The Cyrkle - Red Rubber Ball

Mono

The 1966 45 is mono and runs 2:17. (Discogs shows that the 1966 LP is available in both stereo and mono. I don't know if the mono LP version is the same as the mono 45 version.)

It's a dedicated mix, and isn't a fold-down of the 1966 stereo mix.

You'll have to grab it from vinyl, because all the CD releases to date are in stereo.

1966 stereo mix

The 1966 stereo LP version is an extremely wide mix, with lead vocals being centered, with calliope (I think; it's the flute-like organ sound) and acoustic guitar in the left, and drums, bass, and electric guitar, and tamborine in the right.

The oldest CD I have with the 1966 stereo mix is Rhino's Nuggets Vol. 3 Even More Nuggets (1989). It runs 2:17, and sounds just fine here. The EQ has a lot of high end, which is typical of Rhino releases from this time frame.

I think the same source tape for Nuggets is used on Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 13 1966 Shakin' All Over (1989). The sound quality is comparable. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 12 The Mid-'60s (1991)
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 5 The Mid-'60s (1995)
• Time-Life's Treasury Of Folk Music Vol. 4 Folk Rock (1999)
• Time-Life's Singers And Songwriters Vol. 14 1964-1969 (2001)
• Time-Life's Singers And Songwriters Vol. 22 The Folk Years Simple Song Of Freedom (2002)
• Time-Life's Flower Power Do You Believe In Magic (2008)

Time-Life certainly believed in recycling.

There's a new analog transfer on K-Tel's Seems Like Yesterday Vol. 5 (1990), which has a little less high end than the Rhino disc.   The same analog transfer is used on:

• Good Music Record Company's Rare Gold (1990)

There's another new analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top Pop Hits 1966 (1995). It runs about 0.3% or 0.4% faster than Nuggets, but otherwise sounds pretty close to Nuggets. Interesting that Rhino thought that this track fit both the psychedelic stuff on Nuggets and the mellow pop on Billboard Top Pop Hits.

Finally, there's a new analog transfer on Sundazed's 2001 rerelease of the full-length stereo Red Rubber Ball album. It runs about 0.4% slower than Nuggets.

There have been more recent CD rereleases of the Red Rubber Ball album, mostly in Japan. I don't have those.

Of all of the discs listed above, I like the sound best on Nuggets, Billboard Top Pop Hits 1966, and Sundazed's Red Rubber Ball. You can't go wrong with any of these three. If I had to pick one, I'd go with Nuggets, just because one runs faster than Nuggets and another runs slower than Nuggets.

1991 stereo remix

Vic Anesini remixed all the tracks on Columbia/Legacy's stellar 18-track Cyrkle collection Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) (1991).

For this song, the placement of the instruments is basically the same as the 1966 stereo mix. But the reverb is different. Listen to the words "be all right" at 0:34. On the 1966 mix, there's a lot of reverb on the tail of "right". On the 1991 remix, it's pretty dry.

The same analog transfer as Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) is used on:

• Mystic Music's mail-order Groovin' (1992)
• Sony's Pop Music The Golden Era 1951-1975 (1999)
• Time-Life's Spirit Of The '60s Classic Sounds (2000)

There's another analog transfer of the 1991 remix on later pressings of Sony's Pop Classics Of The 60's (copyright 1989, rerelease ?). It runs about 0.2% slower than Red Rubber Ball (A Collection), but otherwise sounds about the same as that disc.

Amazingly, the first pressings of Pop Classics Of The 60's used a previously unreleased mix that's missing the calliope in the intro and throughout the song. It's a *big* error for this song, probably comparable to leaving out the lead vocals. The error is only on first pressings, though. The version on Qobuz of this CD has the 1991 remix.

My recommendations

For the mono mix, find a nice dub of the 45 (or maybe the mono vinyl LP?)

For the original 1966 stereo mix, go with Rhino's Nuggets Vol. 3 Even More Nuggets (1989).

For the 1991 stereo remix, go with Columbia/Legacy's Red Rubber Ball (A Collection) (1991).

AndrewChouffi wrote: Don't forget there was that one early CD on Columbia that was missing the main musical hook of the song (Calliope?) on its first pressing.

Are you maybe thinking of "Red Rubber Ball"? There's an underdub of that around.

That's all correct.

Apologies if this thread looks just like the thread for "Turn-Down Day".

Most of the info is very similar for the two songs. (Mono doesn't exist on CD, original stereo mix not the easiest to find, 1991 remix on Red Rubber Ball (A Collection).)