# Short & Long Versions of Pop/Rock Songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525 "2005-08-25T01:26:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/61 "2005-08-29T17:35:39Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > The edit was sanctioned by the Ray Manzarek, as I recall. AFAIK, they all did. They didn’t like having to gut the song, but recognized it was what they had to do to get the airplay. I suppose they did sell out when they did that–I’ve suspected that by having a string of AM radio hits alongside the album cuts that were less known harmed their underground credibility. Unless that’s the reason, I’ve never understood why they get no respect as musicians. They could certainly play at least as well as half the groups packing auditoriums today, including the many who cite their influence. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/62 "2005-08-29T18:00:19Z")
Thought of another: Creedence’s “Susy Q”. Like “Whole Lotta Love” and “Time Has Come Today”, the AM version merely cuts out stupid repetitive psychedelic noodling. **ouryL** , I can’t say I liked “Sky Pilot”, but at least the long version had bagpipes. Any song with bagpipes can’t be all bad. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![one\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b2d939/32.png) [@one\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/one_brain)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/63 "2011-12-16T16:51:19Z")
Tighten’ Up / Archie Bell & The Drells (great opening bass line) You’re My [Soul & Inspiration] / Righteous Brothers (10 second opening lead-in) Hang on Sloopy / The McCoys (added verse) Surfer Joe / Surfaris (added verse) Summertime / Billy Stewart Shapes of Things / Yardbirds (opening dialog in studio) The Bomber / James Gang (the Bolero riff is usually omitted) Time is Tight / Booker T. & the MG’s (long intro) You Keep Me Hangin’ On / Vanilla Fudge Expressway to Your Heart / Soul Survivors(longer closing vocal) Caroline, No / Beach Boys (from Pet Sounds - goofy sound effects at the end) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/64 "2011-12-16T17:56:32Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > From what I remember reading about The Doors, LMF was the first song to undergo that kind of editing. Other approaches had been used previously to adapt longer songs to a singles-oriented world. For instance, the Isley Bros. “Shout” was issued as a two-sided single. Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips” (1963) was also a two-sided single: in fact, the version that charted is officially named “Fingertips, Part 2.” Procol Harem’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967) was written with four verses, but the orginal releases only included two. Then there was the Buckinghams. Their modest little love song “Susan” (1967) was given an avant-garde, psychedlic bridge by producers James William Guercio (later known for Blood, sweat & Tears and Chicago.) Not only did radio stations dislike it and frequently cut it, but the band themselves didn’t like it and never performed it live. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/65 "2011-12-16T18:15:22Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Procol Harem’s “Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967) was written with four verses, but the orginal releases only included two. That’s Har **u** m. (Sorry, pet peeve of mine.) There is no longer version of the studio recording of “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” (Even with only the two verses, the song is a full four minutes long.) The third verse appeared only in sheet music and live performances; the fourth was forgotten about until being unearthed in the '90s. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/66 "2011-12-16T19:40:16Z")
The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun,” 1964: original recording, 4:29; radio version, 2:58. ETA: The difference was an organ solo, a rather good one I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/67 "2011-12-16T20:34:02Z")
I thought the reason, or one reason, for the cut versions was, so that they could be recorded onto 45s and sold as “singles”. The length limit of a 45 was around/under 5 minutes. The “radio edit” was shorter than the album version for some songs, but for many other songs it was the same length, just censored of any curse words or offensive stuff. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/68 "2011-12-16T20:48:34Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun,” 1964: original recording, 4:29; radio version, 2:58. > > ETA: The difference was an organ solo, a rather good one I’d say. I think the short version also cuts a verse – the last one about “one foot on the platform, the other foot on the train…I’m goin’ back to NO to wear that ball 'n chain”, which is sheer rock/blues poetry. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/69 "2011-12-17T02:01:17Z")
