Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT33PTG MC
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias, editing, (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops), adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.4.1 used with setting Cl: 10, Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof. sez:

Another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd".

Although this is not first needledrop of this medium rare LP to appear online, I'm confident
that it is the absolute best one to date and that it will be very hard to improve upon.
The reason for that lies mainly in the aurally stunning copy I've used for this transfer.
Unlike most rock/pop records from the 60's, this one has absolutely no sign of groovewear.
The audio is strong and vibrant all the way up to those difficult last minutes on each side.
Especially Tr. 5 that sounds miles better here than on any other drop I've heard.

There is one reason why you should check this out: the mono mix is far superior to the stereo.
The problem with the stereo version is that the balance is totally off; the all-important
basic track (which captures the band live without vocals) is mostly buried on one side of the
stereo spectrum underneath the centered vocals and guitar overdubs.
The mono mix does not have this problem, as the overdubbed vocals and solo's are nicely buried
within the HUGE sounding backing track and this makes all the difference.
It is -IMO- a crime against humanity that this mono edition has not been commercially
available since the late sixties. But here it is, at last.

This was transferred from an EX+ copy.
The record is breathtakingly quiet and after a light declick, folding the two mono channels
together and some manual restoration work, I think I've achieved an almost tape like quality.
There is absolutely no hint of groove wear on this copy, unlike most others out there.
The record was professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s
Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5
(using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.

Disclaimer: The noise at the beginning of N.S.U. is on the mastertape.

Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-33PTG
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias. editing. (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops.. adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.7 used with setting Cl: 10 Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof sez:

Here's another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd". Transferred from
a vintage copy that was kept sealed for 46 years until I opened it recently.

Here we have one of the greasiest electric blues albums from the 60's, recorded by an interracial
group of badass kids from Chicago, the hometown of the electric blues and essentially the same band
(minus Butterfield) that backed Dylan on his infamous Newport '65 show. It's is probably the
most influential white blues album from the 60's, save from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers album

It was also the first "rock" record to appear on the legendary Elektra label. Up until then, label owner
Jac Holzman had specialised in folk music but wanted to expand his roster with other musical directions.
His right-hand Paul A. Rothchild was the man ultimately responsible for signing the band and adding
Mike Bloomfield to the line-up. Make sure to read this fascinating chapter from Holzman's book:
http://www.followthemusic.com/chapter-8 (also included here in another txt file just in case it has gone
offline).

This record and its predecessor have been lovingly remastered in stereo by Bob Irwin in 1997 (available
on vinyl on the Sundazed label and as a two-fer on an European-only 2CD). But the mono versions
of these two classic albums have not been unavailable since the late 60's. The fat greasy sound of the
band was best captured on these vintage monaural mixes and therefore this is an essential addition
to your collection. The bonustracks are of course from the 1966 "What's shaking" Elektra sampler.
These tracks were sourced from the rejected initial sessions. Sundazed has done a really nice
vinyl reissue of the mono album in 2003, but this too has yet to see its debut on CD in mono.

The record was professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s Enzymantic formula,
Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5 (using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.
I cleaned up some clicks and pops manually. All restoration was done without harming the music.


Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2 Turntable
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica 150MLX stylus
- Yamaha CA-1010 amplifier
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface (conversion to 24 bit, 96kHz)
- Universal Audio Precision Mastering Bundle

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias, editing, (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops), adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair used with setting Cl: 15, Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer, Restoration, Mastered & Notes by Prof. Stoned

Prof sez:

Here's another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd".
I'm likely not gonna top this one for a year or two; this is truly an essential document
in a soundquality that is far better than an original UK pressing of this album could ever give you.
I've have been looking for the right source material for this project for two years.
You can read about that below in the 'In Search Of Aftermath in Mono' textfile.
I will stick to the more urgent facts here.

