I’m in the midst of listening to Jefferson Airplane’s After Bathing at Baxter’s. I listened to the second disc of 2400 Fulton Street: An Anthology a few days ago (I don’t have the first disc), and I was reminded of the great bass parts, but listening to the actual album, I’m realizing how certain parts of the album work so well in stereo.
The album was released in 1967, when mono mixings were still the norm, but stereo was starting to be used more. So it’s even more interesting to hear the stereo parts. Like all of the things flying around at the end of “The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil” and into the start of “A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly” and the alternating panned left and panned right guitars in “The Last Wall of the Castle.” I don’t think there had been a precedent for that sort of stuff.
EDIT: The last cymbal crash at the end of “Two Heads” is great in stereo too. I don’t even think that effect is possible in mono.
