Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy For President

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   Okay...maybe someone on here can help me out. For years, I have had an mp3 on my computer of this odd version of Snoopy For President by the Royal Guardsmen. The beginning part of it sounds like it should belong on the album for the song, but it does not come from there from what i've been told. It starts off with some spoken German words that I can't understand then "united states...kennedy, nixon, mccarthy, rockefeller, snoopy, humphrey.....snoopy? ach du lieber!" 

Then after that, the song goes into the version i'm familiar with (with "In '68" intact) in stereo with the instruments in the left channel, vocals centered, and horns in the right channel, however what gets me is that this recording was dubbed from vinyl, and the beginning part does not sound like it had been dubbed from vinyl. So, now im curious, where did this version originate from, and was the beginning part just something someone threw together as a bonus to the song to deliberately make something unique? Or is there really a cd/lp out there somewhere in the world that I can find this version on? I've wanted to get a hard copy of this version for YEARS, and this will drive me nuts forever until I can find out where this came from. I've had this mp3 on my computer (or backed up on cd-r) since at least early 2001, and I've asked everyone I know about this version, and no one has a clue where it comes from. One friend even sent me the various versions of the song he had on cd and none of them were this version. However from listening to it, it sounds like it must have come from an lp (maybe special to the mono lp and never put onto the stereo version?)

The version that i'm talking about. (right click and save, don't just click on the link)

Edited by TomDiehl1

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TomDiehl1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 13 January 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote TomDiehl1 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Royal Guardsmen - Snoopy For President Posted: 18 August 2006 at 1:10am
	Okay...maybe someone on here can help me out. For years, I have had an mp3 on my computer of this odd version of Snoopy For President by the Royal Guardsmen. The beginning part of it sounds like it should belong on the album for the song, but it does not come from there from what i've been told. It starts off with some spoken German words that I can't understand then "united states...kennedy, nixon, mccarthy, rockefeller, snoopy, humphrey.....snoopy? ach du lieber!" Then after that, the song goes into the version i'm familiar with (with "In '68" intact) in stereo with the instruments in the left channel, vocals centered, and horns in the right channel, however what gets me is that this recording was dubbed from vinyl, and the beginning part does not sound like it had been dubbed from vinyl. So, now im curious, where did this version originate from, and was the beginning part just something someone threw together as a bonus to the song to deliberately make something unique? Or is there really a cd/lp out there somewhere in the world that I can find this version on? I've wanted to get a hard copy of this version for YEARS, and this will drive me nuts forever until I can find out where this came from. I've had this mp3 on my computer (or backed up on cd-r) since at least early 2001, and I've asked everyone I know about this version, and no one has a clue where it comes from. One friend even sent me the various versions of the song he had on cd and none of them were this version. However from listening to it, it sounds like it must have come from an lp (maybe special to the mono lp and never put onto the stereo version?) The version that i'm talking about. (right click and save, don't just click on the link) Edited by TomDiehl1
	Live in stereo.

jimct Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 07 April 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote jimct Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 August 2006 at 3:53am
	Tom: As I recall, the version with the "Red Baron" intro arrived in stores just days before Bobby Kennedy's 1968 assassination. Laurie quickly reacted after his murder, snipping off the intro, which mentioned Kennedy. I believe I read that both 45s and LPs were already out there, before the "emergency recall". However, I cannot confirm this. Best guess; I would conclude that while most 45s/LPs have the edit, some "original" pressings of both configurations are still out there. Your mp3 version (with the intro) sure sounds like it came from a quality source. A CD, or at the very least, a mint LP. Deadwax info would probably differentiate one vinyl release from the other. I have both the US and Australian hits CDs for them - both contain the edit. Collectables has a 2 LPs-on-1 CD, including the "Snoopy For President" LP, but I'd suspect Laurie, back in '68, wrote "final master" on the tape box which included the "edited" version, desiring to NEVER have the Kennedy-mentioned version see the light of day again. I hope I was at least able to shed some light on your version's origin for you. It was, in fact, a legitimate, and the original release of the song. Good luck combing those vinyl bins, Tom!

Gary Mack Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 06 February 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gary Mack Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 August 2006 at 6:26am
	Initial promo copies of Snoopy For President included the spoken intro, but later promos and stock copies do not. Laurie Records did, indeed, edit the single following the RFK assassination. Fortunately, there's an easy way to tell them apart. The promo 45 reads "Record No. 3451" on the label with a 2:49 run time, whereas the edited version is "Record No. 3451-A" and says 2:37. The matrix numbers, of course, are also different. The original is W4KM-1149 and the edit is W4KM-1223. GM Edited by Gary Mack

TomDiehl1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 13 January 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote TomDiehl1 Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 August 2006 at 10:10am
	One of my ebay buddies has a promo 45 of the song on ebay, and he included a sound sample....the lyric includes the words "in '68" however i've heard that most versions had even that removed as well. His version is the 3451-A with 2:37 on the label. So were there three promo 45 versions, then? Because I had heard that the version with the "in '68" lyric wasn't around very long....
	Live in stereo.