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Anyone know if Stack-O-Tracks is available anywhere in mono other than on the old LPs?

I believe that both of the two-fer reissues were partly or totally in stereo, including Salt Lake City, which I'm trying to find in mono (track only of course).

sadly that one wasn't part of the reissues.

It's not available in mono at all ... the original LPs are fake stereo.

AGD's site says that Stack O Tracks was "originally released in mono and Duophonic" and that "[w]hen the album was reissued in mono on the 1990 2fers, [certain] tracks had been remixed in stereo."

So does that mean that when originally released on LP, some of the tracks were in mono and others in fake stereo, and that when it was reissued  on CD, the mono tracks remained mono and the fake stereo tracks were remixed to true stereo?

I'm led to believe that originally it was released in both mono and rechanneled 'stereo'. I'll check my sources on that.

The original LP was only released in fake stereo (somebody prove me wrong!). The CD reissues are a combination of mono and remixed stereo. Presumably, there is an actual mono 1/4" master in the archives somewhere, though it was likely dubbed to re-channelled production master(s). I doubt they used much of the actual 'Stack-O-Tracks' master on the CD reissues, though they certainly must have for some of the tracks (such as 'Do It Again') where the multis are missing.

There's also an "outtake" from Stack-O-Tracks on the Goodbye Surfing Hello God bootleg...Carl and Desper's 1968 mono mix of the When I Grow Up track.

I stand corrected - a mono SoT was scheduled, but never actually issued. My bad.

Well...that explains why I've never seen a mono copy anywhere!

Stack-O-Tracks might be the most hideous-sounding vinyl in the Capitol Beach Boys catalog.

i love the sound of that record !

It can't be worse than duophonic "summer days"....

Hmmm.  Sounds like if you want mono, it's fold-down or nothing.  Might actually improve the sound.

The vinyl 1994 edition is the best on that format  because it uses the 1990 mix. Great replica of the original packaging too. Rare as all hell I might add.

I wanted to forget that...and you brought it back up. ERMAHGERD DUHERPHERNIC SERHMMER DEHYZ!

(http://memecrunch.com/meme/BASV/duophonic-summer-days/image.png)

In retrospect, Kinda wish I'd picked up all those releases when they came out, since, as you say, they're hard to find now

That makes me feel better about my duophonic LP copies. I always felt I was missing something!

No kidding, bgas...I remember that the ORIGINAL PRESSING was considered quite a find, and you were lucky if you could find one for two digits...now it seems originals are easier to find! Truth be told, before we were a couple, my wife and I each found original pressings for $10...\

the problem is that's from a digital source though ... the orig. fake stereo doesn't sound bad at all ... it's not like the really bad mid-'60s 'duophonic'. in fact, it's labeled 'stereo' ... they stopped the duophonic (with delay added) effect by this point. if you want analog, it's the only way to go.

some of the fake stereo releases sound better in some ways that the mono. 'Wild Honey' is real murky and the fake stereo (not duophonic here either) brightens it up a little.

I really don't think digital sourced records sound that bad as long as its a quiet pressing. I mean TWGMTR wasn't recorded on tape and the vinyl sounds much better than the CD. I still get something out of playing music with a needle. I really don't like fake stereo to be honest whatever source.

Wasn't the 1976 UK reissue LP all mono? Does anybody know if that was done from the (theoretical) original mono master, or was it just a folddown?

Yeah, I was listening to the 70s UK pressing I have (it's duo) and it wasn't too bad, to be honest... Maybe it's worse over headphones...

the thing about the late '60s capitol fake stereo is that it collapses properly to mono (it's just EQ), so you're just hearing a slightly bright right channel and slighty dark left channel. collapse it to mono on your stereo and they sound fine.

... as opposed to the actual 'Duophonic', which is a horrendous mess with short delays and phase problems.

Japanese compilation that has surf instrumentals on A side, and some mono Stack-O-Tracks stuff on side B.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beach-Boys-Instrumental-Hits-Japan-Promo-Blue-Vinyl-LP-Stack-O-Tracks-Brian-Wils-/360395709365?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item53e9421bb5

wow ... that's pretty unbelievable. I wonder if they got the original mono master? or maybe a folddown? too bad it's missing 5 songs!

Andrew, was 'Stack' originally released only in the U.S., or anywhere else? I know there's the '76 U.K. version.

Never heard of it being released anywhere else until 1976, although it wouldn't surprise me if a 1968 Japanese copy popped up.

My needle on my player broke the one time I played it (thank god), so I think my vinyl player couldn't take it either. :lol

There is a recent vinyl pressing of that from a few years ago. It is definitely in mono, though the sleeve says duophonic. And it sounds just great.

I have a really old pressing of "Best Of Vol 3" on which there is a fake stereo version of "Little Girl I Once Knew" which works astonishingly well over speakers. I didn't dare to listen to it over headphones yet... It sounds pretty clean, too, much better than the old duophonic pressings of the 1965 albums I have.