Black Sabbath - Evil Woman (1969) [24-96 UK Mono 45 - Prof. Stoned 2012]

Black Sabbath - Evil Woman (45rpm Mono) - UK Fontana Promo
24bit/96kHz (High Resolution Audio for DVD burning)

01. Evil Woman
02. Wicked World

These mono mixes do not appear officially on CD or any other vinyl release.

Producer: Rodger Bain
Engineer: Barry Sheffield (01) / Tom Allom (02)

Hardware:
- Technics 1210mk2
- Jelco SA-750D Tonearm (w/ JAC 501 cable)
- Audio Technica AT33PTG MC
- Pro-Ject Tube Box SE-2
- Yamaha CA-1010
- RME ADI-2 A/D Interface
- VPI 16.5 (using VPI brushes and Audio Intelligent’s Enzymantic formula, Super Cleaner Formula)
- Nitty Gritty mini-pro 2 (using Ultra pure water)

Software:
- Audition 3.0 used for adjusting DC bias, editing, (incl. manual removal of clicks and pops), adding gain and making cue points.
- Click Repair 3.8.3 used with setting Cl: 10 various, Cr: 0
- CueListTool v1.7 & Mediaval CueSplitter used for generating the .cue's & .m3u's.

Transfer & Restoration by Prof. Stoned

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Prof. sez:

Here's a slice of rare Black Sabbath in glorious MONO. This is part of a short "Prof. Stoned cleans house" series, meaning these little projects have been on my HD for a
while but were abandoned or forgotten about at some point. Until now...!

This 45 was released prior to the self-titled debut album in late 1969 on the Fontana label. It represents the humble beginnings of a band whose legendary status is now
unprecedented, it also offers an interesting glimpse in how the record company thought of presenting this ragged sounding bunch. The song Evil Woman (written and first
recorded by a band called Crow) was chosen as the lead track and differs considerately from the album stereo mix. It has.... horns! But the band were also given the
opportunity to do a little something of their own on the B-side.

When first released, the single sold few copies and has since become an expensive collector's item. After the unexpected success of the debut album, however, Vertigo
re-released the single but with the stereo versions, rather than the unique mono mixes. "Wicked World" did not appear on the original UK album, but it was included on
the American album which in turn omitted "Evil Woman".

I borrowed this record from ottoman79 a while ago. It is in stunning near mint condition. According to the first owner, the record had only been played two times ever.
This guy was a football coach in the early 70's and he attempted to find a battle song to pump up his team before the match. From what he gathered, this 45 wasn't the
solution to his problems. True story, or at least that's how it was told to ottoman79...

Due to its loud volume, this cutting has some inner groove distortion and mild surface noise is noticeable on the B-side during the quiet passages. I strife to release
only the highest quality transfers and this is why I shelved this one for a while. But considering the rarity of the single and its exceptional clean condition, I have
changed my mind. The significance of this release lies mostly in its historical value anyway, since the mono mixes are arguably inferior to the stereo versions and the
soundquality is pretty lo-fi. Yet, I find it unlikely that somebody is gonna come up with a better sounding example anytime soon, so here goes.

Enjoy!