Marvin & Tammi- "You Got What It Takes" A VERY random thought not requiring response-

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

-unless you want to.

So if you have the stereo mix of the Marvin & Tammi "United" album, have you ever noticed that "You've Got What It Takes" starts out in stereo and ends in mono?

[Soulmusic4life]

-unless you want to.

So if you have the stereo mix of the Marvin & Tammi "United" album, have you ever noticed that "You've Got What It Takes" starts out in stereo and ends in mono?

Wow. Never noticed that. I'll have to whip the album out. Thank you for that interesting nugget.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Wow. Never noticed that. I'll have to whip the album out. Thank you for that interesting nugget. I had been playing the album for years, then one day I suddenly noticed something sounded strange; right after the song does that false ending [[ohhhhh yeah) when Marvin starts up again with "Tammi, Tammi you got it", that's when the song suddenly changes to a mono mix.

[reese]

I never noticed that at all. But I do remember that on my aunt's vinyl, the section of the false exit actually was visible when I looked at the vinyl. It has been many years since I've seen it but the grooves were either darker at that point or they actually were placed onto the grooves for the next track.

[BigAl]

Wow...I've not thought about that in decades!

Like many parents, mine didn't share my taste in music, so I often would use a huge old pair of headphones so they wouldn't complain. Of course, listening with headphones, the sudden switch to mono was immediately apparent. I, too wondered how and why this happened. I suppose it's one of those imponderables.

Thanks for the memory!

[BayouMotownMan]

I had the 8 track of the lp back in the day and yes I noticed the stereo to mono change. I still can't figure out why?

[jbpintus]

I’ve always thought the coda was an edit piece recorded during the session, when the producer thought the ending could be done better - hence the new take for the edit piece that would have been edited in place of the real ending of the main take, that would be used as a master.

Whether the bit was mistakenly put after the end of the song, or put there in order the have both suitable endings side by side so they could easily be compared, it reminds me what happened with the Beatles’ “Her Majesty” at the end of ABBEY ROAD.

Now, back on YGWIT, the bit found itself after the song has ended, and I’d bet when the song was mixed in stereo, it was thought the coda wasn’t part of the track and wasn’t mixed at all in stereo.

The branding of the UNITED album is quite strange and some noises can be heard between tracks. Obviously no care was put when master tapes for each song were copied - and maybe even the tapes were pasted and the noises we hear during the gaps between songs are the points where there’s a collage of tapes.
If so, the lack of care when banding this lp would indicate the coda to YGWIT as being a mistake rather than anything else.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I’ve always thought the coda was an edit piece recorded during the session, when the producer thought the ending could be done better - hence the new take for the edit piece that would have been edited in place of the real ending of the main take, that would be used as a master.

Whether the bit was mistakenly put after the end of the song, or put there in order the have both suitable endings side by side so they could easily be compared, it reminds me what happened with the Beatles’ “Her Majesty” at the end of ABBEY ROAD.

Now, back on YGWIT, the bit found itself after the song has ended, and I’d bet when the song was mixed in stereo, it was thought the coda wasn’t part of the track and wasn’t mixed at all in stereo.

The branding of the UNITED album is quite strange and some noises can be heard between tracks. Obviously no care was put when master tapes for each song were copied - and maybe even the tapes were pasted and the noises we hear during the gaps between songs are the points where there’s a collage of tapes.
If so, the lack of care when banding this lp would indicate the coda to YGWIT as being a mistake rather than anything else.

Well, I appreciate that very thoughtful and detailed response and it certainly makes sense that this was a basically a lapse in attention paid to this detail.

Also, I'll have to take a listen again for the noises between tracks. I've been playing the CD for sometime and will pull out the LP and take a listen. I think I can already imagine what you're talking about though; I've had an album here and there where between songs, you'd hear these odd sounds, almost like portions of a song playing but somewhat muted. Well, I'm very happy you chimed in here for now there is something else for me to check out on this album.

[[And that is VERY interesting, the story of "Her Majesty"!)

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Wow...I've not thought about that in decades!

Like many parents, mine didn't share my taste in music, so I often would use a huge old pair of headphones so they wouldn't complain. Of course, listening with headphones, the sudden switch to mono was immediately apparent. I, too wondered how and why this happened. I suppose it's one of those imponderables.

Thanks for the memory!

Hey, so you noticed that back in the day too! I love this community!

[BigAl]

At the time, I figured it was an oversight, and I tend to agree with you that it was. That coda was obviously tacked on in post-production, and either no one noticed, or no one thought it would matter one way or the other. More attention was always paid to the A-sides which would appear on an album, and filler tracks were often rather slap-dash affairs. That album was part of what might have been Hitsville's biggest mass album release, in the late summer/early fall of 1967. I think nearly every major artist on the roster [[and some lesser ones, like Chris Clark) was represented, all at one time. That track probably just got overlooked in the hustle to get everything out on schedule.

[144man]

Maybe the coda was deliberately added in mono as a nod to the age of the song, published in 1957 before stereo was common.

