SANTANA - "Hold On"

SANTANA - "Hold On"

The actual commercial 45 running time is (3:53), the listed time is "3:49" on the record label (Columbia 18-03160)

To Gene:

There are two different mixes of the LP version.

One mix has Alex Ligertwood's lead vocals mixed quite dryly.

The other mix (single mix) has quite a bit of murky reverb on his vox.

Andy

There was only one hit mix of "Hold On" in 1982, and it's the mix that was on the 45.

On the LP version on CBS's Shango CD (released 1983 on CD in US), the drum fill starting at 1:38 (on the end of the word "do") is centered in the soundstage, the guitar solo from 1:41-1:56 is very much in stereo, and the fade runs from 4:10 to about 4:20 or 4:21. The same version (different analog transfer) is on TM Studios Goldwav track no. 00012805.

The 45 can be edited from the version on Shango. I think it's one edit on the intro and an early fade. The 45 edit is on Sony TV/Columbia's non-US release Ultimate Collection (2000), which sounds terrific.

All of the above have an excellent dynamic range.

There's a 2013 28-track collection on Qobuz called The Essential Santana. The graphics don't quite look like the Essential series from the early '00s, and I'm not sure if it's just a trimmed version of the 33-track Essential from 2002. The version on the 2013 The Essential Santana is the original mix, but extending way beyond the 45 fade by about 43 seconds. It's mastered too loud and clips quite a bit.

There's a new mix of "Hold On" on Columbia/Legacy's The Best Of Santana (1998). I don't know exactly where this mix originated, but it was from 1998 or earlier. In this new mix, the drum fill starting at 1:38 is panned to the right, the guitar solo from 1:40 to 1:55 is in mono, and the fade runs from 3:52 to 4:21. The new mix was originally mastered too loud, so that it clips quite a bit. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Sony's cheapie multi-artist Hits Of 1982 (1999)
• Sony's budget multi-disc multi-artist Rockin' 80s (2004)


Edited by crapfromthepast - 4 hours 13 minutes ago at 5:53am

Thanks for the updates, guys! It sounds like I was (in a very narrow sense) correct that the original LP (CD) length version could be edited to the single length... but clearly there's the alternate remix floating around that would not match the single or original LP.

Andy - I was responsible for originally labeling Hits Of 1982 as being the LP version. Up until yesterday, I didn't know that there was a second mix in circulation. I wouldn't have noticed at all, but for your post!