"You’ve Lost That..."- Righteous Brothers

I have the song in mono on the Phil Spector/Back To Mono
(1958-1969) collection. I also do not hear strings on
my copy either. Seeing that they are both released on the
Abkco label I suspect this also may be a 45/LP designation
needed.

i would support a "mix" designation on this one. I think the strings are there,
they simply sound different due to the mono/stereo mix difference.

I don't think I've ever heard an original recording of this song that actually sounded good.

Perhaps it's because I don't have any 45 version in my collection. All the copies I have heard on CD so far seem to come from a really noisy needledrop. I took a few minutes to try and listen to where
the noise starts. In the first minute or so, maybe around 00:50 there begins a series of soft pops that sort of sound like someone playing with a windscreen on a mic. This continues to occur frequently
throughout the song. The more I listen to the noise the more I think it might be noise in the transfer.

What I also find interesting, is at the very end when the song is fading out there is another series of muffled crackles that sound like noise reduction over a needle popping in a dirty groove.

I haven't taken the time yet to listen to all of the many copies I have but, at least I think I can say that the ones I did listen to had the strings. I don't know if I own the CD that Todd mentioned in
the original post. If I happen to find it, I'll also listen for the objectionable noises. It's really a great song! I also remember there were a number of versions that were re-recorded, but those
don't have the sound and feel of the "Original version."

Was Al Hibber the original for this? Or, was there a number of previous covers before the Righteous Brothers?

Minutia!

Stereo LP mix

The oldest CD I have with the song is Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 1 1965 (1987), where it sounds terrible. Likely high-generation source tapes, muddy EQ, and left/right channels are swapped. Avoid.

There's a better analog transfer on Warner Special Products/Sessions' 2-CD Senior Prom (1987). A definite improvement over Classic Rock.

And then, there's an even better analog transfer on Rhino's Righteous Brothers Anthology 1962-1974 (1989) and Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1965 (1989), which are digitally identical to each other. Although the database says "sounds like it was mastered from vinyl" for Anthology 1962-1974, I think it's just a noisy source tape. (I welcome second opinions.) But if Anthology 1962-1974 is really from vinyl, then virtually all the later CDs that include the song are also from vinyl, because the same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's promo PRO2 90025 Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits 1955-1974 Sampler (1989) - digitally identical
• Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 3 1965 (1990) - shortens tail of fade by about three seconds
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 10 1965 (1990) - the entire disc is a repackaging of Superhits Vol. 3 1965, so this, too, shortens tail of fade by about three seconds
• Cema's 2-CD Mystic Music Presents Groovin' (1992) - shortens tail of fade
• Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1965 RE-1 rerelease (1993) - digitally identical
• Time-Life's 2-CD Body Talk Vol. 7 Hearts In Motion (1996) - differently EQ'd digital clone
• PolyGram's promo Pop Memories (1996)
• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Break Up To Make Up (1999)

I would assume that pretty much any US CD released after 1989 is based on the Rhino mastering.

One outlier that's not based on earlier masterings: EMI Virgin PolyGram's UK 2-CD Now 19 (1991), which narrows the soundstage and fades five or six seconds early; avoid.

Mono 45 mix

It sounds as good as it will get on Abkco's multi-disc Phil Spector Back To Mono 1958-1969 (1991). I don't have any of the handful of later discs that include the mono version.

My recommendations

This one is pretty straightforward.

For the stereo LP version, go with Rhino's Righteous Brothers Anthology 1962-1974 (1989) if you want a single-artist disc, or Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1965 (1989) if you want a multi-artist compilation. They have identical 0's and 1's.

For the mono 45 mix, I like Abkco's multi-disc Phil Spector Back To Mono 1958-1969 (1991), but I don't have any others to compare.

Thanks for clarifying, Dave. Now I can stop looking for Al Hibbler's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." :)