Harry Chapin - Taxi
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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Topic: Harry Chapin - Taxi
Posted By: eric_a
Subject: Harry Chapin - Taxi
Date Posted: 27 November 2007 at 8:34pm
|
I just found the Elektra Spun Gold reissue of this cut (b/w W*O*L*D) and it seems to have an edit that I'd never heard before. The fade-in and -out are lost in the noise, but I estimate that it runs around (5:01).
This edit loses out the, er, upbeat, verse ("I've got something inside me to drive...") and the female solo, cutting to the last verse ("There was not much more for us to talk about"). I have the stock 45 somewhere, and I believe that's the full 6:45-ish version. Where did this come from - was this the promo version? |
Replies:
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 27 November 2007 at 10:52pm
| Eric, I remember being shocked when I first bought the commercial 45 for it in 1972, and hearing that female solo in the middle when playing it, because I'd NEVER heard that part on my local Top 40 station. I do own a promo 45 for it, but it contains the same, full version as the commercial 45. But I always still wondered if a second promo 45 existed, or if what I'd heard on my local station was simply an "in-house station edit". Eric, could you shoot me out an mp3 of your "Spun Gold" reissue version? Sometimes you will find a less common version of a hit song on reprint 45s. For instance, before I'd found a stock or a promo 45 for "Whole Lotta Love", I'd first found the "short 45 version" on an "Atlantic Oldies Series" reprint. Eric, I will now once again re-double my research efforts, to see if a shorter promo 45 was, in fact, issued for "Taxi", after all. |
Posted By: MPH711
Date Posted: 28 November 2007 at 7:28am
| That female "high voice" in Taxi is not a female. It's Harry's bass player Big John Wallace. I can remember seeing him do it, I believe, on Soundstage and I was really surprised. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 28 November 2007 at 9:17am
Wow, that wasn't very politically correct of me, was it! Jim - I'll shoot you the mp3 today... E |
MPH711 wrote:Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 28 November 2007 at 10:33am
| If it turns out to be a special promo, please report back Jim. That way I can start searching the record bins for a reissue 45. |
Posted By: davidclark
Date Posted: 28 November 2007 at 5:49pm
|
and to boot, I have a promo double LP "Elektra Records January Releases" (Elektra EK-PROMO-8 1/72) that contains the full length "Taxi" (credited to "Harry") with him speaking where the "high voice" is in the released version. I believe this to be an earlier version. It's nice actually! Anyone heard this version? ------------- dc1 |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 28 November 2007 at 9:46pm
|
Yes, I have heard it, but don't own it & would love to hear it again!
Andy |
Posted By: BillCahill
Date Posted: 29 November 2007 at 4:44am
| There was a mention I think in the liner notes of the Rhino set that an edit was released to radio, so I've been looking for it but never found it. Looks like it's available on some Spun Gold releases. Does the Spun Gold release have the full length time on the label but in reality have the edit, or does it show the shorter time? |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 29 November 2007 at 3:24pm
The Spun Gold 45 seems to be pretty common on eBay, but it looks like the pictures show a printed time of 6:40. Does your reissue 45 have the wrong time listed, too? |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 29 November 2007 at 4:22pm
I'm almost positive that it has the 6:40 time, because I was surprised myself, to see how short the edit was. I thought it was here at my office, but it's not here anymore...I'll check at home. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 29 November 2007 at 5:25pm
| Thanks, Eric! Please keep us posted, as I might have to track down a copy of that 45. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 30 November 2007 at 12:30am
The Spun Gold 45 is indeed printed "6:40". By the way, if you go to cut it yourself, it's not a straight cut. The part before the edit fades over a few beats as the final verse ("There was nothing else...") begins. |
Posted By: BillCahill
Date Posted: 30 November 2007 at 5:42am
| Eric when you get a moment can you get us the number etched in the dead wax? There may be some 6:40 issues on Spun Gold too so if I come across one I'd like to know what the matrix is. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 30 November 2007 at 7:04am
|
The label cals it E-45066. Dead wax is EM-45066 A-3 SP.
|
Posted By: BillCahill
Date Posted: 02 December 2007 at 7:05am
| EM in the etching is probably "Electra Mono". Does the Spun Gold label say mono or stereo on it? Or make no notation at all? |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 03 December 2007 at 12:16pm
The label says stereo. Jim - did you notice whether the dub was mono or stereo? I'll try to analyze the file when I have a chance; or if someone else wants to check, PM me with your email address. |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 03 December 2007 at 2:11pm
| Eric, the "Taxi" file you sent me was mono. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 03 December 2007 at 4:28pm
|
A seller has FINALLY shipped a copy of the Spun Gold "Taxi"/"W O L D", and I should receive it later this week.
