Originally Posted by
soulster
Damn right! You must remember that it is the MONO mixes that were released as the singles. The singles were the hits, the ones that got played on the radio and sold in the stores. They are the mixes that people fell in love with back in 60s and early 70s.
Mono isn't just a matter of the same sound in one or two speakers, the balance of the elements in the mix are different. The drums are stronger, the bass is clean and solid, the vocals, and everything else has less echo and is defined with a solid image. The ratio of the vocals to instruments is balanced. Sometimes, there are slightly different edits, or elements that are included or excluded. And, for an even more technical reason, with mono, you don't have any phase issues.
If there weren't such substantial differences, the reissue producers wouldn't bother including them, especially as the first version to add to the set. Companies wouldn't bother to re-release mono singles CDs /boxes. Universal would not have spent time and money to reissue the first Hitsville boxed set, or that massive singles collection with every mono single from the beginning of the company to 1972. It's not just Motown. Stax released not two, but three massive singles boxes, two of which are comprised of mono singles!
Artists who have had mono reissues of their singles and/or albums reads as a who's who:
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Sam & Dave, The Grass Roots, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Martha & The Vandellas, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Turtles, Steppenwolf, The Mamas and the Papas, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett, Jr. Walker & The All-Stars, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Marvelettes, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, The Dave Clark Five, James Brown, and many more I can't even think of at the moment.
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