The question of whether Elvis' Mono classics from the fifties should be re-released in newly created Stereo Mixes is hotly debated among hard-core collectors. With a new Mono II Stereo set - covering all of the essential Elvis Presley Masters from the 50's - coming out on December 11, 2024, it is time to ask to the man behind the mixing desk some tricky questions.
Piers Beagley (Elvis Information Network) and Kees Mouwen try to get the backstory behind this recent development - some say craze - of mixing Elvis’ original Mono recordings into Stereo.
Piers: Hi Anthony, good to sit down virtually and catch up in this interview. What fans really can’t wait to know about is your up-coming' PRESLEY- The Essential 50’s Masters' box-set but you seem to have been working non-stop on this kind of releases the past few years.
So, first off, can you share a little about yourself and your Elvis story and explain how you became a Mono to Stereo producer?
Anthony: Just a little bit? I’ve been an Elvis fan since I was 5 years old, dancing to ‘Jailhouse Rock’ on its, at the time, UK TV premiere. So, I’ve been listening to Elvis for quite a few years.
I’ve always been interested in audio, not just the ‘sound’ but the technical aspects and recording techniques. It’s just always fascinated me, going way back to my father’s old 78’s and reel to reel recorder. I learnt by doing frankly.
Kees: Your name has been associated with several labels releasing Elvis material. Can you explain how you have ended up working with a few different Elvis labels and which is the product that you are so far most proud of?
Anthony: I’m a very independent person. If you don’t try to reach goals, you’ll never know what you might, or might not have achieved, so I just kind of go for it. Some is also down to friends who have encouraged and spurred me on, for example Henrik Knudsen at Memphis Mansion, and even yourself Kees, who pointed RDM-Edition towards me, remember?
Up to now, but maybe not for much longer, my favorite release would be the ‘Welcome Home Elvis’ black vinyl box set from Memphis Mansion. It was such a thrill to work on those mono acetates, and to be able to bring them up to a standard for a professional vinyl pressing.
The picture shows Anthony Stuchbury with the original acetates and the Memphis Mansion box-set.
It was also gratifying to be able to supply my basic restoration file to the Memphis Recording Service label, and to see and hear that it was used as the basis for all their own reiterations on CD and vinyl of ‘Welcome Home Elvis’.
Piers: That was a good box-set indeed, the best presentation of that material at the time I think. Talking about box-sets, did we spot your name on the new 'The Making of King Creole' box from the Follow That Dream label?
Anthony: Yes, you did. I was sent a recording of an acetate containing the whole opening production number from the movie by Keith Flynn, belonging to David English. They weren’t going to use it because it wasn’t up to par, but me being me I had to have a play around with it and sent it back to Keith. I think he knew I’d do that to be honest.
He was so impressed that I hadn’t converted it to stereo (that’s an in joke) he sent it to David who then contacted me directly to ask if they could use it.
In my younger days I always thought that the opening of the movie was too long, I wanted the movie to get to Elvis. As I restored the acetate, which is track 1 on the new release, I was amazed to find it was originally going to be even longer!
Listen to the 'King Creole' A-B comparison:
Piers: Are you open to do more restoration work? You did work on the recently found Toledo recording from 1956. There are some tracks out there that could benefit from a little magic. Songs like ‘Little Mama’, ‘Heart of Stone’ and a 1960 concert from Hawaii come to mind.
Anthony: Yes, and my version of ‘Toledo’ without Ron Ross is still yet to be heard. The people who have it are the people who should. It’s not my ball to kick around in all fairness, it was shared confidentially, so I will continue to hold that confidence.
Kees: Everybody seems to be jumping on the ‘Mono to Stereo’ bandwagon and we have heard both good and unbelievably terrible Elvis ‘Mono to Stereo’ releases. Some fans that should know better have even posted that your stereo remasters are only done by “fiddling around on a home PC”. What do you think when you read this?
Anthony: It amuses and entertains me, because no one knows what I’m using, and probably wouldn’t believe me if I told them anyway. I prefer to let my work speak for itself, and it already has.
Piers: In the past collectors have always held the ERIC record label up as the gold standard for their ‘Mono II Stereo’ releases. What is your opinion and have they ever contacted you?
