Top 40 Music on Compact Disc: Fats Domino--Blueberry Hill

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Topic: Fats Domino--Blueberry Hill

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Hykker
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Posted: 07 April 2018 at 5:48am \| IP Logged

MMathews wrote:

I'm still a bit incredulous that in 1956
they allowed
that snagged version to be released on so many copies. I
mean, are you kidding? How is anyone supposed to listen
to it like that?? Unbelievable.
MM

I dunno, there are plenty of examples of songs with
mistakes, sour notes or really bad edits in them. Maybe
someone just thought this was the way the song was supposed
to sound.

Pat Downey
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Posted: 10 April 2018 at 10:45am \| IP Logged

I have listened to most of the cd's in the database that include Blueberry Hill but unfortunately none of them include the true 45 version.

Paul C
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Posted: 02 May 2018 at 2:19pm \| IP Logged

I purchased the Fats Domino CD, The Imperial Singles Volume 3 1956-1958, issued by Ace Records in the UK in 1998, in the hope that it might contain the original 78 or 45 version of "Blueberry Hill" but, alas, it contains the usual 'repaired' version.

Liner note writer Rick Coleman gives this account of the recording of the song:

He had always loved Louis Armstrong's 1949 version of the pop standard 'Blueberry Hill'. However, he didn't have the sheet music and no one remembered exactly how it went when he had a session in June 1956 at the Master Recorders Studios in Hollywood. With the help of Domino's brother-in-law Harrison Verrett, Domino and [Dave] Bartholomew pieced together the song, though they never achieved a satisfactory recording. The tapes of the song were edited by Master Recorders engineer Bunny Robyn, but the A-side of the single was still 'Honey Chile', which Domino performed in the movie Shake, Rattle And Roll. "The distributors found 'Blueberry Hill' on the other side," says Dave Bartholomew, "and all this happened within one week."

The notes say Coleman was working on a biography of Domino (in 1998). I intend to go search for it.

Paul C
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Posted: 10 November 2020 at 3:21pm \| IP Logged

After much searching, I have been able to get my hands
on a Canadian 78 in excellent condition. I played it
with my fingers crossed until the 1:06 mark and....it
has the flub. So it appears that only American 78s do
not have the flub.

Oh, and I highly recommend the Fats Domino biography
by Rick Coleman to which I alluded two and a half
years ago, Blue Monday: Fats Domino And The Dawn Of
Rock 'N' Roll. A couple of months after my above
post, I found myself reading it in a hospital bed. The
nurse, who was about thirty, had never heard of Fats
Domino.

PopArchivist
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Posted: 01 November 2021 at 2:12am \| IP Logged

Pat Downey wrote:

I have listened to most of the cd's in the database that include Blueberry Hill but unfortunately none of them include the true 45 version.

Pat what is the difference between the "true" 45 version and the ones on CD?

1) The we-you lyric
2) The tape drag issue (flub)

Is there anything else that sets it apart? Is the 78 the only true version then that is the "hit" version?

Edited by PopArchivist on 01 November 2021 at 2:18am

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davidclark
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Posted: 01 November 2021 at 3:59am \| IP Logged

Rich,

Here's what I have for Blueberry Hill:

First pressing Imperial 45s had a flub at 1:06 (where he sings "vows WE
made") due to a snag during mastering; the 78s did not have the snag.
Later Imperial 45s corrected it by splicing in a copy of the similar-sounding
"vows YOU made" passage from later in the track - this version became the
master for all later issues.

So, the "true 45 version" is not on CD - I have a dub from a group member -
but the "78 version" is also valid (and better, IMHO) so but both really count
in my book.

The "common" version appeared "later", but I do not know how later...
anyone?

Edited by davidclark on 01 November 2021 at 4:01am

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Paul C
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Posted: 01 November 2021 at 7:00am \| IP Logged

To the best of my knowledge, the only place the "WE"
version without the tape damage was ever issued is on US
78s. The version with the "WE" lyric and the tape flub was
issued on US 45s and AFAIK on both 45s and 78s in all other
countries. It is also the version that appeared on the 1956
This Is Fats Domino! album in all countries.

