In the Donald Fagen "The Nightfly" post Harlepolis asked, "Off-topic, but what exactly was the first digitally recorded album?"

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I remember reading an AES paper on the subject titled The Dawn of Commercial Digital Recording by Thomas Fine and realized there's not one simple answer.


Although wide-spread digital commercial recording is only about 30 years old, much mythology and many claims of 'firsts" have sprung from the mists of time. This article seeks to set the record straight, relying on first-person accounts whenever possible, and provides detailed discographical information for the ground-breaking examples of early commercial digital recording.

First digitally recorded commercial release:
Steve Marcus - Something (1971)

First digitally recorded Classical album:
Mozart: String Quartet No.17 - Smetana Quartet (1972)

First all-digital recording in Western Europe for commercial release:
Bach: Musical Offering - Paillard Chamber Orchestra

First all-digital recording in the U.S. for commerical release:
Archie Shepp - On Green Dolphin Street (1978)


You can read the full article here: http://www.aes.org/aeshc/...igital.pdf
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I believe these were all 2 channel "Direct-to-Disc" recordings.

In terms of a major label digital multi-track commercial "Pop" recording, many claim Ry Cooder 's Bop Till You Drop (1979)

According to longtime Steely Dan/Donald Fagem engineer Roger Nichols (RIP):
"The Ry Cooder Bop Till You Drop album was the first digitally recorded pop album. It was recorded on the 3M 32-track digital recorder at Amigo studios in North Hollywood California. We booked the Village Recorder in 1981 to cut tracks for Nightfly and decided to try the 3M
digital machine. We ran a Studer A-80 24-track analog machine in parallel with the 3M for the test. After the band laid down a take we performed an a-b-c listening test. The analog and digital machines were played back in sync while the band played along live. We could compare
the analog machine, the digital machine, and the live band. The closest sound to the live band was the 3M digital machine. We re-aligned the Studer and gave it one more chance. The 3M was the clear winner. We rolled the Studer out into the street, (just kidding) and did the rest of the recording on the 3M 32-track machine. When it came time to mix, we mixed to the 3M 4-track machine."


These all qualify as "digital recordings". But since the first commercial CD player wasn't released until October 1982, this opens up another can of digital recording "firsts".

Supposedly, the first "commercial" CD produced by Polydor's pressing plant in Germany was The Visitors by ABBA (1981).

Others claim Flim & The BB's - Tricycle (1983) First non-classical release on CD

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Another source states that a slew of CDs were released on 10/1/82 by CBS/SONY:

Classical (CBS/SONY)
38DC 1 BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 5 (FATE), SCHUBERT SYMPHONY NO. 8 (UNFINISHED)
38DC 2 BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 3 (EROICA) MEHTA : NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
38DC 3 MOZART HAFFNER KUBELIK : BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
38DC 4 MOZART SYMPHONY NO. 38 (PRAGUE) KUBELIK : BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
38DC 5 MOZART SYMPHONY NO. 41 (JUPITER) KUBELIK : BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
38DC 6 BRUCKNER SYMPHONY NO. 4 (ROMANTIC) KUBELIK : BAVARIAN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
38DC 7 TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 5 Maazel : CLEVELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
38DC 8 SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONY NO.5 (REVOLUTION) BERNSTEIN : NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
38DC 9 TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 OVERTURE MAAZEL : VIENNA PHILHARMONIC
38DC 10 R. STRAUSS ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA MEHTA : NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
38DC 11 STRAVINSKY BALLET MUSIC (PETRUSHKA) MEHTA : NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
38DC 12 HOLST THE PLANETS MAAZEL : FRENCH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
38DC 13 DVORAK CONCERTO FOR CELLO TSUYOSHI TSUTSUMI (Vc) KOSLER : CZECH PHILHARMONIC
38DC 14 GRIEG PIANO CONCERTO HIROKO NAKAMURA (P), YUICHIROU OHMACHI : TOKYO PHILHARMONIC
38DC 15 NEW FAMOUS PIECES BY CHOPIN HIROKO NAKAMURA