Anthony: A lot of people don’t know this, but I was the person responsible for the Memphis Recording Service record label dipping their toes into Mono to Stereo in the first place. You could say it’s my fault. I’d been pestering Joseph Pirzada to try and see what his guy could do for about three or four years after first being impressed by things I’d heard on Eric Records.
And yes, I’ve had communication with them, back in November 2023, I helped them out with a track.
Kees: Can you say something about the differences you hear in the various new Stereo versions of the same material?
Anthony: Primarily it would be placement of the individual instruments and backing vocals.
Piers: You have updated some of your early SUN Stereo Masters on more recent releases. How has your technique developed from the first to your most recent releases?
Anthony: The first SUN tracks were a private project and were never initially intended for release. I changed them after taking on board some friendly and constructive criticism, so before you ask, yes, I do think they are better now.
Kees: Remixing old SUN mono masters to Stereo is considered to be sacrilege, so do you think that are you rewriting history?
Anthony: They’re not meant to replace the original classic masters or rewrite history in any shape or form. They give a freedom to go with whatever you prefer. It’s easy to knock it, but unless you plan to buy and listen to them it really won’t make any difference to you.
If you prefer mono, my mixes shouldn’t change what you enjoy, so the short answer to your question is no.
Piers: You've said that you consider your work "audio archaeology", can you explain that, and what were your major finds?
Anthony: Lots of detail you don’t hear because it’s buried in the mono mix. A couple of examples being the drum brush beat missed by D.J. Fontana on ‘I Was The One’ and his squeaky bass drum pedal on ‘Don’t’.
Other than that, I enjoy being able to focus in on and hear each musician more clearly. I get a new appreciation of how great they were and how hard they worked.
Kees: The recent SONY / RCA ‘Memphis’ box-set included remixes of most of Elvis SUN mono masters. This was surely where RCA should have released the SUN recordings in stereo?
Anthony: Looking back, I thought that too, but in hindsight I’m glad they were not. When SONY eventually do get around to it, I think a dedicated mono to stereo release would be better than to be part of a legacy compilation.
Piers: To follow up on that, it was only a few months after the ‘Memphis’ release that Ernst Jorgensen then did an interview suggesting that he wanted to release Elvis’ mono masters in Stereo! Has he been in contact with you? Has he heard your work, and if so, can you tell us what he thought?
Anthony: Yes, yes, and no (shy grin!). That said, he was asked at a fan meeting in Denmark what he thought of mono to stereo and replied that he had “heard some that are really good”.
I’ll let you work that one out for yourselves.
Kees: The Beatles have been using Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES) mono to stereo separation on their updated releases for a while now. If they can do it what’s holding RCA back with updating Elvis’ work?
Anthony: I’m unable to answer that with any authority because I don’t know. I could make assumptions and guesses, but that’s all they would be.
Kees: Well, let’s assume, I’ve read figures of US$10,000 per track if done correctly. Do the Beatles sell that much more copies that it is viable and Elvis doesn’t?
Anthony: I read it was $10.000 per master, so that’s not necessarily one track, but I really don’t know. I think the whole Beatles catalogue is more condensed, and therefore not as fragmented as Elvis’ own. I think that makes it a lot easier to target the market and make it work.
Piers: In 1992 RCA released ‘The Complete 50’s Masters’ produced by Ernst Jorgensen. Coincidentally in a few weeks RDM will be releasing 'PRESLEY- The Essential 50’s Masters' in STEREO and produced by you! You seem to have beaten RCA to the punch with updating this set. How long have you been working on this set and have you had any feedback from Ernst?
Anthony: Around 18 months in total, approximately. It’s been a massive project, but was in my mind right from the start, and in fact it was turned down twice, before finally getting the go ahead from, and on RDM-Edition.
Financially it’s a big release for any label to commit to, so I understand that. Fortunately each RDM-Edition release has been very successful for them, so I’m grateful they were willing to give ‘PRESLEY’ a chance.
You might like to know that Sylvain Mallet, the guy who I work with there, is a big Elvis fan himself, so that has been a great help. I basically had to prove myself, which I could never have done without the help of a few friends, but most importantly another good friend, my graphics guy David Parker. I think I’ve driven him to distraction with some of the things I’ve insisted on, but he always comes up trumps. Top bloke.
Kees: Well, I can’t wait to see and listen to the set, can you confirm the date it is coming out, and tell us more about the packaging?
