Zappa.com

http://www.sundazed.com/shop/safe-as-milk.php

Anyone grab this? I always thought the Buddha reissue CD sounded OK, and the bonus tracks on it are outstanding. I normally don't buy CDs twice just to have it in mono, but this might be the exception.

I'm a person who really dislikes having doubles in his collection, but SAM Mono is MANDATORY. Way more punchy, crisp. Leans more toward Diddy Wah than uhhh some psychedelic type thing of the period.

ps But one still needs both. The stereo has its merits.

Purchased.

I purchased Safe As Milk in a liqour store for $1.98 about 15 years ago. It's the Budda Records release.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND - SAFE AS MILK (1967)
Authentic USA Mono Version

01. Sure 'Nuff 'n Yes I Do
02. Zig Zag Wanderer
03. Call on Me
04. Dropout Boogie
05. I'm Glad
06. Electricity
07. Yellow Brick Road
08. Abba Zaba
09. Plastic Factory
10. Where There's Woman
11. Grown So Ugly
12. Autumn's Child

All Tracks Are The Original Mono Mixes
Never Available on CD/Official Download in Historically Accurate Mono Version

Source:

- Safe As Milk (LP, Album, Mono, Red) Buddah Records BDM 1001 USA 1967
- Nothing else.

Vinyl Recorded & Mastered using:

- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm
- Audio Technica AT33PTG MC
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2 (using a matched pair of Genalex Gold Lion tubes)
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface @ 24/96
- Audition 3.0 (editing, manual clean up)
- Click Repair 3.9.1 (light automatic click setting)

All mono recordings were mastered from a single stereo channel, except on most of Tr. 6 and the ending of Tr. 10 L+R folding was done.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

Mastering Note:

I'm happy to present the full original mono mix of this album in about as-good-as-it-gets quality. This was sourced from a near-mint unworn USA mono pressing and meticulously restored for optimal sound reproduction. This version corrects the numerous errors that plague the Sundazed release from 2013.

In short, the Sundazed turned out to be an intricate patchjob from a poor mono needledrop and a folded stereo source*. When confronted with evidence, label owner Bob Irwin angrily denounced it but felt compelled to admit he had used patches from another source on the intros. However, he then changed his stance on what these alternative sources were two times, before deleting his message altogether.

According to the liner notes on the 1999 Buddha reissue, the mono masters weren't in the vaults in the late '90s. It is well-known that a lot of monaural mastertapes were simply thrown out back in the '70s to save some storage space. Now, of course, the average consumer definitely prefers a tape-sourced remastered edition over one that comes from vinyl, but falsely advertising one's product as something it isn't (namely, a true mono mix sourced from a tape) is much worse.

* long discussion, starts at this page, goes on until the end:
forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/captain-beefheart-safe-as-milk-from-the-mono-master-on-sundazed.291719/page-15

Notes:

So many fantastic records came out 50 years ago in that magical year 1967. This one stayed under the radar of most listeners, at the time, but has gained significant recognition since then. Like his old mate FZ, Don van Vliet was a gifted musician and relentless bandleader, who refused to compromise his vision in any way. This debut record is a culmination of years of working, absorbing and polishing.

It still sounds as urgent and bewildering today as it did so long ago. Granted, the sound quality may not be what it could have been (it has that typical distorted "RCA Studios sound"), but at least this mono version remedies some of the more distracting flaws of the stereo mix. Please bear in mind the mono version was only ever issued in the USA in 1967, when the format was already fading from public view (the UK mono is a folddown from the stereo mix), so not too many people heard it back in the day.

So here it is, just in time for its 50th anniversary.

FLAC: 16bit/44.1kHz (CD Quality)

password: profstoned

http://filecloud.io/rmht17q8l

or

http://www.filefactory.com/file/2sfw925 ... SAM_LR.rar

SPECIAL HIGH RESOLUTION DOWNLOAD FOR AUDIOPHILIACS

FLAC: 24bit/96kHz (DVD Quality)



password: profstoned

http://filecloud.io/rdapghqco

or

http://www.filefactory.com/file/x5u0s51 ... SAM_HR.rar

^^^^^ Cheers Mr. Nice ^^^^^

This will make for some nice Christmas listening, I've got a couple of versions of Safe As Milk, from (possibly faulty) memory neither are a mono mix.....

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