Top 40 Music on CD Forum : "The Letter" - Joe Cocker

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : vanmeter wrote:...sounds like...

Mon, 23 May 2022 17:47:29 +0000

Author: Yah Shure
Subject: 888
Posted: 23 May 2022 at 5:47pm

vanmeter wrote:

...sounds like it was recorded in a rehearsal hall...

That's it! The liner notes for the Mad Dogs & Englishmen 35th Anniversary deluxe edition include "The Mad Dog Diary" timeline written by John Mendelsohn:

14th MARCH 1970. Some three hundred people turn out to watch the new band (which now includes eleven singers as well as ten players) rehearse for twelve hours on the A&M sound-stage.

15th MARCH 1970. Another twelve-hour rehearsal is held and a private airplane is hired.

16th MARCH 1970. Eleven more rehearsal hours are put under the collective belt.

17th MARCH 1970. Yet another marathon rehearsal is staged, this one recorded in its entirety, with "The Letter"/"Space Captain" single resulting.

27th and 28th MARCH 1970. Four appearances later, Joe Cocker, Mad Dogs & Englishmen arrive at the Fillmore East, wherein this album was recorded in its entirety, the lion's share coming from the Friday evening shows.

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : AdvprosD wrote:Thanks for the...

Mon, 23 May 2022 12:03:42 +0000

Author: vanmeter
Subject: 888
Posted: 23 May 2022 at 12:03pm

AdvprosD wrote:

Thanks for the info Doug. I did an ear time test and noted though this has a listed time of 4:18, It starts at about 00:01 and finishes at 04:15. Making it,
as 04:14 as I can tell for all practical purposes.

I'm not entirely sure reading this if everybody is truly clear (despite it being stated very early in the thread) that there are two different recordings, and the one from the Mad Dogs LP is not the hit single - that version has audible crowd noise and there's a lot of air/atmosphere around the opening piano figure. This was what was on the Forget Me Nots single for years, not the actual hit recording, which to my ears sounds like it was recorded in a rehearsal hall or such - there is no crowd noise in any way, and the ambience is very flat. Everybody may know this but again it's not entirely apparent that it's been stated outright reading the post.

Edited by vanmeter

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : Thanks for the info Doug. I did...

Sat, 30 Apr 2022 12:08:15 +0000

Author: AdvprosD
Subject: 888
Posted: 30 April 2022 at 12:08pm

Thanks for the info Doug. I did an ear time test and noted though this has a listed time of 4:18, It starts at about 00:01 and finishes at 04:15. Making it,
as 04:14 as I can tell for all practical purposes.

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : My copy from the deluxe CD runs...

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 20:02:52 +0000

Author: sriv94
Subject: 888
Posted: 29 April 2022 at 8:02pm

My copy from the deluxe CD runs (4:08). (My LP version runs about (4:14)--there are various differences,
including but not limited to crowd noise, a slightly longer "my baby she wrote me a letter" refrain near
the end [although it starts a little earlier on the LP than it does the 45], and a longer held note at the
end.)

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : AndrewChouffi wrote:It's...

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 14:51:46 +0000

Author: AdvprosD
Subject: 888
Posted: 29 April 2022 at 2:51pm

AndrewChouffi wrote:

It's a different (earlier) take, live-in-studio.

You wouldn't happen to have the running time for this version would you?

I have been collecting a variety of imported Time-Life CDs, and this one stood out. This version sounds very similar on my CD, but I can tell that it has a rather
"Live" sound to it. The collection I have is called "Flower Power Generation 1970." And the issue is from Australia. Other tracks sound interestingly different too.

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : It is dissapointing in regards...

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:26:27 +0000

Author: cmmmbase
Subject: 888
Posted: 17 February 2009 at 1:26pm

It is dissapointing in regards to the Whitburn books when research is taken out of the books such as airplay/sales info, songs that charted only on the sales chart and in the case of the most recent Adult Contemporary book, singles b-side info. This just means keep your old editions of the respective books, I guess.

Edited by cmmmbase

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : To Paul Haney: Thanks for responding! ...but...

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:22:25 +0000

Author: AndrewChouffi
Subject: 888
Posted: 17 February 2009 at 11:22am

To Paul Haney:

Thanks for responding!

...but Damn.

There were just too many top-5 Hot 100 hits during that confused Hot 100 period that got there by default of lack of CD Single competition (or by being virtually given away). I'm confident the record labels LOST money instead of profiting, and certainly the publishers made next-to-nothing because of the virtually non-existant airplay the tracks received.

I realize this is not Record Research Inc.'s fault, but the "footnotes" indicating, say Sales "1", Airplay "74" give the future historians a solid indication what may have been going on here & prevent revisionist history.

If it's not too late, please give Mr. Whitburn a copy of this message.

Thank You!

Andy

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : Andrew: Sorry, but that information...

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:24:33 +0000

Author: Paul Haney
Subject: 888
Posted: 17 February 2009 at 7:24am

Andrew: Sorry, but that information will not be in the new edition.

JMD: I get what you're saying, but it's just not going to happen at this time.

Brian: It's something we're currently looking into.

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : Paul Haney wrote:Just to let...

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:17:44 +0000

Author: Brian W.
Subject: 888
Posted: 16 February 2009 at 6:17pm

Paul Haney wrote:

Just to let everyone here know that a new Top Pop Singles 1955-2008 book is in the works and should be out sometime this summer. Also, a new 9th edition of the Top 40 book should be out sometime in 2010.

Paul, has Record Research considered releasing these as e-books for electronic book readers such as Kindle and MS Reader? Books sold in these formats are DRM'd.

"The Letter" - Joe Cocker : On a similar note, I've been...

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 07:45:10 +0000

Author: JMD1961
Subject: 888
Posted: 15 February 2009 at 7:45am

On a similar note, I've been less happy with the Top 40 Hits books since they continued into the '90s. I know it would take a lot more work, but to just say a song was a "top 40 hit" based on Hot 100 placement to me is doing the genre a great disservice.

In the 90s, and even to today, the Hot 100 more of a multi-format chart. To me, data should be included from Billboard's sub-charts, like Top 40 Mainstream. It was done for the '50s, when multiple Pop charts existed. Why not for the '90s?