Elvis Costello remasters - Rhino v. Ryko bonus tracks

Has anyone drawn up a list comparing the differences between Rhino's 'new generation' of Elvis Costello's back catalogue, the 2CD versions, and the previous incarnations on Rykodisc/Demon (in UK)? Not so much in terms of sound quality, which I think is at least as good as, if not better, on Rhino's versions, but in the bonus material. I know one or two of the bonus tracks on the Ryko/Demon CDs have been deleted on the Rhino series, and I'd like to know which of the Ryko ones are worth keeping and which are now 'redundant.'
I think there's 2 tracks on Ryko's 'Blood & Chocolate' for example that don't appear on Rhino's version - 'Forgive Her Anything' (the one on Rhino's CD is a recently-unearthed version which EC prefers) and an unlisted bonus track, an instrumental from the 'Straight To Hell' movie) And - apologies to fans in the US where the latest 3 remasters are still a few weeks away from being released! - the new 'Punch the Clock' omits the live tracks form the Ryko version in favour of alternate studio cuts, again, recently discovered.
I think 'My Aim Is True,' 'This Year's Model,' 'Armed Forces' and 'Get Happy!' on Ryko have nothing 'exclusive' I haven't checked out 'Trust' yet... and EC's later albums ('Spike' onwards) didn't have Ryko reissues anyway.
Any further info gratefully received

PS the new Get Happy! is a fantastic package - the original 20-track LP was augmented with 10 bonus tracks (plus one hidden snippet of a demo at the end) on Ryko; the Rhino one includes all these AND a further 20! If only all reissues were done with this sort of care for giving the fans their money's worth...

 

You pretty much covered them. The only things that have not been carried over are on Blood and Chocolate ("Forgive Her Anything," "A Town Called Big Nothing," and "Return to Big Nothing") and Punch the Clock (the live versions of "The World and His Wife" and "Everyday I Write the Book").

There are also some minor variations like the Rhino My Aim Is True including the original mix of "Radio Sweetheart" in favor of the more common remix used on the Ryko CD. The Rhino Trust bonus disc has a longer fadeout on "Twenty Five to Twelve" and has the full ending on "Black Sails in the Sunset," which was faded early on the Ryko.

 

Carrot, thanks for the info, that's exactly the sort of obsessive trivia I was after! I never knew about the mix differences on 'Radio Sweetheart' for example... I DO know that there's two different edits of 'Find Yourself Another Fool' - one has a brief guitar figure at the very start and a 'neat' ending where all the instruments finish together; the other has the guitar 'lead-in' chopped off but a longer, complete ending with a final 'plonk' on bass and drums. I can't remember which is on which CD though - 'Out Of Our Idiot,' Ryko's 'Blood & Chocolate' or Rhino's 'Blood & Chocolate'!!

 

And, to expand on what Mr. Carrot has written, in most of the cases, the dropped tracks were replaced by superior versions of the same songs. Bizarrely, it was discovered by Rhino that there were terrific previously unknown studio outtakes of "Everyday I Write The Book" and "The World and His Wife" that mirrored the arrangements featured in the live tracks on Ryko's PUNCH THE CLOCK.

The disappearance of "A Town Called Big Nothing" (and it's various related tracks) is more problematic. Granted, it's perhaps the most peculiar recording of his career, and it probably would not have fit that easily onto BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE's bonus disc. But it may not fit better anywhere else. However, on his message board last year, he did mention that it would find a more appropriate home at some point.

And if you want to get *really* obsessive, there are additional differences here and there. On MY AIM IS TRUE, there are a few brief moments of "guitar doodling" before the "Wave a White Flag" demo. Additionally, the album version of "Mystery Dance" has the fade out that was featured on the LP and original CD, and not the cold stop from the Ryko/Demon version. On ARMED FORCES, the live "Alison" has a brief intro from EC. On PUNCH THE CLOCK, "Walking on Thin Ice" has a take announcement before the song. I think the demo to "Love For Tender" on GET HAPPY!! (which is, of course, complete instead of the unlisted clipped version on the Ryko) has a few extra bars of guitar at the very beginning. There are probably others that have escaped my notice, too.

Now you all know how obsessive I am!

