Harlow Wilcox..Oakies - Groovy Grubworm
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Topic: Harlow Wilcox..Oakies - Groovy Grubworm
Posted By: davidclark
Subject: Harlow Wilcox..Oakies - Groovy Grubworm
Date Posted: 25 October 2011 at 10:28am
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the sole two database entries for this track are indicated as being from vinyl
but they differ by :04. Anyone have the Plantation 45 to time it? ------------- dc1 |
Replies:
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 28 October 2011 at 2:21pm
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David, I have three mono 45 copies of this; two are 1969 pressings on Plantation and one is a '70s reissue on Shelby Singleton's SSS International label. All three were pressed at Columbia's Terre Haute plant. (I don't have a copy of the original, pre-Plantation issue on Impel.)
The two Plantations are identical in every way, with an actual time of (2:08.5) The SSS International reissue runs exactly (2:09). A very slightly slower speed accounts for the half-second longer playing time. There are two interesting differences between the Plantation and SSS Int'l. 45s: 1. The volume and high frequency levels drop very noticeably on the Plantation 45 between the :10 and :18 marks. The SSS International 45 does not exhibit this "dropout" at all. 2. Between the http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/YahShure/HarlowWilcox-GroovyGrubworm2.jpg - two 45s , "Groovy Grubworm" was upgraded from "instrumental" to "vocal" status. Woo, hoo! :) |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 28 October 2011 at 5:20pm
This has to be one of the more lyrically profound songs of the year, if not decade. "I'm a grubworm" indeed! |
Yah Shure wrote:Posted By: davidclark
Date Posted: 28 October 2011 at 7:53pm
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thanks for the info, Yah Shure. My CD copy sounds like it's from a tape,
from k-Tel "Silly Songs" also runs slow and contains that drop-out (although both are easy to fix). ------------- dc1 |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 1:59pm
So true! I can just picture the "instrumental vs. vocal" debate raging within the Singleton organization. :) Then again, since the composition was co-written, perhaps those three profound words meant a fatter wallet for one of the two guilty parties. |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 16 November 2011 at 4:11pm
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I picked up a copy of the Impel label pressing of the song (where it started out as a B side) and it has a label time of 2:08 and an actual runtime of exactly 2:09. There is no change in volume or high fequency levels between :10 and :18 so it makes me wonder if the SSS International pressing might have been pressed using the Impel label's stampers.
The Impel 45 also credits only Harlow Wilcox as the artist (no Oakies). ------------- Live in stereo. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 17 November 2011 at 9:37pm
Tom, I'm inclined to believe that the levels glitch was due to a problem during the mastering process for the Plantation 45 and that the Singleton organization opted to fix the problem with a re-cut for the SSS International reissue, which had a different B-side ("Golden Guitar Flower") than the Plantation 45's "Moose Trot." Here's the SSS International reissue's deadwax info: GTS 401 711-610 ZTSB 130866-1A TIII (the latter signifying a Columbia Terre Haute pressing.) No Oakies on the Impel original? The plot thickens... :) |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 17 November 2011 at 9:57pm
Groovy Grubworm is the B side of the Impel release, the A side being Sad Is The Lonely.
------------- Live in stereo. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 17 November 2011 at 10:28pm
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Tom, thanks for providing the label scan. The deadwax area is much wider on your Impel single than it is on either the Plantation 45 or the SSS International reissue, which means it is not from the same stamper. Bonus points for being pressed on vinyl!
Also note the different publisher (Little River Pub. Co. vs. Shelby Singleton Music.) As was often the case in the '60s, the bigger label acquiring the master also wanted the publishing rights, which were potentially more lucrative than the recording itself. |
Posted By: Paul C
Date Posted: 18 November 2011 at 9:23am
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Since the only CD appearances of this song in the database master it from vinyl, another scenario to consider is that the Plantation 45 may have been mastered from an Impel 45.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6073&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=i3dbaqo7osbj3r0enrdded2095 - Curiously, this was a #1 country record in Canada: It only reached #42 on the Billboard U.S. country chart. |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 20 November 2011 at 4:16pm
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I am reasonably sure that the Plantation 45 was mastered from an Impel 45 (which times out to 2:17). I think the Plantation 45 sounds inferior to my ears. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 21 November 2011 at 12:21pm
If your Impel 45 times out to 2:17 I'd really love to hear it, as mine times out to 2:09 as I stated earlier. ------------- Live in stereo. |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 21 November 2011 at 7:34pm
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Checked my turntable against a strobe disc. Slow. Recalibrated the SP-25's pitch gain. Center position is accurate and stable against the strobe disc. Rechecked the Impel 45 timing, it is indeed 2:09. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: TomDiehl1
Date Posted: 22 November 2011 at 12:18am
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Tonight a friend of mine purchased a promotional copy of the Plantation records release #28, and let me borrow it as I had been discussing this thread with him earlier in the week. His promo 45 has a listed run time of 2:08 and an actual time of 2:08.5. Deadwax info reads 711-610 113. I didn't notice volume level changes between :10 and :18 but that doesn't mean they're not there, I don't have very good hearing, but I do think the master was likely disc dubbed since the record, to me, doesn't sound as good as the Impel release. ------------- Live in stereo. |