"Happy Bird" on Charlie Parker records- have you heard it

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

I have the Stereo-pact! issue but i swear it plays mono.  Its engraved 'stereo' on the lp its not a mix-up, but i cant see how it can get 'more mono' this how it is already.  does anyone have both to compare.  i think theres a chance the other one, bird is free, is rechanneled, its actually subtle, but i do hear it upon separation of channels so i ordered a mono-pact just to make sure.  but do i need to do that also for happy bird, i really dont think so, unless you can convince me....

[Rooster_Ties]

How much Parker is there in stereo to begin with? I probably used to know more clearly years ago, but I seem to be under the impression that the great (vast?) majority of Bird’s entire documented output was all in mono.

I do remember all the various sources of Parker’s sax lines they “Frankenstein’d” for the Clint Eastwood Bird soundtrack, were all in mono. And right or wrong, I got the impression that was emblematic of Bird’s entire output.

(I’m obviously revealing the depth of my lack of knowledge of Parker’s oeuvre.)

Edited August 23, 2020 by Rooster_Ties

[jazzbo]

I don't think there is any true stereo recorded Bird, there is one concert where a stereo was created by using two differently recorded sources blended together.

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, jazzbo said:

I don't think there is any true stereo recorded Bird, there is one concert where a stereo was created by using two differently recorded sources blended together.

Yes  it was  Lester Leaps In  on The Complete Legendary Rockland Palace Concert.  And Eastwood did use that same cut in Bird. 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

hmmm...will have to compare both versions....thats interesting- 

[Big Beat Steve]

I listened to the title track of the Happy Bird LP this morning (mine is a French license pressing on Musidisc, though it uses the Charlie Parker Records cover artwork) and find it very mono-ish.

I then compared it to the CD reissue of the same record included in the 30-CD "Charlie Parker Records Collection" box set that hit the market a couple of years ago. Beyond the usual superficial aural differences between vinyl and CD the CD sounds just as much like Mono to me (though the thumbnail image of the LP cover on the CD sleeve does read "Stereo-Pact"), except that I am under the impression that on this CD on the right channel the sax is a wee bit more "buried" among the rhythm section compared to the left channel where the sax is a little bit more prominent. The difference isn't huge and to my ears the mix is the same left and right. So no stereo. Not even a rechanneled one.

Edited August 23, 2020 by Big Beat Steve