By Bradburger (172.183.207.197 - 172.183.207.197) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 09:23 pm:

I remember reading a quote from engineer Bill Inglot after the release of the first Hitsville USA box set and he stated that the engineers "Were a lot more meticulous when it came to mixing the singles"

I think most of us would aggree with this statement. To me the mono mixes were far more polished and had a distinctive punch (or life) and sound to them when compared to the stereo mixes.

That brings me to ask.Did the same engineers who mixed the original mono sigles masters mix the Stereo L.P mixes as well? Where they mixed at the same time or later?

I read somewhere that when it came to mixing the stereo L.P mixes it was left to the more greener engineers to do.

Was this true?

Also who decided that an alternate take (the case with the some of the released stereo mixes) would be used for the stereo version. Was this down to the quality control department, the producer or engineer?

Cheers

Paul

By john lester (213.122.201.174 - 213.122.201.174) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 11:04 pm:

good question Paul

By Eli (170.115.179.118 - 170.115.179.118) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 06:05 pm:

Ralph!!!! Where the F....K are you?????

By Ralph (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 - 06:41 pm:

Bobby!!!!
I'm here!!! Where the F--K do you think I am??? Actually, my son blew into town for a few days, so I was somewhat occupied. I'm thinking about you Soulman. Talk to you soon.
Bobby...that singer I told you about in New York...... He's moving out here to work with Teddie and me.I've got an interesting concept with this that I will talk to you about.

By Bob Olhsson (68.53.120.100 - 68.53.120.100) on Thursday, April 25, 2002 - 02:57 pm:

Quality control supervised all mixing and mastering. (The producers were outside of this loop and many resented it.) The people making the QC decisions included Brian Holland, Billie Jean Brown, Iris Gordy, Norman Whitfield and I think I also remember Clay working in QC at one point.

The process was to make a "first master" which was a quick mix containing all of the musical elements. QC would critique this mix and order a "remaster" requesting changes in balance and muting. (This terminology came from RCA where what we today call "mixing" was called "mastering" or "tape mastering.") Occasionally they would even send it back to the producer and artist for a better performance. This "remastering" process continued until QC was convinced the song had reached its full potential.

Mono A-side single mixes typically had several days (occasionally weeks) of work and QC decisions put into each while the stereo mix would frequently be put together using the mono as a template in twenty minutes.

All of the engineers did both mono and stereo although not necessarily for the same songs. We worked in shifts and did whatever work needed to be done on our shift. There was competition among the engineers for the mono releases and different people would try their hand at the same song.

By Ian W (213.122.14.27 - 213.122.14.27) on Thursday, April 25, 2002 - 09:53 pm:

Bob, do any of these alternate mixes still exist? They would be worth hearing if only to show how different engineers made a difference to the song.

By Bradburger (172.180.52.146 - 172.180.52.146) on Friday, April 26, 2002 - 01:42 am:

Ian, go out & grab yourself a copy of the Temptations "Lost & Found" CD.

Not only does it have some great unreleased tracks on it, but it also has an alternate single mix of Ain't To Proud To Beg. This version has the strings much more prominent in the mix and it totally transforms the song.

The original does have strings but much much lower in the mix but it is difficult to pick them out.

Like you I'd love to hear some of the alternate single mixes (hint, hint).

Also the Four Tops Box set has an alternate mix of I Can't Help Myself and It's The Same Old Song & the Supremes box set has some different mixes also.

You can hear brief samples of these songs at amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005O6NA/qid=1019784933/sr=1-34/ref=sr_1_3_34/026-4256444-4700422

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004WJHC/qid=1019785131/sr=2-4/ref=sr_2_3_4/026-4256444-4700422

Btw you'll need Realplayer one to play these clips
from http:// www.realplayer.com

Hope this helps

Cheers

Paul

By Bob Olhsson (68.53.120.100 - 68.53.120.100) on Friday, April 26, 2002 - 02:46 am:

In many cases there were literally dozens of different mono mixes. I think it's safe to say that the very best ones were released. The QC department did a very impressive job.

Most pop music records were primaraly mixed for mono up till the time the record stores began to refuse to handle seperate mono releases in the late '60s. The mono version of Sgt. Peppers is a lot better than the stereo too.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Friday, April 26, 2002 - 07:39 am:

I remember reading George Martin's comment that many hours were spent perfecting the final (mono) mix of Pepper. Once he was satisfied with it, he left Geoff Emerick to knock off a quick stereo mix - because EMI asked for one.