music trivia

[ceagle]

I don't post many of these obscure little things any more, since interest seems to be minimal, but this one is one of the odd holdouts in my pursuit of a more complete music collection.

I made another discovery today... this record has been a hard one to get in perfect condition, and I still haven't gotten there... but, for a long time, all the evidence I was able to locate suggested that the album and single version of this song were different, and that would be why it's been impossible to find the single arrangement/mix on CD or digital.

I bought two 45 rpm vinyl singles of this recently, and voila.. they are surprisingly different (see below)...



These two are different mixes, and the latter one is the mix released to CD!... So now it seems rather than there being an LP vs a 45 version, it's just two separate versions, and only one is available on CD (as far as I've been able to find all these years). :/

This has made me a bit sad about it, because I've bought several vinyl versions over the years, and unsettlingly, the assembly line on this particular record has never delivered a pristine print for my money. This was a problem in vinyl days, where some records/or/companies would have excellent pressings, and others were haphazard, or consistently bad. For instance, Rolling Stones records almost always were flawed right out of the cart. Another example, Elektra LPs were great, but the 45s were usually awful. MCA LPs tended to have a lot of surface hiss. Some divisions of Columbia records were pristine, but others were a crapshoot... like their subsidiary, Epic Records.

Note the differences in the above labels...
A. this one gives an arrangement credit
B. these top two lines are different identifying numbers than the one below.
C. there is less information here, with the publishing company and performance rights missing.

I have (at least) two other reissue 45s of this. They are the cleanest copies I have, still not perfect even when brand new... but they do have the same number as in item B., and they are the arrangement I think is superior (Johnny's arrangement). The reissue (not pictured) oddly enough does not show Johnny's credit, but instead has a date indicated there (May 1972), and elsewhere it says the song is from an LP, but I've got the LP too, and it's not the same mix! ;P
The 'good' mix has more appealing percussion and guitars, whereas the 'lesser' version emphasizes some other flourish lines that overly dominate the piece, and neglects some percussion entirely.

In any case, this has been one of the most difficult modern records to pursue, in order to come up with a perfect version. I guess the search will go on, but at least I have a 'fair' vinyl version. Ah hope you found this interesting ^v^

Comments

[wildbilltx.livejournal.com]

That is strange, my only guess is that someone at Epic or Johnny Nash didnt like the first mix and had it remixed again for radio.

A lot of Columbia-Epic single mixes and edits have not been issued on CD. Some of them popped up on Rhino records "Have a Nice Day" compilations over the years.

It took me a long time to find the single version of Redbone's "The Witch Queen of New Orleans" from 1973 on CD. It was a favorite 45 of mine when I was a kid, and the LP mix is longer and not as "punchy" as the single. I finally found it on a import compilation from CBS Germany called "The Golden Era Of Pop Music Volume 3".

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Good work on that find!

And yep... that Have a Nice Day collection really is remarkable ain' it!? I think I've got most of 'em, but I haven't played them in years... I should though!

[wildbilltx.livejournal.com]

I finally completed the set a few years ago. I need to rip the whole set to Mp3 for safekeeping.

And even Rhino used the LP version of The Looking Glass' "Brandy", the single had a slightly different mix. And they used the mono mix of King Harvest's "Dancing In the Moonlight." I finally found it in stereo on a CD reissue by Collectables records.

And it get even worse trying to find singles versions from the 60's - some mono mixes are drastically different from the stereo album versions.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

oooo YES! Collectibles has been a supurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrb label for good stuff! Oldies.com ! :D

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

By the way, I just ran across this interesting board (http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/bsnpubs/vpost?id=107767) which discusses stereo and mono releases of classic tracks ...

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

hehe.. yesh, to a limit, soitenly... ;D
If I rilly like a song, I tend to enjoy multiple arrangements, like "I'm looking trough you" and "Revolution" by the Beatles... liking all the mixes equally :9
Another good example is "Love Hurts" by Nazareth and also the Everly Bros.... both nice in their own right, or the "Locomotion" by Little Eva and also Grand Funk. *heheeeee*

Other times, I don't really care for an alternate one (like with this record, but it may grow on me now that I understand it, and don't feel that the one I like is out of reach any more).

[aldi.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I can't help you, since I don't know nor have that record. But I understand your frustration. I still am looking for the single version of Queen's Radio Ga Ga on CD and it's always the long version. I have the same problem with Rick Asley's Together Forever. I only like the 45 version with some extra guitar in it.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

ooo... okay!... (I hope ya get to hear it some time)...

