Buffalo Springfield's "Last Time Around"

Nope, same catalog number. Different matrix info, although I have *no* clue what it is without looking.

I think the original issues had textured sleeves, while later reissues had glossy ones. My textured copy is "bad" (at least for side 2), but I'm guessing there really isn't a correlation. Unless the original pressings were the "bad" ones, and it was later re-cut. I really don't know.

I can post the matrix info if anyone cares.

 

I think the problem is locating any original vinyl copies at this point... I used to have an orignal vinyl release of the double album best-of, but somehow it became lost (or stolen). I never found out what happened to it, and it was already OOP. I never ended up acquiring another.

But judging by the mp3s I'm listening to right now, I'd settle for a good cd-r.

Steve

 

I've seen used copies from time to time locally, but since a friend sent me his copy with a "good" side 2, I really haven't paid much attention. I'd bet some show up on eBay, but again, I haven't paid much attention.

I never did a transfer of the whole album. Not only do I not have good pressings for all 4 sides, but I've been quite happy with the CDs. Too bad they didn't think to include Baby Don't Scold Me.

Coming full circle, I find it interesting that more songs from Last Time Around were included than either Again or the debut album.

 

I found a post John Einarson made to a now defunct Yahoo group in 2001 that had some interesting info on the box..

- Supposedly during preperation for the box Stills was played In The Hour Of Not Quite Rain and he didn't even recognize the song at all so it was left off the box.

- several hours of rehearsals for the first album were discovered but deemed to not be of sufficient quality for th box.

- a longer version of Expecting To Fly that contains a verse that was cut from the LP version was discovered. Another Neil/Jack Nitzsche collabration called "Slowly Burning" was also found. I assume Neil is saving stuff for his Archives.

- Fa-Fa-Fa was recorded at the same session as Good Time Boy.

- There is an unreleased/unbooted BS era Neil song called High School Graduation. Not sure if it is a solo demo or group recording.

 

Wow, Chris, that's some very interesting stuff.

Does this mean I might have to fork over big bucks for a multi-disk archive to get a handful of new BS tracks?

 

Like I've said before, what's on the box is great, but what was left off is damn near infuriating.

 

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/B/Buffalo_Springfield/2001/07/30/743617.html

And that doesn't even include the stereo mix of the first album, the mono mix of Again, or the 45 mixes of Mr. Soul and Bluebird.

 

Yes please. Can you post the two sets of matrix numbers? I think I have an early textured and a later glossy. I'll post mine later today.

 

I'll try to remember for later.

 

First, i absolutely love love the album Last Time Around. Hodge podge or whatever.....it's my favorite Springfeild album. Gorgeous stuff.

Second, if anyone is thinking about the boxset, i just ordered mine with free shipping from Amazon for $35.99 this is the cheapest i have seen it by about $20 since i cued this badboy in my wishlist 3 years ago. can't wait.

 

Some of those items on Einarsons list look pretty enticing. Would love to hear Sell Out and more of those early demos for the first album.

 

Am I the only one that loves the demos for the first album but can pretty much do without the later ones? I mean, I love the demos to Hung Upside Down and Four Days Gone, but I skip over a lot of the others.

Now, the Neighbor Don't You Worry-Baby Don't Scold Me-We'll See demos...wonderful.

 

This isn't surprising since it was record by Richie and Jimmy alone. Although I'm a little surprised that he didn't remember the odd thing about the song which is that Mickie Callen, the co-writer, provided lyrics because she won a contest to write lyrics for a Buffalo Springfield song. It must have been something Stills had nothing to do with. Either way, I think its a good track. Its not really "Buffalo Springfield", but neither is a lot of other stuff on the box. Richie got a little slighted. I don't think he's the kind of guy to put up a fuss over something like this.

It seems that most of the unreleased stuff is Neil's. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those appear on the Archives. The Richie songs are probably lost forever. I'd really like to hear what "I Guess You Made It" sounded like. The version of "What A Day" was a revelation. Although, I think Poco's version is still definitive. I would imagine that Poco's two versions of "I Guess You Made It" (live and studio) are also preferable. I don't think anyone mentioned the other alternate, more electric, version of "My Kind Of Love". I think its the same take, but definitely a different vocal by Richie. Poco's version smokes both of them though.

Aside from "Steve's Long Song" (whatever that is), it doesn't appear that there is anything left from Stills. Its all on the box now. I've read that Neil basically disowns Last Time Around, but it has four of Stills' best songs ever: "Pretty Girl Why", "Special Care", "Four Days Gone", and "Questions". Those songs alone justify Last Time Around. I doubt those songs would've found a better home on a CSN or a Stills solo album.

 

I like the demos, but my favorite tracks on the box - the ones that made my jaw drop are: "Down, Down, Down", "Falcon Lake", "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night" and "What A Day".

 

Heh. I totally agree with the last two (other than WHTSN being in mono), and I like Down, Down, Down, but Falcon Lake still doesn't do anything for me. Interesting that it's basically Neil solo...

FWIW, the transfer of the first album in stereo is so much better on the HDCD issue than the original CD - the original CD was apparently from a poorly made copy tape, based on some of the separation issues. Whatever the case, it's such a shame that the stereo Baby Don't Scold Me wasn't included, when everything else sounds so good...

