I just watched a video in which Stones producer Jimmy Miller talks about their early recordings. He says since they had only three tracks on the multi-track recorder, one track would contain the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar, a second track the lead guitar, the third the vocal. He goes on to say that the ONLY way to mix such a recording is to mono.
Another artist whose recordings are available only in mono is Hank Williams, without whom life is not worth living. And can you imagine life without the Sun Records recordings of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich? How about the Everly Brothers on Barnaby Records?