Turtles - Happy Together

Mono

Your options for finding the mono version on CD are limited.

The first release to include the mono version is Varese Sarabande's multi-artist compilation Happy Together The Best Of White Whale Records (1999). It's mastered too loud here and clips a lot. Not great.

That 1999 release was the only place to find the mono version until FloEdCo/Manifesto released The Complete Album Collection (Box Set) and a deluxe edition of the Happy Together in 2016. Both of these include the mono version (digitally identical to each other). It sounds better than the 1999 CD above. Here, the track runs at the LP speed.

FloEdCo/Manifesto also released All The Singles in 2016. This includes the mono version running at the 45 speed, which is a little slower than the LP speed.

The 2016 releases are great - excellent dynamic range, nice EQ, decent (if old) source tapes, and no evidence on the fade of any added noise reduction.

Stereo

The stereo version shows up on one of the very oldest CDs in existence: Rhino's Turtles 20 Greatest Hits (1984). The whole CD is terrific.   The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 5 1967 (1988)
• Session/Warner Special Products' 2-CD 60's Frat Rock (1990)
• Time-Life's History Of Rock 'N' Roll Vol. 4 California Pop 1963-1967 (1993) - left and right channels swapped
• JCI's Only Rock And Roll 1965-1969 (1994)
• Starland/Warner Special Products' 2-CD 40 Party Classics (1996)
• Ace UK's Chartbusters USA Special Edition Sunshine Pop (2009)
• Time-Life's 2-CD AM Gold Good Lovin' (2021)

There's a new analog transfer on Rhino Special Editions' 10-track Turtles collection Love Songs (1995). The EQ has a little more emphasis in the midrange than 20 Greatest Hits. There's a small amount of clipping in the last 30 seconds or so. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Varese Sarabande's Dick Bartley Rock And Roll's Greatest Love Songs (1999)
• Rhino's Millennium Sixties Rock Party (1999)

There's a new analog transfer on Varese Sarabande's Totally Oldies Vol. 4 (2002). Here, it's mastered too loud and clips quite a bit. I think there may be some added noise reduction because the EQ gets weird and metallic-sounding on the fade. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Varese Sarabande's Rock And Roll The First 50 Years The Late '60s (2005)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Summer Of Love The Hits Of 1967 (2007)

There's still another new analog transfer on Shout! Factory's Happy Together The Very Best Of (2004). It sounds just fine here, which is better than I'd expect for a 2004 release.

FloEdCo/Manifesto released The Complete Album Collection (Box Set) and a deluxe edition of the Happy Together album in 2016. The stereo versions on these two releases are digitally identical to each other. Both sound good, with excellent dynamic range and reasonable EQ, but the source tapes are 32 years older than 20 Greatest Hits, and it sounds a little dull overall compared to the 1984 release.

Priority's Best Of 60s Love (1987) does awful things to the sound, making it sound like fake stereo or something. Avoid at all costs for this song.

Rhino's Lil' Bit O' Gold 3-inch CD (1988) uses the original stereo mix, but the mastering doesn't match any of the above. Sound is comparable to 20 Greatest Hits.

Non-hit 1989 stereo remix by Bill Inglot

Rhino's Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits 1967 (1989, original release) includes a brand new stereo mix. Bill Inglot isn't credited on the disc, but I'm not sure who else would have done this mix.

The easiest way to tell the difference is on the attack of the very last note of the song, around 2:48. In the hit 1967 stereo mix, there's a little distortion in the trumpets, so that it sorta sounds like three quick notes played in quick succession. In the 1989 remix, the last note is flawless. There are other differences, too. For example, listen to the background vocals starting at 0:24. In the hit 1967 mix, they're mostly centered. In the 1989 remix, they're panned to the right.

The same analog transfer as Billboard is used on:

• New Gold On CD week of 1990-01-15 (I think; this disc has a whole lotta processing on it, so it's hard to make out the source)
• Time-Life's 25 Years Of #1 Hits (1991)
• Rhino's promo Incredible Collections Wheel Of Knowledge (1991, PRO2 90081)
• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 5 1967 (1991)
• Rhino's Better Days (1992)
• Rhino's Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits 1967 (1993, RE-1 reissue)
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 8 1967 (1994)
• Simitar's Love Rocks In Love With Love (1998)
• Time-Life's Spirit Of The '60s Sunshine Pop (2000)

The 1989 remix is also on New Gold On CD week of 1991-02-18, but I don't know where the mastering comes from.

My preferences

For the mono mix, go with FloEdCo/Manifesto's All The Singles (2016) for the 45 speed, and the Happy Together album deluxe edition (2016) for the LP speed.

For the hit 1967 stereo mix, go with Rhino's Turtles 20 Greatest Hits (1984).

For the non-hit 1989 stereo remix by Bill Inglot, go with Rhino's Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits 1967 (1989).