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Were any the Capitol records presse I was not aware Capitol used Fine. Were any the Capitol records pressed by Fine?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. Roger ________________________________ From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Monday, August 8, 2011 4:43 AM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] David Carroll "Let's Dance" 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 big labels did the same thing, especially RCA. I have test cuts from RCA made using prototype Westrex equipment in 1957, proof of concept stuff that circulated in the disk-cutting and engineering communities, probably also was provided to the first makers of stereo cartridges. I'm sure Columbia was right on this, too. But I think Mercury was ahead of the mid-sized and small labels. Audio Fidelity was an outside-of-the-box exception, a very notable one. By the way, that David Carroll album was SR60001. 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. Another interesting thing is that jazz sessions recorded in stereo by Max Roach and Cannonball Adderley in 1956 didn't make it to LP in stereo until the 1970's and 80's compilations and reissues. All of that material was subsequently reissued on CD in stereo. One other tidbit -- Buddy Morrow's version of "Night Train" was a huge hit, especially in jukeboxes. Almost all releases of that single and album were in mono. But the session was recorded in stereo and was available as a stereo LP right from the earliest days. Another interesting very early stereo record was Eddie Chamblee "Doodlin'", which featured his then-wife Dinah Washington on the cover. -- Tom Fine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roger Kulp" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2011 7:35 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] David Carroll "Let's Dance" 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 ________________________________ From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Friday, August 5, 2011 5:23 PM Subject: [ARSCLIST] David Carroll "Let's Dance" Following up on a previous thread here ... This album was definitely an early stereophonic pop-album recording, but it was not made in the early 50's. Ruppli lists one song, "A Gliss To Remember" (unless I'm remembering incorrectly) as recorded in 1956. The studio setup described would match a 1956-era stereo session with mono-compatibility built in via the mic techniques. Basically, the instruments were close-mic'd and somewhat isolated and then stereo "bridge" mics were hung above the ensemble to use room-tone and leakage to make a stereo field. There's still a somewhat weak center, but this worked well when done in a nice room like Universal Studios in Chicago and engineered by an expert like Bill Putnam. Ruppli also lists other songs recorded in 1957. The original 2-track reel has a different song sequence but the same songs as listed on the LP: http://microgroove.jp/mercury/SR60001.shtml The later quarter-track reel has the same sequence as the LP. On LP, this was first released in mono, MG20281, may have had the same sequence as the early 2-track reel (I don't have a copy of MG20281 but the microgroove.jp website refers to a slightly different sequence on the mono LP. As noted on the page linked above, the original stereo LP was mastered at Fine Recording (the FR- tag in the deadwax) and pressed by RCA Indianapolis (the I in the deadwax). Mercury did this with most or all of their earliest pop and jazz titles, probably through 1959. These records were premium-priced and only an elite band of audiophiles had the newfangled stereo cartridges and two-channel playback systems, so Mercury wanted to offer an excellent-quality product, including premium pressings on RCA's quiet vinyl. Mercury Living Presence had used RCA for years, and continued to do so until Philips eliminated the practice in 1963. Sorry to post this late. I didn't have time to look into it deeply when the original thread was active. Today I dug out Ruppli and my stereo LP, 2-track reel and quarter-track reel to gather facts. I played the 2-track and it still sounded very good. Bill Putnam was a master engineer for these sorts of albums. -- Tom Fine