Gladys Knight - Midnight Train To Georgia

I have the 45 version of "Midnight Train To Georgia" on Rhino's Can You Dig It box set, and the sound is completely awful! If I had to guess, I'd say it was mastered from cassette tape. All of the high end has been rolled off, making it sound very flat, and a lot of noise reduction has been applied.

Now, in doing a quick comparison with the LP version, I don't hear any differences in the mix. Am I missing something, or can the LP be edited to make the 45? If so, why in the world did Rhino use this horrible sounding master for their box set?

On the 45 mix there is additional plate reverb on EVERYTHING including drums lead vocals & The Pips' background vocals.

There is one edit point also.

Andy

Pat mentions in the book that the Verese CD runs short and does not contain the reverb.

I tried at one point to recreate the 45 from the LP version. I couldn't get the edit right, then I started to notice the mix differences. Yes, the 45 mix is somewhat lo-fi; it definitely has the "AM radio" quality.

Roscoe wrote: I tried at one point to recreate the 45 from the LP version. I couldn't get the edit right, then I started to notice the mix differences.

The edit is a bit tricky because it's not just an edit. They actually overlapped two sections of the song for about a second or so. I was able to recreate this part using the LP version.

Roscoe wrote: Yes, the 45 mix is somewhat lo-fi; it definitely has the "AM radio" quality.

You got that right! This one needs to go right next to "Magic Carpet Ride" as one of the worst sounding masters in history. But if I had to guess, I'd say it wasn't mastered that way on purpose. It really sounds like the tape is bad, but Rhino tried to remove the excess hiss and noise. The LP version sounds just fine, as far as sound quality goes.