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Mono Sgt. Pepper

John Lennon's comment is directed towards the Mono mix of Sgt. Pepper...not just listening to it in mono. The Sgt. Pepper mono mix is so "famous" for its differences that the Wikipedia entry on Sgt. Pepper even discusses the differences in detail.

In the early years of stereo (1958-1968) many pop/rock artists (who were at the point where they had a say in the production) payed special attention to the mono mix, because "stereo" was still a crazy new thing that only nerdy older audio guys with money were into. Most 15 year olds were not listening to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds on a stereo- even if there was one in the house.

So...care was put into the mono mix and the stereo mix was usually an afterthought that was left to some house engineer at the record company to put together. This lasted until about 1968 when more and more people started having stereo systems in their homes, and any post 1968 mono lp is a rare collectible, and is really just a stereo mix mixed down to mono- not a totally different mix that was the norm in earlier years.

But...years later all that was available for sale on reissue LP's and CD's (until recently) was the stereo mix. Until recently "monaural" was a bad word and it usually meant "inferior" to most people.

Thankfully those days are gone, and we now have many CD and LP reissues direct from the original mono master, and a new generation (and even previous generations) can appreciate the original intended effect. I still get a kick out of watching a 20 year Dylan fan hear "Blonde on Blonde" on mono and have almost a religious experience.

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