"Rescue Me" Fontella Bass

This one turned out to be interesting.

Mono version

Nope. Try a 1965-era 45. Not available on CD.

Stereo version

I'm guessing that the stereo version came out first on the stereo LP pressing of The New Look from 1966.

It starts with just about everything panned sharply to the left. It sounds a little weird in headphones, as does a lot of the early stereo. It almost sounds as if some the instruments are out of phase (left channel out of phase with right channel), but I checked and that's not the case.

The oldest CD I have with the stereo version is Priority's Best Of 60s Sock Hop (1987). Here, it fades in. One of the engineers at Priority must have thought that the stereo separation was TOO weird, and narrowed the soundstage in response (mixed some of the left channel into the right channel and vice versa). It may be from vinyl, and there might be noise reduction and other processing crud applied here. As with most releases on Priority, just avoid.

There's a new analog transfer on JCI's Baby Boomer Classics Dance Sixties (1988). It's not bad here, but I think it may be a relatively high-generation source tape. The outro is much noisier than what was released later.

There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989), which is much better than the earlier two. Great dynamic range, nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction, and lower-generation source tapes than the JCI disc. The same analog transfer is used on:

Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 12 1965 (1991) - left/right channels reversed
Rhino's multi-disc Beg Scream And Shout (1997) - more aggressively EQ'd
Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Rhythm And Blues Collection Vol. 3 1964-1967 (2000) - digital clone of Solid Gold Soul and therefore has left/right channels reversed

Non-hit stereo remix from 1986

The first seven or eight seconds are mono. The stereo separation starts with the horns in the first drum fill.

I believe that Steve Hoffman did this remix for MCA's Vintage Music Volumes 9 And 10 (1986). It's tasteful, it sounds great in headphones, it extends longer than the other versions... but it wasn't released at the time.

The same analog transfer is used on Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 8 1965 The Beat Goes On (1988).

There's a digital clone of Vintage on Rhino's Soul Shots Vol. 1 (1988), but with added reverb! If you do a null test between the two, you can pretty well isolate the reverb! If you want to listen for the reverb, it shows up most prominently in the vocals, in the first few lines of the song.

Rhino's cheapie Soul Hits Vol. 2 (1993) uses the same analog transfer as Soul Shots Vol. 1 and therefore includes the added reverb.

Simitar's Number Ones Hot In The '60s (1998) is digitally identical to Soul Shots Vol. 1 and therefore includes the added reverb.

My recommendations

For the vintage stereo version, go with Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989).

For the non-hit remix from 1986, go with MCA's Vintage Music Volumes 9 And 10 (1986).

For the non-hit remix from 1986 with added reverb, go with Rhino's Soul Shots Vol. 1 (1988).

Edited by crapfromthepast

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Indy500 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 29 January 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Indy500 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: "Rescue Me" Fontella Bass Posted: 29 July 2020 at 4:19pm
	Can the mono 45 version be found on any import CDs?

Paul C Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 23 October 2006 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote Paul C Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 July 2020 at 8:10am
	I'm not aware of this song having been issued in mono since a Chess reissue 45 in the mid-1980s that to me sounds suspiciously like a disc dub. Steve Hoffman has stated that he had access to all the Chess tapes when working on the Vintage Music series (MCA had only recently acquired them from Sugar Hill) and could not find a mono tape. The producers of the Rhino Beg, Scream And Shout box claimed that for the few songs in stereo on the set, they had been unable to locate mono tapes. (In addition to "Rescue Me", a number of other mid-60s Chess/Checker songs are stereo on this set).

crapfromthepast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 14 September 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote crapfromthepast Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 July 2020 at 12:24pm
	This one turned out to be interesting. Mono version Nope. Try a 1965-era 45. Not available on CD. Stereo version I'm guessing that the stereo version came out first on the stereo LP pressing of The New Look from 1966. It starts with just about everything panned sharply to the left. It sounds a little weird in headphones, as does a lot of the early stereo. It almost sounds as if some the instruments are out of phase (left channel out of phase with right channel), but I checked and that's not the case. The oldest CD I have with the stereo version is Priority's Best Of 60s Sock Hop (1987). Here, it fades in. One of the engineers at Priority must have thought that the stereo separation was TOO weird, and narrowed the soundstage in response (mixed some of the left channel into the right channel and vice versa). It may be from vinyl, and there might be noise reduction and other processing crud applied here. As with most releases on Priority, just avoid. There's a new analog transfer on JCI's Baby Boomer Classics Dance Sixties (1988). It's not bad here, but I think it may be a relatively high-generation source tape. The outro is much noisier than what was released later. There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989), which is much better than the earlier two. Great dynamic range, nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction, and lower-generation source tapes than the JCI disc. The same analog transfer is used on: Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 12 1965 (1991) - left/right channels reversed Rhino's multi-disc Beg Scream And Shout (1997) - more aggressively EQ'd Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Rhythm And Blues Collection Vol. 3 1964-1967 (2000) - digital clone of Solid Gold Soul and therefore has left/right channels reversed Non-hit stereo remix from 1986 The first seven or eight seconds are mono. The stereo separation starts with the horns in the first drum fill. I believe that Steve Hoffman did this remix for MCA's Vintage Music Volumes 9 And 10 (1986). It's tasteful, it sounds great in headphones, it extends longer than the other versions... but it wasn't released at the time. The same analog transfer is used on Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 8 1965 The Beat Goes On (1988). There's a digital clone of Vintage on Rhino's Soul Shots Vol. 1 (1988), but with added reverb! If you do a null test between the two, you can pretty well isolate the reverb! If you want to listen for the reverb, it shows up most prominently in the vocals, in the first few lines of the song. Rhino's cheapie Soul Hits Vol. 2 (1993) uses the same analog transfer as Soul Shots Vol. 1 and therefore includes the added reverb. Simitar's Number Ones Hot In The '60s (1998) is digitally identical to Soul Shots Vol. 1 and therefore includes the added reverb. My recommendations For the vintage stereo version, go with *Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965* (1989). For the non-hit remix from 1986, go with MCA's Vintage Music Volumes 9 And 10 (1986). For the non-hit remix from 1986 with added reverb, go with Rhino's Soul Shots Vol. 1 (1988)**. Edited by crapfromthepast
	There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one Crap From The Past.