What Mike said is is all true except that the mastering operation at Fine Recording was a big part
of the business and encompassed a whole separate area of the building. At peak time there were two
stereo rooms and two mono rooms, and formats ranging from 78PRM vinyl kiddie records to super-loud
mono 45 singles to stereo LPs were being cut. A lot of material recorded elsewhere was mastered at
Fine Recording, and a lot of private-release stuff like corporate-promo records and
network-distributed radio programs and ads were cut there, so the cutting was sort of a stand-alone
operation more than an adjunct to the studio. In the mid-50's, Fine Sound was the largest
independent LP cutting operation in the country, doing work for just about every label except RCA,
Columbia, Capitol and Decca.
As Mike said, I never said Fine Recording cut masters for Capitol. I said Mercury albums recorded at
Capitol Studios NY were cut at Fine Recording.
Regarding Kohji-san's question, I've never seen a stereo LP version of "Cannonball Enroute," but the
contents were issued in stereo on the 2-CD reissue collection. Also Max Roach "On The Chicago
Scene." The Max Roach was issued on stereo tape in 1956 but I don't think it showed up in stereo on
LP until the 70's. It was in stereo on the Mosaic reissue set. I'm not saying those two albums
definitely weren't released in stereo back in the 1958-59 timeframe, I'm just saying I've never seen
an LP or test pressing. By the way, Cannonball's "Jump For Joy" (with strings) was test-pressed in
stereo but I haven't seen a production stereo LP. The stereo master was used on the CD reissue which
also included the mono "Cannonball with Strings."
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Biel" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 12:07 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] David Carroll "Let's Dance"
> On 8/8/2011 10:20 PM, Roger Kulp wrote:
>>
>> Were any the Capitol records pressed by Fine?
>
> Fine didn't press records. It was a recording studio, and also could be hired as a mastering
> studio.
>
>> I don't recall seeing any that had Fine markings on them,but then again,I'm not going to go dig
>> through hundreds of 50s Capitol records,looking for the Fine marks.
>>
>>
>>
>
> It was not on the Capitol label. It was on the Mercury label. Mercury used the Capitol studio to
> record the master TAPE, and then two years later had Fine cut the lacquer masters.
>
>> Considering all of the 1958-59 Mercury stereo records I've seen,popular
>> and classical,there were a lot of those well-heeled audiophiles out there.
>> I've often why the records,and tapes,turn up so much,but rarely,if ever
>> do you see any of that early stereo audiophile equipment turning up withit. Roger
>
>
>
> If someone had 1000 rrecords and had one equipment set-up to play them, why would you expect to
> find the equipment with the individual records??? Much of that equipment got discarded or traded
> in decades ago while keeping the records to play on replacement equipment. It is not a situation
> that each generation of equipment stays with each generation of the records. And if you check on
> ebay, there probably are always some examples of 1950s and 60s audiophile equipment there.
>
> Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
>
>
> From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> >> Mercury got into stereo relatively early, so there was a lot of
> material in the hopper to release as soon as stereo LPs came along. Plus, they had a concerted and
> organized plan for cutting stereo disks and pressing them, all lined up as soon as the playback
> equipment became available. The first pop stereo catalog number, SR60000, was Richard Hayman
> "Havana In HiFi," recorded 1956 at Capitol Studios NYC and LP cut at Fine Recording. An
> abbreviated version of that album was also the first catalog number in Mercury's 2-track tapes.
>
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