Elton John - Your Song

Welcome to the board, Fastphilly. Anyone who collects old promo 45s is OK
in my book!

I just wanted to note here that the promo 45 scan for "Tiny Dancer" on 45cat
has the listed (3:45) "short version" on one side, and the stock 45 flip, "Razor
Face" on the other. Whereas my "Tiny Dancer" promo 45 copy includes
short/long versions of the hit side, so two different UNI 55318 promo 45s
were pressed up for it back in the day.

Edited by jimct

For "Your Song":

Mono version

It's a dedicated mix that never showed up on CD. Buy a 45.

Stereo version

This mix will likely sound wrong to your ears. The drums are panned pretty drastically, in a manner that may not quite feel familiar to you. (I'll explain below.)

I don't have the original MCA CD release of Elton John (copyright 1970, original CD release on MCA in 1987), but it's a safe bet that this is the earliest CD release of the original stereo mix of the song.

What I do have is Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 2 1971 (1989), where it sounds quite nice. Excellent dynamic range, no clipping, nice EQ, hissy fade, and no hint of noise reduction. Because some later Elton John CDs use this same analog transfer, I would guess that this is likely a digital clone of the original MCA release Elton John, but can't confirm. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life Superhits Vol. 4 1970 (1990) - left and right channels are correct, unlike later Superhits discs
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 2 (1990) - this disc is the same as Superhits but with different packaging
• MCA's 4-CD To Be Continued (1990) - absolute polarity inverted, which doesn't affect the sound at all
• Selections From The Elton John Collection (1992) - is this a promo only disc?
• Time-Life's Singers And Songwriters Vol. 31 Classics (2001) - digitally identical
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 3 Into The Night (2006) - differently EQ'd digital clone

The original stereo version also turns up on PolyTel Canada's 2-CD Brit's Blitz (1987), but this disc sounds pretty terrible overall. The mastering isn't based on any of the above.

Non-hit 1983 remix

The CD The Superior Sound Of Elton John 1970-1975 (1983) is made up entirely of fresh new mixes from the multi-track tapes. All the tracks sound crisp and clean, but all are modernized in some manner, whether it's increasing the dynamic range, or centering some elements that were more panned in the original mix. Ultimately, you can't really recreate the magic of the original hit mixes, so we'll label this disc as a fantastic-sounding curiosity in the Elton John catalog.

"Your Song" was one of the songs on Superior Sound, and the new mix centers the drums, rather than pans them drastically as in the original mix.

Amazingly, there are differently EQ'd digital clones of The Superior Sound Of Elton John 1970-1975 on MCA's Greatest Hits (copyright 1984) and Polydor's Greatest Hits (copyright 1974)! Yes, the world's most common Elton John CDs include the non-hit 1983 remix! If the centered-drums version is the one that you're used to hearing, that's almost certainly due to its inclusion on the Greatest Hits CD (originally on MCA, rereleased on Polydor). Oldies radio likely plays the centered-drums version, also because it turned up on Greatest Hits, which all program directors own.

I'm kinda shocked that I never realized this, until 48 years after the song was a hit.

Others

There's a live version that was released as a single in the UK in 1987. It turns up on the West German compilation Hits On CD Vol. 8 (1987, Mercury).

There's a demo version on MCA's 4-CD To Be Continued (1990).

The promo 45 of "Tiny Dancer" is an early-faded 3:48 (according to the label) abortion, and the UNI stock single is the same as the LP version with a label time of 6:12. Both are stereo.

MMathews wrote: 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

Fastphilly wrote: Yes I am missing a few of his Uni and Congress promos. I have only "Tiny Dancer", "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man". I have most of his MCA promos and none of them contained shorter promo only edits. First time posting on this site. Love it!!

Glad to see you new here in 2016!