Gordon Lightfoot-Circle Is Small

Pat, you are correct that the hit version can be found on the Endless Wire, Songbook and Complete Greatest Hits CDs, but he first recorded this song in 1968 on his "Back Here On Earth" album on United Artists and the original is on domestic CD. The domestic CD is the second disc of the United Artists Collection, stereo, and the timing is 3:28. The label is EMI and the catalog number is 27015.

Edited by BradOlson

Pat, I just re-stumbled upon this "listed & actual (3:51) timing" fact during my current 1978 research; perhaps you could add a brief note to this effect in the database, whenever you get a spare moment - thanks.

So, at (3:57) - i.e., :06 longer than the "45 length", but :06 shorter than the "LP length" - the entry for "Complete Greatest Hits" gets which designation now??? :-)

Pat Downey wrote: I would hope that anyone can make their own designation based on the information given with regards to the 45 and LP running time.

I was just being tongue-in-cheek, Pat. :-) While I don't doubt that other examples already exist, this was honestly the first time I'd ever noticed here on the chat board that the timing difference on a particular CD was split right down the middle, thus creating that dilemma, lol. Personally, I'd rather have the full (4:03) LP length, but alas, at this time, the only CD that I have w/ "The Circle is Small" is "Complete Greatest Hits" - which I ran out & bought the week it came out, as I'd been waiting for just such a GL collection for years, so I do think it's pretty good! (Am I the only one here who thinks his 1982 hit, "Baby Step Back", should've done a LOT better here in the U.S.?!? Also, "Daylight Katy" is one of the few songs dating back to the '70s that I actually remember hearing often on the radio as a kid, yet never made the pop charts. Yes, it was an AC hit, but I can't remember if the stations I heard it on were AC- or top 40-formatted, though...)

80smusicfreak wrote: Pat Downey wrote: I would hope that anyone can make their own designation based on the information given with regards to the 45 and LP running time. I was just being tongue-in-cheek, Pat. :-) While I don't doubt that other examples already exist, this was honestly the first time I'd ever noticed here on the chat board that the timing difference on a particular CD was split right down the middle, thus creating that dilemma, lol.

Actually, I've seen one other instance in the database where this down-the-middle-split occurs... Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs" has a LP length of 3:53 and a 45 length of 3:43, but the song runs 3:48 on the Ultimate Manilow CD (Arista 10600 and 725686)!