Carly Simon - You’re So Vain

The 45 is the same as the LP version. Both run 4:17. The acoustic guitar starting at 0:05 is panned to the left.

The oldest CD I have with "You're So Vain" is Elektra's Carly Simon Best Of (copyright 1975, my copy has RE-1 in the matrix number). It sounds OK. No noise reduction, reasonable EQ, nice dynamic range, but likely not the lowest-generation source tape. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Priority's Seventies Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 3 High Times (1991) - about 6 dB louder and clips a bit; avoid
• JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1970-1974 (1994)
• Cema's 2-CD Bell Bottom Rock (1996) - digitally exactly 0.136 dB quieter
• Razor & Tie's 7-CD 70 Number One Hits Of The 70s Vol. 5 (1998)

There's a different analog transfer on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 25 Seventies Generation (1992). It sounds comparable to Best Of, and probably doesn't use the lowest-generation source tape. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Razor & Tie's 2-CD Super '70s (1995)

Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 13 1973 (1992), which is identical to Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 3 1973 (1992) in every way, also uses the same analog transfer as Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 25 Seventies Generation, but swaps the left and right channels so that the acoustic guitar starting at 0:05 is panned to the right. The following discs use the same analog transfer as Superhits/AM Gold, and all also have the left/right channels swapped:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 1 1972-1973 (2000) - digitally exactly 2.5 dB louder
• Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion Vol. 1 Sunshine (2005) - digitally exactly 2.5 dB louder
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 2 Ride Like The Wind (2006) - differently-EQ'd digital clone
• Reader's Digest's 4-CD Time In A Bottle (2006)

And then, towering above everything I listed above, is Rhino's Billboard Top Soft Rock Hits 1973 (1997). This disc likely uses a lower-generation source tape than all of the above, and as a result, sounds much more lively than those discs.

I don't have any of the other Carly Simon collections, so I can't comment on them one way or another.

Among my rather limited collection of discs, I'd recommend Rhino's Billboard Top Soft Rock Hits 1973 (1997).

One of the many reasons I joined the forum was to read Ron's reports. They're wonderful. All Top 40 songs should have these reports. Sorry, Ron, I don't want to give you too much work, jajaja!

crapfromthepast wrote: The 45 is the same as the LP version. Both run 4:17. The acoustic guitar starting at 0:05 is panned to the left. The oldest CD I have with "You're So Vain" is Elektra's Carly Simon Best Of (copyright 1975, my copy has RE-1 in the matrix number). It sounds OK. No noise reduction, reasonable EQ, nice dynamic range, but likely not the lowest-generation source tape. The same analog transfer is used on: Priority's Seventies Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 3 High Times (1991) - about 6 dB louder and clips a bit; avoid JCI's Only Rock 'N Roll 1970-1974 (1994) Cema's 2-CD Bell Bottom Rock (1996) - digitally exactly 0.136 dB quieter Razor & Tie's 7-CD 70 Number One Hits Of The 70s Vol. 5 (1998) There's a different analog transfer on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 25 Seventies Generation (1992). It sounds comparable to Best Of, and probably doesn't use the lowest-generation source tape. The same analog transfer is used on: Razor & Tie's 2-CD Super '70s (1995) Time-Life's Superhits Vol. 13 1973 (1992), which is identical to Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 3 1973 (1992) in every way, also uses the same analog transfer as Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 25 Seventies Generation, but swaps the left and right channels so that the acoustic guitar starting at 0:05 is panned to the right. The following discs use the same analog transfer as Superhits/AM Gold, and all also have the left/right channels swapped: Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 1 1972-1973 (2000) - digitally exactly 2.5 dB louder Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion Vol. 1 Sunshine (2005) - digitally exactly 2.5 dB louder Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 2 Ride Like The Wind (2006) - differently-EQ'd digital clone Reader's Digest's 4-CD Time In A Bottle (2006) And then, towering above everything I listed above, is Rhino's Billboard Top Soft Rock Hits 1973 (1997). This disc likely uses a lower-generation source tape than all of the above, and as a result, sounds much more lively than those discs. I don't have any of the other Carly Simon collections, so I can't comment on them one way or another. Among my rather limited collection of discs, I'd recommend Rhino's Billboard Top Soft Rock Hits 1973 (1997).