I found this on the internet:

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To: ABKCO Records

Dear Rolling Stones Fans:

The purpose of this petition is to persuade ABKCO Records to release the TRUE STEREO versions of the 24 songs The Rolling Stones recorded in the 1960s, and which were NOT included on their 2002 release of "The Rolling Stones Remastered Series” (SACD).

It has been over 40 years since these songs were released, but we have never heard them the way they were actually recorded - in TRUE STEREO. Over the years, other record labels have remastered records by other Sixties artists, and in doing so have completely expunged mono versions from their catalog and replaced them for true-stereo versions. With the exception of a few songs from ABKCO’s “Remastered Series,” we still have not been able to say the same about our favorite Rolling Stones – who have recorded some of their greatest music during this era. Rather than voice our opinion on the Internet or privately amongst ourselves, I think it’s about time we let ABKCO Records know there is a demand to hear the TRUE STEREO versions.

When this petition gets enough signatures ABKCO Records will be notified of its existence and hopefully will be persuaded to release the TRUE STEREO versions of the following songs:


The Last Time
Play With Fire
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Abkco claims it’s in stereo but sounds more like simulated stereo)
Get Off Of My Cloud
As Tears Go By
Mercy Mercy
Hitch Hike
That’s How Strong My Love Is
I’m Free
The Singer Not The Song
She Said Yeah
Blue Turns To Grey
Gotta Get Away
The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man
Good Times
Cry To Me
The Spider And The Fly
One More Try
19th Nervous Breakdown
Mother’s Little Helper (Only released in stereo on the UK Aftermath)
Sad Day
Long Long While
Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
Who’s Driving Your Plane?
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SIGN HERE!!!:
[www.petitiononline.com]

My London label Hot Rocks CD from the mid 80's has stereo versions of Play With Fire, Satisfaction, Mothers Little Helper and Get Off Of My Cloud

The Stereo tracks sound so much better . I too have the Euro Hot Rocks 1 & 2. Just listen to the acoustic guitar and piano on the real stereo Satisfaction is mind boggling. The separation is great!!!

This is a "Great Idea".. I Hope it get's a reaction from Mr. Kleins mega machine corp. (They could possibly make some more $$$$$$$) If you look at the (2002) reissues and their mastering not much went into capturing the sonic capabilities of these tracks. Is there still a market for doing this now ? Heres to hoping.....

I prefer the mono tracks. It's like colouring in the black and white movies from the 30s. Leave the tracks as they were originally mixed and live w/the beauty of superior mono mixes. Keep in mind that mono WAS THE way to mix stuff in those days and producers knew what they were doing.

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

Hi. How do you know you prefer the mono mixes? Maybe the Stereo ones will add a completely new dimension to the tracks. If they don't, then you can still listen to the mono mixes. I would like to sign the petition, but the link doesn't work.
Anyway I would like to have all tracks possible in true Stereo. All tracks recorded in Chicago, and Hollywood must have been recorded on at least four tracks, and should be possible to mix for a Stereo release.

I wholeheartedly do not support this petitition. If ABKCO did one thing right with the remastered series, it was to release the Singles Collection with the original mono mixes. Menace of Mayfair is absolutely correct---this was the way they were intended to be released. Having suffered through the stereo mixes for the last 30 years, it was a pleasure to have the mono mixes back. What the inferior stereo versions lack is that punch. And what a punch it is! If you listen to all the UK singles in their mono versions back to back, you get amazing wallop of sound. I've never felt such a chill as when I heard the mono versions. Now, that's where it's at!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2005-07-14 15:47 by wtravis6565.

How can you have suffered through stereo mixes that do not even exist???

I agree with wtravis6565! Keep them as they were intended. Has anyone heard Elvis 1 cd. They cleaned everything up and it was lousy! Keep RnR dirty!

The reason why I think its important to release some, if not all, the 60's Stones tracks in stereo is because the Stones employed two guitars. Often in the mono mixes, the sound of one (or even both) of the guitars are somewhat obscured. Compare, for instance, the mono and stereo versions of Get of Of My Cloud. The lead guitar lines are much more clearly audible in the stereo version than in the mono. Confessin the Blues is one of the few early 60's tracks to be redone in stereo and it truly is a gas! Brian's lead guitar on the left channel and Keith's rhythm on the right. You can clearly hear both parts at once. There is no doubt, in my mind, that stereo versions of the Stones 60's catalogue of songs would benefit Brian Jones more than anyone else since his parts were often mixed very low (ala Its Not Easy, Spider and The Fly, GOOMC, Little By Little, Down The Road A Piece etc) . . .

Anyone still missing the first two Stones elpees on SACD? Well, I do. Is there any petition out there to sign to put presure on ABCKO to release the first and second UK DECCA elpees. I want them, I need them, I have to have them.

