So I should hang on to my copy of “22 Explosive Hits” because it has a 2:30 version of “Layla”? That’s definitely different from the original album version!
I’ll hang on to it anyway, fishbicycle, as you may have guessed I’d do, but what kind of differences are you referring to? Obviously, they are more significant than “Layla’s” simple (if brutal) time cuts, and I’m curious.
I used to have a “direct to disc” vinyl LP, by The Tower of Power, I believe. Supposedly, no tape was ever used, rather the music was cut on to a master disc as it was being performed in the studio and the discs were pressed from that or the negative of that, I guess. I seem to remember that it sounded pretty good at the time, not that I ever had a system, or the ears, to really appreciate much nuance, but anyway. Was that a very widely used technique?
Mainly, the differeneces are in editing, as you mention. They’d chop down even 3:00 songs to fit more tracks on an album. But sometimes you get a different mix.
I have a K-Tel compilation of Canadian records that has not only an alternate edit, but also a different stereo mix of “One Fine Morning” by Lighthouse. Another has a radically different edit of “I’m A Stranger Here” by Five Man Electrical Band that matches neither the single nor the LP. There’s one that has “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf, which is the same as the CV until the coda, which has no solo over it, and it doesn’t fade out! It goes until the band stopped playing. Some have stereo mixes of songs that were only issued on a mono single, where the group had no album.
There are all kinds of oddities hidden away on these albums.
Direct-to-disc recording was popular for a time, as you got on the disc exactly what was happening in the studio. There could be no overdubs, and they’d have to play each song perfectly, with only five seconds to prepare to play the next one perfectly. If they messed up, they’d have to start again at the beginning. There aren’t nearly as many D-D albums as remasters, because of the time and expense. They could only press a thousand, or even less, because there was only one master disc. When it pressed enough records to start to wear out, they destroyed it.
The first album by Canada’s Rough Trade (Carole Pope, Kevan Staples et. al) was direct to disc. It sounds stunning, and they played flawlessly. There can never be a CD reissue, unless someone remasters it from the vinyl. That’s why hardly anyone has ever heard their original version of “Birds Of A Feather,” which is loads better than the remake on their greatest hits album.
“Kiev” by Renaissance (B-side of “Carpet of the Sun”) is listed as 8:08. Camel had a B-side, “Lunar Sea,” which I’m pretty sure topped 10 minutes (at least according to the label) though I don’t have a copy on hand. And those are just particularly long individual tracks. I’m sure I could dig out plenty of EPs from my collection with similarly long total side times.
Thanks for the info. Good thing I’ve still got all my old LPs–even the K-Tel ones–and a turntable. Some day, I should hook it up and give them a good listen again. Thanks again!
I also remember the popularity of direct-to-disc. Unfortunately, my budget in those days prevented me from getting any as (IIRC) they were fairly expensive.
Maybe someday we should have a thread about old LPs and EPs and 45s and such, and the popularity of certain kinds: picture discs, colored vinyl, etc.; as well as the “goodies” you’d get in albums: posters, picture/lyric sleeves, and so on. Probably the ultimate “goodie” I ever got was the 7", 33 1/3 RPM EP that was included in Jim Steinman’s Bad for Good LP, but I think that was because Steinman had more music than would fit on an LP, and insisted it be included. Anyway, such a thread is a thought for someday.
I solved this by having one of the first 8-track recorders in the neighborhood. I recorded the A side, stopped the tape, the got the B side going, and restarted.
Of course, I still had to deal with the A side gradually fading out, then the B side fading in, but heck, I captured the sucker in one swell foop!!
Then, at the end, it seems that some of the other tracks “bled into” the one playing, so the end sounded kinda like:
"And the three men I admire most…
(men I admire most…)
The father, son and holy ghost…
(father, son and goly ghost…)
They caught the last train for the coast.
(For the coast)
The day
(the day)
the music
(music)
died
(died)
(died)
Sounded positively beautimous. Friends wanted a copy! Could not do, obviously.
But thanks for the memories!!