Elton John - Your Song

I have two stereo mixes of this track - one with the drum track split left and
right (my source: "Elton John" - remastered 1999, w/ Bonus Tracks), the other
with it in the centre (my source: "Greatest Hits" 1987 CD issue of 1974 LP).
Anyone know which is the original (I suspect the split version) and when the
remix first appeared (I suspect on 1974 "Greatest Hits" LP)?

Edited by davidclark

Thanks, Andy. My vinyl copy of "Greatest Hits" is long gone, so I am glad to
know you have one. So, maybe the remix came in the CD era.

David, that remix you describe with the drums in the
center dates back the to the 1983 European album "The
Superior Sound Of Elton John 1970-1975" on DJM records.
I bought it on import vinyl in 1985. The top of the cover
says "remixed from the original multi-tracks into a new
dimension of sound." Later on a buddy graciously burned
me a copy of the CD.

Some of these remixes have since leaked onto other
CD's..particularly "Daniel" which was presented in its
original form, without the re-editing that was done for
the hit release. I didn't know "Your Song" also appeared
elsewhere.
The sound quality is amazing but overly "crisp" .. they
really topped out the hi-end, I think to demonstrate how
well these tracks were engineered. I particularly enjoy
the remix of "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding."

RE: Your Song MONO 45 mix .. this should have been
a bonus track on the album re-issue. Thanks to Jim I only
just recently heard the mono mix for the first time. It's
quite different! The strings are mixed differently and
the most noticeable thing is added reverb on his voice.
Then starting with the words "I sat on the roof" .. they
cranked the reverb up to high so it has a very "60's"
feel to it.
That now leaves me curious about his other few mono 45's.
My next one to seek out will be "Tiny Dancer".

[Edit: thanks to Jim I now know "Tiny Dancer" had no mono
mix, not even on the promo... so nothing to report there]

MM

Edited by MMathews

This "Your Song" issue was just called to my attention recently and after comparing the mono 45 vs the stereo LP I do detect some noticeable reverb on the 45 so after mulling over whether this should be a LP mix or LP version for several days now I have decided to classify every entry as LP version. Like Mark, I am surprised that this song has yet to appear in the mono 45 version on compact disc yet.

Edited by Pat Downey

To Bill Cahill:

The stereo version of "Friends" with the undecoded Dolby WAS actually issued in the US in 1985 on the MCA Elton John CD 'Love Songs'. Sounding terrible, but reasonably faithful to the Paramount vinyl.

The first issue of the song "Friends" in the US with properly decoded Dolby was on the CD 'Rare Masters' released in 1992.

Andy

Edited by AndrewChouffi