On this Christmas Day I have posted something about Phil Spector, and something about Joe Sinnott. Now for the kicker.
A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector was released on the day that JFK was assassinated, November 22, 1963 (two days before my family appeared in Parade magazine).
Fifty years ago, Apple Records re-released the album, retitled as Phil Spector’s Christmas Album. Spector posed for the cover photos wearing “Back To MONO” buttons, as seen in the enlarged scan I made for the previous post.
The following year, 1973, John Lennon was photographed wearing a Back To MONO button. It’s probably safe to assume that he got it from Spector.
https://sfae.com/Artists/Tom-Zimberoff/John-Lennon-Back-to-Mono-Pin-Los-Angeles-1973
The origin of the button is uncertain. An account I read in an audio magazine many years ago credited the creation of the buttons to a well-known name in Hi-Fi at the time, whose name I don’t remember. He attended a music industry event and allegedly handed out the buttons, that were circulated from there. Even today, true mono mixing has an advantage over stereo that’s been “folded down” into mono. I’ll try to explain that later.
So what does this have to do with Joe Sinnott? Take a look at the back cover of the Apple album.
What does “Santa” have there? It’s a comic book!
Fantastic Four #127, October 1972 cover date, with art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Fantastic_Four_Vol_1_127
Well, there you have it. Joe’s work hiding in plain sight, with one of the most notorious names in the history of popular music.
Ten years later, forty years ago in 1982, a CBS Records subsidiary, Pavilion, released Spector’s Christmas album in stereo. It wasn’t actually mixed in stereo, however. It’s a twin-track master, like the first two (according to George Martin three) UK stereo Beatles albums are. The sound is nonetheless, like those early Beatles albums, jaw-dropping revealing of studio ambiance and wonderful to hear.
