Hendrix 'Are You Experienced?' MONO - UK Track vs. French Barclay **samples**

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I'm going to reiterate what others here have said regarding the French pressing. I just obtained what appears to be an original pressing of the Barclay AYE (not with the the Isle of Wight photo cover but has psychedelic colors surrounding a 1967 photo of Jimi). It is not the colored vinyl reissue (or counterfeit). The disc is black vinyl and weighs 155 grams. I compared it to an A1/B2 UK mono pressing that I have and there was just no comparison. The UK mono pressing sounds boxey and muted. Not so on the French pressing. The higher frequencies opened up and sounded more natural and vibrant, and not in the least bit shrill or tinny. Every track sounded fuller with better tonal clarity and depth to my ears than the lifeless sounding UK pressing. It was that cut and dried to me.

The Barclay pressing is without a doubt, the best mono pressing with the the UK track order I've ever heard. I was really surprised by the difference nor can I understand why the UK pressing sounded so inferior to the French one.

 

The cover is a reissue, the label is an original 1967 Barclay (note BIEM on the right handside, compared to the Sacem logo that appeared in 1971/1972).

 

It's a shame "Foxy Lady" still sounds like crap. What the hell happened on that mix? Jimi's vocals are, at least, twice as loud as the backing track!

 

I received one of these Barclay AYE monos today - very nice indeed. Slight differences in the text on the label compared to other scans in this thread, but it does have the correct matrices (820 143 A2/B1).

From the same dealer I bought a Barclay Jimi Hendrix Greatest Hits (921 020), because it wasn't expensive and I wanted to have Stone Free in mono. Luckily, that track is in good sounding true mono but the other tracks are a strange mixture. Cover states Mono + Stereo but there no stereo tracks. Stone Free, Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary, Highway Child and Fire seem to be true mono and they sound just fine. Hey Joe - sounds poor - might even be a fold-down. Watchtower and Crosstown Traffic are fold-downs and sound poor. Up from the Skies and Bold as Love sound ok but I can't tell if they are true mono or fold-downs. Burning of the Midnight Lamp, I don't know if it's the single mix or the ELL version (are they the same mix?) - it sounds very bad and muffled, can hardly make out the vocal.

The back cover credits have most songs credited to Jimy Hendrix, but he also gets a co-credit for All Along the Watchtower. Bold As Love is credited to A. Schroeder (Hendrix's music publisher).

I might have been better off buying an original 45 to get Stone Free in mono as it's unlikely that I'll be listening to half of the remaining tracks on this LP.

Anyway, just wanted to pass on the information for any Hendrix vinyl collectors.

 

FYI, a pic of the Greatest Hits cover.

 

The single/mono mix was never mixed to stereo.

The LP/stereo mix is much weirder, with a lot of phasing effects/etc....

 

Was AYE issued by Barlcay in stereo?

Are all copies of AYE issued by Barclay with this cover in mono?

 

Ja.

 

Forgive my stupidity, but does that mean yes?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JA

 

Got it. Thanks Mike!

 

2 things ;

1) Foxy Lady is *all* vocals.
2) Manic Depression is way too fast.
3) The version of Red House is the same as the one on the Blues CD.

 

After listening to the samples kindly posted, I prefer the UK.

 

This is why I overlook the fact that Jimi had no input into the "thrown together" stereo mix, and listen to it anyway.

#2 and #3 I don't mind/prefer. It's "Foxy Lady" I can't get over. I don't think Kramer has ever mentioned anything specifically about mixing that, and what the hell went so wrong with it...

 

I much prefer Manic Depression in mono, but I prefer the rest of the tracks in stereo (except the 3 tracks omitted from the US release of course).

Manic Depression in mono knocks your socks off, very powerful.

 

(edit)

 

Unfortunately quite a few of these older vinyl compilations contain the Burning of the Midnight Lamp in it's mono mix, reprocessed into fake stereo, then folded back to mono.

 

New link:

Sample - Orig. Track UK vs. Barclay French (MP3 LAMe 320kbps)

 

Great work.

While I certainly prefer the Barclay, I may be of the camp who believes that both could probably be bettered if good tapes still exist.

I'm not enthusiastic about Bernie Grundman's name on the project, though. I'm not a fan of the top boost which stopped me from purchasing his work.

ccm

 

You not got the Berkeley analogue set then? This is from the Grundman mastering studio. I like it and from comments so do others. Check the thread here.

 

Lots of people like BG's work. And some of us are less enthusiastic. That's all OK.

I don't have enough of a music-buying budget to keep buying the work of the engineers that I haven't been satisfied with, hoping their style changes.

ccm

 

It is not a case, to my mind at least, of being enthusiastic regards someone's work. I don't splash as much as i would like for the same reason as you.
Your posting on a Hendrix thread so i assume you have an interest their, in which case, Grundman or not, the Berkeley analogue is as good as a Hendrix pressing that i have heard.
But if you want to stay hung up regard a mastering engineer go right ahead.

 

This is the one I have and AYE is also in mono on it. Barclay is the way to go for that mix!

 

All right, Gordon. Thanks for the comment. I will try to hear a copy of that pressing at some point.

Not so sure it's a case of being "hung up", though. We can't buy everything. After all, even the worst masterings out there have SOMEONE on the internet saying that they're awesome. I probably spent more than a thousand dollars on BG's work before making my conclusion. If he has hit a home run with Berkeley, then power to him, and all of us.

ccm

 

here's some others thoughts and comments:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/jimi-hendrix-berkeley-all-analogue-2012.296842/

i base my comments on it against the digital copy.