Anthony: The official release-date is December 11, 2024, but you can already pre-order the CD. It’s a four CD set with an eight-page booklet, liner notes by David Parker. It’s all presented in a fat box jewel case within a gloss card slip case.
Piers: Keen-eyed fans have noted that tracks such as ‘Tell Me Why’ and 'One Night Of Sin' are missing, yet some interesting alternate takes are included. Can you please explain how you assembled your final track list?
Anthony: I make no bones about those tracks, and others, not being included. Legally they cannot. Although recorded in the ‘50’s they were not first released until the mid ‘60’s, this excludes them and means they are not in the public domain. All 109 tracks on the release, alternates included, were first released or broadcast originally in the 1950’s which means they are good to go.
There is a view that the ‘PRESLEY’ release could have been called ‘The Complete ‘50’s Masters’, it contains every master released in the ‘50’s after all. I can well imagine the furor that would entail from those that don’t understand the simplicity of the situation, or just want to knock it.
As it stands, they are the ‘Essential ‘50’s Masters’ because they are what were released in the 1950’s.
Kees: Separating the piano from the guitar track and separating Elvis’ vocal from the Jordanaires backing-vocals on a mono master is always one of the toughest jobs. Have you now got this down to perfection?
Anthony: Yes, and I’ve included some new mixes on the ‘PRESLEY’ set to illustrate this, ‘Don’t’ being the perfect example. When you listen to this new version you’ll hear a mix that you’ve been pre-conditioned to hear over the years, with the Jordanaires on the right and instruments on the left. It’s completely different to the version on Golden Elvis! which, for the record, is the one I personally prefer.
Piers: A question that is always up for discussion, whether The Jordanaires are on the right channel or in the middle behind Elvis? How do you decide?
Anthony: I’ll not go into great detail here, but there are some insightful notes from myself included in the sleeve notes of the ‘PRESLEY’ release giving a lot more information about this.
But when producing these Mono II Stereo 50s Masters, I “tried" to make the mixes consistent with how they would have been mixed at the time, if they had originally been recorded in stereo. I used various resources, including tracks from the period, which were recorded in this way, usually with the drums panned. A good comparison would be the hits of Neil Sedaka, also an artist recorded by RCA, whose masters from that era are mixed in this manner.
A common misconception is that the Jordanaires' backing vocals were mixed to the side, usually to the right, but there is no evidence that this was the case on Elvis' hits in the 1950s. Generally, this is the type of mix that was used on Elvis' recordings from 1960 onwards, but even then it was not always the case, as can be heard in the May 1963 recordings, where the backing vocals can be heard in the center.
Kees: What songs were the major challenges to recreate as Stereo and what were the difficulties you had to overcome?
Anthony: How long have you got? Way too many, and way too much to go into here.
But let me pick just one, ‘Trouble’ for example. There is so much more going on in this number than you can pick out by listening to the original mono master, which itself was a dub down from a binaural recording, which would have had its own limitations. Deconstructing the elements was a nightmare, in particular the horns and wind, but tucked in there is a tiny bit of piano. It doesn’t feature throughout, but where it does I wanted to highlight it.
Piers: There are plenty of Elvis 50s sessions released in ‘Binaural’ with Elvis’ vocal totally separate on one channel. The 1988 'Essential Elvis Vol. 2' mastered by Bob Jones was a revelation at the time. Can you explain to fans, what is the main difference between these ‘non-mono’ tapes and your mixes? And are they a better starting point for your work?
Anthony: Binaural recordings, basically two tracks, are not suitable for what I do. Every track I’ve ever mixed from mono to stereo has been derived from a mono master. Nothing more, nothing less.
Piers: So, it really is all really mono to stereo, nice. Ernst Jorgensen recently noted that he asked Emile de la Rey (from the Peter Jackson Beatles documentary team) to attempt an Elvis test Stereo remix of ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’. What are your thoughts on this and why ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ a track you have reworked yourself?
Anthony: Good that you ask this, because I was a part of that journey. The reason he has that perfect stereo version of ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ is because of me. I’ve been sharing some of my work with him, and there have been many conversations on mono to stereo, which led to me to suggesting the only people I know who could possibly do it better, at this moment in time, would be Peter Jackson’s people.
