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Question on original 1969 pressing of Alexander Skip Spence's "Oar"
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The Seth Man
1242 posts

"Grey / Afro" PS
Mar 27, 2023, 19:10
Joe,
I can confirm that the version of "Grey/Afro" on the Edsel CD has a running time of 9:35, despite the fact the back inlay has it at 11:37.

The sound is also remarkable close to the original Columbia vinyl LP.

Producer David Rubinson recalled in 1999 to David Fricke that "that Spence recorded everything at unusually low volume, 'at minus-20 and minus-30 peaks' on the console meters. And there was very little treble."

This explains why the 1991 Sony Music Special Products CD sounds the way it does. They jacked the signal up on a recording that was made at very low levels. That explains all the muffled 'noise' that surrounds the musical instrumentation on "Grey/Afro."

HOWEVER...
To confound things, the sleeve of the RSD single, "I Want A Rock & Roll Band" / "I Got A Lot To Say" / "Mary Jane" has a sleeve with a reproduction of a tape box from some of the original OAR sessions. It lists three separate tracks as a medley: "Grey," "Afro," and "He Has Come This Time." On the tape box, the following times are handwritten, alongside the titles:

"Grey" 8:25
"Afro" (Inst) 2:15
"He Has Come This Time" 4:60 (or: 5:00)

Taking the times listed on the tape box, the total time of this medley would be 15:40.

Taking the times listed directly from the Sundazed CD tracks, this medley runs for 14:19.

I know. What a mess.
In reply to:
Question on original 1969 pressing of Alexander Skip Spence's "Oar" (Joe Kenney)
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