Michael (Martin) Murphey - Wildfire

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:

• Time-Life's Body Talk Vol. 20 Heart And Soul (1998; digitally exactly 1 dB louder)
• Realm's 3-CD Ultimate Love Classics Vol. 1 (2000; digitally exactly 1 dB louder until 3:16)

The second choice is on Time-Life's 2-CD Singers And Songwriters Vol. 3 1974-1975 (1999). I know from experience that this Time-Life series is mostly digital clones of other, earlier CDs, so I'd guess that this disc is based on the mastering from Epic's Michael Murphy album Blue Sky/Night Thunder, but can't confirm. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Time-Life's 2-CD Seventies Music Explosion Vol. 3 Miracles (2005; digitally exactly 1.4 dB louder)
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic Soft Rock Vol. 1 Summer Breeze (2006; differently-EQ'd digital clone)

45 version (3:16)

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:

• Razor & Tie's 2-CD More Fabulous '70s (1991; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Priority's Seventies Greatest Rock Hits Vol. 3 High Times (1991; too loud and clips a bit)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 32 AM Pop Classics (1993)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 39 Pop Nuggets Late '70s (1995; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Time-Life's AM Gold Vol. 22 1975 (1996; digitally exactly 0.8 dB quieter)
• Madacy's Rock On 1975 Midnight Blue (1998; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• Reader's Digest's 4-CD American Pie (1998; shortens fade)

My recommendations:

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.

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.

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.

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.