Ernst asked which track would be a good test for them, so I suggested ‘Good Rockin’ because I could do everything other than separate the frequency for the acoustic guitar. He got in touch with them, and after a number of months, voila!
I’m the rebel hero and should enjoy the moment it has been said.
Kees: Do you think we’ll ever get to hear that version (and hopefully more?)
Anthony: That’s up to Sony
Piers: ‘King Creole ‘with its dominant brass jazz-band is always going to be a tricky soundtrack to get right in Stereo. Previous attempts that have been put out by others have sounded very poor and fake. Are you happy with what you have achieved with ‘King Créole’?
Anthony: Those tracks are some of the ones I’m most proud of on this set, especially after the weeks and months I’ve put into them.
You’re correct about the brass and wind being difficult to work with, as we’ve all heard on other releases, but I developed a new ‘combination technique’ thanks to Sylvain Mallet, my friend at RDM records in France pushing me on another unrelated project. Let’s just say we have the French to thank for this one.
Piers: Which of your new stereo tracks on this box-set do you think fans are going to be most impressed with?
Anthony: That’s subjective, and you can’t please everyone, so I really can’t say.
Piers: I understand it is hard to pick favorites from your own work, but if you had to create a showcase for the set, which songs would you include?
Anthony: C’mon, how can you pick your favorite child? Lol
Just enjoy what you enjoy.
Kees: Looking back are there any of your previous Mono to Stereo releases that you would now do differently?
Anthony: Other than the SUN tracks, which I’ve already done, not really. I tried to mix according to era, there’s more on that in the box set booklet too.
I could do them differently, but I’m happy with them how they are, so this new set puts the ‘50’s mono to stereo to bed for me.
Piers: With your look at Elvis’ 50s recordings wrapped up, have you any future plans you can tell us about? Any vinyl releases or re-working any early sixties Elvis to sound better in stereo?
Anthony: I have future plans, and options, and have just completed something that could well make a release next year, but it’s way too soon to go into detail.
Piers: The original ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ featured a woeful “soundtrack” stereo mix of all-the-instruments on the left channel and only Jordanaires on the right. Is that in the Public Domain and can you please upgrade it for us?
Anthony: Sadly most of Elvis’ 1960’s soundtracks have poor mixes, but with the majority not being in the public domain it’s going to be up to Sony to decide if they want to do that. ‘Girls! Girls! Girls!’ is in the public domain, but not all the songs recorded for that movie are. It’s a tough one, but never say never.
Kees: And what about the '68 Comeback Show’ in stereo? Several bootleggers have released some average sounding stereo versions but it is surely imperative that all Elvis’ sit-down and stand-up shows be released in true stereo at some point.
Anthony: I only work within the public domain, and the labels I use pay all the publishing royalties as legally required. The ’68 tracks are not public domain, so I’m not interested.
Piers: Have you considered working with other artists to create Mono to Stereo work? Both Ricky Nelson and the French rocker Johnny Hallyday come to mind especially with your connections to the French RDM label?
Anthony: I’ve already done some work for RDM with Johnny Hallyday, it’s just been released on 10-inch vinyl.
There’s more to follow on that, along with a Rock ‘n’ Roll compilation on a different label, which has yet to be announced by them.
I honestly thought things would slow down now I’ve finished with Elvis in the 1950’s, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Kees: In your wildest dreams which material would you want to re-mix and then have released as a special FTD set?
Anthony: How could I choose, it’s all Elvis, even the poorer movie soundtracks. I wouldn’t mind having a go at one of those to be honest, purely from, and as a technical challenge. ‘Paradise Hawaiian Style’ comes to mind, with its poor backing vocal separation and tied together instruments. There’s got be something that can be done with it!
Piers: Thanks for answering all our questions Tony, is there any final words of wisdom that you’d like to impart to our readers?
Anthony: Alea lacta est, carpe diem.
Kees: I think the ‘the die will have been cast’ when I hold the new ‘PRESLEY – The Essential 50’s Masters’ in my hand, it is kind of your “Opus Magnum”.
Anthony: Indeed it is, seize the moment.
Previews for 'The Essential 50's Masters'
You can listen to previews of all songs on the >>> RDM-Edition website, and pre-order this set while you're there.
2024 Reviews & Interviews
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