Original stereo 45's from the late 50's early 60's

Hi Group -
I've recently been building a collection of origianl label 45's from the early days of stereo. I've noticed that some lables sound better than others but they all sound good...except for one. I had the original 45 of Guitar Boogie Shuffle by the Virtures. When I received the original stereo version and played it I had to compair it to the mono version. The stereo version sounds like crap. I'd say it's like listening through two dixie cups and a string not to mention that the volume is alot lower. In addition I've learned that alot of the stuff that came out on Laurie that was recorded in stereo was released in mono. Forget the fact that the records are marked stereo. However, the back-to-back Laurie Gold series are the actual stereo releases. My re-release of The Wanderer on Laurie will blow you away. Just my two cents worth.

Stereo 45s were few and far between in the '50s and early '60s. I think I got my first stereo 45 in 1968.

Those stereo 45s may sound bad because they were played on mono players with mono cartridges, particularly those little 45 changers. The metal cartridges with the needle chuck on the front really did damage to a stereo record, because they had no compliance at all in the vertical direction. The record sounded good on the little 45 player, but a play on a stereo rig brought lots of noise and distortion after the mono player ruined it.

Record-changer, I can give you a perfect example of what you're talking about. I have a 45 of Dion & The Belmonts' "A Teenager In Love" from 1959 that is in stereo. The stereo mix itself actually sounds pretty good and well-balanced (not super-wide like most stereo pressings of the late 1950s/early 1960s), but unfortunately the record's previous owner(s) did not heed the label's warning to play "only with a stereophonic cartridge"....the record's grooves are not only worn, but actually irreparably damaged from people throughout the years playing it with a low-compliant, heavy mono cartridge that basically scraped and tore up the grooves as it played instead of playing it with a stereo cartridge that would glide smoothly through them. (Yes, this is the difference between "worn" grooves and "damaged" grooves!)

After this oddity, the earliest stereo 45 in my collection of approx. 1,000 45s is from 1965, by which time stereophonic sound had made enough of an impact on the phono market that even mono players were manufactured with "stereo-compatible" cartridges, and virtually every 45 I own made after 1970 is in stereo.

Hi All,
The first stereo 45's were released late in 1957, Seeburg Jukeboxes were the first to be equipped with a (Pickering) stereo cart at the same time. Seeburg offered an"optional" mono cart. for the 1958 model year (starting in late 57), and they also offered a "compatable" system that year, which consisted of the same stereo cart., wired for a mono amp and speaker system--I don't know if any were ever produced, as I have never seen anything but the mono amp. (which was "updateable" to stereo)-- Ron Rich

Magnetic cartridges should be able to play any records without damage, due to the fact of their design.
I'm talking even MONO magnetic cartridges here.

They don't suffer from the same effects that a mono crystal/ceramic cartridge does. - lack of compliance....particularly in the vertical plane.

Usually, whenever I do a restoration of someone's phono, if it was originally a mono model, I'll upgrade it to use a stereo cartridge bridged for mono operation.
This way the customer has the freedom to play any record with ease and peace of mind.

Of course, some 78 only players still require a heavy-tracking cartridge.

Matt,
The Pickering, magnetic cart., used on some mono Seeburg jukboxes, is NOT OK with mono records, due to to the non-compliance factor, and the fact the needle is a 1 mil size. I don't know, but I would think the larger size needle used on most mono carts would render them usless on any type of record player ? Ron Rich

It is not OK with Stereo records and post-1968 Mono records due to the lack of vertical compliance, tracking at too heavy stylus pressure, and the 1 mil stylus tip. Seeburg offered an improved Redhead cartridge for the older Blackhead setups allowing lighter tracking, vertical compliance, and the .7 mil Stereo compatible stylus. They are scarce and highly sought after. And styli for both Blackhead and Redhead cartridges are getting to be almost impossible to locate today. The post-1965 Seeburg cartridges with Wedge needles are easier to find.

Kent, and all,
Seeburg NEVER offered any type of "improvement" designed to play stereo records on early mono., 45 rpm, machines(Pre '58). The "red head (mono) cart ('54), did offer a lighter tracking over the "black head", but still used a 1 mil needle, that had no ""stereo compliance". Several "aftermarket" needle suppliers, made "stereo compliant".07 needles to fit both the red, and black heads, but as far as I know, none are doing so, anymore . Ron Rich

Thanks for clarification on this Ron, you have forgotten more than most have remembered on Seeburg jukeboxes. I love Seeburgs but wish they had taken regular 1/2" mount cartridges due to good styli becoming ultra-scarce items.

Many of the first stereo 45's were made from 2-track masters. In other words, these recordings were never meant to be released in stereo and were actually made to mix down to stereo. Like the reportedly first stereo 45, "There Goes My Heart" by Joni James, with her voice is in one channel and the music in the other. Other 1st generation stereo 45's were mono recordings reprocessed into stereo, such as "You're So Fine" by The Falcons. Other early-stereo 45rpm releases were entirely different recordings from their mono counterparts such as "Quiet Village" by Martin Denny.
Speaking of the Laurie stereo 45's, the initial ones were fake stereo. Although Laurie stereo multi-tracks exist, there were very few true stereo Laurie recordings from the early stereo era released until the mid-80's when Laurie was taken over by Continental Communications Corp. At this point, first time true stereo Laurie recordings began surfacing. On the 45rpm records, regardless of what the label states, unless there is a "P"-date of 1986 or later on the Laurie recordings of the 50's or 60's, they are probably NOT stereo. In the mid-70's, Laurie began printing stereo on all 45rpm record labels whether they were stereo or not, the only true stereo being the current releases and none of the oldies. A look at the matrix number will identify stereo or mono. The mono 45's will start with a matrix prefix of something like A4KM.
The original early Laurie stereo 45's would have a record number like, 3027S, for "A Teenager In Love" by Dion and the Belmonts. The compact 33 sets for "Artist of the Week" would have #'s like ST-609 for "A Teenager In Love". If a Laurie 45 has an "LR" prefix, it is a re-issue for the mid-60's on.

And those Laurie Records first time Stereo mixes were commissioned by Ace Records in England who were licensing those LP and CD titles from Laurie Records.

The early mono magnetic cartridges might or might not be compliant in the vertical direction. it depends on the brand. I have had two, the GE VR-II and a Pickering. Neither one was compliant at all in the vertical direction. Compliant styli were later offered for the VR-II.

Compliant styli for the mono Pickerings and GE VR II was not originally offered, those options came later.

Guy,z
Not only non-compliant, but the original needles for the Seeburg Pickerngs (both versions) ( and I assume the GE, too) were too thick to fit in the stereo record's groove. Ron Rich

Note that, before multitrack tape existed, many stereo records were recorded as two tracks with different parts on each track. There was no panning, or only a single center location was provided for some parts. Only recordings recorded live with stereo distant miking had pan positions other than left, center, and right.

For instance, the stereo version of the Beatles "Revolver" has most of the music on the left channel, but the harmony vocal parts are on the right channel. There is no panning of parts between the channels.

Later Beatles albums have the modern pan-potted stereo parts we have become accustomed to. The Beatles pioneered the 4-track recorder for adding different parts at different times. Excellent panning is found on "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Magical Mystery Tour", "The Beatles" (white album), "Abbey Road", and "Come Together".

1967 seems to be the year the modern panning methods were first widely used. It took a while for the modern stereo mixing console to appear and come into general use.