Sports Cars in Stereo (1958)
“This album combines two of the most fascinating and incredible achievements of modern technology: stereophonic sound and the high-powered racing car.” (liner notes)
This was one in a handful of real-life-sounds LPs that the jazz label Riverside put out in the late 50s/early 60s. I’m still on the lookout for Coney Island in Stereo, the one non-automobile-oriented release.
Side 1
Technical Inspection (movement from right to left): “The process by which each car is authorized to compete. Brakes, tires, fluid leaks, general running condition, etc., are checked. At Sebring (which is run under rules of the F.I.A.), such other items as headlights, working top, seat size and windshield are also checked.”
Slow Corner (movement from left to right): “A 90 degree right-hand turn. From top speed, drivers shift down through the gears to second for this tight corner, then shift back up for the next long straight.”
Side 2
The Esses (movement from left to right): “The difficult and dangerous bends where the incredible Ferraris and Jags and Porsches slam through the gears, sliding from one side of the road to the other, tires screaming, and zoom away.”
The Straight (movement from left to right): “Here the cars emit the loudest noise of full acceleration as they pass through all the gears. Note the different shifting points of the different cars.”
December 10th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
This is a great album, eh? I just found your site and will definitely be checking the rest of it out. I posted this album as well for download on my site at http://rebuilttrannyrecords.com/2009/10/26/sports-cars-in-stereo-recorded-at-the-1958-sebring-grand-prix-of-endurance-1958-riverside-stereophonic-rlp-1101/. There’s a bunch of other stuff on there you can sift through if you ever get a minute. Thanks.