Sarah Vaughan Gershwin Songbook on Emarcy - Stereo?

[Teasing the Korean]

Most of these sessions were done in 1957. I know that Mercury was doing at least some stereo recording by this point.

Were any of these Sarah Vaughan Gershwin sessions recorded in stereo? I have them only in mono.

[king ubu]

checked my VME last night - no general info whatsoever ... but it gives the following catalogue numbers:

SR 60045 - Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin Volume One

SR 60046 - Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin Volume Two

MGP-2-101 - Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin

I'd assume that the MGP number refers to the mono edition, the SR number to the stereo albums? And that the "2" in the MPG number refers to it being a double album?

The later included two more songs (Of Thee I Sing, Summertime) that weren't on the SR ones ... "Of Thee I Sing" (#2 on disc 1) is labelled "mono take", there's a "stereo take" of it as well (#7 on disc 2, from SR 60045). In addition to the mono take of "Of Thee I Sing", the MGP release also contained "Summertime" that seems to have been omitted from the stereo LPs? But that may be a mistake and they might have instread used the alternate take (#8 on CD2) for which no release info is given, but which also isn't given as previously unissued (well, it IS on the back of the digipack i just see, but not in the booklet - weird ... quality control, folks!!!)

[Stereojack]

There is a stereo edition, but the stereo is not so good - her voice comes out from one channel only. It took a little while for some of the engineers to figure out how to create a stereo sound stage.

The earliest stereo records sometimes differed from their mono counterparts. This was due to a couple of reasons:

1. Mono and stereo recordings were actually made on separate machines, and sometimes one of the machine malfunctioned.

2. The variable cutting lathe had yet to be developed. Since stereo grooves were slightly larger, sometimes it was necessary to eliminate a track or two.

[Teasing the Korean]

Thanks for the replies. I wonder if the CD releases use the stereo or mono masters. I'm glad I have the mono version, based on Stereo Jack's post.

[mikeweil]

In most cases the mono masters sound better, the mono mix was made with more care as there was no market for stereo LPs early on. Atlantic is a case in point.

[Teasing the Korean]

In most cases the mono masters sound better, the mono mix was made with more care as there was no market for stereo LPs early on. Atlantic is a case in point.

Yes, but Mercury was ahead of the curve, and many of their early stereo records sound amazing. Some do not.