"Shambala" - Three Dog Night
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Topic: "Shambala" - Three Dog Night
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Subject: "Shambala" - Three Dog Night
Date Posted: 13 April 2009 at 9:23am
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The actual commercial 45 run time of Three Dog Night's "Shambala" is 3:26. (Timing info courtesy of Jim. The printed record label time is 3:27.) I only mention this because database CD run times range widely from 3:17-3:32.
By the way, Pat, does the song really run 3:32 on the O.S.T. Drowning Mona CD (Hip-O 314541311), or is this run time a typo? I ask because this is :08 longer than the next longest CD run time in the database. |
Replies:
Posted By: Pat Downey
Date Posted: 13 April 2009 at 11:15am
| Yes, the actual running time on O.S.T. Drowning Mona is (3:32). |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 13 April 2009 at 5:39pm
| Was the original 45 mono? |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 13 April 2009 at 7:17pm
| Yes, the original stock 45 was mono. DJ copies had a stereo side but it was electronic stereo, different process than the electronic stereo used on the LP. I have always heard they were in such a hurry to release it that they never mixed it to real stereo. |
Posted By: jimct
Date Posted: 14 April 2009 at 4:47pm
| The writer of "Shambala", Daniel Moore, was a close friend of RCA artist B.W. Stevenson, who both knew of and recorded "Shambala" first. His 45 version debuted on the Hot 100 on 5/12/73, one week before 3 Dog Night's version did on 5/19/73. Dunhill/ABC knew that EVERY day Stevenson's version was out there on 45, and Cory's/Danny's/Chuck's version wasn't yet, that the "Dogs" could lose out on the hit. I read somewhere, years ago, that the "Shambala" effort may have been the biggest "rush release" in the label's history. Once they had the all-important mono 45 mix completed, they just "faked" a stereo version for the other side of the DJ 45, just to get copies into radio's hands absolutely ASAP. |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 14 April 2009 at 9:54pm
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There was even an earlier alternate mono mix that leaked out there; I have no idea if if leaked on tape dub, acetate, promo, or select commercial releases (but I have a dub of it).
Andy By the way, Bill, what kind of rechannelling was used on the promo? Was it Orban Stereo Synthesizer sounding, reverb-added, or what? |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 15 April 2009 at 4:20am
| Well, on my copy it's hard to tell if it's re-channeled at all. I think I notice a hint of the bass being boosted slightly for one channel. But it might just be mono, just slightly off to the right. Or I'm just hearing wear. It certainly isn't the duophonic type effect heard on the LP. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 15 April 2009 at 8:58pm
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In comparing the http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/YahShure/ThreeDogNight-ShambalastereoDJ.jpg - "stereo" and mono sides of my DJ 45, they're both straight mono, and run an identical 3:26. The difference is that the mono side is more compressed, and is cut about 28% louder than the "stereo" side.
The story, at least according to the liner notes from the Celebrate CD: Cory Wells: "That one had all kinds of repercussions. An unethical song pitcher pitches me the tune, and I tell him to freeze it. He takes it to B.W. Stevenson. You see, people wanted to know what we were gonna do so they could beat us out." Chuck Negron: "Cory and I had a big fight, because I didn't want to put it out as a single. I said, 'You are letting RCA, who had Stevenson, decide our next single' instead of releasing the album and letting radio and the public decide." Richie Podolor (producer): "We had two days to do it. Michael (Allsup) did one overdub, but I ended up playing seven guitar parts because not everybody was available. It was such a rush-rush thing. We used helicopters to fly out acetates to DJs to get that going. We didn't have it pressed, and we were reviewed and we had a hit with it, just hand-carrying it to stations." There's more drama there than on your average daytime soap! :) It must've been fun north of the border, where Dunhill was distributed by RCA. |
Posted By: Gary Mack
Date Posted: 16 April 2009 at 5:28am
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I wrote this for BSN some time ago and have updated it here:
B.W. Stevenson recorded Shambala first, then Three Dog Night did a very rushed version and ABC/Dunhill raced all over the country delivering advance copies to key top 40 stations. Ours arrived at KRUX/Phoenix an hour or so after I got off the air at 2am - and we added it to our playlist a few hours later. That's still one of the classic "hustle" stories in the record promotion biz. GM |
Posted By: Citizen
Date Posted: 16 September 2009 at 8:30am
I heard that on a May 1973 aircheck of WRKO in Boston. The main difference is that the short instrumental break prior to the third verse doesn't contain the guitar solo that became familiar on the commercial version. |
AndrewChouffi wrote:Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 16 September 2009 at 6:07pm
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To Citizen, et al.:
The version that you (and I) are talking about is the one on O.S.T. 'Drowning Mona'! I recently bought a copy of it to check. Andy |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 16 September 2009 at 7:32pm
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I'd always wondered what the deal was, with two versions of the song hitting the charts within a week or two of each other - thanks, all, for the story! The B.W. Stevenson version really isn't bad, either - it sounds just like "My Maria"!
I noticed that Rock On 1973 has the mono version, and that it sounds WAY better than the cruddy (E) version on Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies - 1973 Take Two. I don't use the phrase "night and day" often, but it's completely warranted here. Nothing good has ever come of the (E) designation... |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 16 September 2009 at 9:48pm
Agreed. I never seek out anything in electronically re-channeled stereo. Not a fan of it at all. |