Laura Nyro
Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
UK Mono CBS 63346
1. Luckie
2. Lu
3. Sweet Blindness
4. Poverty Train
5. Lonely Women
6. Eli's Comin
7. Timer
8. Stoned Soul Picnic
9. Emmie
10. Woman's Blues
11. Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)
12. December's Boudoir
13. The Confession
This is one of the more sought after monos in vinyl collecting.
Not because it’s a super different mix, it’s just that there weren’t many US promos and UK stock copies made. Many UK’s were never even distributed—no demand.
No one can even say definitively that it has a distinct mono mix. The stereo is not that wide to begin with, and by all guesses Laura could’ve cared less about mono vs stereo.
Some facts:
1) John Wesley Harding, the last Dylan mono, was issued 6 weeks before this.
2) Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel, the last true Columbia mono lp, was issued a month after this.
3) Columbia was a union shop—this meant that a house engineer had to be present to make the mono mix, not some shlub tech. Does this mean all engineers made separate mono mixes? Not necessarily.
So judge for yourself. The people I know who own this say they can’t make up their mind. The best I can say is some tracks sound different enough, some just have to be folded down. Either way, it is a different listening experience for those who know every nuance of this album. And of course, this baby will never make it cd.