When LPs turned " hybrid "

I think when the record company's fazed out mono records. Most people where still using hifi (mono) record players. The record company's were letting people know, that they could still purchase the stereo records and use them on their hifi systems without any ill effect. Now, if that was true in all stereo recordings, that's another issue. It all boils down to marketing.

 

Well, there was also a hardware issue, although I think that changed in the early 60's, didn't it? The stylus wasn't able to track a stereo record without damaging it.

Ah, here's something at http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org/v_pressing1.html

 

It's true -- that notice was there to put people's mind at ease, most likely after they'd ruined a few records. Before dual-compatible records, you had to get a double-sided stylus that could be flipped from mono to stereo and back.

If you forgot and played a 45 with the stereo needle, the next time you played it, you'd get a lot of KSSSSHHHHH, and not much music.

 

That's true that most people were still using hifi mono equipment at the time, Joe. It goes to show that most people weren't and still aren't audiophiles and don't care about the "little things" that we care about. I'm glad I am living right now instead of back in the mono LP, stereo LP days and would have had to buy a reversible mono/stereo cartridge and styli. Nowadays, all cartridges are stereo but they can play mono LPs just fine.

 

Well, Modern Records of Nashville was using a system called "Compatible Stereo" as early as 1963. Their 45s would play in stereo on a stereo cart, and mono on a mono cart. Whats really interesting about it is that the whole label was cheapie knock offs of then popular hits. They spent extra money on the capatible process AND they used very good, heavy vinyl. Pretty cool.

 

Hmmm, a very interesting thread. AFAIK, there isn't any difference between a stereo record from the late '50's-early '60's and more modern counterparts (don't they all use the Westrex 45/45 cutting process?). What I do know is that the older mono phonograph/tonearm/cartridge combinations used slightly larger conical styli and MUCH greater tracking forces (around 10 grams or so), which were death to the delicate stereo groove. My parents owned a 1955 Blaupunkt Hi-Fi which had a PE TT in it and I remember that the arm was very heavy. When we got our first (and only) console stereo in 1963 (a tube-amped Silvertone with a "floating" cartridge in the tonearm) my dad remarked that our old records seemed to sound worse on the new Stereo than on the old Hi-Fi (they were badly worn). By 1967, I began to notice that some stereo records claimed to be mono-compatible (mostly Mercury titles). Now, by the late 60's, most mono record players were equipped with cartridge/needle combinations that could play stereo records. I can remember that these cheap units were described in the Sears catalog as being stereo record compatible. Of course, most of us would be horrified to even contemplate playing our precious vinyl on those old record players, but back in those days most of us didn't know better (although even at 11 I was a fanatic about proper record handling and cleaning, as I wanted my records to last forever).

Personally, I think that the whole issue of "compatible" stereo records had much more to do with the record industry wanting to eliminate the double inventory of titles, which by 1969 was pretty much a fait acompli. Perhaps Steve or some other expert on this thread could enlighten us as to when the last mono releases occurred. I know that the Beatles Capitol mono releases (for example) still continued to be available for a while later, but I don't remember being able to find any after 1970 or so.

 

The absolute worst "compatible" thing to come along was HAECO-CSG, which introduced a partial phase shift to make stereo LPs compatible with mono equipment. There are even CDs out there that still have this processing on them. But, it's something that can't be removed from existing tapes.

The problem with playing stereo LPs on mono cartridges is that the cheaper mono carts back then had a stylus that could only move in the horizontal direction, where stereo LPs had both horizontal and vertical movement. Easy to see how grooves could be damaged if the stylus just didn't "give" when trying to reproduce the vertical information.

 

From what I can tell, the last LP titles to be issued in both mono and stereo came out in early-to-mid 1968. After then, some companies offered mono copies only for radio stations for about a year. Columbia, for much of 1968 and up to the very beginning of 1969, also put out "mono" albums, never issued commercially, that were packaged the same as the stereo LP's, with the "red" label associated with the stock copies. I have three myself -- Andy Williams' Honey (CL 2862) and two by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (Featuring Young Girl, CL 2864, and Incredible (Featuring: Lady Willpower, Over You), CL 2915; on which the top left side of the front said "Mono - Can Also Be Played On Mono Equipment" - huh?). In my research for my Columbia pop singles discography book, I discovered that apparently Blood, Sweat & Tears' second, self-titled album may have also had a mono release for D.J.'s (as CL 2920), as may have Big Brother & The Holding Company's Cheap Thrills (as KCL 2900). It'd be interesting to see if anybody frequenting this forum would have any of those albums in said form.

Other albums on other labels that marked the final gasp for mono? Well, there was Waiting For The Sun by The Doors (Elektra EKL-4024, which fetches skyhigh prices on eBay), and The Beat Of The Brass by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (A&M LP-146), for instance.

But then . . . mono lasted another year in the U.K., with The Beatles' Yellow Submarine the last to be put out in both ways; Abbey Road would be all-stereo.

 

Modern Records

>>>They sound fine. not Audiophile by our standards, but they sound much better than the cheapie pressings of PROM Records or Peter Pan. I guess being in Nashville, with that super strong music scene, record manufactureres had to do a good job.

Problem for the collector (me) is that since these records were for the budget minded, they are usually in not so great shape now. But they sound nice with a Shure cart.

 

<<<<<Not to mention that almost of them are iun STEREO, and its a kick to hear a close sound alike in stereo where the original was only mono, like 'Popsicles and Icicles" or something like that. You get a sense of what the original would have sounded like in stereo.

 

With regard to W.B.'s post from last August, I also have Andy Williams' Honey (CL 2862) and the two monos by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (Featuring Young Girl, CL 2864, and Incredible (Featuring: Lady Willpower, Over You), CL 2915; I have yet to find a mono of Blood, Sweat & Tears' second, self-titled album (CL 2920), if it exists, it must be quite rare. Their first LP, "Child is Father to the Man", the Al Kooper-influenced version of B,S & T, does have a DJ mono version, which so far I have only found as a white label promo, not a red label stock copy. As for Big Brother & The Holding Company's Cheap Thrills (KCL 2900), it is another scarce mono that does exist, I see a copy pop up on eBay now and then, but they are often snapped up at hefty prices in better condition.

I collect late 1960's mono's, but because I am not an audiophile, I am out of my league on this forum and cannot tell you how many of my mono's are true mono's or derived from stereo masters. I collect them by record label, and I have a hefty number of Columbia label mono's, as well as from many other labels. W.B. is correct in that virtually all record labels had ditched mono commercially during 1968 - I have only found one label (Dot) where I have seen stock copies from early 1969. W.B. is correct that most all record companies issued white label promos in mono for AM stations for a small time after that; Labels like Columbia/ Epic, Decca, Kapp, Motown/Gordy/Tamla, Mercury, MGM, Warner/Reprise and a variety of lesser labels generally were done with mono by the end of 1968 or early 1969. One record label, Atlantic, and all of its subsidiaries like Atco, Cotillion, Asylum, Capricorn, Pompeii, did issues white label promo mono LP's until about 1973. So if you collect artists on those labels whose career began in the early 70's, you can find some of their early LP's in mono; artists like the Eagles, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, J. Geils Band, Black Oak Arkansas, and Hall and Oates. The only other labels where I have found mono LP's from the very early 70's are A & M, Stax, Volt and Enterprise - by the way, W.B. mentioned a Herb Alpert LP, but Alpert's 1968 Christmas Album (A & M LP-166) also exists in DJ mono.

 

I have Bookends in mono like this. One of the most prized items in my collection. Dedicated mono mix (all 45s are the 45 versions, like the alternate Fakin' It).