Mixology: The Mono/Stereo Mix Differences Podcast

Hello Friends, and welcome to the second festive spectacular here on Mixology, with our look at the Christmas album to end all Christmas albums - A Christmas Gift To You from Philles Records, produced by Phil Spector and performed by The Wrecking Crew, along with the many wonderful artists on the Philles label at the time, including The Ronettes, The Crystals, Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, and Dar...

Hello Friends, and today we're continuing on with our look at Donovan's 1967 classic, A Gift From a Flower to a Garden, diving in to the second LP of this set, also released individually in the USA as For Little Ones. A diversion from the first LP in the set, this album is comprised of a set of songs based in Celtic folk music, with Donovan's intention of writing an album of songs for children. St...

Hello Friends, Today on the show we're back again in 1967 with our next Graduate Patron selected album, taking our first look at Donovan and his fantastic double LP A Gift From a Flower to a Garden. Much like our look at The Beatles at the beginning of the year, we will be splitting these two LPs in to two episodes of Mixology, with this week's episode looking at the first LP, also released indivi...

Hello Friends! In another episode chosen by our Graduate Tier Patrons, today on the show we are taking our first flight with the fabulous Byrds, and their fantastic fourth LP, 'Younger Than Yesterday'. Released in 1967, this album was subject to mono and stereo mixes, and for almost 30 years these were the only mixes of these 11 tracks. However, in 1996, due to the poor state of the stereo master,...

Hello Friends. Today on the show we're returning to LA's favourite foursome, with The Monkees' third LP 'Headquarters'. Their 2nd of 3 LPs release in 1967, this marked their debut as a self contained unit, and was of course released in mono and stereo mixes at the time. However, while the previous albums we have look at from the group were littered with little mixing treats for us to pick out, thi...

Hello Friends! Today we're taking a look at our second (and last) Nilsson album on the show, his fantastic debut 'Pandemonium Shadow Show'. Much like 'Aerial Ballet', this album features some wonderful differences between its 1967 mono and stereo mixes, and once again we'll be subjecting ourselves to the remixes from 'Aerial Pandemonium Ballet' for even deeper comparison. So, without further ado,...

Hello Friends! In our latest Patron requested episode of Mixology we're taking a look at the second album from the short lived LA group Buffalo Springfield, succinctly titled 'Buffalo Springfield Again'. This time we have two contemporary mono and stereo mixes to be looked at, each with their own flavour to be observed, digested, and ultimately hung upside down. So, if you're expecting to fly with...

Hello Friends, and today we're in 1967, with Small Faces' first album on the Immediate label, and their second self-titled album overall. Including 14 original compositions, ranging from Pop, Soul, Psych, and Baroque, this album truly covers an undeniably broad range, and leads into a lovely broad range of mixing differences too! So, let's go up the wooden hills to Bedfordshire, and dive right in!...

Hello Friends! Today we're travelling to 1967 San Francisco, with the hit LP from Jefferson Airplane, 'Surrealistic Pillow'. Hailed as a revolutionary turning point in the merging of Folk and Psych, this album is home to such hits as 'Somebody To Love' and 'White Rabbit', and wonderfully has two very contrasting mono and stereo mixes! But which should you be listening to? The dry and raw mono, or...

Hello Friends, and today we're going with a slightly controversial option, and that is The Beatles 1967 US-Only LP 'Magical Mystery Tour'. Originally released as a double EP in the UK (as well as a number of places in the rest of the world), the US rejigged the track order, and filled Side 2 with the non-LP songs from earlier in the year. While another Capitol Hodge-Podge, this album works extreme...

Hello Friends! On this fine Tuesday afternoon I thought I'd treat my listeners, by sharing an example of the sort of exclusive content supporters over at the Back to Mono Patreon have access to, with an episode of Mixology on 45, the Patreon-Only series where I take a look at non album A and B-sides, and their many occurring mix differences. With this in mind, I've decided to dig out my episode on...

Hello Friends! Today we're in 1967, with The Turtles, and their wonderful album "Happy Together". Obviously including the title hit, this album has an absolutely wonderful selection of cuts, ranging from the upbeat and uplifting opener "Makin' My Mind Up", to the beautiful ballad "Like The Seasons". However, how does it compare between it's original mono and stereo mixes? The stereo certainly feat...