Pop (CBS/SONY)
35DP 1 BILLY JOEL / 52ND STREET
35DP 2 BILLY JOEL / THE STRANGER
35DP 3 BOZ SCAGGS / MIDDLE MAN
35DP 4 PINK FLOYD / WISH YOU WERE HERE
35DP 5 TOTO / TURN BACK
35DP 6 JOURNEY / ESCAPE
35DP 7 BARBRA STREISAND / GUILTY
35DP 8 WEATHER REPORT / NIGHT PASSAGE
35DP 9 AL DIMEOLA/PACO DE LUCIA / JOHN MCLAUGHLIN - SUPER GUITAR TRIO LIVE (ONE NIGHT IN SAN FRANCISCO)
35DP 10 BOB JAMES & EARL KLUGH / ONE ON ONE
35DP 11 BOZ SCAGGS / HITS!
35DP 12 TOTO / TOTO IV
35DP 13 SIMON & GARFUNKEL / THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL COLLECTION
35DP 14 SIMON & GARFUNKEL / BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
35DP 15 EARTH WIND & FIRE / RAISE!
35DP 16 MILES DAVIS / THE MAN WITH THE HORN
35DP 17 HERBIE HANCOCK TRIO with RON CARTER & TONY WILLIAMS

Japanese Pop (CBS/SONY)
35DH 1 EIICHI OTAKI / A LONG VACATION
35DH 2 MOTOHARU SANO, MASAMICHI SUGI?EIICHI OTAKI / NIAGARA TRIANGLE Vol.2 by MOTOHARU SANO, MASAMICHI SUGI?EIICHI OTAKI
35DH 3 SEIKO MATSUDA / Pineapple by SEIKO MATSUDA
35DH 4 MAYUMI ITSUWA / KOIBITOYO
35DH 5 MOMOE YAMAGUCHI / Again MOMOE ANATO NO KOMORI NO UTA
35DH 6 THE CANDIES / THE BEST Again
35DH 7 SADAO WATANABE / ORANGE EXPRESS
35DH 8 KIMIKO KASAI / KIMIKO
35DH 9 VARIOUS / NEW MUSIC BEST HIT
38DG 1 THE SL : SL SOUND IN DIGITAL

Pop (Epic/SONY)
35.8P-1 JULIO IGLESIAS / DE NINA A MUJER
35.8P-2 MICHAEL JACKSON / OFF THE WALL
35.8P-3 THE NOLANS / DON'T LOVE ME TOO HARD
35.8P-4 REO SPEEDWAGON / HI INFIDELITY
35.8P-5 JEFF BECK / THERE AND BACK

Japanese Domestic (Epic/SONY)
35.8H-1 CHANNELS / SOUL SHADOWS
35.8H-2 MOTOHARU SANO / SOMEDAY
35.8H-3 IPPU-DO / LUNATIC MENU

http://reviews.ebay.com/C...0003984066
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You can get even crazier with the question if you ask how digital does it have to be?.
Maybe you remember the SPARS (Society of Professional Audio Recording Services) Codes that appeared on CDs for a while.

AAA – A fully analogue recording, from the original session to mastering. Since at least the mastering recorder must be digital to make a compact disc, this code is not applicable to CDs.

AAD – Analog tape recorder used during initial recording, mixing/editing, Digital mastering.

ADD – Analog tape recorder used during initial recording, Digital tape recorder used during mixing/editing and for mastering.

DDD – Digital tape recorder used during initial recording, mixing/editing and for mastering.

DAD – Digital tape recorder used during initial recording, Analog tape recorder used during mixing/editing, Digital mastering.

There was even a DDDD given to Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos because the instruments used in the recording were digital.
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Enough from me, you make the call.



Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

tA, the org should pay you a fee just to come in to this forum once a week.

Adisa said:

tA, the org should pay you a fee just to come in to this forum once a week.

