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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 04 September 2019 at 2:55am | IP Logged
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On the Wiki page for this song, it indicates there are 2 different vocal takes for this song, and that different CDs have the 2 different takes, but not specifying which has which. Wiki says:
"Step into Christmas" was later included as a bonus track on the 1995 remastered re-issue of the album Caribou, even though it was released in the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road era. It also appears on the albums Elton John's Christmas Party, Rare Masters, To Be Continued, Diamonds and various Christmas compilation albums. Two versions with different vocals exist.
Does anyone have enough of these CDs to determine the 2nd vocal version and where it can be found? I only have the song on the 4 CD boxed set "To Be Continued".
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EdisonLite
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| Posted: 04 September 2019 at 3:02am | IP Logged
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BTW, I came across this info because I was trying to find out who did the arrangement of this song (which I still haven't been able to determine). 45cat.com (and to some extent, Discogs) have some producer and arranger credits. But does anyone know of any other websites that are good at listing "Arranged By" credits? I've also used my 45s as a basis, but a lot of 45s don't include arranger; yet, for those very same songs, I've sometimes found the arranger credits on the LP or CD containing the song.
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LunarLaugh
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| Posted: 29 August 2020 at 12:24am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite wrote:
BTW, I came across this info
because I was trying to find out who did the
arrangement of this song (which I still haven't been
able to determine). 45cat.com (and to some extent,
Discogs) have some producer and arranger credits. But
does anyone know of any other websites that are good at
listing "Arranged By" credits? I've also used my 45s as
a basis, but a lot of 45s don't include arranger; yet,
for those very same songs, I've sometimes found the
arranger credits on the LP or CD containing the song.
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During this period, Elton and the band usually came up
with the musical (and vocal) arrangements. I believe
Ray Cooper is handling the tubular bells and percussion
on the track itself, which lends a lot to its
"Spectoresque" flavor.
Only when Elton's songs had strings or horns did they
have a dedicated arranger listed.
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AndrewChouffi
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| Posted: 29 August 2020 at 5:53am | IP Logged
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Can anyone out there answer the original question of
whether there was actual two versions with different
vocal takes? I haven't yet noticed any differences in
the versions I've heard.
Thanks!
Andy
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garye
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| Posted: 29 August 2020 at 11:30am | IP Logged
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I heard about this vocal mystery a few years back.
Listened to 10 (?!) different downloads from different
sources.
They all sounded pretty much identical voice and music
wise.
So if true, must be kind of rare.
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LunarLaugh
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| Posted: 29 August 2020 at 5:25pm | IP Logged
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AFAIK, only one version of the tune has ever made it on
to CD.
It is entirely possible that the original promo video
for the song contained an alternate take, but the most
readily available version of that film on YouTube has
the audio dubbed over from a newer source for better
quality (NOTE: the audio portion of this clip is a
little sped up to match the video. Due to the age of
the film transfer, the difference in UK and US frame
rates, audio speed being either slower or faster than
usual is common for promo clips of this vintage). I
only remember hearing the original video audio (which
was very poor) way back when VH1 used to run the video
on Christmas day so I can't recall for certain if the
vocal take is indeed different or not. Only
speculation.
If an alternate vocal take exists, I haven't heard it
on an official release.
If anyone here is seeking the best available master of
"Step Into Christmas", track down a copy of the 'RARE
MASTERS' 2 CD set. When Elton's catalog was remastered
a couple years after this set in 1995, a lot of the
tunes from 'RARE MASTERS' were added as bonus tracks.
However, they completely destroyed the dynamics of the
music and added EQ so bright that was nearly painful to
listen to any of it. They also made use of noise
reduction which tends to kill a lot of the transients
in analog recordings and makes everything sound a
little swirly.
Confusingly, the recent 'Diamonds' compilation utilizes
copies of those lousy 1995 remasters for a handful of
tracks, even though mastering engineer Bob Ludwig did
extensive remasters from better sources for most of
Elton's classic albums in recent years, not to mention
the wave of excellent Elton SACDs that came along in
the early 2000s.
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TimNeely
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| Posted: 30 August 2020 at 11:23pm | IP Logged
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Not true. Only one vocal take has been released.
That said, "Step Into Christmas" has been released in two
different lengths -- the full version and an early fade.
Generally, U.S. CDs have the full-length version (roughly
4:28) and CDs from the U.K. have the early fade.
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Topic: Step Into Christmas/Elton John