If any of you are interested, I will post findings on it this week, along with deadwax info. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 06 December 2007 at 1:14pm
| Spun Gold 45 arrived today. Label for "Taxi" says STEREO with a listed time of 6:40. The song is mono, with an actual time of 4:57. Deadwax is: E-45066-B. |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 06 December 2007 at 1:52pm
| Now armed with the correct "Spun Gold, mono DJ 45 short version deadwax information" (thanks, guys!), I went to my deeply buried, little-used, reprint 45 boxes. Turns out, I had 4 Spun Gold reprint 45 copies for "Taxi/W*O*L*D", but only ONE of my four copies had the mono DJ 45 version on it. My exact deadwax for this copy is "EM-45066-A-3 SP". (And, obviously, John's "EM-45066-B" above-mentioned deadwax info also contains the DJ short, mono v.) Buy with care, however, as you cannot just assume that ALL Spun Gold reprint 45s have the mono short version on it; they don't. As a "heads up", here is the deadwax info for my three Spun Gold reprint 45 copies that contain the FULL, stereo 45 version. This way, anyone else looking for this rare, short version will know to avoid reprint 45s with the following deadwax info: "ES-45066-A", "E-45-066-A", and "EKS-45770", then three letters, C, A and F, all written on top of each other, followed by "-1 SP". Also, ALL mono 45 versions aren't all necessarily the short version, either. The mono side of my 1972 promo 45 contains the full version, and has deadwax of "EKM-45770-('C', crossed out) A PH"). |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 06 December 2007 at 4:12pm
|
Using the version from Rhino-Hi-Five, think I was able to recreate the DJ 45 edit.
Ya know, Jim, since you mentioned it, back in 1972, WJET was the big station here, with WCCK emerging on the FM side. Once I heard the mono 45 DJ edit, THAT'S the version I heard on the radio too! |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 01 April 2009 at 9:37pm
| For database purposes, Jim informs me that the actual and printed commercial 45 run time of Harry Chapin's "Taxi" is 6:40. I only post this info because the song's database CD entries run from 6:36-6:42. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 30 March 2011 at 10:50pm
| Revisiting "Taxi" once again, it's been well documented on this thread that a shorter edit running approximately 5:00 was reissued on the Elektra "Spun Gold" series and some here claim to have heard this edit on the radio back when the song was a hit. But was anyone ever able to find this shorter edit on an official promo 45 that was serviced to radio stations during the song's chart run in 1972? |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 31 March 2011 at 6:28am
If there was, it didn't get serviced to any station I ever worked at. Any promos I've ever seen had the full 6:40 version. This isn't to say that there wasn't a mis-labeled copy...I never actually timed any of them. Don't even think I ever heard the short version until several years after the song's chart run...I just assumed it was a station edit. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 31 March 2011 at 3:48pm
| Thanks, Hykker. Hopefully, if anyone ever runs across an official promo single copy containing a shorter edit, they'll pass the info along to us. |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 9:14am
|
5 Spun Gold New Old Stock 45 singles showed up at my house, delivered to me by a co-worker. 3 of them have the DJ Short edits and EKM deadwax. All labels quote Stereo but the EKM Short Edits are in fact, Mono. And appear to be the 5:00 edited AM version. And they time out to 5:00. I wonder if Elektra serviced this short edit to AM radio stations? I'll have one of my colleagues dig our Promo 45 singles for "Taxi" out and see. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 4:09pm
|
I received delivery of 4 White Label promos from our station archives, all of them are 6:40 and in mono. So, I think that someone at Elektra decided a short edit was needed for airplay, and the edit was done and made it to being nearly serviced to radio, at the last minute the decision was made to release the 6:40 version in mono. Of course, conjecture. But those 4 promos and promo singles of "Taxi" I have seen on ebay are all 6:40. So, when Elektra needed some new stampers for the Taxi single, the shelved edit stampers got used inadvertently. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 26 May 2011 at 6:28am
|
Kent, I really appreciate all your efforts in attempting to get to the bottom
of this 5:00, edited version "Taxi" situation. And I can currently dispute none of your findings, as I have yet to find an official short promo 45, either. But one key fact persists here. The song was a personal fave of mine back in 1972, and was a huge hit in CT. The 5:00 edit was the ONLY version I EVER heard on my AM radio in 1972. And John in Erie also has the exact same memories for it, 8+ hours away from me. My local AM station had "local, Mom-And-Pop" ownership then, and was therefore not part of an ownership chain. And, as of this time, there was also no "consultant" at my station (although that would soon change.) Furthermore, I distinctly remember "Taxi" being played as an oldie, around 1975 (soon after "Cat's In The Cradle" hit #1), on that same AM station. They played the full, 6:40 version! I can still remember the total shock that came over me when I heard that high-voiced, vocal verse - the part edited out of the version I heard 100+ times, back in 1972 . It was the first time I'd EVER heard that full version. And while it's possible that what John and I both heard in 1972 was an "in-house" edit, my gut says no. Why? For both the Mom-And-Pop owners/no consultant status of my local AM station at that time. Those two factors would've made "in-house, custom version sharing" MUCH less likely (though not impossible, because "old DJ buddies" were everywhere, and any two of them could've sent/shared a tape between them.) But, instead, I believe one