Paul C
MusicFan
Joined: 23 October 2006
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 781
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| Posted: 30 July 2020 at 8:10am | IP Logged
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I'm not aware of this song having been issued in mono
since a Chess reissue 45 in the mid-1980s that to me
sounds suspiciously like a disc dub.
Steve Hoffman has stated that he had access to all the
Chess tapes when working on the Vintage Music
series (MCA had only recently acquired them from Sugar
Hill) and could not find a mono tape. The producers of
the Rhino Beg, Scream And Shout box claimed
that for the few songs in stereo on the set, they had
been unable to locate mono tapes. (In addition to
"Rescue Me", a number of other mid-60s Chess/Checker
songs are stereo on this set).
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crapfromthepast
MusicFan
Joined: 14 September 2006
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2193
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| Posted: 30 July 2020 at 12:24pm | IP Logged
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This one turned out to be interesting.
Mono version
Nope. Try a 1965-era 45. Not available on CD.
Stereo version
I'm guessing that the stereo version came out first on the stereo LP pressing of The New Look from 1966.
It starts with just about everything panned sharply to the left. It sounds a little weird in headphones, as does a lot of the early stereo. It almost sounds as if some the instruments are out of phase (left channel out of phase with right channel), but I checked and that's not the case.
The oldest CD I have with the stereo version is Priority's Best Of 60s Sock Hop (1987). Here, it fades in. One of the engineers at Priority must have thought that the stereo separation was TOO weird, and narrowed the soundstage in response (mixed some of the left channel into the right channel and vice versa). It may be from vinyl, and there might be noise reduction and other processing crud applied here. As with most releases on Priority, just avoid.
There's a new analog transfer on JCI's Baby Boomer Classics Dance Sixties (1988). It's not bad here, but I think it may be a relatively high-generation source tape. The outro is much noisier than what was released later.
There's a new analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989), which is much better than the earlier two. Great dynamic range, nice EQ, no evidence of noise reduction, and lower-generation source tapes than the JCI disc. The same analog transfer is used on:- Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 12 1965 (1991) - left/right channels reversed
- Rhino's multi-disc Beg Scream And Shout (1997) - more aggressively EQ'd
- Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Rhythm And Blues Collection Vol. 3 1964-1967 (2000) - digital clone of Solid Gold Soul and therefore has left/right channels reversed
Non-hit stereo remix from 1986
The first seven or eight seconds are mono. The stereo separation starts with the horns in the first drum fill.
I believe that Steve Hoffman did this remix for MCA's Vintage Music Volumes 9 And 10 (1986). It's tasteful, it sounds great in headphones, it extends longer than the other versions... but it wasn't released at the time.
The same analog transfer is used on Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 8 1965 The Beat Goes On (1988).
There's a digital clone of Vintage on Rhino's Soul Shots Vol. 1 (1988), but with added reverb! If you do a null test between the two, you can pretty well isolate the reverb! If you want to listen for the reverb, it shows up most prominently in the vocals, in the first few lines of the song.
Rhino's cheapie Soul Hits Vol. 2 (1993) uses the same analog transfer as Soul Shots Vol. 1 and therefore includes the added reverb.
Simitar's Number Ones Hot In The '60s (1998) is digitally identical to Soul Shots Vol. 1 and therefore includes the added reverb.
My recommendations
For the vintage stereo version, go with Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989).
For the non-hit remix from 1986, go with MCA's Vintage Music Volumes 9 And 10 (1986).
For the non-hit remix from 1986 with added reverb, go with Rhino's Soul Shots Vol. 1 (1988).
Edited by crapfromthepast on 30 July 2020 at 3:10pm
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There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one Crap From The Past.
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Topic: "Rescue Me" Fontella Bass
