Gladys Knight Where Peaceful Waters Flow

edtop40 wrote: ......it also has 'good sound' in script further around the groove....there must be two different pressings......

That actually reads "Bell Sound", which was the NYC recording studio that cut the lacquer for the 45. My styrene stock 45 matches Paul's, which is a Monarch pressing from Los Angeles. In addition to the "delta 91660" number and the "Bell Sound" script logo, there's also the Monarch logo: a co-joined "MR" inside a circle.

While I don't have a vinyl-pressed copy of "Peaceful Waters," I do have multiple copies of a Kama Sutra single that debuted on the Hot 100 just one week later: "Brother Louie." My stock copy is a styrene Monarch pressing with the same style of deadwax details as the "Peaceful Waters" Monarch 45 above. My promo copy is vinyl, with the same "SON" inscription Ed had on his "Peaceful Waters" 45 (The "SON" stood for Sonic Recording Products, which was located in Holbrook, NY, on Long Island, at the time.) But aside from the markings specific to those two particular pressing plants, everything else about the actual cuttings matches, meaning the plates used at the respective east and west coast pressing plants had been sourced from the same, NYC-cut Bell Sound lacquer. Odds are excellent that the same had also been true for the "Peaceful Waters" 45.

In any event, it's great to know we're now in agreement as to where peaceful wah-wahs flow. ;)

BTW, here's a way you can often tell at a glance that a 45 was cut on Bell Sound studio's 45 lathe, without even looking at the deadwax: the lead-in groove area is noticeably wider than what you'll find on almost all other late-'60s and '70s 45s, and it takes about three revolutions to get from the outer edge of the record to the playing area. In addition to many Buddah and (post-MGM-distributed) Kama Sutra 45s, you're also likely to encounter Bell Sound-cut 45s on the London Records family of labels from that period, as well as the Amy/Mala/Bell group (no relation to Bell Sound Studios.)