Spirit - Spirit {Original USA Mono}
24bit/96kHz (Hi-Rez Audio)
01. Fresh Garbage
02. Uncle Jack
03. Mechanical World
04. Taurus
05. Girl In Your Eye
06. Straight Arrow
07. Topanga Windows
08. Gramophone Man
09. Water Woman
10. The Great Canyon Fire In General
11. Elijah
All tracks Mono
All of these mixes are officially unavailable on CD.
Producer: Lou Adler
Engineers: Eirik Wangberg, Armin Steiner & Mike Leitz
Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT33PTG MC
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface
Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for editing & adding gain.
- Click Repair only used for folding to mono. All manual cleaning.
Transfer by Prof. Stoned
Restoration by Q
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Prof. sez:
Here's another rarity in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd".
First of all, a fantastic vinyl version of this monaural version is easily available from Sundazed
for a nice price. However, for this recording a near mint copy of the original mono press on Ode was
used because it sounds just a little bit more warmer and less "solid state" to me.
But if you like this one, I'd urge you to get the Sundazed, as the differences are subtle.
It seems remarkable that the trouble was taken to make a dedicated one channel mix of this album
(next to the stereo mix), when the mono version was hardly available once it came out in January 1968.
Nearly all monaural copies were used for promotional purpose, so finding one with the correct
sleeve but without the timing strip is almost impossible. But whatever the motivation, the mono mix
is excellent. Keeping in mind that this was recorded on 4-track which offers very little possibilities
for a balanced stereo image, my feeling is that it was simply supposed to be heard this way.
The original line-up of Spirit was a true supergroup consisting of five individuals who each had
a radically different musical background. Yet, they meshed like a perfect unit from 1966 to 1971
and made four albums that are without exception brilliant. Lou Adler was intensively involved in
the production of this first album, and seemed to have a preference for singer Jay Ferguson's
songwriting, which led to the late great Randy California being a bit underrepresented here.
But even so, it remains an extraordinary debut which went on to influence many a great 70’s band.
Special thanks to J. for lending me his meticulous cleaning skills.
Enjoy!