[TomatoTom123]

I had never noticed this before... maybe I had never listened to the track with headphones before... but WOW, how odd!

[Sotosound]

I had never noticed this before... maybe I had never listened to the track with headphones before... but WOW, how odd!

Now check out the end of "Behind A Painted Smile" by The Isley Brothers. :)

Next, check out the breakdown towards the end of "Give Me Just A Little More Time" by Chairmen of The Board. :)

[rovereab]

I'd like the Marvin and Tammi albums in mono. I just love the mono mixes of their songs on Marvin's The Master box set. The little mono bit of YGWIT sounds good too!

[Motown Eddie]

-unless you want to.

So if you have the stereo mix of the Marvin & Tammi "United" album, have you ever noticed that "You've Got What It Takes" starts out in stereo and ends in mono?

Never noticed it before but you're right; the stereo mix of "You Got What It Takes" ends in mono. I say it's part of the era when stereo mixes for albums were done quickly & with less attention to detail than the mono mixes. This would begin to change when stereo LPs became the norm in the late '60s.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Now check out the end of "Behind A Painted Smile" by The Isley Brothers. :)
:)

OH YEAH!!!!! I forgot about that ending! The drum thing is completely in mono.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I'd like the Marvin and Tammi albums in mono. I just love the mono mixes of their songs on Marvin's The Master box set. The little mono bit of YGWIT sounds good too!

The "United" album sounds great in mono. In particular, "Give A Little Love" really packs a huge punch in mono. The sound engineer did an amazing job so that the music and ALL the vocals are given an even playing field, meaning you can clearly hear every last thing in the mix. When The Andantes start cooing in the background, you can practically hear the breath coming through their windpipes. The part that gives me chills is near the end of the song, just before the fade out; Marvin and Tammi take a pause and you hear what sounds like a sigh before they start singing again. That song is a heartbreaker whether in stereo or mono, but in mono, it's spellbinding.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Never noticed it before but you're right; the stereo mix of "You Got What It Takes" ends in mono. I say it's part of the era when stereo mixes for albums were done quickly & with less attention to detail than the mono mixes. This would begin to change when stereo LPs became the norm in the late '60s.
For sure, I'd say between you and jbpintus, the reasons for this oddity can be found. I know its been said that stereo mixes were afterthoughts, but I find them fascinating all the same. Maybe it's from a musician's point of view. I love being able to pick out the instruments and hear what everyone's doing. Motown's stereo mixes were at least a bit fuller sounding than other record companies where they'd pan all the vocals to one side and all the instruments to the other side.

[rovereab]

The "United" album sounds great in mono. In particular, "Give A Little Love" really packs a huge punch in mono. The sound engineer did an amazing job so that the music and ALL the vocals are given an even playing field, meaning you can clearly hear every last thing in the mix. When The Andantes start cooing in the background, you can practically hear the breath coming through their windpipes. The part that gives me chills is near the end of the song, just before the fade out; Marvin and Tammi take a pause and you hear what sounds like a sigh before they start singing again. That song is a heartbreaker whether in stereo or mono, but in mono, it's spellbinding.

I agree about GALL, I just had to have the mono version so I bought it off iTunes. If only Motown would set up a site to enable us to buy and download the mono versions of the stereo albums they have reissued.

[Motown Eddie]

For sure, I'd say between you and jbpintus, the reasons for this oddity can be found. I know its been said that stereo mixes were afterthoughts, but I find them fascinating all the same. Maybe it's from a musician's point of view. I love being able to pick out the instruments and hear what everyone's doing. Motown's stereo mixes were at least a bit fuller sounding than other record companies where they'd pan all the vocals to one side and all the instruments to the other side.

You're right about that. For example, I have stereo albums on Stax where the vocals were mixed to one channel and the instruments to the other. And like you, I do like a good stereo mix where you can pick out instruments.

[Motown Eddie]

Now check out the end of "Behind A Painted Smile" by The Isley Brothers. :)

Next, check out the breakdown towards the end of "Give Me Just A Little More Time" by Chairmen of The Board. :)

Yes; I've checked those two out and they're both examples of portions of stereo mixes that are in mono. Another one to check out is the intro to Flaming Ember's "Westbound #9".

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

You're right about that. For example, I have stereo albums on Stax where the vocals were mixed to one channel and the instruments to the other. And like you, I do like a good stereo mix where you can pick out instruments.
I'm laughing because I'm remembering a conversation I had with my nephew. He's in his early 30's and has been getting into some of the 60's Motown songs. He was asking about this whole stereo/mono thing and found it interesting how for a time, you could go out and buy the same album mixed two entirely different ways. His one complaint was that he couldn't listen to those 60's stereo mixes. Because of the way everything was so severely panned left and right, it actually gives him a headache to hear it through ear buds! I never heard of that before, but then I thought maybe it really is a generational thing. Our ears are used to it whereas later generations never heard this type of total separation between channels.