Ella Fitzgerald "Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie", Stereo or mono? + Recording info..

No.

Stereo.

 

Play it and see.

Get the Dennis Drake cheapo Verve CD. Bunch of them around for a few bucks each and flat from Val's original mix.

Hit the mono button and see what happens. All the nice leakage vanishes, etc.

Trust Steve.

 

I have an Ami original mono and stereo cut. On the mono the compression is double (probably right on to tape that way). The stereo mix from the 3 is lighter in that regard.

Listen to "This Year's Crop..." On the stereo intro, the guitar amp is on the left but you can hear the actual strings on the right channel as they bleed into the drum mic. On a great system you can actually hear the back wall of the studio at RR. This for me recreates a real time and space that is uncanny. Love it.

 

Recording information for ELLA FITZGERALD:
“Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!”

Verve ~ MG V6 4053 A&B: 61-VGS-538, 61-VGS-539

SIDE ONE ~ 61-VGS-538 SIDE TWO ~ 61-VGS-539

A Night In Tunisia 4:06 Cry Me A River 4:12
You’re My Thrill 3:35 This Year’s Kisses 2:15
My Reverie 3:16 Good Morning Heartache 4:19
Stella By Starlight 3:16 (I Was) Born To Be Blue 2:41
‘Round Midnight 3:28 Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! 2:41
Jersey Bounce 3:30 Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most 6:13
Signing Off 3:42 The Music Goes ‘Round And ‘Round 2:26

Session recording order (not album order):

June 22, 1961, double session:

27022 take 2 Stella By Starlight
27023 take 4 This Years’ Kisses
27024 take 8 Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
27025 take 12 Jersey Bounce
27026 take 4 You’re My Thrill
27027 take 2 Good Morning Heartache

June 23, 1961, double session:

27028 take 6 (I Was) Born To Be Blue
27029 take 1 ‘Round Midnight
27030 take 6 My Reverie
27031 take 3 Cry Me A River
27032 take 4 Signing Off
27033 take 5 Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!
27034 take 4 A Night In Tunisia
27035 take 1 The Music Goes ‘Round And ‘Round

Studio information:

Recorded and mixed at Radio Recorders, 7000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood 38, Calif. HO-3-3282

Recording engineer: Val Valentin Recorders: Tom and Fern in Studio B

Two-track reduction made 6/24/61 by Val Valentin in Studio 10-H

Original stereo disc mastering: Ami Hadani 10/3/61 at: Ami Hadani Mastering Co., Inc., 6226 Yucca Street, Hollywood 28, Calif. HO-6-3381

Original recording producer: Norman Grantz

Musicians: Lou Levy-piano and leader; Herb Ellis-electric guitar; Joe Mondragon-bass; Stan Levey-drums and percussion

LP release date: 10-11-61 by Verve Records, Inc., 451 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif.

 

I only wish you could have heard the unissued DCC Compact Classics 24 Karat Gold CD and 180 gram LP.

Perfection in music and sound.

One of my top 10 all-time favorite albums.

I play CLAP HANDS every week and have since I discovered it in 1996 (Thanks, Elliot Midwood!)..

 

I rotate versions, original Ami Hadani RR LP cut, mono, stereo, MGM era stereo recut, Classic reissue Gold CD, Classic Reissue (Grundman cut) LP, old stock Verve CD, my unissued version on CD, Kevin Gray/SH cut acetate lacquer of DCC LP version, etc. The music always shines through..

 

Don't understand the question. Ella was on Verve from 1956 throughout the 1960's..

 

Back then for really long sides they would shave the top end and the bottom end off before cutting and compress.

I don't collect Verve stuff from the 1950's on original LP; too low in volume and too funky sounding for me. They are fun to play and look at but that's about it for me.

Problem is, the early Songbooks were recorded at Capitol and the mono versions are wonderful but the stereo mixes (done at Radio Recorders with tons of really bad sounding reverb) stink. So, you almost have to find clean copies of the original mono Songbook LP's. This is almost impossible because:

1. The sides are so long that just one vintage scratch could take out 5 songs.

2. When people bought these albums back in the 1950's they PLAYED them to death.

 

Mono for SONGBOOKS and anything recorded at Capitol from 1956-60. Stereo for anything recorded at Radio Recorders from 1958-66.

Confused?

 

I don't think that many but they tried recording the album in NYC first and the results were rejected. They tried again in Los Angeles at Radio Recorders and BINGO! Some of those rejected songs appear on the regular issue silver Verve CD. I always skip 'em.

 

Sir Francis Drake. It's like 6 bucks and a flat stereo master transfer (solid state, should have been tube but what can ya do?)