Les Baxter – Space Escapade

Should you buy the mono or stereo of space escapade? The verdict is you need both however the mono is superior to the stereo in my humble opinion. Here is some more info for you to chew on.

While it eventually became commonplace for labels to mix to both mono and stereo from the same multitrack masters, mono and stereo recordings were sometimes done separately in the early days of stereo recording.

This means that when a session was recorded, two sets of equipment and two engineers were employed in the recording.

This may have been standard at a number of labels, but it was definitely done at Capitol in LA circa 1956 - 1958.

What is particularly interesting about Capitol is that the mono and stereo versions were each recorded with different microphone placement and very different production values. This is notable, because Capitol mono LPs from the 1950s are among the best sounding records I have ever heard; and, for a mainstream, major pop label, Capitol had one hell of an artist roster and released an incredible string of excellent albums in the 1950s and early 1960s.

What was the big difference? In 1956-58, Capitol used close-mic techniques, up to eight microphones/channels in a session, to mix on-the-fly to their mono recordings. This allowed for more detail, more balance, and generally a more intimate sound on their mono records.

Capitol's stereo recordings from this period, by contrast, were done with with two or three overhead mics, resulting in an ambient, concert hall sound. It could produce a big, beautiful, and natural sound, but sometimes details were lost.

These different approaches, of course, have different implications, depending on the nature of the music and ensemble being recorded. For example, the symphonic ensemble on Les Baxter's "Ports of Pleasure" sounds incredible in stereo, while Billy May's big band on Sinatra's "Come Dance With Me" has more teeth and presence in mono.

As examples, I can tell you that at least four Frank Sintra albums and at least four Les Baxter albums were recorded separately in mono and stereo during this period. The Sinatra albums are "Where Are You," "Come Fly With Me," "Only the Lonely," and "Come Dance With Me."

The Les Baxter albums include "Ports of Pleasure," "Space Escapade," "South Pacific," and "African Jazz."

While this may seem like an exercise in extreme geekdom, the differences in some of these albums are unbelievable. For example, "Only the Lonely" in mono is much more intense and intimate, and much closer in mood and feel to "Wee Small Hours" than the stereo version.

The earliest of the albums I referenced is "Where Are You," (S)W 855, recorded as early as April, 1957. The latest (released) of these is "African Jazz," (S)T 1117, recorded August 1958. "Come Dance With Me," which has a lower catalog number (S)W 1069, was recorded as late as December 1958. And while this may be an oddity, "Kenton in Hi Fi," W 724, was recorded in mono and stereo as early as February 1956. (The stereo version was released only years later, AFAIK).

Anyway, I thought this may be interesting to some of you. I'm curious to know how late the dual mono/stereo recordings on Capitol lasted, in terms of catalog numbers, recording dates, and/or release dates.