Jan Richards
www.stonesvikings.com

Us older guys probably prefer mono because we first heard these songs through little radios with one speaker. The songs were mixed a certain way purposely knowing this is how they would be heard. Actually, I think the mono mixes stand up extremely well, and with a few exceptions I prefer them. Mono Let it Bleed is very cool. If you sit back at the right distance from the speakers the sound lands square in the middle. I love this. This is no cut on the stereo mix on that album, by the way and the SACD remaster is also stunning. I will sign the petition though because this is a neat idea.

I certainly do not endorse new stereo mixes, but if songs were mixed to stereo by the Stones & their engineers back in the day, I'd like to hear them. I think Abkco did a 90% fine job remastering the 1963 - 70 material, despite some exceptions (where's the harmony voice on Ruby Tuesday? Replacing the longer single version "Under Assistant W. Coast" with the album version on the Singles Collection). And the packaging leaves much to be desired (the graphics are not faithfull, & a booklet w/ track annotation would have been most welcome) On 12 x 5 the beautiful wide stereo mixes of the June '64 Chess material are revelatory. But something like the Elvis remixes, no. One of the problems I have w/ Jon Astley's work on Who projects is the remixing (and on the box, editing & early fading) - on the Clapton Rainbow album Astley, for the so-called upgrade, actually remixed & edited most of the tracks from the original album ('Roll It Over' cut from 7 minutes to 4, etc) to create something unacceptable (a la Live Licks' Rocks Off). But if there are stereo mixes made in the 60s, why not issue them? As 'bonus' material, a complement to the mono versions, not to replace them. Of course this ideally would be part of a major vault excavation...

Well said John. I am in complete agreement. No need to change what was put down on tape the way the band and the engineers wanted it. There has to be just a massive amount of Stones material out there that will bring us "new" Stones albums for a long time. Hopefully, the tapes are in good condition. I would like to see the Stones release a box set similar to what Mike Vernon did with the Blue Horizon material by the old Mac. I play the hell out of those discs and love that format with different takes of songs that let the listener hear how the final cut evolves. Was Greeny fantastic or what?

I empathize with all your requests and concerns. But do you really think ABKCO is going to do it? Of course not! Look at the way they handled the remastered series. Sound quality aside, they offered no new product, accept for the superior UK releases, and they botched that by not including the first two LPs. They didn't even give us the first 3 EPs until the belatedly released first singles box, which is nice, but it's so redundant. We've all heard the Chess Sessions CD, so where are those and the rest of the extra tracks from the 60s? (IBC Demos, et. al.) Why couldn't they have put together a groovy box with these rarities and odds and sods, packed with a booklet stuff with pictures and liner notes---you know, the box we've all been waiting for since the dawn of the CD era.

So what did we get? Hot Rocks, More Hot Rocks, Big Hits, Flowers, and Through the Past Darkly to choke on once again. Right (he says sarcastically), the stereo mixes are on the way.

It's my understanding that alot of their early work was released in mono because it was cheaper and also Andrew Loog didn't know what he was doing although he was the "producer".

The mono versions on the Beatles "Capitol Albums Vol. 1" are far betters-sounding than the Stereo. But, I'm not sure if that's a good comparison. Were 60s albums "recorded in stereo", or is the stereo/mono decision something done in mixing, or, in the actual mastering? I know that some mono masters were, on later releases, "re-processed for stereo". My understanding of this re-process was that a four-track recording was often just split into two tracks in one channel and two tracks in the other, and that this is not really true stereo. Can anyone shed some light?

Thanks
Karl

The Stones sessions, depending on where they were recorded, were mixed to (either or both) mono & stereo. Singles were mixed to mono for aesthetic reasons - how they'd sound on the transistor radios most kids had in 1965 or in the car. I have mono versions of well known stereo albums - for example the Dylan series on Sundazed - his debut through John Wesley Harding, and they are quite interesting & different from the familiar stereo versions. Dylan (& likely the Stones, once thay were involved in the mixing process) was quite meticulous about his mono mixes. "Rechannelled for stereo" or fake stereo, (and I'm sure others can shed more light than I) seems to add echo in one channel to create a 'panning' effect that creates an unpleasent delay sensation. Its not early stereo where you'll hear, say, the drums & vocals in one speaker & everything else in the other. I'm glad to have the stereo Stones tracks on the early albums (Aftermath was the first all stereo album), but also glad to have my Mofi mono versions too. Even a quintessentially 'stereo' album like Hendrix's 'Axis Bold as Love' was (re)issued in Eddie Kramer/Hendrix's mono mix a couple years ago on Classic Records (vinyl) & sounds quite different.

Yes Jan, I think we are many that miss the first two albums in the remaster series. I have sent mail to ABKCO, but as usual, they don't answer them. When the remaster series came out, there were rumours about thae release of the albums, but now almost three years after, I think that it was just wishful thinking.

