Simon & Garfunkel-"Bridge Over..."

Thanks to John, I just did a side-by-side comparison of the mono 45 and a fold down of the Essential version. This is one case where I'm going to have to disagree about a drastic difference between the two, even though the 45 is a unique mix. Perhaps earlier copies on CD suffer from extra reverb, but I do not hear any extra reverb on the stereo version. In fact, at the end, it's just the opposite. The 45 has the vocals buried and it sounds far more echo-y than the stereo fold down.

I will also argue that the fold down sounds better than the actual 45, particularly at the end. The strings are cranked up way too loud, practically drowning everything else out.

I always thought the overpowering strings at the end of the song served as the perfect metaphor: that no matter how strong the currents of the troubled water were raging (and nearly drowning him) Art would still be there as that bridge. The dramatically-overpowering strings make me imagine that the bridge is over Niagara Falls instead of Cripple Creek.

Then again, the Niagara Falls tourism bureau may not have seen the potential humor in any "bride over troubled water" typos. So much for going over-the-top... :)

In any event, the 45 sounded great on AM radio at the time. But I certainly wouldn't say that the mono 45 is anything like a "mono Sgt. Peppers" compared to the stereo mix.

My promo 45 arrived at the college station on January 28, 1970, and the initial HOF reissue on September 30th, meaning that the original BOTW single was available for fewer than eight months. Of course, it sold a boatload during that time, but because of the length and high percentage of styrene pressings, pristine originals can be a tough find.

I was prepared to dig out my original stock, DJ and HOF copies to do a needledrop over the weekend, but the real surprise turned out to be a long-forgotten cutout copy I'd bought in 1970. Part of the fun of cutout 45s was that pressings from other regions of the country besides the usual suspects would often turn up. This particular cutout was an east coast Pitman styrene pressing which I had never played. I captured the virgin spin and it sounded fantastic. The previously-unplayed Terre Haute mono DJ side had more rumble and surface noise. I stopped right there and never even got to the Terre Haute HOF reissue copy.

Edited by Yah Shure

i just did an A/B review of simon & garfunkel's song
'bridge over troubled water' and there are very subtle mix
differences, but NOT enough to warrant a note in the
db......as i usually do, i will chalk this one up to the
innate differences between a stereo deliver of the music
and a mono delivery of the music....as far as i can tell
all the instrumentation are the same on mono mix and stereo
mix.......it's just that because of the format, they sound
different....i go back to what i always say.....when
comparing a stereo version of a song and a mono
version....they don't sound anything alike, because of the
natural differences in the delivery method...