Jay Ferguson - Thunder Island

A fine hit from 1978, featuring Joe Walsh on guitar.

I have the LP length on Rhino's Mellow Rock Hits Summer Breeze (1997), where it runs 3:59. It sounds really muffled on this disc, unfortunately, with very little high end, and an ill-defined soundstage. If I had to guess, I'd guess that it's from a higher-generation source tape. There's a digitally identical clone on Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 12 1975-1979 (2001).

I have the 45 length on Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 21 (1993), where it runs 3:28 and fades from 3:09 to 3:28. It's a little loud and clips a bit, but the song sounds WAY better here than on Summer Breeze. There are digital clones on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 39 Pop Nuggets Late '70s (1995; differently EQ'd digital clone)
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 25 1978 (1997; digitally exactly 0.5 dB quieter)

The Time-Life CD Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 35 AM Nuggets (1993) uses the same analog transfer as Have A Nice Day but reversed the left/right channels and fades a few seconds early. That's bad. I have two other discs that are based on the mastering for AM Nuggets, and also have their left/right channels reversed and fade a few seconds early:

• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll #1 Radio Hits 1975-1979 (1996)
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Seventies Party Mix (1996)

My recommendations:

For the LP length, go with Rhino's Mellow Rock Hits Summer Breeze (1997) or a digital clone. (I can't vouch for more recent discs, or any of the Jay Ferguson single-artist discs.)

For the 45 length, go with Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 21 (1993) or a digital clone.

Edited by crapfromthepast