"Find Yourself Another Fool" was originally a b-side to "Don't Let Me Be Mistunderstood". It's next appearance was on the OUT OF OUR IDIOT collection in a new mix. When it was later used on the Ryko/Demon edition of GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD I believe it featured a third distinct mix, but one that was closer to the OUT OF OUR IDIOT version. As for which version will eventually be used by Rhino is an open question, which we probably won't learn the answer to a LONG time since these reissues are taking so long to materialize. Personally, I've never really A-B'ed the various mixes closely, so I could be mistaken about the specific details of the different mixes.

I *love* this recording regardless of the mix. It's among my small handful of favorite EC covers of all time.

 

And if you want to get *really really* obsessive, during the fadeout on the live "Watching the Detectives" on the Ryko Armed Forces (and the original Hollywood High EP), you can hear the band launching into another song, which I think is "Pump It Up."

On the Rhino version, this snippet is absent, as the band goes into "You Belong to Me."

What's odd is that according to the book Going Through the Motions, which collects most of Elvis' set lists through 1985, "You Belong to Me" is the song which followed "Watching the Detectives" at the original concert, with "Pump It Up" coming a bit later in the show. What was the point of putting that snippet of "Pump It Up" in the fadeout in the first place?

 

Good question, Marry a Carrot. I remember thinking the same thing. Anyone?

 

Sadly, no. It's a track that Elvis seems to loathe, and he has spoken of not ever again subjecting his audience to it. Left to their own devices, I'm confident Rhino would have included it.

Likewise, "Party Party". I thought it was a likely inclusion for the PUNCH THE CLOCK disc, but Elvis must have put his foot down on this one too. He's opened the floodgates in terms of his catalog for this reissue campaign, but there are a couple (and somewhat, I believe, arbitrary) tracks he just won't budge on.

"Party Party" is available on CD, as the soundtrack was issued in the format several years ago. It's fairly rare, but you can get it.

 

All this great info on different versions of songs is GREAT!!!

Could you all chip in with some sonic differences between CeeDee's as well?

Thanks.

 

Well, if you really want the best sound, you'll have to dig up those ol' Costello RCA discs...

 

I am completel;y knocked out by the sound on the Rhino Costello's, there were four tracks with fuzzy 'quantization noise' on them on the Ryko's, and these have all been corrected.

Clean Money
Talking In The Dark
Wednesday Week
Suit Of Lights

Incidentally, the sound is dodgy as well on the 2-cd Rhino 'Greatest', but on the subsequent cd reissues everything was fixed, seemingly replaced by more robust sounding tapes.

I really love "Town Called Big Nothing" so I missed it on the reissue.

all the Ryko's had arbitrary uses of eq, odd selections of tapes ("Mystery Dance" being the most obvious, the guitars-in-the-center "Lip Service" the most disappointing), and obtrusive NR. They blew away Toby Mountain's work for the same label, however!!!

The Rhino's sound true and dynamic, give them a chance!

 

Which, incidentally, was simply a domestic license of the Demon set from the previous year. Both sets were compiled from the Ryko/Demon masterings.

"Suit of Lights", which you mentioned, has not yet been included on a reissue. However, based on what I've heard so far, I'm certainly optimistic that it'll sound wonderful (incidentally, the Ryko KING OF AMERICA had some fairly obvious glitches that I'm anxious to see corrected). As you point out with the examples you cited, some of the most dramatic improvements are evident in the bonus material. I get the impression they didn't make a tremendous effort to track down original tapes for the "extended play" tracks last time around. I think Andrew Sandoval's post about the sound on IMPERIAL BEDROOM from a few months ago gave us a good sense of *why* things are turning out so well this time.

 

Thanks everyone for all this info - another difference I found over the weekend is with 'Imperial Bedroom' bonus material: the Rhino version has a completely different take of 'Seconds Of Pleasure' and a slightly different mix of 'Shabby Doll demo' (the count-in at the start is louder) (Well, someone might find this interesting!)
And I must say that the remastering/improvement in sound is particularly noticeable with this album...

 

The "Seconds of Pleasure" on the Rhino Imperial Bedroom previously appeared on the Ryko Trust.

The "Seconds of Pleasure" on the Ryko Imperial Bedroom will soon be found on the Rhino Punch the Clock.