Paul Mauriat - Love Is Blue

Also, I compared the 45 to a fold-down of the stereo version, and the two sound identical to my ears.

On Eric's "Hard To Find Orchestral Instrumentals" 11507-2 there is a notation that this is the Single Version. It times out at 2:32. On the Ace "Hits With Strings And Things" CDCHD-1210 it likewise times out at 2:32. I was unaware of any other original version (album vs single) of this song.

Hykker wrote: I have a promo original, a stock original and a promo reissue of this, and they're all mono. Mercury/Phillips was just beginning to issue some of their promo singles mono/stereo in early 1968, my promo of his follow-up "Love In Every Room" is that configuration.

Does your Philips 40495 stock copy of "Love Is Blue" have "Alone In The Room" on the B-side or "Sunny"?

I couldn't wait to buy the then-titled "L'Amour Est Bleu (Love Is Blue)" when Minneapolis' KQRS broke the record during the early fall of 1967. There was no 45 at the time, so I got the stereo U.S. Blooming Hits LP, and while it was great to have the cut in stereo, the entire album sounded as though it was sourced from sixth generation tapes. I didn't pick up the 45 until it turned up in the cut-out bins. My copy bears a large "S"-in-a-circle logo on the label, to the left of the "Love Is Blue (L'Amour Est Bleu)" title and has "Sunny" (from the earlier More Mauriat LP) as its B-side, rather than the more common "Alone In The World" from Blooming Hits. Both sides are mono, with machine-stamped deadwax numbers.

Here are the Philips double-hit series reissue 45s I have:

44034: White label promo 45; machine-stamped deadwax numbers on both sides. "Love Is Blue" and "Black Is Black" are both mono.

44034: Stock styrene pressing, mid'70s or more recent vintage ("PRC" etching in deadwax.) Hand-etched "2-40540-4" deadwax numbers on "Love Is Blue," which plays stereo (the label on this side still states the original "1-40540" matrix number.) Machine-stamped deadwax numbers on "Black Is Black," which is mono.

872 852-7: Timepieces vinyl pressing, but still on the familiar Philips double-hit series label, albeit with barcode. Both sides utilize newer cuttings, with MASTERED BY TRUTONE in the deadwax. Both "Love Is Blue" and "Black Is Black" are stereo, but not listed as such.

Speaking of "Black Is Black": by the time "Love Is Blue" had caught fire nationally, KQRS had moved on to Mauriat's "Black Is Black," which had actually preceded "Love Is Blue" as a 1967 single on Philips 40440. My DJ 45 of "Black Is Black" / "Reach Out I'll Be There" (listed as "DJ 2-40440") states "45 RPM STEREO" on the labels and, does, indeed, play stereo on both sides.

Edited by Yah Shure

Smokin' TomGary wrote: On Eric's "Hard To Find Orchestral Instrumentals" 11507-2 there is a notation that this is the Single Version. It times out at 2:32. On the Ace "Hits With Strings And Things" CDCHD-1210 it likewise times out at 2:32. I was unaware of any other original version (album vs single) of this song.

I was curious myself, so i asked Tom Daly if he could
remember why the "single" decription - and he did
clarify:

At that time, the re-recording was common on CD, and the
Philips album on CD for it also contained the re-
recording. Because of that they called it the "single" to
differentiate it from the re-recording, not the original
parent album.   As for real original LP and the hit 45,
he said was not aware of any particular differenc other
than maybe the slight pitch difference Aaron mentioned.
MM