Jr. Walker And The All Stars - Shotgun

A favorite of mine from 1965.

Mono

This was the hit. It's on the 45 and the mono LP version (confirmed on YouTube).

The mono version turned up first on CD on Motown's 4-CD Hitsville U.S.A. Vol. 1 (1992). I still can't say enough good things about this collection, which marked the first appearance of a whole lot of the mono Motown mixes. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Motown's Jr. Walker collecton Nothin' But Soul The Singles (1994)
• Rhino's Soul Spectacular (2002)

There's a different analog transfer on Motown's Jr. Walker Ultimate Collection (1997). It's mastered far too loud here, which crushes the dynamic range of the song, but if you match volume levels, it sounds about the same as Hitsville (same EQ). The same analog transfer is used on:

• Hip-O Select's The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 5: 1965 box set (2006) - cuts off the blammo intro and starts with the instrumentation

Stereo

It's on the stereo Shotgun LP, with the same version being on the vinyl Collection Of 16 Big Hits Vol. 5 LP (confirmed on YouTube).

For the stereo version, Motown replaced the blammo intro from the mono version with a different sound effect, which zooms from the right ear to the left ear. I suppose the mono intro wouldn't have worked well with the extreme panning effect? Not sure.

Interestingly, I found some masterings that match the stereo vinyl versions exactly, and others that shorten the intro.

The version that matches the stereo vinyl versions appears on Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989). It sounds just fine here, The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's Rhythm And Blues Vol. 7 1965 (1991) - left/right channels swapped
• Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 12 1965 (1991) - left/right channels swapped
• Time-Life 2-CD Classic Rhythm And Blues Collection Vol. 3 1964-1967 (2000) - left/right channels swapped

The very first appearance of the song on CD was likely Motown's Good-Feeling Music Of The Big Chill Generation Vol. 2 (1985). The sound quality is quite nice here, comparable to the Rhino disc. But the mastering shortens the end of the blammo intro by 0.28 seconds, so that the music starts 0.28 seconds earlier than the stereo vinyl versions. So if we're picky, we can say it's not the actual vinyl stereo version, but a shortened-intro stereo version that's otherwise the same as the vinyl stereo version. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Motown's Jr. Walker collection Compact Command Performances 19 Greatest Hits (1986)
• Motown's Jr. Walker Greatest Hits (1987)
• Motown's 16 #1 Hits From The Early '60s (1987)
• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 1 1965 (1987) - left/right channels swapped
• Motown's Motown Dance Party Vol. 1 (1987) - truncated fade
• Motown's Collection Of 16 Big Hits Vol. 5 (1989)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Rock Party (1990) - left/right channels swapped

There are different analog transfers of the same shortened-intro version on:

• Heartland Music's 2-CD Real Rock (1987)
• Sessions/Warner Special Products' 2-CD '60s Frat Rock (1990) - left/right channels swapped
• Silver Eagle's 3-CD Motown 25th Anniversary Collection (copyright 1983) - sounds awful; this a terrible-sounding collection from start to finish

Non-hit 2005 stereo remix

Shout Factory's 4-CD The Motown Box (2005) includes extended remixes by Tom Moulton for quite a few tracks, including "Shotgun". It runs about 14 seconds longer here, and uses the mono version's sound effect for the intro. It turns up on a few other CDs that I don't have.

My recommendations

For the mono version, go with Motown's 4-CD Hitsville U.S.A. Vol. 1 (1992).

For the stereo version, go with Rhino's Billboard Top R&B Hits 1965 (1989). I assume that you want the intro to match what was released on vinyl at the time.

For the non-hit 2005 stereo remix by Tom Moulton, go with Shout Factory's 4-CD The Motown Box (2005).

Edited by crapfromthepast

Ron,

The Definitive Collection of Jr. Walker has a slightly longer extended version (3:19) which sounds better than the Billboard from 1989 and almost every other track I have listened to and can be edited down to match the 45 running time except the only issue like you pointed out is the intro which does not match the mono.

I agree on your choice for the mono 100 percent.

PopArchivist wrote: The Definitive Collection of Jr. Walker has a slightly longer extended version (3:19) which sounds better than the Billboard from 1989 and almost every other track I have listened to and can be edited down to match the 45 running time except the only issue like you pointed out is the intro which does not match the mono.

The 3:19 version is the new Tom Moulton mix. It does sound good, but it was created in 2005 and doesn't match the hit mixes from 1965.