Big Chill Movie Soundtrack

There has been a lot of talk about Motown boxed sets, etc. I was wondering if you aficionados can give me the lowdown on the original release of the soundtrack for the movie "The Big Chill". It contained 14 cuts:

1.I Heard It Through The Grapevine-Marvin Gaye
2.My Girl-The Temptations
3.Good Lovin-The Rascals
4.The Tracks of My Tears-Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
5.Joy To The World-Three Dog Night
6.Ain't Too Proud To Beg-The Temptations
7.Natural Woman-Aretha Franklin
8.I Second That Emotion-Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
9.A Whiter Shade of Pale-Procol Harum
10.Tell Him-The Exciters
11.It's The Same Old Song-Four Tops
12.Dancing In The Streets-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
13.What's Going On-Marvin Gaye
14.Too Many Fish In The Sea-The Marvelettes

Maybe my ears are goofy, but I swear, "Joy To The World" is in MONO?!?!?

Nowadays the newly "Remastered" version has only 10 tracks:

1. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
2. My Girl - The Tempations
3. Good Lovin' - Rascals
4. The Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson/Miracles
5. Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
6. Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Temptations
7. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin
8. I Second That Emotion - Smokey Robinson/Miracles
9. A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
10. Tell Him - Exciters

I've got the first one. Any comments as to which is better and why would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Dough1981

 

The original "hit single" version of "Joy To The World" is mono. I assume the original issue of this soundtrack merely contained the correct single version, which has also appeared on other cd's. There is a stereo version of JTTW, but it is significantly different than the mono mix.

 

I doubt if it is a licensing problem, since some of the deleted tracks are also Motown. Probably the company trying to pry extra profits due to fewer tracks.

Paul

 

Never knew that. I just always asumed the right version was stereo since that was all I ever heard until I pulled this disc out of the back of the stacks. I certainly liked the way it sounded compared to the others, but didn't know why. Thanks for letting me know why!!

 

I've never even heard of the 14 song version myself. Any LPs *or* CDs I've seen are the 10 song version. The remaining 4 tracks are on the "More ... Big Chill" soundtrack.

I'm pretty certain Joy To The World was the stereo mix on all versions I've heard (without the extra overdubs), so perhaps they changed it. Also, My Girl was mono. I haven't heard the newest remaster, though.

 

Well, this album is getting an interesting little history for itself. When first issued, it had ten tracks--just like the remastered version. All songs were from the movie. For the original CD release, four tracks not from the film were added, presumably to fill out the CD, since these are Tracks 11-14 and are listed as "Plus These Additional Classics." Interestingly, "Joy To The World" is stereo on both of these editions, but faded at about 3:33, instead of the 3:50 of the Lp version you usually get. So it's mono on the remastered version, is it? Curious. "My Girl" was the mono track on the original Lp/CD edition, FWIW.

Another interesting anomaly of the original Lp/CD is that Marvin's "Grape Vine" clocks in at 5:02 or so, much longer then the original version. To make the version longer a portion was just edited in to extend it; no alt. take here. Haven't seen the film in a long time, so I'm not sure why it was made longer in the first place. Does it still run five minutes on the remaster, or did they slip in the original 'short' version instead?

And let's not forget MORE SONGS FROM THE BIG CHILL, the not-so-best-
selling sequel. A few songs from the movie, but a lot of good(but not from the film)Motown filler. The original Lp had "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in good ol' Capitol '66 Duophonic rechanneling; I have the CD edition around somewhere, but can't remember if they slipped the mono mix in its place.

Anyway, no, the tracks from the soundtrack were probably removed not for profit reasons but because they weren't on the original album release.

Hope that answers your question.

Happy holidays to all,

ED

 

Great "ED-ucation"...Ed

Thanks

 

CORRECTION-- you are right. It is "My Girl" that is MONO, not JTTW-- just brain dead, BUT the mix or mastering is SO different than any other that I have-- and I was listening on my wife's Jam Box rather than my normal stereo--that I got mixed up. It is amazing how different it is compared to the one on the Sony?Legacy released Forrest Gump soundtrack to a Time-Life Sounds of the 70s 1971 release to the MCA Millenium Best of Three Dog Night. Sorry for the mix-up.

While on the topic of MOTOWN, however, (as Dough attempts to look intelligent, now, after messing up) let me ask about "My Girl".
How come some versions have the "Hey, Hey, Hey" background singing so much louder during the latter part of the song while most versions have that part buried?

Dough

 

Just a theory but it could have been a tape mix up. According to legend the Motown guys would do several different mixes of potential singles that Berry would listen to. He then would pick the one he thought was the best for release.

Merry Christmas

 

There are 3 mixes I know of:

- mono mix
- original stereo mix
- Cooley High stereo remix

The mono and CH mixes run about the same length, while the original stereo mix fades out about 15 seconds too soon. Also, the original stereo mix has some "issues" in the bridge, which caused the "hey hey hey" vocals to get buried a bit. They are louder on the mono and CH mixes.

 

It was used during the opening credits and probably 'stretched' to fit their length.