of two other things happened: 1) Any/all Elektra 5:00 promos were issued in very small quantities, compared to the 6:40 promo version. (There are several other examples of a situation like this: Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime", Spinners "Ghetto Child", and Boney M's "Rivers Of Babylon".) Or, 2) Possibly all 1972 Elektra Taxi promo 45s STATE a time of 6:40, but perhaps some, in fact, actually feature the 5:00 edit version. It certainly sounds like there was some "internal Elektra bickering" going on here at the time. In 1972, what if you're a local record rep, and some of your client stations are telling you that they won't add "Taxi" unless you send them an promo edit for it? Record reps HATED hearing that! As a result, those exact same words got a lot of labels to do a lot of things they'd not originally planned for, back in the day. Wouldn't one way around this problem, for everybody at Elektra, be to have one of their pressing plants "by mistake" press the 5:00 version onto some of their listed 6:40 copies? And then (on the down-low), let any/all of the Elektra record reps who needed a shorter version for radio know, "Pssst - here are some short version 'Taxi' promos, pressed up 'in error', for those stations that insist on one. And hey, I also put a magic marker "X" on those shorter copies, to help you distinguish which promo copies are which." Now, I'm normally not one to speculate. But I know what I heard in 1972. And although I was only in high school back then, I would be working at this very station's Music Dept. in just a few years, where I remained for a very long while. So I've seen/heard virtually every trick in the book, when it comes to stuff like this. Remember when Geffen promised Guns N' Roses they wouldn't edit their "November Rain?" So they instead used the "Hitmakers" service, to include 5-6 individual, in-house "station" edits, to get these versions out to radio. And Geffen still had the "plausible deniability", that they didn't break their word to the band. Well, 20 years earlier, couldn't Elektra have gone back to Harry, when he heard the edit on radio and complained, and say to him, "We have no idea where radio got the edit from, Harry. We did prepare one, but, like we promised you, we didn't service it to radio. And here are 25 promo copies of it in my office, to prove it! (Those promos were without the "special magic marker X", of course!) There. Everybody's happy. Radio got their short version. Elektra can "prove" they didn't lie to Harry. And most importantly, Elektra made the most money possible out of the whole thing. Never forget record company rule #1 - Maximize Profit!!!!!! Can anybody say "grassy knoll?" Now I just have to finally find one of these "disguised" promos.... |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 26 May 2011 at 7:40am
|
Yes, I think you're right. At WATO-AM 1290 in Oak Ridge, TN, when Taxi was in heavy rotation, the 5:00 edit was played most of the time and carted. I was allowed to play the full LP cut on weekends. I think what you have to say on the subject is correct. I think Elektra did an underhanded short edit for AM and pressed them and didn't put the real playing time on the label. I think the Spun Gold copies I have found emanate from that stamper. I think between us, that we have thoroughly gotten to the real Nitty Gritty on this matter. All other area AM Top 40 stations played the 5:00 version until it became an oldie. I have made arrangements to buy one of the promos on Ebay with the X in it, when it arrives, we likely have a 5:00 edit on it. And this trick has been done by various devious means, I have heard several of the 45 edits you have mentioned. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 26 May 2011 at 10:57am
| My initial thought, when revisiting this thread, is that Harry Chapin himself complained about the 5:00 edit. After all, he was a storyteller, and the edit somewhat took away the vision he had for the song as a true storyteller. Although, I'm not sure how much of a force an artist had in regards to what their record company released. |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 26 May 2011 at 5:38pm
|
Kent, one quick correction. I thought it was obvious in my most recent
post that I was simply "connecting the dots" here. I just "made up" the part about there being a "magic marker X" on some "Taxi" promo copies, simply to help me make my ultimate point here. Like I said, because I wasn't yet in radio in 1972, I can't be sure exactly HOW or WHAT Elektra did to get that 5:00 edit version into the hands of radio - I only know that they DID do it somehow. I simply speculated about an "X" being added, as a POSSIBLE way that Elektra may have gotten this done. But the ACTUAL way Elektra chose to differentiate between the long & short promos could've been "covertly reflected" in a number of other ways. For example, they could state, "from the "Verities & Balderdash LP" on the 45 label for the long, but not the short promo copies. Or vice versa. Or use a slightly different label font for short/long promos. Or one of any number of other such "subtleties". My "X"-planation was just an example of ONE way it could be done. I'm not at all sure any "Taxi" promo 45s even contain an "X". And if they do, I'd be surprised. Kent, I just used that as a "for instance", and I certainly wouldn't recommend any sort of "hunt" for a promo copy looking that way, as any sort of ultimate solution here. As for me, I'm just gonna continue to check every 6:40 "Taxi" promo 45 I can find, to see if it might actually run 5:00! My apologies for any apparent confusion. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 27 May 2011 at 9:56am
|
Another possibility not mentioned yet is that Elektra did do an edit, but only distributed it (perhaps on tape) to stations that specifically asked for it. As I mentioned earlier, the first time I heard an edit of the song was a couple years later...both WRKO and the small-market station I worked weekends at in '72 played the full version.