I don't understand why some people are so against the Stereo versions. Just
listen to the six stereo tracks on 12 x 5 in the remaster series and compare to the previous version. I, for sure, would like all tracks, possible, to sound like that.

How many of you has signed the petition so far? If you still have not - please do it now. Even if you personally don't want the old tracks in Stereo, you can still help us who wants (hopefully).

The songs were recorded in TRUE STEREO for a reason...SOUND. The MONO MiXES were intended for singles only..Remember...Radio stations broadcasted in MONO before 1967. If anyone has the MFSL box set ..Read the interviews with Engineer Dave Hassinger in the booklet. There are also interviews available with Engineer Ron Malo explainins the TRUE STEREO recording process. We have heard the MONO mixes for 40+ years..Let's hear the way the songs as they were actually recorded. What would be the harm in ABKCO releasing a double CD set of all the TRUE STEREO mixes? It would cost them almost nothing and I think it would be a hit. Offering stones fans and the casual music fan something new after 45 years is exciting and it sells cds. Picking and choosing which True Stereo songs to release based upon personal likes and dislikes is just silly after 45 years...Besides offering the public the same thing for 45 years is not the way to sell cds. And it also keeps the bootleggers in business..The only way to stop the bootlegging is for ABKCO to release the STEREO MIXES in SUPERIOR QUALITY to that of the bootleggers. IF ABKCO releases the TRUE STEREO versions...NO MORE BOOTLEGS...THE FANS GET WHAT THEY WANT..ABKCO MAKES MONEY...A WIN ..WIN FOR EVERYBODY.....So I ask you ABKCO...WHAT's THE PROBLEM? Why does every other record company (with clasic bands such as THe Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, THe Doors, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix...etc....) see it that way? Why does ABKCO go against proven models of success?

ABKCO..The 50th anniversary is coming up..A Perfect time for a release of the TRUE STEREO MIXES..NO EXCUSES.....DO IT RIGHT!

SOULSURVIVOR

Sorry but what's TRUE STEREO? Does the OP mean stereo? There's nothing wrong with the mono mixes. I agree with Menace.

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wtravis6565
I wholeheartedly do not support this petitition. If ABKCO did one thing right with the remastered series, it was to release the Singles Collection with the original mono mixes. Menace of Mayfair is absolutely correct---this was the way they were intended to be released. Having suffered through the stereo mixes for the last 30 years, it was a pleasure to have the mono mixes back. What the inferior stereo versions lack is that punch. And what a punch it is! If you listen to all the UK singles in their mono versions back to back, you get amazing wallop of sound. I've never felt such a chill as when I heard the mono versions. Now, that's where it's at!!!

Absolutely true for the Beatles MONO Boxset...listening to the same track back to back MONO shines and STEREO sounds remarkably inferior.

I'd still like to get the Rolling Stones cuts mind you, in Stereo if it is in fact true stereo, to listen to the difference.

Nothing wrong with mono mixes, of course, but as with The Beatles stuff, I still want to hear any stereo mixes that were done.

There is nothing wrong with the MONO mixes so release them together on one MONO STEREO Packaged.............if if ABCKO don't released them this year we won't buy them..........so it's up to them

I'd love to have ABKCO release these. What's wrong with having them both ways?

Well I certainly don't wish to buy the whole lot all over again...the SACD's from 2002 are great as is. I would just like a single/double CD containing all the true Stereo's from the period that are currently not available.

I'll sign if it will help make it available for those who want it. To me however the original mixes in mono are more than fine.

A mono box like The Beatles would be great imo. Then put the true stereo versions on a single disc. Isn't there only about 20 of them? Or maybe they could put the stereo versions inside the mono box as a bonus. Here's an opportunity to do something great.

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Matt
How many of you has signed the petition so far? If you still have not - please do it now. Even if you personally don't want the old tracks in Stereo, you can still help us who wants (hopefully).

Hi. I tried to sign the petition but I got a pop up that says, "We're sorry, but something went wrong. We've been notified about this issue and we'll take a look at it shortly."

I wholeheartedly support these types of petitions. This is a good idea and a good time to be requesting these recordings.
PS- Don't be discouraged by any naysayers. I wouldn't let opposition discourage me during the time that I pitched the Ya Yas Petition.

When I first heard Get Off Of My Cloud in stereo it just didn't sound the same as the original mono release. In the stereo version you can hear the lead guitar part quite distinctly, but in the mono version it blends in a lot, so much so that I was never aware that it even was a guitar - almost sounded like a harmonica or something. Only the main rhythm guitar part was distinct, with these strange notes in the background. This was the mystery of the Stones, where you never quite knew what a sound was in many of the 1960s songs. With the stereo Cloud all was laid bare.

I would still like to hear these stereo tracks though, and agree they should be on a separate compilation release.