Yardbirds CBS Mastersound '83 lp fake stereo: Why?

Hi,

Anyone know why there are mono/fake stereo tracks on this lp?

Lost Woman, Over Under Sideways Down and Jeff's Boogie are in fake stereo.
CBS also included Happenings Ten Years Time Ago and Psycho Daisies on this lp, but the hand on the fake stereo knob thankfully went lighter on those tracks.

I vaguely remember reading once somewhere that there were guitar parts in
the original mono mix of "Roger the Engineer" that didn't end up in the stereo mix.

Is that the reason? Or just sloppy research and lack of concern?

Miffed and confused (not quite dazed).

Dale

 

Dale,

As I understand it, for many years, the true Mono masters were either missing or not available for use. This has since been rectified as these historic Yardbirds tracks are now available in their original full-track Mono mixes via a number of CD's - thankfully!

Bob

 

Any recommendations on the CDs? No vinyl? I know one or two of the Italian reissue
labels (Get Back? Akarma?) reissued some Yardbirds, but I've read complaints about
the mastering.

 

Every CD rendition I've heard of Over Under Sideways Down has been rechanneled. Any "true mono" versions out there?

 

This is true of "Hot House of Omagarashid." The mono version has a searing Jeff Beck guitar solo that runs through the last couple of verses. It's completely absent from the stereo mix, rendering the song kind of pointless.

I'm not aware of any other instances of missing parts. If there are, I don't think they're anything approaching this example.

 

It's mono on Rhino's Ultimate Yardbirds, but very very bright sounding.

 

The CBS Mastersound edition used the "Roger the Engineer"/"Over Under Sideways Down" stereo mix for all but those tracks I mentioned (Lost Woman, Over Under Sideways Down, and Jeff's Boogie). I wonder why they didn't just use the stereo mixes for those songs as well. I mean, what was the point of fake stereo on those? I don't get it...

 

At the start of the CD era Edsel issued The Yardbirds (aka Roger the Engineer) as both Stereo and Mono cd's. One had the drawing in Blue (I think that was the Mono) and one was in Yellow (Stereo). That's the last time I remember the true Mono mix being issued.

 

No Stereo mixes were ever executed on these tracks...

Bob

 

hope this is not too far off topic - i have a copy of this album on CD, on the Warner Special Archives label, i believe. the cd case is white, not the standard black ones used on most CD's.

my question is: what sort of tapes does this one use? and more to the point, is there even a definitive version of this album available on CD?

thanx!

 

Hot House is also the mono version (with the wobbleboard in the mix). The true stereo version of the LP always has had Over Under & Jeff's Boogie in reprocessed. The other mono tracks were substituted because, at the time they were very rare, as they hadn't been reissued since mono went down the tubes. That LP made for very confusing listening!

 

It's crap. The Repertoire (with the US OUSD cover, but with the UK order) blows it away.

 

thanx, larry. i will track one down and give it a listen for sure. is the Repertoire issue stereo, mono, or both?

 

Stereo (and, yes, OUSD & Jeff's Boogie are reprocessed).

 

The first few seconds of OUSD always fool me into thinking it's stereo.

 

HEY!

 

Are these non-stereo tracks reprocessed on the EMI-Columbia 2-box LP?

 

Yes. I have a flip-back copy & it has always been reprocessed (just like Please Please Me).

 

Thanks, Larry...

 

Poor Roger/The Yardbirds - such a great album, yet stuck with alla the problems of rechanneled nonsense. It's also REALLY BRIGHT sounding on all the reissues I've gotten: Edsel mono lp, Edsel stereo cd, CBS/Epic 80's reissue, CBS/Epic 1/2 speed master, Warner cd, Rhino 2 cd hits set - the original issue mono lp from England isn't zipped up in the treble and sounds great, and a probably 2nd press stereo from England is also very listenable. The stereo and mono mixes have differences (guitar overdubs on some tracks, missing on others). I begged over at AF for a reissue, but it ain't to be...

 

Well, you have almost every one except the good one, the Repertoire!

 

Never seen it - I'd buy it if I came across it! As you can tell, I kinda like this album...

 

Bob is correct. Many of the tracks had no true stereo mix, and still don't. Sony has never removed the fake stereo from any of their releases.

Edsel's the way to go. There are several stereo/mono versions of Roger out there, but one has to accept the fact that any stereo album version will have some fake stereo tracks on there. And Edsel's stuff usually sounds decent. Haven't heard the Repertoire.

"Happenings" and "Psycho Daisies" have never been in stereo either. Imagine if the multis for Happenings were found, and a surround mix could be done...

Oddly enough, Roger is the only material the band actually owns outright.

 

Roger

There is an Demon/Big Beat UK CD from the '90s with both the mono and stereo mixes of the lp plus bonus cuts. It sounds better than most other CD issues and is still widely available (but there are still no true stereo mixes of "Jeff's Boogie" or "OUSD"). When I want to hear the stereo mix of this lp. I prefer my 2nd press UK Columbia vinyl or the original German Line CD. For mono mix, the original US Epic 60s pressing is the one that really cranks, especially on the bottom end...