The Stones' 4th British album 'Aftermath' should be considered the artistic breakthrough in their
long career. It was the first album that was entirely written by Jagger & Richard(s) and it remains
a blistering highlight among their catalogue.
'Aftermath' was recorded in a period when the record industry was slowly beginning to make the
transition from mono to stereo. But 3 or 4-track recording was still the norm and as a result the
possibilities of making a balanced stereo mix were almost non-existent.
The stereo versions of many pop albums from and before this era tend to sound very dated
with radical sound images like: backing track hard left, vocals center & handclaps
and lead guitar on the right.
To many folks, this is at all times preferable to a mix that has no stereo panorama but unrightly so IMO.
'Aftermath' in stereo is not an exception. The oh-so-important backingtrack consisting of
drums-bass-rhythm guitar always stays on the left channel, making the vocals and whatever overdubs
sound isolated.
Take 'Mother's little Helper' for example. The mono version makes you wanna rock out; it has a thick ballsy
sound and Jagger vocals are nicely within the mix.
On the stereo mix you basically hear the voice, the sitar and then far in the back there is a band playing.
The stereo version was nothing more than an afterthought. Most of the work went into the mono mixes:
the sounds that were going to be heard by the kids on the radio and on their cheap phonographs.

For this reason alone, it is a crime against humanity that up to this very day the mono version of
'Aftermath' has been unavailable since the early seventies.
ABKCO has failed to recognize its importance and superiority and continues to do so, leaving us
instead with an inferior edition of a landmark album.
Therefore, I'm very proud to be able to present you a version of Aftermath that not only has the correct
mix but also a fidelity that even for today's remastering standard holds up quite well.
Sure, this was recorded in 1965/1966 but there is a clarity and depth to these recordings that is
previously unheard, except for the first three tracks which appear on the Singles Collection Box set.
You will simply not get the same results from playing an original UK copy.
This has everything to do with the source that I used, even though I did polish up the tracks with
some tasteful EQ'ing because they needed it.
Be assured that I've been a soundengineer on a professional level for more than 12 years, if that
makes a difference. I have used high quality digital hardware for mastering and did not 'brickwall' or
compress the sound.

I threw in a couple of very nice bonustracks, which suffer the same fate as its predecessors.
These four tracks were transferred from the UK export version of 'Flowers', a compilation that
was designed for the American market.
Mono copies of the US version on London are plenty but stereo & especially mono copies of the
UK export versions are seriously rare and wanted.
Not without a reason; collectors have long noticed that the UK exports have superior sound
compared to their American counterparts.
Still, I found this pressing not to be off the same audiophile quality as the Aftermath source.
It sounds distorted in places and the high end is a bit grainy. Still, it's lightyears better
than the versions on the bootlegs that circulate of this material.
There are some dedicated mono mixes to be found here, although half the album consists
of stereo reductions. For those reasons, I've cherry picked the good stuff rather than doing a
separate release of the whole thing.
I've included another text document in the folder in which I've written down my findings about the
UK mono export, should you be interested (see 'Info on Flowers UK Mono Export.txt').

This was transferred from pristine vinyl copies.
The records are breathtakingly quiet and after a light de-click, folding the two mono channels together
and some manual restoration work, I think I've achieved an almost tape like quality.
The records were professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s
Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5
(using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.

Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-33PTG
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias. editing. (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops.. adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.7 used with setting Cl: 10 Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof sez:

Here's another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd". Transferred from
a vintage copy that was kept sealed for 45 years until I opened it recently.

Mostly known from their big hit and Nuggets anthem "I had too much to dream", there was more to the Prunes than
just that one psychedelic masterpiece. They released two albums in the classic line-up before being
taken over by producer Dave Hassinger & composer David Axlrod who forced the ambitious but out-of-style
"Mass in F minor" upon the group, after which the band disintegrated. More Electric Prunes albums
followed though, but these were basically other people playing different music.

This rare mono mix is much more enjoyable than its stereo counterpart, pretty much in the same way as
the Stones' album Aftermath. This comparison is of course partly deliberate, since both albums
share the same producer. Rhino has released four mono tracks on the "Too Much to Dream - Original Group
Recordings: Reprise 1966-1967" 2CD, but to my taste they sound much better here, in no small part thanks to the
bright mastering that Dan Hersh seems to be known for. But what do I know, maybe Rhino wants it that way?
I wish I could have included a clean transfer of the rare first 45 as well, but those hardly ever show up on
ebay, and if they do, it's still no guarantee that it will play clean. Maybe, a day...

The record was professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s Enzymantic formula,
Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5 (using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.
I cleaned up some clicks and pops manually. All restoration was done without harming the music.

Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-33PTG
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias. editing. (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops.. adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.7 used with setting Cl: 15 Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof sez:

Here's another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd" for a change.
This rip is taken from a clean US copy (made at the Monarch pressing plant), which was chosen after auditioning
the three different cuttings that are known to exist.

An essential album viewed from an entirely different angle. Nowadays very hard to find in ANY condition,
this rare US mono version has become somewhat of an enigma (the UK mono is to be avoided, as this was a straight fold
from the stereo mastertape that was delivered to Elektra's London headquarters).
It has long been discussed on various message boards how many of the songs were true mono mixes. When asked recently,
original recording engineer Bruce Botnick has pointed out that most of the tracks were dedicated mono mixes but he
couldn't remember which songs it concerned.

So, I've done an attempt to figure this out. After two extensive comparing sessions with a folded stereo version,
I have come to the conclusion that only three songs could possibly be folddowns. I will give a brief breakdown of notable
differences here:

Tr. 01: Different echo on moog effect on vocals in parts. Listen to "We shall GO ON PLAYING OR FIND a new town";
on the stereo version the effect is mostly absent on the lines marked in capitol letters, while being there loud and clear
on the mono. The moog effect was not on the multitracks, as evidenced by the pretty awful 2006 stereo remix.

Tr. 02: The balances are more or less the same. This could be a folddown touched-up with some additional EQ and compression.
Actually, the whole album is more compressed sounding in mono than in stereo. This was probably done with the purpose
of achieving a more radio friendly sound. But point is, it's really hard to distinguish the mono/stereo differences between
most of the tracks here and it seems likely that the stereo and mono mixes were prepared during the same sessions because
the reverb (and other side FX) sound exactly the same on nearly every song. So, there really is no way for me to be 100%
certain about this song.

Tr. 03: Same conclusion as Tr. 02.

Tr. 04: The handclaps & tambourine are missing entirely on the stereo version, suggesting that the producer thought of this
song as a potential hit.

tr. 05: Likely to be a fold. Most of the manipulated white noise that is heard so clearly at the beginning on the stereo is
cancelled out when folded, giving the exact same sound as on the mono mix. No differences between the elements or the balance.

Tr. 06: Reverb on voice at the end of the song is missing in mono and the outro lasts about 3 secs longer.

Tr. 07: This always sounded like a fold to me, but clearly it isn't. The rhythm guitar which plays the muted chords is
much less present in mono (for example: it's hardly there at 0.36 - 0.39 and absent during the guitar & piano solo's.).

Tr. 08: Different bass intro and the vocals are faded much earlier at the end of the mono version.

Tr. 09: Backward recorded percussion effect (sounds like ticking) starts on both mixes at 1.39 but is faded out quickly
after four seconds on the mono, while lasting the whole chorus in stereo.

Tr. 10: Morrison does some yelling before the grand double guitar solo at 2:56 (something like "f***ing $!@^!@ ....baby",
I think, or is it just me?!). The word "baby" is much more buried within the mono mix. Also, at the end of the solo,
when the guitar notes are still fading, Manzarek hits the same note three times on the organ. These notes are better
noticeable on the mono mix. I wish I could find more obvious examples than this, but this song has very few overdubs or
studio trickery and the balancing is very much alike. Overall, there is more bass organ present on the mono mix,
but I wouldn't necessarily include that as proof of being a true mono mix.

So there you have it. Any comments, thoughts or differing conclusions about this are welcome.

I've auditioned three different cuttings of this album, in order to present the best possible sound.
These cuttings were respectively pressed at Columbia's Terre Haute, IN (CTH on deadwax), Columbia's Pitman,
NJ (CP on deadwax) & Monarch Record Mfg. in Los Angeles, CA (MON on deadwax). I chose to work with the latter cutting
because it sounded best to me. Still, there is quite a bit of distortion during the climax of Tr. 05 that is present on all
three cuttings, so I'm afraid it will have to be lived with.

This may be well be my favourite Doors album. I find it more mature and slightly darker in mood than the first album.
From the mysterious sounding title track to the thunderous finale of "When the music's over", there is no weak spot in here.
Strange Days was recorded by Bruce Botnick under guidance of Paul Rothchild, who captured the band playing
'live' in the studio mostly. Despite the fact that this was the first Doors album to be recorded on an 8-track machine,
overdubs were relatively sparse. This 8-track machine (3M Isoloop) was solid state and in combination with a valve console,
gave the album a 'harder' sound as opposed to the debut which was recorded on a 4-track valve machine with ditto console.

