Such Thing as a Carpenters Mono LP?

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I have seen some artists from the late 60's & 70's that came out with Lp's and on the label of the LP it states that the album was pressed in Mono. One I have is a Simon/Garfunkel.

Did the Carpenters have any LP's that were pressed in Mono? I know that there were 45's done in the Mono format but wondered about there Lp's.

My newly opened Horizons LP says Stereo on the label but I could swear it sounds like a Mono pressing, it is so full & rich sounding. I burned it to a CDR & I could almost bet my life on it that it is a 150% better copy than any digitally mastered CD of Horizon of there. If you could only hear this you would also agree there is something different about this, that is why I ask this question...is it possible there are any Mono Pressing of Carpenters Lp's?

 

[andywithaz]

I have an original lp release of the tan album Carpenters with the weird folding cover. I would swear that this is a mono lp though it says it is stereo. I even listened to it with headphones on and I don't think it was in stereo. Weird huh

I also have the lp of Close to You. I think I have a re-release and it is definitelty in stereo.

I'm not sure but I think Offering was released in Mono.

 

[W.B.]

I'm not sure but I think Offering was released in Mono.

Insofar as the U.S. is concerned, I doubt it. Unless some "special" promo copies were pressed as such when the LP was first released. I know that with some companies they offered mono promo copies of LP's for at least a year after it was phased out commercially. (Although Columbia, from 1968-69, mostly packaged their mono promo LP's like regular "stock" copies, with the Pantone 199 Red-colored label and all that; I have copies of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap's second and third albums -- Featuring: Young Girl and Incredible -- and Andy Williams's Honey LP, in mono. And some promo copies of Paul & Linda McCartney's Ram album were made in mono as Apple MAS-3375 in '71.) England, however, was another story; mono LP's continued to be issued commercially alongside stereo well into early 1969. And how can one gauge that? The Beatles' Abbey Road LP was the first in their catalogue to be issued only in stereo.

But I do share some of that concern about is-it-stereo-or-isn't-it? As the '70's wore on, many mixes became so subtle in terms of stereo, you wouldn't know it unless you heard it some umpteen zillion times -- with headphones each time. Almost like some 1970's TV shows (most notably Sanford and Son) where the color appeared so washed out, it could almost pass for black-and-white.

 

[Harry]

Agree with W.B. - I don't believe there are any commercially released Carpenters mono LPs out there, but there might be a few promo copies. I've heard of people having mono copies of Lani Hall's Sun Down Lady from 1972, and I have a mono promo copy of Herb's Solid Brass from around the same time, so it's possible that there might be some mono promo issues of Carpenters material up to that time. I've not seen or heard of any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. So if anyone out there in the Carpenters world is lurking, and you've got a mono album, please let us know. These usually have stickers on them saying things like "For AM Radio play only" or "Monaural".

Chris - check your connections from your turntable to your receiver and make sure that both channels are plugged in properly. Then listen to "Aurora" with headphones. You should clearly hear the strings coming from the left channel, harp in the right channel, Richard's piano in stereo on both sides, and Karen singing from the center. I can't believe that there'd be a mono pressing of Horizon out there

Harry
...interested in mono pressings, online...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Yeah my connections are properly set, I think it's just that this LP sounds so good that it almost had me fooled for a moment that it could possibly be mono.

But your right it's definately stereo as I clearly hear the strings on the left channel & the harp coming from the right with the piano on both sides listening to "Aurora"

Wonder why my Horizons LP says SP-4530 in bold (both sides) & next to that (SP4797)...In the "run-out" area says side 1: A&M SP4797-P2 side2: A&M SP4798-P2

I guess I'm just lucky to have such a great stereo LP pressing that I believe sounds better than my original Horizons CD.

 

[Rudy]

From what I remember, LP-146, The TJB's The Beat Of The Brass was the last officially released monaural album on A&M, dating to 1968. Promotional copies of later albums may be available in mono, but as for being commercially available, LP-146 should be the end of the line.

The A&M/CTi SP-3000 series also had a monaural counterpart, but I haven't figured out exactly which ones were released in mono. (Were those the SP-2000 series?)

An oddity: I have the TJB's You Smile, The Song Begins on promotional vinyl. Strangely enough, the label says mono on Side 1 and stereo on Side 2. I think, using some kind of "difference" signal, I was able to determine that it is stereo on both sides, but it was mixed very narrow. It's not one of the better sounding albums IMHO.