Association-"Windy"

As I move on to the hits of 1967, my commercial 45, which is mono and confirmed as WB 7041, has a listed time of (2:49), but an actual time of (2:54).

There were some phase issues with stereo versions of this song on vinyl. I don't know if they were corrected when mastered for CD, maybe this explains why the mono mix would be issued on CD.

Unless someone can show evidence to the contrary, all stereo CD appearances of "Windy" should probably contain an "LP mix" comment next to them. (The mono CD entries each currently have a "45 mix" comment).

Edited by Todd Ireland

My CD copy of Feel Good Rock is Heartland HD1090/4
OPCD-4520 on the insert and front of the CD itself. On the inner 'deadwax' it shows 10 OPCD-4520-2.1 RE-1 for Disc 1 and 10 OPCD-4520-2.2 RE-1 for Disc 2. The RE-1 may be a re-release. Mine does not have "Windy" but does have "My Ding-A-Ling".
Depending on the audio processing used at the station there can be a cancellation of the vocals in mono. If I combine left and right channels before a processing chain I have at home the vocals are not noticeably cancelled. Post processor is different, with a very noticeable cancellation. This is one title with a very wide stereo image.

Mono

The 45 was mono.

Your choices for the mono are limited on CD:

• Rhino's well-compiled but oddly titled Summer Of Love Vol. 1 Tune In Good Times & Love Vibrations (1992)
• Varese Sarabande's Sunshine Days Pop Classics Of The '60s Vol. 5 (1998) - mastering based on Summer Of Love
• Medalist Entertainment's Groovy 60s (2001)
• Razor & Tie's Suddenly '60s (2002)
• Reader's Digest Music's Gentle Memories Of The '60s (2004?)
• Now Sounds' The Complete Warner Bros. & Valiant Singles Collection (2012)

To be fair, I only have the first two and last one of these, so I can't comment on the Medalist or Reader's Digest collections. The Rhino, Varese, and Now Sounds collections all sound great. I picked the Rhino for my own library, but any of these three will work fine if you have them.

Stereo

The LP was stereo.

The first (I think) CD to include the stereo version is Warner Bros.' Association Greatest Hits (CD release date unknown; no copyright date on disc because original vinyl LP was released before 1972). This CD is a straight reissue of the vinyl LP, which, unfortuantely, includes CSG fake-stereo processing. If you've never heard CSG, it's a nightmare in headphones and mildly amusing for about ten seconds in speakers. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 15 1967 Shakin' All Over (1989) - tail of fade is about 7 beats shorter
• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1965-1969 (1994) - tail of fade is about 7 beats shorter
• Time-Life's AM Gold Good Lovin' (2021)
• TM Century track no. 00006162 - this is especially painful because it's on a service for radio stations; there is nothing more painful than hearing FM processors struggle with phase-based fake stereo

I personally detest fake stereo. Avoid all of the above.

I found three distinct analog transfers of the stereo version (all without CSG).

The first analog transfer is on Pair/Warner Special Products' Association collection Songs That Made Them Famous (1984). The sound here is much better than I would expect for such an early CD. Great dynamic range, nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction on the fade, and seemingly low-generation source tapes. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Heartland/Warner Special Products' Feel Good Rock (1989)
• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 5 1967 (1991) - tail of fade is shorter by about 10 beats
• Starland/Warner Special Products' 40 Summer Fun Hits (1993) - tail of fade is shorter by about 10 beats
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 8 1967 (1994) - tail of fade is shorter by about 10 beats

The second analog transfer is on Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1967 (1989). The sound is EQ'd with more top end than the Pair disc, which becomes a little problematic toward the end of the song, when the tamborine in the right channel overpowers everything else in the mix. The tail of the fade is about 2 or 3 beats shorter than the Pair disc. The 1993 RE-1 reissue of this disc is digitally identical to the 1989 original release.

The third analog transfer is on Rhino's Just The Right Sound The Anthology (2002). Here, it's even brighter than the Billboard disc, which is bad. It's also too loud in the last 30 seconds of the song, and clips quite a bit. The same analog transfer is used on Warner Bros.' The Essentials (2002).

My recommendations

For the mono version, I chose Rhino's Summer Of Love Vol. 1 (1992). The Varese disc will do just as well.

For the stereo version, go with Pair/Warner Special Products' Songs That Made Them Famous (1984) if you want a single-artist set, or Heartland/Warner Special Products' Feel Good Rock (1989) if you want a multi-artist compilation.

Avoid, at all costs, the CSG-infested Greatest Hits, or any of the CSG discs I listed above.