Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again - US Mono (Atlantic Cutting)
16bit/44.1kHz (Redbook Audio for CD Burning)
01. Mr. Soul
02. A Child's Claim To Fame
03. Everydays
04. Expecting To Fly
05. Bluebird
06. Hung Upside Down
07. Sad Memory
08. Good Time Boy
09. Rock & Roll Woman
10. Broken Arrow
Bonus:
11. Bluebird (45rpm mix)
12. Mr. Soul (45rpm mix)
These mono mixes do not appear officially on CD or any other vinyl release.
Producers: Ahmet Ertegün, Richie Furay, Greene & Stone(Tr.12), Jack Nitzsche, Stephen Stills, Neil Young
Engineers: Jim Messina, Bruce Botnick(Tr.4+5) and many more..
Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-OC9ML/II
- Yamaha CA-1010 (integrated PRE-AMP)
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface
Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias, editing, (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops), adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.5.3 used with setting Cl: 10, Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.
- MBit+ dithering and Sox Resampler used for converting to standard wav format.
Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned
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Prof. sez:
Another one in the series "essential in mono but never available on cd".
I have released this one before in 2008 but this new rip reproduces the sound closer to what
the actual LP master sounds like due to a better source and more sophisticated equipment.
On top of that, it has also two extra tracks (also previously ripped and released in 2009).
This is a dedicated mix, meaning that it was specifically designed for mono playback.
When comparing the mono and stereo mix, I would say that most time and thought was put into the former.
Not that the stereo sucks, but it is inconsistent and has a few elements which seemed to have been
deliberately mixed out of the mono version, like the sloppy 2nd leadguitar line in Tr.6.
The mono also has much more thicker and focused sound and in some instances far better balancing too.
When this record was released in 1967, the mono format was already on its way out in the States and
because of that, most copies ended up being dumped by Atlantic in 1968 (which makes it difficult
to find a copy without a cutout hole).
There are two different US cuttings out there; one was made at the Atlantic Studio in L.A.
and one by Columbia in N.Y. The latter was cut from an additionally EQ'd/compressed dub supplied by
Atlantic, while the former was made from a cleaner source, quite possibly the master tape.
My 2008 rip was sourced from a VG+ US copy which had the Columbia stamped matrixes, while
this new 2011 rip is made from an almost as-new copy With the hand-written Atlantic matrices*.
I do believe it is an enormous upgrade. Everyone who even remotely enjoyed the old rip, should get this.
Musically, this album is one the true highlights of the 60's, even though created by a splintered group.
Bass player Bruce Palmer had been deported back to Canada after a drugbust in early '67 and shortly after
the initial sessions had started in February, Neil Young left the band to go solo.
In the months that followed he collaborated with Phil Spector's long-time musical arranger Jack Nitsche
to record 'Expecting to fly'; an achingly beautiful masterpiece that took a few weeks to complete.
Meanwhile, the rest of the band had gone on to record their own material with a new bassplayer & a new
guitarist, who at his turn was shortly replaced by David Crosby (unaccredited co-writer of Tr.9).
However, near the completion of the record Neil Young & Bruce Plamer were brought back into the group.**
The 2 bonuscuts are from an 45 which preceded the album's release date by a few months.
They are not included here for their brilliant soundquality; the significance of this 45 -of course-
lies mostly in the early version of Mr. Soul with its alternate guitar solo and the fact that it has
never been reissued since 1971 (both on vinyl or CD).
These tracks were transferred from a 45 that came from a new-old-stock collection.
This copy was issued in 1971 as part of the first batch of the Oldies Series which were pressed from
the same metal parts as the original 1967 US single (Atlantic cutting)***.
The problem with the original single is that it was cut so hot that you simply cannot play it back
without hearing distortion at some points (I even bought a second NOS copy and it had the same issue's).
So, we'll just have to take it as it comes. This new rip slightly improves up on the soundquality
of the 2009 one, though.
The records were professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s
Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5
(using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.
Then I spent a few evenings manually declicking the wave file (after Click Repair had already been
applied with a medium setting) to make sure the cleanest and most natural sounding result
possible was achieved.
Enjoy!
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(* I have been searching for this particular copy for nearly two years. A good number of copies that were
reliably described as near mint on Ebay ended up in my collection. My only criteria were: quiet (enough)
vinyl and undamaged groove wands. Atlantic pressed records from the 60's and early 70's tend to be very
noisy and finding pop record from the actual 60's without any groovewear is a challenge on its own.
But it worked out fine, as you will hear.
It proved to be impossible -however- to find a copy that delivered absolute perfect playback.
The issue with that lies in the cutting itself; during the choruses of Tr. 10 some minor distortion can be
heard on the vocals. This means that those tiny fragments simply could not be tracked properly due to being
cut at a too loud level. But other than that (and one sibilant in Tr.07), I was able to reproduce the sound
digitally without any shortcomings of sorts.)
(** Detailed info about the recording dates & personell can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Springfield_Again
I'd also recommend the Buffalo Springfield biography "For What it's Worth" by Richy Furay & John Einarson.)
(*** If you wanna get yourself one of those, make sure to get a copy with the following deadwax information:
A: 67C-12516-2 AT LW / B: 67C-12517-1 AT LW
The later copies from this series have different matrix info and contain a folddown from the stereo mix.)