A Lover’s Concerto

after just listing the vinyl 45 side by side to a cdr copy i have of the song i can tell you the 2:38/2:39 versions are at a much slower pitch than the vinyl 45 which does run 2:34 and NOT 2:36 as listed on the 45's face.....hope this helps....

Thanks! This helps me get it right for my upcoming 1965
comp. But, if I got it right, it does seem unusually fast.

What I did was first trim the beginning and ends of the
file to the absolute start and finish, adjust the pitch
with Audition 4/iZotope'a pitch adjust to 3:34, undo the
trim at the ends, convert to 32-bit, run the pitch process,
then dither back to 16-bit.

Edited by The Hits Man

What is the best sounding stereo version of the single "A
Lover's Concerto" (if any exists?) I found a stereo version
on Spotify but it was a re-recording (new vocals, etc.).

The song doesn't exist in stereo.

The oldest CD I have with the song is Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 1 1965 (1987). It runs in fake stereo here, which is unpleasant. The same analog transfer is used on:

• JCI's Love Sixties (1988)
• Sessions/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Everlasting Love (1989)
• Good Music Record Company's 2-CD Rare Gold (1990) - left/right channels swapped, runs a bit longer than the Time-Life disc, sounds really muddy

The same source tape as the Time-Life disc seems to used on:

• Silver Eagle/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Summer Love (1987) - runs about 1 beat longer
• New Gold On CD - week of 1991-03-11

A much better analog transfer is on Rhino's Best Of The Girl Groups Vol. 2 (1990). Here, it runs in true mono. It runs about 2 beats longer than the The Time-Life disc, and about 1.8% slower than the Time-Life disc. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits 1965 (1993 RE-1 reissue; not on original pressings of this disc)
• Rhino's Girl Group Greats (2001)
• TM Century track nos. 0001114 and 0010060 - both dampen some of the low-end rumble

There's a new analog transfer on Varese Sarabande's Dick Bartley On The Radio Vol. 2 (1997), which is also in true mono. It runs out to the same point in the song as the Rhino discs, but runs about 0.6% slower than the Rhino discs. It's EQ'd to dampen some of the low-end rumble and dampen some of the high end (like the hi-hat), compared to the Rhino disc. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Glory Days Of Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 7 Girl Group Sound (1999)

Finally, there seems to be a new analog transfer on Eric's Hard To Find 45 On CD Vol. 5 Sixties Pop Classics (2000). It runs a tiny bit slower than the Varese disc, fades about three beats shorter than the Rhino and Varese discs, and includes added noise reduction (listen as the high end disappears on the fade). Avoid for this track.

My recommendation

Go with Rhino's Best Of The Girl Groups Vol. 2 (1990). Yay, mono!

EdisonLite,

There is a fan-made DES of this. Let me know if you want it!