The repaired version, which is neither the 45 nor 78
version, is the version on every CD, compilation LP, and
reissue 45.

maciav
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Posted: 09 November 2021 at 1:44pm \| IP Logged

I bought this box set two years ago
assuming I was getting the proper single
versions of "Blueberry Hill" and all the
other single versions that are impossible
to find on CD.
Do the experts on this board know if this
is the case?
Thank you.
Mike

https://theseconddisc.com/2019/09/30/back-
to-blueberry-hill-bear-family-releases-
massive-fats-domino-box-set-in-november/

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aaronk
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Posted: 09 November 2021 at 7:42pm \| IP Logged

It's the correct version on the Bear Family set, but you can hear where they spliced in part of the 78.

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Aaron Kannowski
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PopArchivist
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Posted: 09 November 2021 at 10:07pm \| IP Logged

maciav wrote:

The only "true" single version of the song, as you read in this thread, is on the 78.

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aaronk
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Posted: 10 November 2021 at 7:13am \| IP Logged

That's not true, Rich. As I mentioned, Bear Family released the correct version. They spliced in the missing section from the 78.

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Aaron Kannowski
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Ringmaster_D
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Posted: 10 November 2021 at 10:31am \| IP Logged

maciav wrote:

I own the box (I've Been Around) and it is now out of
print. It is beautiful, the book is excellent and the
track list is impeccable. However, the big caveat is
that the mono tracks have a weird, narrow stereo
processing which makes them all non-45 mixes by default.
Very disappointing.

vanmeter
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Posted: 10 November 2021 at 1:31pm \| IP Logged

I wound up using a dub of the This Is Fats Domino album cut and just edited in the word "made" and the beat following from later in the song (not "we"), and it works well enough.

Edited by vanmeter on 10 November 2021 at 1:31pm

Brian W.
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Posted: 10 November 2021 at 2:04pm \| IP Logged

davidclark wrote:

Rich,

The "common" version appeared "later", but I do not know how later... anyone?

Yeah, that's what I wonder. Although several people on 45 Cat report that their black label Imperial 45s (in use from '57 to '63) have the glitch, so it was likely not repaired until long after the song was off
the charts.

AdvprosD
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Posted: 10 November 2021 at 7:16pm \| IP Logged

vanmeter wrote:

I wound up using a dub of the This Is Fats Domino album cut and just edited in the word "made" and the beat following from later in the song (not "we"), and it works
well enough.

After listening to the flub version of Blueberry Hill, I was wondering if someone would try this. I know I sure wanted to until I read this post.

Can I get a sampling of this by any chance?

It's also interesting to me that this is the very first time I even knew of this splice issue. I guess I have just been unlucky enough to never hear the song in
its original form. I was also surprised to learn this is how it sounded before the repairs were made. I've been around a while, but not long enough apparently.

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maciav
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Posted: 10 November 2021 at 7:23pm \| IP Logged

All,
Thanks for your help.
It sounds like these versions aren't the
45-versions -- even the ones that aren't
speeded up.
Bad news for me.
Mike

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vanmeter
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Posted: 11 November 2021 at 10:48am \| IP Logged

Let me know if this doesn't work. My LP is a little grungy and there's a bit of wow right at the first edit but it's fine for my little online station.

https://soundcloud.com/user-722613658/fats?si=93964ee46f4240 bdb1779830af800dc0

AdvprosD
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Posted: 11 November 2021 at 11:23am \| IP Logged

vanmeter wrote:

Worked perfectly!

I might do this myself now that I see it is worth the trouble. Thanks!

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PopArchivist
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Posted: 12 November 2021 at 12:22am \| IP Logged

aaronk wrote:

That's not true, Rich. As I mentioned, Bear Family released the correct version. They spliced in the missing section from the 78.

Sorry I misunderstood. Thanks for clarifying! :)

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davidclark
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Posted: 04 November 2022 at 9:49pm \| IP Logged

I've just been going thru the Bear box set "Ive Been Around - The Complete
Imperial & ABC-Paramount Recordings", and Ringmaster is right...the songs
are not true mono. Nor are all the songs the correct 45 singles, this despite
certain statements about the box being "the definitive". What another missed
opportunity for a correct Fats collection. We simply don't have a release with
all the correct singles (that I know of).

A couple of examples that stood out: "I'm Walkin'" is missing the 45 reverb,
"Bo Weevil" is too slow (this one STILL not on a CD in its proper 45 version!).

Edited by davidclark on 04 November 2022 at 10:20pm

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