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Bill Potts Porgy/Bess Album Stereo Effects


JSngry

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The LP I recently bout has this weird stereo thing where soloists are hard-panned between channels in the course of their own solos, like they're trading fours with doppelgangers of themselves. Besides wondering if they were told to play their solos in such a way that this could be achieved, I'm wondering if this effect was carried over to the CD mix. Also, was there a mono mix released? It doesn't really work for me, what they did with that. I'd like to hear the record/music without it. Again, was there a mono version, ever?

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I once had the original gatefold LP (mono or stereo I don't recall, probably the former -- it got ruined in a basement flood; in any case, the sound was strikingly good). The Capitol Jazz CD reissue says: "The master tapes to this ... session have been lost. ... Bill Potts and Jack Towers gathered as many mint copies of this collector's item as they could find and ... transferred the best pressing of each selection to tape." That doesn't answer your question, though the Capitol Jazz reissue doesn't say "stereo," which makes me think it's mono, though some explanation of this choice, if it was a choice, would have been nice. I will listen to  the CD  (any tracks in particular where you hear the effect you describe?) and report, but I have no recollection of hearing that effect myself on the CD reissue or the original, though again my old copy of the original  probably was mono. (Mono or stereo didn't matter to me at the time because my record player was a single speaker console.) My guess is that the effect you hear is the result of some after the fact ping-pong-stereo twiddling by idiots at UA back in the day, thinking along Enoch Light lines, 

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I have a copy of the Capitol CD and from memory I think it was in mono - will have to check. It was a fairly grainy sound, as I recall (I think it was one of those ‘Collectors Choice’ issues so probably a limited run). Also have that stereo UA LP, which I will have to dig out, if I can find it.

Edited by sidewinder
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Original  UA of 'Jazz Soul' was issued in mono and stereo in 1959. Specifically, UAL-4032 and UAS-5032 and pressed by Plastylite with a 'ear' onn the trail-out.

My stereo original LP is a steady mix with reeds left channel, rhythm center, and brass right-side throughout.  This array holds firm for every solo.  No razzle-dazzle.  No moving back and forth in your chairs.

Jim's Ultra Audio LP is probably UA's attempt to match RCA's Stereo Action series, "the Sound your Eyes Can Follow".  Both series were short-lived, running from 1960-62. 

 

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10 minutes ago, Bill Nelson said:

Jim's Ultra Audio LP is probably UA's attempt to match RCA's Stereo Action series, "the Sound your Eyes Can Follow".  Both series were short-lived, running from 1960-62.

That sounds about right...your speculation  that is, not my record. That record certainly does NOT sound right!

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