Ya know?!

I'm surprised that Neal doesn't have a blog/tumblr page by now

Ya know, upon reading the article I noticed two things: 1982 and Columbia/Sony. It seems that Sony had the lock-down on wanting to be the supposed first label to release digitally recorded albums. And they took the opportunity when CD was released in 82.

The thing, and speaking personally, listening through MP3s has made me take these difference for granted. But I have to ask, did it receive any resistance or skepticism? I remember my daddy telling me that most "stereo" recordings back in the 60s were jazz records, while the rest were "mono", and when all artists(Jazz or otherwise) decided that medium should be shifted to "stereo", there were others that took issue to the change, either because they prefer the mono medium or other reasons. In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't ask "why".

As usual, top notch analysis, Mr.Neal.

Edited: Thx Mike

[Edited 7/30/12 13:10pm]

^^Do you mean "stereo" or "studio"?

MickyDolenz said:

^^Do you mean "stereo" or "studio"?

Ugh!

I'm fasting, so I get a pass

Adisa said:

tA, the org should pay you a fee just to come in to this forum once a week.

No, credit should go to Harlepolis for asking the question.

Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

Others claim Flim & The BB's - Tricycle (1983) First non-classical release on CD

wow..haven't heard that name in ages

Harlepolis said:

The thing, and speaking personally, listening through MP3s has made me take these difference for granted. But I have to ask, did it receive any resistance or skepticism? I remember my daddy telling me that most "stereo" recordings back in the 60s were jazz records, while the rest were "mono", and when all artists(Jazz or otherwise) decided that medium should be shifted to "stereo", there were others that took issue to the change, either because they prefer the mono medium or other reasons. In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't ask "why".

My younger brother (the Jazz expert in the family now that my Dad is gone) collects 50s-60s Jazz vinyl and usually specifies a MONO version when ordering.
He's returned a few LPs when he was delivered the stereo version of something he ordered in mono.
With him it can get as critical as to where the pressing was done (Japanese, European).

According to him, and he's very specific about the titles, they just sound better.

A few articles/discussions on the subject:
http://www.musicmattersja...sound.html
http://www.positive-feedb...e_note.htm
http://www.ptrob.com/Musi..._mono.html



Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

Harlepolis said:

The thing, and speaking personally, listening through MP3s has made me take these difference for granted. But I have to ask, did it receive any resistance or skepticism? I remember my daddy telling me that most "stereo" recordings back in the 60s were jazz records, while the rest were "mono", and when all artists(Jazz or otherwise) decided that medium should be shifted to "stereo", there were others that took issue to the change, either because they prefer the mono medium or other reasons. In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't ask "why".

My younger brother (the Jazz expert in the family now that my Dad is gone) collects 50s-60s Jazz vinyl and usually specifies a MONO version when ordering.
He's returned a few LPs when he was delivered the stereo version of something he ordered in mono.
With him it can get as critical as to where the pressing was done (Japanese, European).

According to him, and he's very specific about the titles, they just sound better.

A few articles/discussions on the subject:
http://www.musicmattersja...sound.html
http://www.positive-feedb...e_note.htm
http://www.ptrob.com/Musi..._mono.html



Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

Some of the earlier stereo records were "fake stereo". There are Beatles songs like this. They were recorded in mono, and then remixed into stereo, usually with the vocals on one speaker and the instruments on the other. With Helter Skelter, the stereo version is about a minute longer than the mono. The mono fades out and doesn't have Ringo screaming at the end.

MickyDolenz said:

Some of the earlier stereo records were "fake stereo". There are Beatles songs like this. They were recorded in mono, and then remixed into stereo, usually with the vocals on one speaker and the instruments on the other. With Helter Skelter, the stereo version is about a minute longer than the mono. The mono fades out and doesn't have Ringo screaming at the end.

The dreaded "Electronically Enhanced for Stereo" banner.


Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

theAudience said:

Harlepolis said:

The thing, and speaking personally, listening through MP3s has made me take these difference for granted. But I have to ask, did it receive any resistance or skepticism? I remember my daddy telling me that most "stereo" recordings back in the 60s were jazz records, while the rest were "mono", and when all artists(Jazz or otherwise) decided that medium should be shifted to "stereo", there were others that took issue to the change, either because they prefer the mono medium or other reasons. In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't ask "why".

My younger brother (the Jazz expert in the family now that my Dad is gone) collects 50s-60s Jazz vinyl and usually specifies a MONO version when ordering.
He's returned a few LPs when he was delivered the stereo version of something he ordered in mono.
With him it can get as critical as to where the pressing was done (Japanese, European).

According to him, and he's very specific about the titles, they just sound better.

A few articles/discussions on the subject:
http://www.musicmattersja...sound.html
http://www.positive-feedb...e_note.htm
http://www.ptrob.com/Musi..._mono.html



Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

The last article reminded me of sextonseven's post when he said that the "mono" version of the Phill Spector compilation and The Beatles' boxets sound better.

From the few that I own, early sounding CD's seem to sound worse then later ones. A case in point being Springsteens "born in the USA", where the first pressing sounds tinny. To be fair, some of that was due to how Bruce recorded it I imagine, but even on vinyl that album sounded bad to me, so I guess it was recorded digitally (unfortunately). Same with another CBS artist, Don Johnson, who's first album also suffers from similar problems (and recorded digitally).

I think I only own one Cd which is DAD which seems rather pointless. AAD seemed to be the best sounding CD's.

I know in general that Dire Strait's "Brothers in arms" album was considered the first truly great sounding CD. Plus possibly the first which differed from the vinyl copy as a few of the tracks were extended.

Bee Gee's "Living eyes" was considered one of the first CD's aswell.

Harlepolis said:

Adisa said:

tA, the org should pay you a fee just to come in to this forum once a week.

Ya know?!

I'm surprised that Neal doesn't have a blog/tumblr page by now

Ya know, upon reading the article I noticed two things: 1982 and Columbia/Sony. It seems that Sony had the lock-down on wanting to be the supposed first label to release digitally recorded albums. And they took the opportunity when CD was released in 82.

The thing, and speaking personally, listening through MP3s has made me take these difference for granted. But I have to ask, did it receive any resistance or skepticism? I remember my daddy telling me that most "stereo" recordings back in the 60s were jazz records, while the rest were "mono", and when all artists(Jazz or otherwise) decided that medium should be shifted to "stereo", there were others that took issue to the change, either because they prefer the mono medium or other reasons. In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't ask "why".

As usual, top notch analysis, Mr.Neal.

Edited: Thx Mike

[Edited 7/30/12 13:10pm]

Thats because Phillips and Sony invented the CD LOL.

For me, if it was recorded digitally (the first "D"), then odds are it ain't gonna sound good if its an early CD. Of course, not all CD's use to give you the codes to how it was recorded, but sometimes on the liner notes they say how it was recorded.

thesexofit said:

Harlepolis said:

Ya know?!

I'm surprised that Neal doesn't have a blog/tumblr page by now

Ya know, upon reading the article I noticed two things: 1982 and Columbia/Sony. It seems that Sony had the lock-down on wanting to be the supposed first label to release digitally recorded albums. And they took the opportunity when CD was released in 82.

The thing, and speaking personally, listening through MP3s has made me take these difference for granted. But I have to ask, did it receive any resistance or skepticism? I remember my daddy telling me that most "stereo" recordings back in the 60s were jazz records, while the rest were "mono", and when all artists(Jazz or otherwise) decided that medium should be shifted to "stereo", there were others that took issue to the change, either because they prefer the mono medium or other reasons. In retrospect, I'm sorry I didn't ask "why".

As usual, top notch analysis, Mr.Neal.

Edited: Thx Mike

[Edited 7/30/12 13:10pm]

Thats because Phillips and Sony invented the CD LOL.

I didn't know that, but thanks for the info.