Byron MacGregor - Americans

OK...another item for the record books (ok, well at the least database...).

I just picked up the CD "The Americans". The version of the 1974#4 hit "Americans" is NOT the same as my Westbound 45. 1) the beginning is clipped of two drum beats, 2) Byron's voice has reverb on the CD not found on the 45, 3) the bass drum continues at a constant volume up to about :08 on the CD where it fades on the single and finally, 4) there is a tape flaw at about 1:50 that is not on my single.

Now, I wonder if anyone has the LP this came from to compare against this CD version. I'd like to know if history is preserved only on vinyl for this hit, as we're finding with so many others....makes me so angry....[breathes]...so agree indeed.

btw...I remember Byron MacGregor well as the news voice of CKLW radio (Windsor, Ontario, Canada but really catering to Detroit) in the mid-70s.

Glad you did, Pat. You take this stuff as serious as we all do! I am amazed at how many songs are different between their 45 and LP versions, the 45 versions most often being more rare over time. I’m sure this is one 45 version we’ll find won’t make it to CD even though it reached #4!

There's another difference between the 45 & the LP versions: At 2:34,there is a line on the 45 version that says "...Let someone else buy the Israel bonds." On the LP version it says "Let someone else buy the foreign bonds." How bout dat?

me too Brian, me too...(my 45 is nice and clean and has been MP3d!)

I have a version of this that I got off Kazaa way back before I learned better. It also says "Isreal bonds".