..I'll try to keep those on my radar, and keep an eye out for them for ya!

[orv.livejournal.com]

Even the CDs didn't completely fix the quality problem. I have some CDs that were done fairly early in the CD era, like late 1980s/early 1990s, and the mixes are just awful. Most of them are way, way too treble-heavy. Some of them sound like they were done off a tape master that had already had Dolby noise reduction applied -- they're that excessively bright. And some have inexplicably low volume levels, like no one had heard of normalization. A lot of those albums have since been re-released in improved form.

[yasha-taur.livejournal.com]

> Some of them sound like they were done off a tape master that had already had Dolby noise reduction applied -- they're that excessively bright.

Close, but it wasn't Dolby. In the early days of CDs. the record companies were in a rush to push CD versions of their older albums out the door. In their hurry, on some of the albums, the master tapes were transferred to CD with the RIAA vinyl EQ curve still applied. Like Dolby, this had been applied for noise reduction, and the phono preamp stage was supposed to apply the opposite curve, resulting in a 'flat' response. (The RIAA curve was a fixed EQ curve, Dolby varied according to volume levels.)

It wasn't just some minor artists that had this happen to their stuff, either. I have a early-80's-pressed David Bowie CD that obviously has this flaw.

[orv.livejournal.com]

The one I have that it's most obvious on is an Elton John best-of CD. Mind you, Elton seemed to like really bright mixes anyway back then, but this one is just over the top.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Interesting points!
and yesh.. heh... funny you should mention that one... even the vinyl version of that Elton record is a bit odd, with this strange 'snapping' effect in the percussion... ;P

[wildbilltx.livejournal.com]

I remember buying CD's in the mid-late 80's and it was always a crapshoot on how good the sound was. Some labels did care like Rhino did, but big companies like MCA and Columbia-Epic could go all over the place.

The worst sounding oldies CD I remember buying (and selling used) was the Mamas & Papas "Deliver" album from 1967. The MCA CD sounded like it was mastered from a 5-10th generation tape ..all midrange, hissy and no bass.

[orv.livejournal.com]

I've got a CD release of Boston's first album where you can hear a tape dropout that's not on the LP. My guess is the master tape deteriorated between the two releases. It was probably stored in Tom Schulz's basement or something. ;)

[wildbilltx.livejournal.com]

I your copy the older CD or the new remastered CD by Tom Scholz that was released about a year ago? I have both and the remastered version sounds much smoother than the old CD.

[orv.livejournal.com]

It's the old one. I should get the remastered one one of these days.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

'once in a while' the remastering isn' too bad... hehheh! ;>

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip on that CD ... I wonder if they've improved it in subsequent releases.... *scritches crest feathers*

I've been really enjoying reading the bothsidesnow stereo forum I just discovered, and on a related note, they also concur about the poor quality of reel-to-reel releases back in the day...
In that there was the potential of high quality recordings, but the companies shortchanged production with low grade tape, recorded at very high speed mastering ;/ ....ergo, HISS and poor range.

[wildbilltx.livejournal.com]

The best Mamas and Papas comp is the 2-CD "All The Leaves Are Brown" collection. It has all of their 4 original 1966-1968 albums, and the sound quality is a huge improvement over the old single CD's.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Leaves-Are-Brown-Collection/dp/B00005NHLA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1225489978&sr=8-3

And I agree about Reel-To-Reel tapes, most of the tapes that were recorded at 7 1/2 sound pretty good, I have a 60's era RCA tape of "The Sound Of Music" soundtrack and it sounded amazing.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Totally!
I have a Queen CD and an ELO CD from the early early days, and they are both somewhat oddly unimpressive... this could explain it!

oh!.. and do ya also remember DBX? That one was a hoot, since it worked on both the lows and the highs, rather than just the highs as Dolby duzz..

[orv.livejournal.com]

I never had a tape deck that supported DBX, but I understand stereo analog TV broadcasts use it.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

ooooo! Yesh, luckily I found one many MANY years ago and used it for a long time... It was terrific on some songs especially .... It needs repairs or maintenance right now though... ;P

[orv.livejournal.com]

New belts?

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

well.... I'm told one can never be certain with tape decks, but some advice given to me suggested I try oiling the capstans and other moving parts before making other plans.. It hasn't been urgent, so I haven't done it yet..