Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: Beach Boys stereo albums (early-mid ’60s)

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EdisonLite
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Posted: 05 March 2024 at 4:14pm \| IP Logged

What earlier Beach Boys albums were released in stereo (back in the day)? When I look at early recordings in the database, I find:

1962 Surfin' Safari - all early CD releases were only in mono
1963 Surfin' USA - many early CD releases were stereo incl. the CD "Surfin' Safari/Surfin' USA"
1964 Fun Fun Fun - many early CD releases in stereo (some entries list "stereo lp mix", some list "mono lp mix" so obviously this LP was released both ways
1964 I Get Around - all early CD releases were only in mono
1964 Don't Worry Baby - many stereo
1965 Help Me Rhonda - all early CD releases were mono
1965 California Girls - all early CD releases mono except "Endless Harmony" which was a mid '70s comp
1966 Barbara Ann - all early CD releases mono
1966 Sloop John B, Wouldn't It Be Nice, God Only Knows - all early CD releases mono until "Pet Sounds" CD came out in stereo (and I believe "Pet Sounds" was only mixed to stereo in more
modern times - '90s or 00s).
1966 Good Vibrations - all early CD releases in mono

I'm not referring to any single versions which obviously would be mono.

So why do 1963's Surfin' USA and 1964's "Fun Fun Fun" have stereo lp mixes - yet all these later (1965 and 1966) releases only seem to have mono LPs back in the day?

And then when did they go back to releasing albums in stereo - 1968? I base this guess based on what I see for 1968's "Friends" and "Do It Again"?

PopArchivist
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Posted: 05 March 2024 at 7:51pm \| IP Logged

EdisonLite wrote:

I have every Beach Boys album ripped and they did issue (much later) the stereo mixes after the fact on a lot of mid-60's stuff. I much prefer Pet Sounds in stereo. I know they did a lot of deluxe comps recently (1967, 1968) which contain a lot of good material and are highly recommended. I also highly recommend the stereo of Summer Days and Summer Nights, Beach Boys Party! and The Beach Boys Today! from 1965 all in stereo. Even the Christmas Album sounds better in stereo.

I don't know the story behind it but maybe this can shed some light...

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/beach-boys-pet-sounds -stereo-mix-question.230063/

Edited by PopArchivist on 05 March 2024 at 7:52pm

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EdisonLite
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Posted: 05 March 2024 at 9:46pm \| IP Logged

Thanks for the info, Richie

AndrewChouffi
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 6:22am \| IP Logged

EdisonLite wrote:

So why do 1963's Surfin' USA and
1964's "Fun Fun Fun" have stereo lp mixes - yet all these
later (1965 and 1966) releases only seem to have mono LPs
back in the day

The "basic" answer to this excellent question is Capitol,
of course, wanted both stereo & mono versions of their LP
releases and credited producer Nick Venet delivered.
Brian Wilson very quickly became first the defacto
producer & arranger. Brian was deaf in one ear, therefore
couldn't hear stereo properly.

Now officially credited as producer, Capitol seemingly
didn't give Brian any real pushback as he was giving the
label major hits as well as crafting great songs vrtually
daily.

Capitol, of course, ran the mono-only tracks through
their patented "Duophonic" process so they could still
charge the public a buck extra for a (fake) stereo LP.

Andy

LunarLaugh
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 8:50am \| IP Logged

There's been modern remixes done through the years (often more than one) of the songs that were previously mono only since the early 2000s. Whenever there's a new
compilation or box set, a few more sneak their way out, sometimes without fanfare. The 2002 Sounds of Summer CD for instance had new mixes of:

Even with extraction and the re-discovery of some vocal tapes, none of the "stereo" mixes of "Good Vibrations" ever sound quite as correct as the mono does. A well-
mastered mono mix, even with the inherent distortion, is still the ultimate way to experience this slice of pop genius.

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EdisonLite
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 5:36pm \| IP Logged

AndrewChouffi wrote:

Andy, Are you saying that back in the day, duophonic releases of all Beach
Boys early & mid 60s album came out as stereo LPs (along with their mono
counterparts)? (Or some strictly in mono)?) in a link Richie shared with me
yesterday, I got the impression from what someone said there that as Brian
was getting deaf in one ear, he stopped making stereo album mixes. If true,
that would explain why the first couple (or so) albums (circa '63-'64) seem
to have stereo versions and the '65-'66ish ones never did back in the day.
(I'm really only getting into discovering the Beach Boys stereo '60s mixes
now, so I'm behind the curve compared to everyone else I'm sure). :)

EdisonLite
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 5:37pm \| IP Logged

Thanks for the info Jared. I should probably get that Endless Harmony CD. (Or
are there 2 versions with different stereo mixes each)?

EdisonLite
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 5:39pm \| IP Logged

Does anyone here know if anyone has compiled all the different incarnations of
stereo versions of Beach Boys songs that were released, and which CDs they
came out on? I wouldn't be surprised if someone on the Steve Hoffman Both
Sides Now website - or someone here - has done this. They're one of the most
historic groups of the '60s (or any era), so hopefully someone has
documented the stereo versions. I'd like to get the best stereo versions of
many of their '60s songs, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the different
versions there probably are, even for any one given song. (And of course,
"Best" is subjective.)

EdisonLite
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 5:42pm \| IP Logged

LunarLaugh wrote:

Even with extraction and the re-discovery of some vocal tapes, none of the
"stereo" mixes of "Good Vibrations" ever sound quite as correct as the mono
does. A well-mastered mono mix, even with the inherent distortion, is still the
ultimate way to experience this slice of pop genius.

Yesterday, I picked a stereo version of "Good Vibrations" to use for my
collection. It sounded quite nice. But after reading your comment, I'm going to
take the mono version that I'm sure I have on a few BB CDs and A-B it with the
stereo one, to see what I'm missing in the stereo version. I agree this record
and song is a slice of pop genius, and I want to listen to all the genius that is
contained within it, lol.

AndrewChouffi
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Posted: 06 March 2024 at 6:12pm \| IP Logged

EdisonLite wrote:

Andy, Are you saying
that back in the
day, duophonic releases of all Beach
Boys early & mid 60s album came out as
stereo LPs (along with their mono
counterparts)?

Yes, 'Surfin' Safari', 'Today', 'Summer
Days', 'Party' & 'Pet Sounds' came out
in both mono and Duophonic. 'Smiley
Smile' & 'Wild Honey' came out in both
mono & (fake) stereo.

Andy

Edited by AndrewChouffi on 06 March 2024 at 6:13pm

TallPaulInKy
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Posted: 08 March 2024 at 12:21pm \| IP Logged

All the albums on Capitol up to and including Pet Sounds
were issued in real mono. Brian Wilson supervised the
mixes. The stereo versions were either Duophonic or stereo
mixed by one of Capitol's engineers. As stated previously
Brian was deaf in one ear.

A good guide is the Acoustic Sounds web site. They issued
the albums in mono, and where stereo versions existed (not
duophonic) they issued a stereo version. Some are sold out.

https://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?
get=results&searchtext=beach+boys

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