Laid Back - "White Horse"

My U.S. commercial 45 is also uncensored, has label number 7-29346, matrix 7-29346 BAA-2248-V1-S-3:52-WW1 and is exactly as crapfromthepast describes a promo edit.

crapfromthepast wrote: In addition to the commercial 45 edit, there is an additional edit on the promo 45s. This prominently features the word "b****", as on the 12". The bassline starts at 0:22 and the vocals start at 1:40. This version never got any airplay. On the labels of the promos, this version has "Edited by Bobby Shaw and John Potoker", a printed and actual time of 3:52, and the notation "(Edit)".

This is the version on the Rhino 80s box.

Has anyone actually seen the censored version on a U.S. commercial 45? I have the 3:49 censored version on a Canadian commercial 45 as the B-side of 'Sunshine Reggae'. I know that 'Sunshine Reggae' exists on a U.S. commercial 45 (Sire 29224), but I don't know if 'White Horse' is its B-side.

Edited by Paul C

my commercial 45 of "white horse" issued as sire 29346 is the "bitch" version and contains "7 - 29346 BAA - 2248 - v1 - s - 3:52 - jw1" in the run out groove....hope this helps.....

Well, in that case, the database accurately shows which versions are the 45 version and which ones are the DJ edit. Either way, it appears that Rhino has included the correct 45 version for the Omigod box set.

After launching this thread ten(!) years ago now, I was re-visiting "White Horse" in Pat's on-line database yesterday and after reading his notes, decided to do some additional research regarding the censored vs. uncensored versions of this song. So the first thing I did was make a quick visit over to Discogs, where I knew I could find some photos of the U.S. 45. Sure enough, they had several there, and I almost immediately spotted one picture that had a couple of key differences, and from there, I was able to solve all of the confusion surrounding the 45 in this country! (Guess I shouldn't have waited a decade to do this, lol...)

It turns out Pat's hunch was right all along. There were indeed TWO DIFFERENT commercial 45 pressings here in the U.S. - one censored and one uncensored, identical to what was found on each side of the promo 45! Problem was, until now, nobody here had ever actually found a commercial copy w/ the censored version - or even knew how to tell the two different pressings apart, visually. But I've managed to unravel the mystery here, and w/o having to actually buy a copy of the 45, or even listen to any... :-)

What makes things somewhat tough/confusing is that BOTH pressings were on Sire 29346, and BOTH pressings featured the song "So Wie So" on the B-side. But armed w/ the 3:49/censored and 3:52/uncensored info from Pat's notes in the db regarding the promo 45, I found photos of a couple copies of the U.S. commercial 45 over at Discogs w/ a printed time of "3:52", when I then clicked on another, which I immediately noticed had a printed time of "3:49" instead! Further comparison w/ the copies labeled "3:52" revealed one other major difference: The "3:49" copies stated "Edited by Bobby Shaw and J.C.", while the "3:52" copies said "Edited by Bobby Shaw and John Potoker" instead. (It was only AFTER I saw these different editing credits that I discovered cftp had brought this same info to light when discussing his promo 45 above back in 2007.) Here are the pages on Discogs for the promo 45 and the two different commercial 45s, all w/ pictures:
LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. promo 45 w/ both versions)
LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. uncensored commercial 45)
LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. censored commercial 45)

So bottom line: If you're looking for a commercial/stock copy of the U.S. 45 w/ the censored version of "White Horse", just look for a printed time of "3:49" at the center right of the label, and the "Edited by Bobby Shaw and J.C." credit at the upper left (as well as "So Wie So" on the B-side, of course). And if you want a commercial/stock copy w/ the uncensored version, look for a printed time of "3:52" and the "Edited by Bobby Shaw and John Potoker" credit instead (still w/ "So Wie So" on the B-side). Side note: Only promo copies of Sire 29346 feature the notation "(Edit)" printed just under the timing for the song...

A check of the current listings on eBay for all U.S. 45s of "White Horse" on Sire 29346 reveals 13 copies of the uncensored version, and FOUR copies of the censored version. So while less than scientific, it appears that the ratio of copies pressed was in the neighborhood of 75/25, in favor of the uncensored version. For those who want one, here are the four CENSORED copies currently shown on eBay:
Copy #1: LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. censored commercial 45)
Copy #2: LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. censored commercial 45)
Copy #3: LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. censored commercial 45)
Copy #4: LAID BACK - "White Horse" (U.S. censored commercial 45)

Of course, once Pat gets his hands on a censored commercial copy, some revisions to the db will be necessary. For starters, he'll need to change the last part of his note at the top that reads "commercial 45's were all the uncensored (3:52) version". Also, all CD appearances currently labeled "(censored lyrics dj 45 edit version)" can be changed to "(censored 45 edit version)", while those labeled "(uncensored commercial and dj 45 version)" can be simplified to "(uncensored 45 version)"...

I'm trying to find copy of the completely censored
version of this song that has much less hiss than the 2
copies I have. Ron indicated that, in his opinion, the
best sounding copy of the censored version was on Time-
Life's Modern Rock 1980-1984. Is that the version I need
to locate?