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aaronk
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| Posted: 03 September 2019 at 9:26pm | IP Logged
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The database currently lists "45 speed and length" or "LP speed and length" for "Key Largo" by Bertie Higgins. For practical purposes, this is correct, and I don't suggest making any changes. I do, however, want to point out that technically, the 45 is not merely slowed down and faded early. This is actually a very, very slightly different mix from the LP mix. There's nothing that really jumps out as being significantly different, but there are some subtle differences in stereo field placement and levels of instruments.
Did the single come out before the LP? If so, that could explain the very subtle remix for the LP. For starters, the 45 sounds muddy with several layers of hiss. Perhaps when it came time to mix the LP, someone suggested making another mixdown to fix the muddy sound and eliminate the added tape hiss.
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Bill Cahill
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| Posted: 05 September 2019 at 2:55pm | IP Logged
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My recollection is that the single came out before the album. When the album was released I noticed that it sounded a little faster and had a better mix so the station I
was at switched to the LP presentation.
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 06 September 2019 at 12:07am | IP Logged
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I'm a big Bertie Higgins fan, and my recollection is that the album came out about 3 months after the single. I just checked the Whitburn singles and albums, and though the debut dates aren't necessarily an indicator, the album debuted on the charts 3 months after "Key Largo" debuted on the charts. So there probably was a difference of about that amount of time. Never noticed the slight mix differences. Interestingly, a single for the follow-up album, "Pirates and Poets", has a slight difference in mix, insofar as there's a hi-hat before the song starts on the single, and it's not on the album (much like the single vs. album difference in LRB's "The Other Guy", which was something I pointed out ont his board many years ago.) And that was the only difference in this follow-up Bertie Higgins single that I noticed. (Why even bother?) But now I'm wondering if there are more differences in "Pirates and Poets" (single vs. album) as is the case with "Key Largo". I'll try to A-B them.
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KentT
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| Posted: 06 September 2019 at 2:24pm | IP Logged
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Yes, the 45 single of "Key Largo" was released 3 months
before the LP was released. Another note, this classic was
recorded partially at Pyramid Eye Recording Studios in
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Sonny Limbo, the producer was
also at one time a DJ at WFLI 1070 AM, in Lookout
Mountain, Tennessee, the big 50,000 watt Top 40 radio
powerhouse in the Chattanooga, Tennessee market (who were
also the first to play "Key Largo" on the air.
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Edoz
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| Posted: 10 August 2023 at 7:27am | IP Logged
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Hi Aaron,
What's the story with the 1988 single release of "Key Largo" on Southern Tracks Records?
Ed
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aaronk
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| Posted: 10 August 2023 at 9:37am | IP Logged
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I'm not sure what's on the on Southern Tracks 45s, but it's probably a re-recording. I see he put out a few 45s on that label in the late '80s, and "Key Largo" is on the B-side of both "Leah" (ST-2010) and "The Flag's On Fire" (ST-0016). Maybe he was hoping people would buy the new singles if it had his big hit on the flipside?
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Edoz
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| Posted: 10 August 2023 at 10:24am | IP Logged
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Thanks, Aaron. That's what I figure.
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 10 August 2023 at 1:01pm | IP Logged
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If you're still looking for a difference between the mixes, the panning of an acoustic guitar moves from right/center in the 45 mix to left/center in the LP mix.
Listen to the line "wrapped around each other" - the downbeat guitar strum at the beginning of the word "other" at 0:21. The panning of that acoustic guitar remains constant throughout the song (for example, listen to the first line of the chorus, "we had it all"), and different for the 45 and LP mixes.
Small difference, for sure, but at least something concrete to identify which mix is which.
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 11 August 2023 at 1:46am | IP Logged
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Interesting Ron. Have both mixes been released on CD?
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 11 August 2023 at 5:05am | IP Logged
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Yes, indeed.
For the 45 mix, I use Rhino's Like Omigod.
For the LP mix, I use a mail-order 2-CD collection called Reflections Of Love, but it's also on many others.
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 17 August 2023 at 1:48am | IP Logged
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Thanks Ron. For such a small difference in mixes, it's somewhat surprising that
they did a new mix for the single. It's not like they made it any punchier, or a
more elaborate arrangement ala the single mix of BJ's "Piano Man" which is
AMAZING and much better than the mix that virtually every knows these days.
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aaronk
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| Posted: 17 August 2023 at 8:10am | IP Logged
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I don't think a new mix was made for the single. It's likely a new mix was made for the album for the speculative reasons I mentioned in the initial post.
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NightAire
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| Posted: 01 January 2024 at 12:24am | IP Logged
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I'd love to have somebody else look and confirm this -- but does it seem to anybody else like the copy of Key Largo on "Hard To Find 45s Vol. 14 - 70s & 80s Pop Classics" from 2012 is a lossy track, or is my copy just bad?
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crapfromthepast
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| Posted: 01 January 2024 at 12:04pm | IP Logged
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Gene - The spectrum on the Hard To Find disc does look a little weird, with an odd cutoff at 16 kHz, and the drum hits going up to 19 kHz.
Based on my experience with the Eric discs (this one is from 2012), I'd guess that the artifacts are from added noise reduction, and not a lossy source.
If you want the 45 mix, I'd recommend Rhino's Like Omigod (2002), which has a normal-looking spectrum.
If you're wondering which version to use on the air, I'd vote for using the LP mix, which sounds better than the Eric and Rhino CDs. Listeners won't know the difference (it took *us* about 40 years to figure it out!), and you'll have a lot less hiss.
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Santi Paradoa
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| Posted: 01 January 2024 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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Tom Daly worked on that Eric Records CD (as the sound engineer) which explains the noise reduction on that release.
That may have been the final CD that Bill Buster used Tom for. From that point on Bill went with Mark Mathews and Walt Weiskopf (both who refused to apply any
noise reduction).
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VWestlife
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| Posted: 01 January 2024 at 5:06pm | IP Logged
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The 45 mix of "Key Largo" also sounds like it has more reverb than the album mix, but at least on the Rhino box set, definitely sounds like a higher-generation tape copy -- the treble is rolled off and the stereo imaging is diffuse.
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NightAire
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| Posted: 01 January 2024 at 9:21pm | IP Logged
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Ron, you may be right; maybe it's not lossy, but aggressive noise reduction. It doesn't SOUND especially lossy.
For the moment I've gone with your advice to use the Rhino version, applied some declipping and I'll see if it sounds noisy on the air. If it does, I'll for sure be going with the LP mix.
I continue to be so thankful for this group for sorting on what the "real" versions of songs are!
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: Bertie Higgins - Key Largo