The record was professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s Enzymantic formula,
Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5 (using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.
I cleaned up a lot of clicks and pops manually (some of them are on the actual recording) and also repaired a few
tape-dropouts. All this was done without harming the music.

Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-33PTG
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias. editing. (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops.. adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.5.3 used with setting Cl: 15 Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof sez:

Here's yet another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd".
This rip is taken from a mint US copy (1st pressing w/ deep groove) which I've bought in still-sealed condition.

Lovin Spoonful...even though they had quite an impressive array of hits, history seems to have degraded them
to some kind of equivalent of the Monkees. How wrong! Back when this album came out they were one of the
coolest bands in town and that's how they should have been remembered.

John Sebastian, their leader, was a gifted song-smith with a wicked sense of humour. A skilled musician too.
His father was a renowned harmonica player and little John Jr. was exposed to all the musical greats
(sometimes in person) from a very tender age. Sebastian integrated jazz, blues, folk, pop, rock & country in his
music and yet made it sound completely natural.

Now, Hums was the band's third record and the last one that was made by the original line-up (not counting
the 2nd soundtrack album). It is arguably their best or at least their most consistent one.
The band's lack of pretence was one of their big strengths but also their biggest weakness at the same time.
But most tracks here hold up remarkable well IMO and even the oddball tunes (Henry Thomas) will put a smile
on your face, or maybe not. Of course, everybody knows Summer in the City which may be one of the greatest
anthems of the 60's. But how many have heard the reflective "Coconut grove" (covered in the 80's by Dave Lee Roth)
or the lovely 'Rain on the roof' Okay, okay, that was actually a minor hit...

At the time, the album appeared both in mono and stereo. Clearly, it was the mono mix that got the most
attention from the band & producer and it should be regarded the main version.
Yet, it most likely that MGM (who amongst others stored Buddah's mastertapes) had all their mono mastertapes
destroyed in the early 70's in order to save up some space in their tape archives. It is my opinion that the
executive who was responsible for this short-sighted decision should have been thrown off a cliff, but since I'm not
in charge of those sort of things, he probably came out unscathed.

Anyway, back to my zen-self, the Lovin Spoonful reissue program has been hopeless for decades and only since
the last fifteen years, some decent sounding CD's of the original albums have appeared but all of them are stereo.
With this release, I'm hoping to set something straight and give you the album as it was meant to be heard.

I've added three bonustracks from the two soundtrack albums that appeared just before and after 'Hums'.
Zal Yanovsky was forced out of the band before recording the actual fourth studio album, triggered by a drug-related
incident that had turned him into a persona-non-grata on the scene and which greatly affected his behaviour.
However, Yanovsky is all over the soundtrack albums and the one cut I took from "What's up Tiger Lily" is my
little tribute to him: a spooky instrumental that would later become Coconut Grove. The other two tracks are from
"You're a big boy now", with the heartfelt ballad 'Darling be home soon' being the best known.

All 14 tracks were transferred from original US mono copies that were still sealed when I bought them.
Despite that, some patches had to be made from my back-up copy of Hums because there were gliches on side 2 that
were difficult to remove. There is also some inner groove distortion on Tr. 6 that I'm afraid we'll have to live with.
I A/B the LP version of tr. 12 to my orig. US 45, which has a radical different mastering, but went with the
more natural sounding album version. Same thing for Tr. 11. The 45's were mastered to sound good on AM radio
and they do indeed have more presence and punch, but the LP versions give a better idea what the tracks
sounded like in the studio and sound less fatigue on the ears.

The records were professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s
Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5
(using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2. After applying a medium setting of CR, I spent quite a few hours
declicking manually. MGM pressed vinyl from the 60's has been known for its noisy surfaces.

Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-33PTG
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias. editing. (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops.. adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.7 used with setting Cl: 5. Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof sez:

Here's another one in the series "essential in mono but not available on cd". This is a fresh rip
to replace the first one I did in 2010. They are very close, except that this one is slightly less
bright sounding to match a near neutral response.

