Longer versions of popular 60s or 70s songs that you never knew existed

Hello everyone!

My first post on this forum. I searched high and low to try and find Internet discussion on popular songs from the 60s and 70s that we all know and love, yet had no idea that there are longer versions available.

Now, this is based upon the radio edits that stations played throughout this period and even today.

When compiling my massive collection of iPod music I strive to find the longer album versions of songs. I hope to help some of you do the same, and in return, perhaps you can point me to some gems that I forgot.


Did you know there are longer versions of ...


Barbara Ann (Beach Boys)

We have been hearing the 2:11 version all these years. However, there is a 3:27 version that contains some additional band tomfoolery at the very end of the song.

Come and Get Your Love (Redbone)

The 3:25 version is the one you have heard all your life. However, there is a 5:00 version that has acapella intro and an extended ending.

I Can Help (Billy Swan)

The single version is 2:57 but there is an extended ending of cheering and holding chords in the 4:00 version.

All The Young Dudes (Mott The Hoople)

Even the classic rock stations only play the 3:31 version. However, the longer 4:22 album version sports some additional instrumental before the song winds down.

Rock The Boat (Hues Corporation)

You know the version at 3:10, but the longer 4:48 version adds some additional instrumental to lengthen the song's ending.

Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye)

Want to savor more of this song? Forget the standard 4:02 single version and opt for the 4:52 version with an extended ending.

Crimson and Clover (Tommy James and the Shondells)

The version at 3:28 is the one most people know, but for some extra-musical flower power, look for the 5:32 version.


All these extended versions are available for download on Amazon Digital Music

Would be interested to know if there are any other pop songs that have extended versions that we rarely hear.

 

I recently picked up a disc by Michael Martin Murphey with "Wildfire" on it. I knew the single version. The album version has an intro and outro I hadn't heard.

 

That's a good one! I forgot to include that.

 

When the ABBA boxset "Thank You For The Music" was released, it included a previously intro to the track "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight). I am certain I heard it before this, probably on a TV special. Anyone familiar with this?

 

Green Eyed Lady by Sugarloaf -- there is 6+ minute version with a lot of interesting (at least to some ) musical interplay in the middle.

 

Not sure when this version surfaced, but it seemed to become the standard one from the mid 80's on. It has a bridge that wasn't in the original hit. (Bad sound quality on this vid)>

 

I'm so used to the original single version that the longer one just doesn't sound right to me.

 

Now this is embarrassing, but I had never heard the long version of Buffalo Springfield's Bluebird until about 2 or 3 years ago. I'm sticking with the single.

 

I was going to mention "Green Eyed Lady" as well. For years I only knew the single edit, and I'm still not used to hearing the "extra" parts in the full-length version.

 

Up until a few years ago, I didn't know of the long version "Summer Madness" by Kool & The Gang

 

Since The Beatles' catalog was "standardized" to the UK releases many years ago, there may be some who are unaware of the U.S. version of "I'll Cry Instead," which contains an additional verse not in the UK one — it's 2:09, as opposed to 1:49. (Unfortunately, I can't link to the longer one, as Beatles on YouTube is a rare commodity.)

I had always understood that the U.S. version was artificially lengthened by editing in a repeat of the first verse. But Wikipedia now says that is actually the full version, and that the UK one was edited down.

Perhaps a Beatle freak more nerdy than I am can indicate which it is!

 

I'm guessing few of the versions posted here are ones those who post them "didn't know about." But it's still worth noting these for those who are truly unaware of them.

The single hit version of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up" was edited down considerably from the full album version.

 

Actually 80s though it's cool enough to note, the version of Bryan Adams' I'm Ready on the This Time US 12" promo is the original unedited version with extra guitar solos and a different ending, whereas the version on Cut Like A Knife is an edited remix with further chorus repetitions. The unedited version is a couple of minutes longer too.

 

As opposed to the single edit, the full version of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" has an extra verse as well as a longer guitar solo.

 

Here's one of the more radical differences between a hit single and its album counterpart: "Sunday Mornin'" by Spanky and Our Gang.

 

Man, you aint kidding:

• 6:15 (album version)
• 3:15 (single edit)
• 2:52 (radio edit)

 

Which reminds me that there was more than one single edit of Free's "All Right Now" too.

Here's the full version:

 

Not '60s or '70s, but if I'm going to say this at all, it may as well be on this thread. I never knew there was a 17-minute version of New Order's "Elegia" until I was in my 40s.

 

Knew most of these existed...

 

The single version is already 7 minutes long, so I bet that not many people are familiar with the unedited 12 minutes album version of the Temptations' Papa Was A Rolling Stone.

 

Most casual listeners were never aware of the longer Kiss You All Over with an additional verse not heard in the single. When we at WMIS-FM play Blackfoot's "Train Train" we include the album's harmonica prelude, which the single doesn't have. Most classic rock stations only play the version without the harmonica prelude.

 

Well yeah...but if you don't know they exist, how would you be able to post any examples!

 

Michael performs the album version in concert.

 

The album version is 3:31. There is a version lasting 4:22 which appeared on the box set and on the Dudes CD but it's an edited together version with some Bowie vocals and the coda.