 

How good could the third Buffalo Springfield album have been if Neil had stuck around and contributed the best songs that later went to his debut solo album? Each of those albums is half a great record on its own . . .

 

The question is, what do you get rid of? Hour of Not Quite Rain and Carefree Country Day are popular choices, and while neither is a favorite of mine, I do like both. What else is weak?

Although, like I said, it's a crime that Whatever Happened to Saturday Night and What A Day weren't included.

 

Agreed. Neil's stuff is what's missing on this album, IMHO. Although as Luke noted there's little on the album that isn't great already. A "make your own track list" type of exercise is tempting with this album. I wouldn't be surprised if members of the Springfield have done as much...

 

Buffalo Springfield ATCO SD 2-806 (2LP set).

It turns out I have two textured covers and unfortunately both sets have the exact same matrix information. Not only that, the matrix area and all marks look identical. Both presssed at Presswell Records in NJ (PR).

However, at one point I had three sets:
1841 Broadway (textured cover),
75 Rockefeller without WEA logo (textured cover),
and 75 Rockefeller with WEA logo (glossy cover).

The glossy cover must have had ringwear so I got rid of it. Somehow I ended up with 2 complete sets, but now one of them has mixed labels (record one 1841 Broadway and record two 75 Rockefeller with WEA logo).

Regardless of label, both sets have identical matrix information:

Side One: ST-C-732873-B
Side Two: ST-C-732874-D
Side Three: ST-C-732875-A
Side Four: ST-C-732876-A

 

Good thing you posted...I had forgotten.

My textured (bad) copy is the same as yours. Atlantic/Atco ROCK inner sleeves. Record 1 is "MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 75 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, N.Y., N.Y." Record 2 is "MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 1841 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, N.Y."

My glossy (good for side 2 at least) copy is:

1: same as above
2: ST-C-732874-F (followed by what looks to be initials; 3rd letter is a P)
3: same as above
4: same as above

Inner sleeves are "ATLANTIC, ATCO, COTILLION AND CUSTOM LABELS". Labels (all) are "MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 75 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA, N.Y., N.Y. W A WARNER COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY"

Interesting that only side 2 is different. I wonder if the other sides were re-done at some point too.

I don't have a clip of both at the moment, but if you want a good example of the difference, just compare Bluebird (start of the song) to a CD. I think all CDs have a little more midrange, but whatever the case, the separation on the CD is basically there on the good copy. It isn't on the bad one.

 

A friend of mine and I used to speculate about what a fourth Buffalo Springfield album may have looked like. When the three principle songwriters went into their first new projects a lot of their material sounded like they could've been Buffalo Springfield songs. It boggles the mind actually....

What A Day (Furay)
Helplessly Hoping (Stills)
The Loner (Young)
So Begins The Task (Stills)
You Don't Have To Cry (Stills)
Here We Are In The Years (Young)
Consequently So Long (Furay)
Do For The Others (Stills)
Love Story (Stills)
Birds (Young)
Make Me Smile (Furay)
The Old Laughing Lady (Young)
I Guess You Made It (Furay)

 

Well, there's a lot of info here. I was a diehard fan at the time and used to go see the band play ...they changed my musical life...and probably the lives of the other 73 of us who followed them and are still around. I've probably yapped about the band in a bunch of posts somewhere around here, so I'll save another bout of the sadness that I get from remembering that time.

But...

Neil and Steve did a Hit Parader interview just after the Andy Williams/Rock & Roll Woman set in Nov or Dec 67 and talked about what they were working on. They mentioned "Telephone Pole" (On the Way Home) and "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night" and also that they were doing some writing collaboration for the first time to see what came of it. I suppose you can back track the history and figure out where they were with studio cuts at that moment. It was clear that a third album was being worked on, but of course, nobody knew what that third album was going to eventually turn into.

I know one thing....at the time of the Andy Williams show set and the Hit Parader interview....they were all starving. In fact, I don't know how they even held on the four or five months from then that they did. In my estimation, with very little money coming in, they just barely got through working together on On the Way Home and Saturday Night in somewhat endurable circumstances before all the stress factors became too much and things started imploding.

It was almost a miserable thing to see Last Time Around show up out of nowhere. Especially so soon after the last concert. There had been no advance notice. It just showed up on the shelves. I listened to Uno Mundo and On the Way Home first because I knew those from the shows. But it was very sad to listen to that album. If you're a fan from those days...whether you're looking at Last Time Around or listening to it, it's sort of like constantly reliving a funeral. Which is a strange feeling to get from something that happened so long ago.

 

First of all, you're a god. Can I touch you?

Thats really interesting. I know "Telephone Pole" was mentioned because they even announced as their next single during concerts. Mind you, I wasn't even born. I've just read this stuff or heard tapes. Nevertheless, they were certainly recording songs for their next album. Things fell apart before it was complete. I didn't know that "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night" was a title that was known back then. Thats interesting.

You must have that experience from living in their time, seeing the band, etc... I love the album without reservation. My vantage point, however, was starting with CSN and going backward, so I ended up getting Last Time Around almost 20 years after its release. I heard all those great songs, but I was already WAY into post-Buffalo Springfield Stills by then, so I didn't have the remorseful feeling. What a great post!