What is the earliest "Stereo" record, LP or 45 you own?

onepixel said:
Stan Kenton's - Milestones. Capitol T190, 1955
Stan Kenton ‎– Lush Interlude. Capitol ST-1130, 1959

Stan Kenton ‎– Stan Kenton Encores. Capitol Reissue, ST1034
If you go by the catalog number, this one falls between 1957 - 1958.
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Catalog numbers are not a reliable guide. RCA recorded the mono LM-1806 and the stereo LSC-1806 in the same year, 1954, but released the mono in 1954 and the stereo in 1958. Many other companies sat on their stereo versions even longer before finally issuing them - but gave them the catalog number they would have had if they were issued right away.
 
vinyl1 said:
Catalog numbers are not a reliable guide. RCA recorded the mono LM-1806 and the stereo LSC-1806 in the same year, 1954, but released the mono in 1954 and the stereo in 1958. Many other companies sat on their stereo versions even longer before finally issuing them - but gave them the catalog number they would have had if they were issued right away.
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Thanks, I figured there were some creative releasing of albums.
 
I'm not sure if this is my earliest, but one of my fav's. Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) Stones. London. NPS-1. I have earlier Stones Mono. I'll have to check my Beatles. This is a Minty I won on the Bay, took like 6 weeks to get to Fla! Worth the wait, shipping was a bit painful...
 
beatcomber said:
They had pretty much stopped issuing EPs in the USA by '64. During the "format wars" of the late '40s-early '50s, it was not uncommon for the same album to be issued as a set of 78s, a set of 45s, and on a 10" LP.
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There were also 33⅓ RPM 7" singles, and Columbia tried to make a big deal that they were in stereo long before most 45s were stereo:

willlaasummepal.jpg


Obviously it didn't catch on, because I have about a thousand 45s, but the only 33⅓ RPM 7" records I have are a few promotional giveaways, flexidiscs, and children's read-along story records. The closest I come is one Columbia 45 that says "Also available on single 33" on the cover sleeve.
 
Oldest stereo album I own - Jethro Tull "Living in the past" which was released in 1972. Found it for ONE dollar at thrift. Pretty good shape except it has a ton of pops (yet no considerable scratches)
Not sure if this counts but I also own a Stereo test album (Realistic brand) from 1969. I think it really IS that old, it is heavy like no other album I have seen.

That binaural turntable is kind of creepy looking somehow. Kind of reminds me of some two-headed doll I saw at walmart. Something is just... wrong
 
scoville said:
I'm not sure if this is my earliest, but one of my fav's. Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) Stones. London. NPS-1. I have earlier Stones Mono. I'll have to check my Beatles. This is a Minty I won on the Bay, took like 6 weeks to get to Fla! Worth the wait, shipping was a bit painful...
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I hate to tell you this, but that album is all fake stereo.... The mono pressing is the keeper.
 
vwestlife said:
There were also 33⅓ RPM 7" singles, and Columbia tried to make a big deal that they were in stereo long before most 45s were stereo:

willlaasummepal.jpg


Obviously it didn't catch on, because I have about a thousand 45s, but the only 33⅓ RPM 7" records I have are a few promotional giveaways, flexidiscs, and children's read-along story records. The closest I come is one Columbia 45 that says "Also available on single 33" on the cover sleeve.
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That was made for stereo jukeboxes, and was not a commercial release. Some of those jukebox EPs are very valuable!
 
I'd just like to add that I sincerely hope that I'm not coming across like a know it all... I've been seriously collecting records for a LONG time, and have a lot of acquired data stored in my noggin. I hope you're finding my input useful and interesting. ☺
 
onepixel said:
Thanks, I figured there were some creative releasing of albums.
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Right. RCA made stereo tape recordings in 1954 that didn't make it to LP release until years later. Those include the R. Strauss and the Offenbach Gaite Parisienne LSC 1817. I have both of those. According to Wikipedia, the first one was a Boston/Munch recording of Berlioz:

In February 1954, RCA made its first commercial stereophonic recordings, taping the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Münch, in a performance of The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz. This began a practice of simultaneously recording orchestras with both stereophonic and monaural equipment. Other early stereo recordings were made by Toscanini and Guido Cantelli respectively, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra; the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler; and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner. Initially, RCA used RT-21 quarter-inch tape recorders (which ran at 30 inches per second), wired to mono mixers, with Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones. Then they switched to an Ampex 300-3 one-half inch machine, running at 15 inches per second (which was later increased to 30 inches per second). These recordings were initially issued in 1955 on special stereophonic reel-to-reel tapes and then, beginning in 1958, on vinyl LPs with the logo "Living Stereo".

Predating those in my collection is a Bell Labs stereo recording of Stokowski/Philadelphia made In 1931, but not released on LP until 1979 (Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. ‎– BTL-7901). I believe that is the earliest surviving stereo recording.

My experience with the very earliest stereo LPs is that a lot of them have groove damage due to the limitations of most (but not all) of the playback equipment available to consumers in the late '50s.
 
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They did make stereo 45's, although very uncommon, prior to the late 60's. I have a 45, stereo copy of Runaround Sue by Dion & the Belmonts from 1961.
 
mrclean98 said:
They did make stereo 45's, although very uncommon, prior to the late 60's. I have a 45, stereo copy of Runaround Sue by Dion & the Belmonts from 1961.
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Are you sure it is the original release, not a later re-release?

My oldest original-release stereo 45 is from 1968 (although it didn't become a hit until 1969) -- "In the Year 2525" by Zager & Evans, on RCA Victor.
 
After a long hunting on discogs I purchased in your country an original american press of "A Winter Romance" performed by Dean Martin released in November 1959, Capitol Full dimensional stereo - ST-1285 in NM condition. It sounds really wonderful, now it's my demo disc. I wonder myself who is the fellow that has preserved in a so beatiful condition this copy. I think that he/she loved very much this record. I was also lucky because it arrived after a long voyage here in Italy without any damage. The second best sounding record is another american original press of Frank Sinatra"s "Nice'n'easy" Capitol Full dimensional Stereo SW-1417, released in 1960. Chapeau to the audio engineers at Capitol in those years.
 
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