Greatest Hits albums that don't have the actual hit versions on them?

Actually, most LP copies of Saturday Night Fever have the live version of "Jive Talkin'," from the album Here At Last ... Bee Gees Live! The studio version was replaced early in its chart run. At the time, the rights to Main Course were still owned by Atlantic in the U.S., though they would soon revert to PolyGram, and rather than pay a licensing fee, PolyGram switched versions. They also changed the credits on the inner sleeve to reflect that it was the live version, and not the studio version, on the album. There was some overlap, though; you can find copies with the live version that claim to have the studio version if you look at the inner sleeve.

Identifying the version with the live "Jive Talkin'" is easy. Look for "REV-1" in the Side 3 trail-off wax. Also, on the back cover, most copies with the studio version have a Polydor logo at the bottom. Most copies with the live version have no Polydor logo.

 

Even that version is longer than the single, or at least the single as it came out in the UK.

To each their own. As I said, it's a good song. I personally just prefer the shorter version. No great problem here. Thanks for the discussion.

 

The single version of "Adult Education" is noticeably different from the original version that appears on "Rock 'N Soul Part 1". The "hit" 45 version is an edit of the 12" remix done by Nile Rodgers of Chic.

 

Thats due to Apple not licensing it out... which is dumb...

 

How about Kraftwerk - The Mix. Its their only comp CD and all are re-recordings...

 

Manfred Mann's "20 Years of Manfred Mann" album has the live version of Mighty Quinn instead of the studio version.

 

Tons, ....Many Three Dog Night compilations (though "Celebrate: The Three Dog Night story" and my "20th Century Masters: Three Dog Night" have most of the single versions-"Liar" and "Joy to the World" in the latter case,for instance,).

I wish that I could have heard the single of Joe Cocker's "Letter" again..some 365online station Bobby Bitman who plays only obscure stuff played the origianl studio single version a year or two ago. I haven't heard it since.

I agree about the Doors ones..I do have the single of "Touch Me", and "Riders of the Storm", and "Light my Fire"--all reissues but only "Light my fire" has the re-done edit, the others have the original verison. I just found my "Touch Me" single today and played it again and it is definitely as you and others mentioned in a singles thread some years ago much more faster and hotter. The LP has that dubbed in "Stronger than dirt" phrase done as some sort of joke.

How about Blood, Sweat,and tears? Their trilogy of '69 #2 hits ("You made me so Very Happy", "Spinning Wheel", & "And When I Die"), are ALWAYS played on radio in their ALBUM versions!!!!!! (Luckily I have the singles).

 

Actually, the problem with JAN & DEAN GOLDEN HITS VOLUME 2 (LRP-3417 (M); LST-7417 (S) (August 1965) is that both the mono and stereo issues of this compilation use the first version of Dead Man's Curve -- the album track found on the Drag City LP. The hit version of Dead Man's Curve can be found on the original 45 and on the mono version of the Dead Man's Curve LP. Not sure about the stereo DMC LP...

This problem seems similar to The Beach Boys Endless Summer Help Me Ronda/Help Me Rhonda mix up 10 years later -- two versions of the same tune in the vaults...

Dale

 

I have the Canadian single of the Mamas and Papas , Words Of Love, and it is a different version from any I've heard.

 

I like some of these versions better. I also like the re-recording of "Colours" on Donovan's Greatest Hits, but not "Catch The Wind."

 

I found out that the version of the versions of the Heart In Motion songs on the Amy Grant Greatest Hits collection released on Sparrow are all album versions.

 

Should be the same as Dunhill 4057, which, IIRC, is a different version than the mono or stereo Lp cuts most of us are used to.

 

Rare Earth: Hey, Big Brother...the version on all compilations isn't the same one that was on the 45...it a non-album single to begin with.

 

I don't think ALL were re-recordings...most were "updated" remixes-usually a bad idea, but worked ok for them...

They had a compilation on Cleopatra for a short time ("The Model") which had some single edits of some songs-hard to find but work seeking out. Cleopatra also did their own short-lived reissues of "Trans-Europe Express" and "Radioactivity" which EMI licensed to them...not sure why....

 

"Best Of Blondie" contained remixes of "Heart Of Glass", "In The Flesh", "Sunday Girl" and "Rapture" that were very different from the original hit versions.

 

Sammy Davis Jr.'s Reprise release "A Treasury of Golden Hits" is similar-rerecordings of 50s Decca sides...

 

The version of "Higher Ground" on Red Hot Chili Pepper's Greatest Hits (Warner Bros.) sounds like a rough mix... a lot of the guitar parts and various other parts that are prominent in the correct mix, which is on all the releases from EMI (Mother's Milk, What Hits, Mother's Milk remaster) are way back in the mix and of course it doesn't help that this rough mix has been maximised to death on this disc. I just don't understand how Warners could have gotten the wrong version and NOT noticed it while they were making the compilation.

 

I remember being really pissed when Gail Davies released a GH with "Grandmas Song" they added new backing instruments...totally ruined that wonderful song.

 

Little River Band

Didn't they replace an original vocalist's hits and replace those tracks with re-recordings, and shorter versions to boot?

 

Agreed on that. I thought the '86 version was terrible. Luckily, it was still pretty easy to find the original single and picture sleeve so I just put that with the album instead!

 

Actually, I didn't mind those in either case. There are some songs which I just prefer to hear the album version of, and "Every Woman in the World" is one of them. I just didn't like the guitar remix on the 45.

As for "Rapture", the 45 didn't have that third high-sung part in the middle of the song. I usually hear that version on the radio now, and I think over the years I've grown to prefer it.

The one pet peeve I have with greatest hits albums is that almost all of them will leave off one or two big hits. Sometimes I look at the track listings and see a couple of lesser-charting songs on there when a couple of much bigger hits were left off. For me, this took away some of the desire to have the album.

 

I've got the mono single mix on an Australian EMI Joe Cocker comp The Most Of Joe Cocker.

A stereo remix of the studio version is available on the Mad Dogs & Englishmen deluxe edition...

 

The Very Best of The Everly Bros on Warner Bros had an annoying mix of re-recorded early Cadence classics along with the original Warner Brothers versions of the later hits, yes the re-recorded versions were well done, but they still weren't the originals.

 

The Ultimate Coasters uses the inferior stereo mix of Yakety Yak, the sax is very low in the mix, the mono version used on The Very Best of The Coasters is way superior IMO.

 

I generally hate re-recordings but this album is the exception. They were at the peak of their powers when they did these recordings.