pete drake forever

Ed, "Forever" was issued under both catalog numbers, each with a different "B" side ("Sleep Walk" on 1867 and "Midnight In Amarilla" on 1888.

My stock copy is also on Smash 1888.

Edited by Yah Shure

Ed, I think I know why Mr. Whitburn listed it the way he has. The Smash
1867 45 was released around Jan. 1964, and this was truly the Top 40 hit.
Quite often in the 60's, labels would "recycle" an old 45's B-side (and less
commonly, an old 45's A-side) for a subsequent 45 release. After all, the
mastering/pressing/stamping process was already completed for these
tracks, making this process both much quicker and far less expensive for
the labels. That's what happened here, Ed. "Midnight In Amarilla" was the
immediate follow-up 45 to "Forever", released in late March 1964. Smash,
for whatever reason, decided to again use "Forever" as this 45's B-side.
Why? Who knows. Perhaps 45 sales for "Forever" were slowing down, and
the label was pondering whether or not to do "one more current 45
pressing run" on it. But by instead opting to add it as the B-side of his
follow-up, retaliers could then also sell Smash 1888 copies to any
remaining customers wanting a "Forever" copy. Therefore, having Mr.
Whitburn also list Smash 1888 as a "hit release" # is technically incorrect -
because it was the "B" side of that 45. But I do agree, Ed - Smash 1888
copies have long been far easier to track down than Smash 1867 has
been.

Just checked both 45s deadwaxes for you: (both machine-stamped)

Smash 1867: YW 30207 1
Smash 1888: YW 30207 2 (for both my copies of this)

To answer your question, Ed: Yes. Aside from the pressing run # difference
(1 vs. 2), the masters #'s appear to be identical.

paul, thanks for double checking.....