Dunno if Harry had any say as to whether the song could be edited...he was an unknown artist at the time and likely didn't have much clout. |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 27 May 2011 at 11:18am
|
On the promo I made ebay arrangements to buy, I looked for an example from a different pressing plant than the one who made the 6:40 known copies and had a different font. That made me get a different variant and see if that had the Short edit. I am supposed to get it in 4 days. SRC made the promos I examined with the 6:40 full version. SRC being Specialty Records Corporation in Olyphant, PA. All of the Promos I have seen had the normal flip side as on stock copies, the copy I am getting next week has Taxi on both sides. Or is said to be. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 27 May 2011 at 2:39pm
| FWIW, my Goldmine Promo Record Guide lists "Taxi" (Elektra 45770) as a white promo label with long version on one side and short version on the other side (unfortunately, there's no photo). Maybe this is the one Kent is getting next week??? |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 27 May 2011 at 4:07pm
|
Paul,
It might just be that one. Look forward to seeing it and hope it gets here in nice shape. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 27 May 2011 at 7:30pm
I have two DJ 45s, neither of which has the stock copy's B-side, "Empty", on the flip. Both my http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/YahShure/HarryChapin-TaximonoDJSP.jpg - Specialty Records pressing and http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/YahShure/HarryChapin-TaximonoDJPH.jpg - Philips Recording Company pressing (designated "PH" in the deadwax) are the full-length 6:40/6:40 mono/stereo. While the handwriting is different on the two deadwax markings, the primary matrix numbers are the same: EKM-45770 - [crossed out "C"] A. Likewise, the EKS-45770 stereo matrices also have the crossed-out "C" followed by an "A". Hmmmm... Could this "C" have possibly been the original matrix number of the so-far elusive short DJ 45? The crossed-out nature makes me wonder if perhaps the short mono cut was the initially-planned DJ 45, scuttled in favor of the full-length 45, but not before a few copies were shipped to some radio stations. And the mystery continues... |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 27 May 2011 at 9:01pm
|
My Spun Gold pressings with EKM-45770-C are indeed 5:00 short edit versions. My EKM-45770-A 45 singles stock and promos are 6:40 versions in mono. Thus far. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 07 June 2011 at 9:46am
|
The 45 single with Taxi on both sides arrived in superb condition 3 days ago. It has the 6:40 full version on one side, the 5:00 short edit on the other. Both sides are mono. As Paul Haney described the one in Goldmine's price guide. Must have been the first promo pressing. I have seen most promos with the normal 6:40 and same flip side as stock copies. This pressing was made by Plastic Products in Memphis, Tennessee. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 07 June 2011 at 10:42pm
|
Kent, terrific work by you to both get to the bottom of/share your findings
for this long-time promo 45 mystery - many thanks! |
Posted By: Gary
Date Posted: 03 June 2017 at 6:10pm
| Does anyone know the edit points for the promo 45 version that is 5:00? |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 05 June 2017 at 2:17am
Wow, hard to imagine I started this thread almost 10 years ago. Comparing the Spun Gold reissue 7" to the full version on the Essentials CD, I see only one edit - a crossfade running roughly 2:42-2:46, jumping to the verse that starts at 4:23 ("There was not much more for us to talk about"). Hard to describe the mechanics precisely but I'll try: the crossfade starts right after the line "the sky." After this, a string (violin?) pattern repeats three times, crossfading into the verse mentioned above. The verse vocals begin just before the third high note, which coincides with the word "not" on the downbeat. Does this help? Questions? |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 05 June 2017 at 8:31am
| Yes, it helps! Thanks for the editing instructions, Eric. The crossfade is seamless. |