A brilliant debut of a highly influential writer and performer. This was Cohen's 'The Freewheelin'.
I never tire of this album after years of listening. In fact, once I get older it's lyrical & musical depth only
seem to broaden.
This rare dedicated mono mix does not just offer a different glimpse. It merely provides a whole new sonic
dimension to what already was an athmospheric recording.
Despite the fact that Sony has rejected it from their reissue's, it is THE mix. I'm sure only the most
fanatical stereo purists will disagree with me.

This was transferred from an NM copy.
You can hear some noises that you may perceive as clicks. However, these are artifacts picked
up by the vocal mic and can be heard on the official stereo CD's as well.
The record was professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s
Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5
(using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2. After applying a light setting of CR, a handful of clicks
were removed manually, as the vinyl was very quiet to begin with.

Enjoy!

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT-OC9ML/II
- Yamaha CA-1010 (integrated PRE-AMP)
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias, editing, (incl. manual removal of clicks
and pops), adding gain and making the cue points.
- Click Repair 3.5.3 used with setting Cl: 10, Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Prof. sez:

Another one in the series "essential in mono but never available on cd".
I have released this one before in 2008 but this new rip reproduces the sound closer to what
the actual LP master sounds like due to a better source and more sophisticated equipment.
On top of that, it has also two extra tracks (also previously ripped and released in 2009).

This is a dedicated mix, meaning that it was specifically designed for mono playback.
When comparing the mono and stereo mix, I would say that most time and thought was put into the former.
Not that the stereo sucks, but it is inconsistent and has a few elements which seemed to have been
deliberately mixed out of the mono version, like the sloppy 2nd leadguitar line in Tr.6.
The mono also has much more thicker and focused sound and in some instances far better balancing too.

When this record was released in 1967, the mono format was already on its way out in the States and
because of that, most copies ended up being dumped by Atlantic in 1968 (which makes it difficult
to find a copy without a cutout hole).
There are two different US cuttings out there; one was made at the Atlantic Studio in L.A.
and one by Columbia in N.Y. The latter was cut from an additionally EQ'd/compressed dub supplied by
Atlantic, while the former was made from a cleaner source, quite possibly the master tape.
My 2008 rip was sourced from a VG+ US copy which had the Columbia stamped matrixes, while
this new 2011 rip is made from an almost as-new copy With the hand-written Atlantic matrices*.
I do believe it is an enormous upgrade. Everyone who even remotely enjoyed the old rip, should get this.

Musically, this album is one the true highlights of the 60's, even though created by a splintered group.
Bass player Bruce Palmer had been deported back to Canada after a drugbust in early '67 and shortly after
the initial sessions had started in February, Neil Young left the band to go solo.
In the months that followed he collaborated with Phil Spector's long-time musical arranger Jack Nitsche
to record 'Expecting to fly'; an achingly beautiful masterpiece that took a few weeks to complete.
Meanwhile, the rest of the band had gone on to record their own material with a new bassplayer & a new
guitarist, who at his turn was shortly replaced by David Crosby (unaccredited co-writer of Tr.9).
However, near the completion of the record Neil Young & Bruce Plamer were brought back into the group.**

The 2 bonuscuts are from an 45 which preceded the album's release date by a few months.
They are not included here for their brilliant soundquality; the significance of this 45 -of course-
lies mostly in the early version of Mr. Soul with its alternate guitar solo and the fact that it has
never been reissued since 1971 (both on vinyl or CD).
These tracks were transferred from a 45 that came from a new-old-stock collection.
This copy was issued in 1971 as part of the first batch of the Oldies Series which were pressed from
the same metal parts as the original 1967 US single (Atlantic cutting)***.
The problem with the original single is that it was cut so hot that you simply cannot play it back
without hearing distortion at some points (I even bought a second NOS copy and it had the same issue's).
So, we'll just have to take it as it comes. This new rip slightly improves up on the soundquality
of the 2009 one, though.

The records were professionally and carefully cleaned in three steps using Audio Intelligent’s
Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula, and Ultra pure water on a VPI 16.5
(using VPI brushes) and Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2.
Then I spent a few evenings manually declicking the wave file (after Click Repair had already been
applied with a medium setting) to make sure the cleanest and most natural sounding result
possible was achieved.

Enjoy!