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

There were stereo 45's starting in 1959 but they were very limited in distribution, most of them were made for stereo jukeboxes but some large record stores could get them. Seeburg introduced the first stereo
jukebox in 1959 and made a deal with the record companies that they would supply stereo 45 issues of the hit records. Many times the 45 is the only true stereo version of certain hits.

RCA even made some living stereo 45's in the late 50's, very short lived.

Voice of Music and Arvin both made a stereo 45 only player in 1959, the changer was similar in looks to the common RCA 45 players, but was a completely different design by VM. In the VM model, the arm taps
the record edge (like a Magnavox Micromatic) to sense the record on the spindle and shuts off automatically after the last record. The VM 45 player design is the only 45 only player that will shut off after the
stack has played.

They are extremely rare and I consider myself fortunate to have one in my collection.
 
Voice of Music and Arvin both made a stereo 45 only player in 1959
There are also people who restore and modify the mono RCA 45 players to add a stereo phono cartridge (the infamous CZ800) and even a built-in FM stereo transmitter:


What exactly is "fake" stereo? I have the Mono 12x5 ,LL 3402.The Mono sounds mono, the stereo is clearly stereo.
Fake stereo is simulated stereo, often called "electronically rechanneled stereo" or various monikers such as "Duophonic". In the push to release stereo records in the late '50s through mid-'60s, the record companies would take existing mono recordings and apply various effects to them, such as EQ or phasing differences between the channels and/or a reverb effect, in an attempt to create something that could pass for "stereo" when heard across the room by someone not listening too closely.

 
After a bit of research I found a few more 1957 stereos:

The Great Ray Charles (recorded 1956)
Callas Medea (Mercury)
Rodzinski Nutcracker (Westminster)
 
What exactly is "fake" stereo? I have the Mono 12x5 ,LL 3402.The Mono sounds mono, the stereo is clearly stereo.

Are you sure about that? Look at the top of the cover... fake stereo.

The first true stereo Stones LP was "Aftermath" (although some earlier stuff was remixed in creampuff true stereo for CD release).

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Fake stereo is simulated stereo, often called "electronically rechanneled stereo" or various monikers such as "Duophonic". In the push to release stereo records in the late '50s through mid-'60s, the record companies would take existing mono recordings and apply various effects to them, such as EQ or phasing differences between the channels and/or a reverb effect, in an attempt to create something that could pass for "stereo" when heard across the room by someone not listening too closely.


While some fake stereo records are listenable, most sound like garbage. I have purged all of them from my collection! Life is too short for bad-sounding records. :)
 
While some fake stereo records are listenable, most sound like garbage. I have purged all of them from my collection! Life is too short for bad-sounding records. :)
Some simulated stereo methods can be surprisingly convincing for classical music. If you get the timing of the reverb just right, it can provide a fair approximation of the acoustics of a concert hall. But for rock music, no way! It makes the band sound like they're performing in the bathroom.
 
While some fake stereo records are listenable, most sound like garbage. I have purged all of them from my collection! Life is too short for bad-sounding records. :)
While I agree on the whole, I find the Fantasy '70s reissues of the Prestige catalog (green labels) to be very good. Not necessarily great stereo but the rechanneling didn't ruin anything IMO.
 
While I agree on the whole, I find the Fantasy '70s reissues of the Prestige catalog (green labels) to be very good. Not necessarily great stereo but the rechanneling didn't ruin anything IMO.

I have never heard any rechanneling on those LPs, and I have at least a dozen of them... mono is mono and stereo is stereo on the ones I own (but there may be exceptions I'm not aware of).
 
I have never heard any rechanneling on those LPs, and I have at least a dozen of them... mono is mono and stereo is stereo on the ones I own (but there may be exceptions I'm not aware of).
I'm pretty sure it says so on the label, I'll have to double check. I have original monos of several of them and they do sound quite different though as I said the Fantasy pressings sound very good.
 
I'm pretty sure it says so on the label, I'll have to double check. I have original monos of several of them and they do sound quite different though as I said the Fantasy pressings sound very good.

They all probably say "stereo" on the label, as a default... but they used the correct mono masters (unless there are some fake stereo releases that I'm not aware of).
 
Fake stereo is simulated stereo, often called "electronically rechanneled stereo" or various monikers such as "Duophonic". In the push to release stereo records in the late '50s through mid-'60s, the record companies would take existing mono recordings and apply various effects to them, such as EQ or phasing differences between the channels and/or a reverb effect, in an attempt to create something that could pass for "stereo" when heard across the room by someone not listening too closely.

Overall, I have to say this is a really impressive level of nerdery (which is a good thing in my book.) This is a fun thread to read.

I have a copy of Rubber Soul that was rechanneled and I actually love it. They don't have the panning capabilities they had in later stereo recording, so each part is either in the left, or the right, or both. So you get cool stuff like John in one ear and Paul in the right, or one guitar on one side of the room and the speed up piano on "In My Life" in the other. Some people hate it, but I think it adds something to the experience. If I'm guessing correctly, this was don through separating out of phase parts, much in the way quadrophonic simulators did on the fly a few years later. I have a copy of Elliott Smith's S/T album, where he recorded each vocal something like 5-6 times, and it sounds amazing on the quadrophonic simulators. It's like sitting in a room full of sad bastards serenading you from every corner.
 
I have a copy of Elliott Smith's S/T album, where he recorded each vocal something like 5-6 times, and it sounds amazing on the quadrophonic simulators. It's like sitting in a room full of sad bastards serenading you from every corner.

LOL now I want to try that but I might have to have the girlie hide all the knives first...
 
Overall, I have to say this is a really impressive level of nerdery

Something I excel at!

I have a copy of Rubber Soul that was rechanneled and I actually love it. They don't have the panning capabilities they had in later stereo recording, so each part is either in the left, or the right, or both. So you get cool stuff like John in one ear and Paul in the right, or one guitar on one side of the room and the speed up piano on "In My Life" in the other. Some people hate it, but I think it adds something to the experience. If I'm guessing correctly, this was don through separating out of phase parts, much in the way quadrophonic simulators did on the fly a few years later.

"Rubber Soul" is and alway has been available as a stereo recording, not re-channeled. There was no fancy trickery done, the stereo mix just sucks! But there is a story behind it...

By 1965 the writing was on the wall that mono was on the way out; the newer mono record players had stereo-compatible cartridges so there was a diminishing need for releasing two formats. Most labels finally did away with issuing dedicated mono LPs during 1967-1968, which is why LPs like the mono “Magical Mystery Tour” (released December 1967) are hard to find today; it was only in print for a few months. (A lot of mono LPs ended up in the cut-out bins during the late ‘60s.)

George Martin purposely recorded "Rubber Soul" in such a wonky way as an experiment, to see if a stereo recording could be made that successfully folds down to mono without phase issues and the other problems associated with it. That’s why there is no center channel information, everything is panned hard left and right.

Mercury/Smash Records did their own market-testing by issuing stereo LPs with mono labels, in mono jackets, to see if anyone would notice or complain! I have “mono” copies of the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” and the Blues Magoos’ “Psychedelic Lollipop” that play in stereo.

A&M and Atlantic dallied with issuing mono/stereo-compatible records using the Haeco-CSG System during '68-'69, and those records sound lousy in either mono or stereo playback!
 
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