Quote:
Originally Posted by johnfowles
This has become an interesting thread
I believe that the fact is that in the early days of Stereo vinyl relatively few people could afford the extra cost of a stereo turntable/pickup/amplifier/loudspeakers and the record companies saw a golden opportunity to milk the market from the poor suckers who had stereo units and for some time offered many if not all albums in both Mono and Stereo pressings the stereo versions being priced higher and they got away with it despite it being patently obvious that the material costs of Mono and Stereo discs were identical
In early 1967 I only had a simple Mono record player and therefore I am pretty sure that in April that year my first ever Lightfoot album Lightfoot! purchased in the old Morgans store in Montreal's Dorval Shopping Centre was a cheaper Mono pressing. from TWIF onwards I shelled out big bucks (3 canabucks plus) and bought the stereo versions
I recall the excitement in the late 50's or early 60's when my grandfather acquired an expensive new "radiogram" with stereo, and I still have the UK Decca demonstration record "A Journey into Stereo Sound that he bought
great stereo effects for example a ping pong game and the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, a nice recent review is at:-
Amazon.com: A Journey Into Stereo Sound . . . An Introduction to FFSS [LP Record]: Music
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Cool story! I love Canadian pressings and have many LP's and 45's in my collection. All different bands/singers. I always thought it fascinating that most of the British Invasion people wound up on the "Capitol Of Canada" label. It's weird seeing records by The Dave Clark Five, Freddie & The Dreamers, Gerry & The Pacemakers etc. on the Beatles Capitol swirl label! I love it!
Yes. In the USA, stereo LP's usually cost one dollar more and that format was considered a luxury. Most younger fans went for the cheaper mono pressings which, funny enough, usually sound better and more full than the stereo. In Beatle land, stereo was done as an after thought and George Martin & Co. would only spend an hour or so creating them for each album. Up until about 1968/69, mono always took precedence. I am wondering if the recordings of Lightfootville were approached in the same manner? The one thing that worries me is that sometimes, fold downs were released in Canada with the true mono mixes in the USA and vice versa. I might have to pick up both the US and Canadian mono Lightfoot LP's to see where we stand.