America "Horse with no Name" remixed?

The song is not titled "A Horse With No Brain", despite typical conversations at our house.

LP and 45 versions (4:10)

The LP and 45 versions were the same. The 45 was in stereo.

The opening strums of the acoustic guitar are panned a little to the left.

The oldest CD I have with the LP/45 version is Sessions/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Freedom Rock (1987). It's from a high-generation tape source here, and sounds a little muffled. Just about all of the CDs below sound better.

There's a far better analog transfer on Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1972 (1989), where it runs 4:10. It sounds great here, with low-generation source tapes, great dynamic range, nice EQ, and no hint of noise reduction. There are digital clones on:

• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 3 1972 (1989) - digitally identical
• Madacy's Rock On 1972 (1996) - digitally exactly 0.5 dB louder

Rhino's Mellow Rock Hits Summer Breeze (1997) seems to use the same source tape as Billboard, but blunts the high end. I prefer the EQ on Billboard.

I think that JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1970-1974 (1994) uses a different analog transfer of the same source tape as Billboard Top R&R Hits 1972, but has a slightly shorter fade. There are differently-EQ'd digital clones of Only on:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion Vol. 1 Sunshine (2005)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 2 Ride Like The Wind (2006)

Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 11 1972 (1991) uses the same analog transfer as Billboard Top R&R Hits 1972, but swaps the left and right channels, so that the opening strums of the acoustic guitar are panned a little to the right. All the tracks on this Superhits disc have their left and right channels reversed. The same disc was later repackaged as AM Gold Vol. 7 1972 (1991), with the same mastering. There was an RE-1 reissue of AM Gold Vol. 7 1972, which swapped out a few tracks, but left "Horse" intact along with its left/right channel reversal. Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 1 1972-1973 (2000) is digitally identical to these, and also has its left/right channels swapped.

An outlier: Razor & Tie/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Easy '70s (1993) has its left and right channels swapped, and is way too loud and clips a lot. Avoid.

Non-hit 1975 remix from History album (4:07)

I don't recall if all the tracks on WB's History/America's Greatest Hits, but "Horse" is definitely remixed. To my ears, it sounds better than the original mix. It's not a drastic overhaul, but a subtle improvement. To differentiate from the hit mix, the History has the opening strums of the acoustic guitar centered, rather than panned left.

Discogs shows WB's History/America's Greatest Hits as being released on CD in 1987. It sounds quite nice here, runs 4:07, and truncates the tail of the fade. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Priority's Seventies Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 12 #1 Groups (1992) - hastens fade
• Razor & Tie's 6-CD 70 Number One Hits Of The 70s Vol. 5 (1998) - hastens fade

My recommendation

For the hit version, go with Rhino's Billboard Top R&R Hits 1972 (1989).