"Sky High" - Jigsaw

According to Jim, his commercial 45 copy of Jigsaw's "Sky High" has an actual and printed run time of 2:53. I only post this because the song's database CDs (with the exception of the lone rerecording entry) run 2:46-2:52.

You've made an interesting observation, Hykker, because I just compared "Sky High" on the following CDs:

Billboard Top Hits - 1975 (Rhino 70670)
Super Hits of the 70's Volume 15 (Rhino 70762)
Rock 'n Roll Relix 1974-1975 (Eclipse Music Group 64894)

The intro starts cold on the Rock 'n Roll Relix disc, yet it fades in on the Billboard and Super Hits of the 70's CDs. Meanwhile, the song's ending on the latter two discs fades out roughly :04 sooner than on the former CD. (By the way, I also detect what sounds like some vinyl crackling during the intro of both the Rhino CDs, so I'm wondering if these are vinyl dubs?)

Although I passed along Jim's run times for his commercial 45 of "Sky High", I do not have a copy of it to verify how the intro begins. It's also possible that the song might have a different intro on the Jigsaw Sky High 1975 vinyl LP. If anyone can furnish information for either, it may be a big help in solving this mystery.

Edited by Todd Ireland

Yes, and having been co-producer on that Taragon "Best of Jigsaw" CD, I spoke firsthand with the master tape owner, Chas Peate, and master tape was used for "Sky High."

Also, to answer the question above, the song does not have a different intro on the Jigsaw Sky High 1975 vinyl LP. Rhino was the first label to fade in and out on "Sky High", and the other fadein CDs are just copies of the Rhino source, which would seem to be from vinyl to hide the noise in the quiet intro and outro.

And FYI, the only vinyl source used on the 24-song Taragaon "Best of Jigsaw" CD was for the Hot 100 hit "Brand New Love Affair". Chas Peate explained to me that Wes Farrell requested the original tape to add applause/cheering to the recording and make it seem like it was a live recording (which is rather odd in itself considering the recording fades, and most live bands just end a song rather than fade it.) Thus, when "Brand New Love Affair" became an A-side single (instead of the B-side of "Sky High"), suddenly the same recording had concert applause. Anyway, years later while transferring the Jigsaw catalog from master tape to DAT, Chas realized he didn't have the masters on the no-applause or applause versions of this song and deduced that Wes Farrell never sent them back.

Also, of all Jigsaw's recordings between 1972 and the mid '80s, this is the only one where vinyl had to be used. (And btw, there are a total of 160 Jigsaw recordings. Most US fans think they had just the 3 albums = 30 songs, but that's not the case at all.)

YES!