Post #318407 by OnyaBirri on Fri, Jul 13, 2007 8:22 AM

"Ports of Pleasure," I believe, was the first stereo album Capitol issued. In the early days of stereo, the mono was not mixed from stereo or multitracks; they utilized two sets of microphones and engineers. So, the mic placement and overall mix on albums like "Ports" and "Escapade" is completely different.

In addition, both of those albums contain overdubs on the mono that are not on the stereo. On "Ports" there is a piano solo over "Pearls of Ceylon," choir on "Harem Silks of Bombay" and additional piano and percussion on "Spice Island Sea Birds." Agree, if you love Les Baxter, you need these two albums in mono and stereo.

Much as I love Capitol mono LPs, "Ports of Pleasure" is one of the best stereo albums I ever heard, hands down. I haven't heard the Cherry Red CD, but the "Exotic Moods" collection really botched the sound on the tracks from "Ports of Pleasure." "Tahiti" especially sounded bad on "Exotic Moods."