I know this is a zombie, but no one’s mentioned “Who Are You?” by the Who? There is a single edit at 5:06 and the album cut at 6:16. Most compilation albums have the single edit, which completely leaves out the third verse, which begins: "I know there’s a place you walked Where love falls from the trees " ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/70 "2011-12-17T05:10:40Z")
_Derek and the Dominoes_’ Layla had the whole end, piano-dominated part cut off. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/71 "2011-12-19T10:20:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not even close. Jethro Tull’s **This as a Brick** runs 43:50 and takes up two entire sides. I’ve heard it on the radio cut down to about five minutes. And your example is eclipsed in turn by Mike Oldfield’s _Tubular Bells_, whose full version runs 48:51 but which was cut down (in various official and unofficial radio-friendly single releases) to as little as 3:18. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/72 "2011-12-19T12:06:19Z")
Talk about an edit, I just noticed the _six and half year gap_ in this thread! No one’s mentioned **Guns n’ Roses’ Paradise City**. And one that every radio station, even modern AOR stations have always done is never play the full ending to **Fiona Apple’s Criminal** … ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/73 "2011-12-19T19:12:33Z")
Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” has a long version and a short one. The long one has the part that goes “you…you…the wind beneath my wings…” Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” has the “Get Away” part at the end that sometimes gets cut off, but that was more like a separate song than part of “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.” ---
**Author:** ![edlongus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/77aa72/32.png) [@edlongus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edlongus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/74 "2012-02-20T05:17:17Z")
Before the edited hit by the Animals “House of the Rising Sun”, there were 2 Ray Stevens hits that were shortened for time/content: “Ahab the Arab” and “Santa Claus is Watching You”. In later years, the full-lrngth, unedited versions have appeared on LPs and CDs. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/75 "2012-02-20T05:34:23Z")
“The Kids Are Alright” by the Who had an edited short version for the radio in 1965. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/76 "2012-02-20T14:19:05Z")
[QUOTE=njtt] _Derek and the Dominoes_’ Layla had the whole end, piano-dominated part cut off. [/QUOTE] Ugh. I heard that horror many years back. BTW - you have the italics backwards - it’s the song title that should be italicized: Derek and the Dominos’ _Layla_. Could be worse - I was once on a teleconference that used just the piano coda over and over and over again as the “hold music” before the meeting began. So, all these songs that have had their guitar or Hammond noodling lopped off, could we call these travesties “low carb” versions? ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/77 "2012-02-20T22:14:39Z")
[QUOTE=Snowboarder Bo (in 2005)] Phil Spector was a notorious asshole. LOL I mean, remember **The Screw**? [/QUOTE] That single’s A-side, [(Let’s Dance) The Screw, Part I](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA4bw7tIPNs), is pretty long, coming in at 4:30. But the B-side, [(Let’s Dance) The Screw, Part II](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-nw-lsQJ3M), running 5:25, was almost a minute longer. Even the Crystals, one of the biggest “girl groups” of this era, couldn’t turn this into a hit. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/78 "2012-02-20T22:25:50Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > That single’s A-side, [(Let’s Dance) The Screw, Part I](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA4bw7tIPNs), is pretty long, coming in at 4:30. But the B-side, [(Let’s Dance) The Screw, Part II](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-nw-lsQJ3M), running 5:25, was almost a minute longer. Even the Crystals, one of the biggest “girl groups” of this era, couldn’t turn this into a hit. They’re still better than any Kelly Clarkson song I know. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/79 "2012-02-21T04:27:23Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > **Rikco** mentioned “Green-Eyed Lady.” This is the absolute worst editing job I have ever heard. The LP version runs 6:40, and they chopped it down to 3:33 for the reissue “Golden Oldies” single, which has unfortunately become the standard. It sounds like it was done by a blind, drunk guy with pinking shears. One of the edits gives one of the measures 3 and a fraction beats. Yeccccch! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I have heard that one a few times over the years and figured I was spacing out so bad that I missed part of a measure. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525/80 "2012-02-21T05:00:15Z")
The radio version of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who is really bad. I have it on a compilation album that actually says it’s “extended.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-long-versions-of-pop-rock-songs/318525.md?page=5)