Simon garfunkel bookends album download5/17/2023 ![]() ![]() The stereo vinyl isn’t bad at all mind you. They are punchier, the instruments – especially Paul Simon’s guitar work – really pop out at you as if you are in the recording studio with them. Simon and Garfunkel in mono sound superb. For some reason it’s rumored that Paul Simon won’t allow the Simon and Garfunkel mono versions to be reissued which is a shame if true. The only way to get these albums in mono is to track down the original 60’s vinyl pressings and it’s well worth it. In fact any young readers out there (or anyone interested in vinyl frankly) should check out the first five Simon and Garfunkel albums which are available in mono – “Wednesday Morning 3 a.m.”, “Sounds of Silence”, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”, “The Graduate”(another really rare mono pressing) and “Bookends”. The mono mixes tended to sound more alive and cleaner and were meant to cut over the din of the tiny speakers people were using.Īnyway, back to “Bookends”, the mono mix of this landmark Simon and Garfunkel album is really quite lovely sounding. Mono generally is more in your face, louder and more shall I say it ballsy then stereo especially pre-1965 as stereo was a newer format and producers weren’t used to mixing in stereo. Now, readers who aren’t music geeks – gee I’m wondering if you’re still even reading – need to know that most pop/rock music before 1968 was produced to be heard on tiny AM radios or small record players with tiny speakers and was predominately mixed in mono. Modern stereo includes surround sound with sound coming out of your ears, under your seat and every direction known to man but in the 60’s it was either one or two channels. Mono (one channel) had the sound dead center (all instruments and vocals coming out of the center if you listen on a two speaker stereo system) and stereo had two channels with the instruments and vocals spread out across the two speakers. Okay, lesson time: In the 1960’s, pop music was available in either mono or stereo versions or mixes. This is the first copy I’ve found out in the wild as they say and not on ebay. Thank goodness this copy was under $40 as it tends to go for well over $150 to upwards of $300 if you can even locate a copy. It was released in April 1968 at a time when mono records were being phased out. To say this album in mono is rare is a major understatement. Okay, you have to be a record fan or you might have a bit of a queasy stomach about now.īUT, I happened upon a mono pressing of Simon and Garfunkel’s best (in my opinion) album called “Bookends”. Last week, I was on vacation and in my usual round of record store hunting (sorry Doug! lol) I found a vinyl album that I have been searching for for over twenty – yes twenty – years. Good things come to those who wait – or so they say. I’m guessing it’s much rarer than promotional mono pressings which I think come up more often though are still incredibly hard to find.Īnyway, enjoy this updated post and below is the original text from that long ago post about finding a mono pressing of “Bookends”: By the way the copy I found is a stock copy. I also added a self-made CD of this mono pressing as I don’t want to wear this copy out as I’m sure I’ll probably never locate another copy. And for some reason my earlier posts lacked a lot of photos so I took a new series of photos of the album so anyone out there looking for one can see what it looks like so they can spot a mono pressing if they happen upon one in the wild so to speak. Since I originally posted here about my mono “Bookends”, I managed to track down the original poster that was issued with the album – it was missing from my copy. The copy I bought and featured on this blog is in VG/VG condition but sounds great and after all this time of searching for it it is a true pleasure to own. The “Bookends” album was released at a time when mono pressings were being phased out so locating a mono copy of this album is darn near impossible! To say I have been searching for a mono pressing of this album would be a major understatement as I have never seen another copy of it in over forty-five years of record collecting until I spotted it in a Midwest record store a few years ago. ![]() Not only is the “Bookends” album my favorite album by Simon & Garfunkel but it’s one of my all-time favorite albums by anyone. Shortly after starting this blog I happened upon one of my “holy grail” records, a mono copy of Simon & Garfunkel’s 1968 album “Bookends”. NOTE: Today I’ve decided to update one of my earliest posts for this blog. ![]()
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