Michael (Martin) Murphey - Wildfire
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Topic: Michael (Martin) Murphey - Wildfire
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Subject: Michael (Martin) Murphey - Wildfire
Date Posted: 04 December 2016 at 12:20pm
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Michael not-yet-Martin Murphey had a big pop hit with "Wildfire" in 1975. The song continued the fine 1970s tradition of offing someone in the lyrics (see: "Seasons In The Sun", "Billy Don't Be A Hero", and "Shannon" even if it was a dog...named Snuggles).
LP version (4:46) You have two choices for the LP version on CD. Both seem to use the same source tapes (but different analog transfers). Both have essentially the same sound quality, which is pretty good. The first choice is on Columbia/Legacy's Rock Artifacts Vol. 2 (1991). No complaints here; the four Rock Artifacts discs are exquisite in their track selection and sound quality. The same analog transfer is used on:
The Wikipedia entry for "Wildfire" states: "The song is rather famous for its piano intro and outro, which is often left off versions of the song edited for radio." Yup. The 45 keeps only the 0:44-4:00 portion of the 4:46 LP version, and fades early. All the 45 versions on CD come from the mastering from one disc: Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 14 (1990). It sounds like excellent source tapes, great dynamic range, and no noise reduction (as is the case with all the LP-version discs listed above). One major difference, though, is that the Rhino disc gas a remarkably bright EQ, which makes the LP versions sound rather dull in comparison. The same analog transfer is used on:
For the LP version, I like Columbia/Legacy's Rock Artifacts Vol. 2 (1991), but I'm biased toward these discs. All the others sound virtually the same as Rock Artifacts Vol. 2. For the 45 version, I like Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 14 (1990). Here, too, all the others sound virtually the same as Have A Nice Day Vol. 14. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Replies:
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 04 December 2016 at 12:32pm
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Oops - forgot to mention that in the Kenny Rogers tradition of rerecording the hits, there are some non-hit rerecordings of "Wildfire" out there, running 5:05. Avoid. ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 04 December 2016 at 2:13pm
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My 45 version of choice is to recreate it from Rock
Artifacts 2. The high end EQ on the existing 45 versions out there has always bothered me. |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 24 December 2016 at 6:55pm
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The 45 is bright sounding also, even promo copies. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 25 December 2016 at 10:29pm
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Bob Irwin did the initial transfer of the original LP
version from the master tape. They had to bake it, and were able to get a good pass before the tape disintegrated. Good for all! That tape of the 45 was very compressed, so the dynamic range isn't that good. But, it worked for radio. ------------- |
Posted By: AdvprosD
Date Posted: 11 August 2020 at 8:51pm
I read this a few times and am still confused. What does all this mean? Did they literally "Bake" the master tape? And, if the master disintegrated, how is that good? Or, am I missing something here that is "Code" for "We don't like the song?" I guess they don't get so saccharin quite like this much but, it's an ok tune in general, imho. ------------- <Dave> Someone please tell I-Heart Radio that St. Louis is not known as The Loo! |
The Hits Man wrote:Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 11 August 2020 at 9:50pm
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What you are reading is not code. There are probably others here who
can explain it better, but this is how I understand it. Tape is mostly plastic but has a glue/adhesive that holds the metal oxide onto it. The metal oxide is the brown colored material that actually stores the audio information. Some tapes were made with adhesives that break down over time due to moisture, so the oxide starts flaking off. Baking the tape can re-stabilize the adhesive temporarily so that it can be played again. The “good” comment above is not meant facetiously. It’s literally good that they were able to get the master tape to play one more time and transfer it to another source. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |