long
> Bosch/EV
> Baroda, MI   </HTML>