Hello Friends! Today we're basking in the summer of 1964, with The Beach Boys' Summertime Magnus Opus, 'All Summer Long'. Featuring Classics such as I Get Around, Wendy, the title track, and Little Honda, this album was originally released in both mono and stereo mixes, but both versions suffered on two differing tracks. With a modern remix or two to help us out, which of these equally fantastic y...

Hello Friends! Thanks to the appearance of their music in Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" in 2019, Paul Revere & The Raiders have entered into the musical radar of many people, myself included, and this group are like any other when it comes to their Mono & Stereo mixes! With this in mind, I've today chosen to take a look at their defining LP, "The Spirit of '67", with 11 classic track...

Hello Friends! Today we're targeting the second half of 1965, with the 3rd LP from The Hollies, simply titled, "Hollies". This album was very much a case of two steps forward and one step back from their previous LP, with Folk Rock seeping into the formula, and some interesting production techniques popping up across the album. However, the decreased level of original material is certainly disappo...

Hello Friends! Today we're returning to Simon & Garfunkel, with their breakout LP "Sounds of Silence". This wonderful hodge-podge collection of Folk and Folk Rock tunes was subject to Mono and Stereo mixes in 1966, along with a faithful 2001 remix of the entire stereo album, as a well as a partially re-recorded single edit of I Am A Rock, giving us plenty here to work with. This has been one of my...

Hello Friends! We're jumping to June 1966 today, with The Rolling Stones leap forward into the world of 60s Pop and Swingin' London, and their classic LP 'Aftermath'. Released in both mono and stereo at the time, both these mixes offer us a different flavour for the album, replete with extra echo, longer fades, and just an overall differing vibe between the two. So, with both these mixes, and a co...

Hello Friends! Today we've got another Patron requested episode, taking a look at the debut LP from The Mamas and The Papas, "If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears". This California pop classic includes hit singles "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'", along with classics like "Go Where You Wanna Go" and "I Call Your Name". The stereo mix of this album is notoriously wonky and unpleasurable...

Hello Friends! Today we're making the trip to January 1967, with the debut LP from LA's most renound, The Doors! Classically self titled, 'The Doors' combined the evolving rock, psych, blues, and r'n'b movement at the time, to create a raw yet timeless effort, often heralded as the group's best. As always, the album received mono and stereo mixes upon release, and while there aren't that many expl...

Hello Friends! Today we're hanging out in 1966 with Nancy Sinatra's debut LP, 'Boots'. The first in a string of albums produced by Lee Hazlewood, this album was host to smash hit "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", along with classic tracks such as "So Long, Babe", and many fantastic covers, including my personal favourite, "Run For Your Life". Remaining unissued in mono since 1966, let's see how...

Hello Friends! We're travelling back to 1968 this week with The Monkees, and their slightly unusual LP 'The Birds, The Bees, & The Monkees'. Recorded almost totally separately by each of the members of the group, the album is a bizarre mish-mash of styles that just about manages to come together as one. Released at a time when mono was becoming deeply uncool in the USA, many people have never hear...

Hello Friends, today we're taking it back to 1965 with the second LP in Bob Dylan's iconic electric trilogy, the incomparable 'Highway 61 Revisited'. Release in both Mono & Stereo mixes in 1965, the album has never been subject to a remix, and as such, these are the mixes we still reference today. So, with every track being longer in stereo, is this an easy decision to make? Let's hop in a car dow...

Hello Friends, today we're taking a lazy trip down to the village green, with The Kinks' utterly fantastic 1968 LP, "The Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society". Released in both mono and stereo mixes at the time, this 15 track collection throws a gratuitous quantity of top quality mix differences at us, with a keen focus on the inclusion/absence of that legendary overdub - the little ol...

Hello Friends! We're staying in 1968 this week with a look at an underrated pop gem from that summer, 'I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite' from Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart. The Monkees songwriters would put together a top tier collection of Monkees styled jams, ranging from top tier pop hooks, riffs on psychedelia and beat, to just an all-out good time. Released to the public in a stereo mix in 1968, t...

Hello Friends! Today we continue our journey with The Beatles in 1968, covering LP2 of The BEATLES (better known as The White Album), and even diving in to the two cuts from the sessions released on 45, Hey Jude & Revolution. In this half, things start to get a bit dark, a bit weird, but who doesn't love it when the Fab Four get weird...? So let's get munching on a Savoy Truffle with Honey Pie in...