The Chipmunk Song 45 version now on CD!
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6330
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Topic: The Chipmunk Song 45 version now on CD!
Posted By: Brian W.
Subject: The Chipmunk Song 45 version now on CD!
Date Posted: 30 June 2011 at 12:00pm
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Yep, it's really true. The 45 version of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" has finally been issued on CD on the new British import from Ace Records, "The London American Label - 1958." Liner notes state it was taken from the 1958 British single master tape. Sound quality is excellent... very good quality source.
This CD contains other rarities, including Jimmy Clanton's "Just a Dream" from a tape source with the opening guitar note intact. (Though I will say their tape for this is rather hissy. They had previously released this song minus the guitar note on one of the "Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll" volumes, and while the sound was good, I could tell it had been No-Noised. Now I know why.) Let's all encourage Ace to to continue this incredible series by buying this CD! |
Replies:
Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 30 June 2011 at 12:24pm
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Great news Brian. So this 45 version (of "The Chipmunk Song") is mono correct? ------------- Santi Paradoa Miami, Florida |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 30 June 2011 at 12:37pm
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Correct. Mono, with Alvin's voice cracking on the first "hula hoop" and the breaths between each "Christmas" on the opening line.
All the tracks on every volume of the "The London American Label" series are mono; they're all sourced from the mono singles masters. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 02 November 2021 at 8:42pm
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Apparently all domestic CD's containing the song have the LP stereo version. Glad they released the mono version! ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: VWestlife
Date Posted: 05 November 2021 at 1:25pm
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I have the Chipmunks Christmas LP that my parents bought when I was a kid, and "The Chipmunk Song" on it is in mono, while all the other songs are in stereo. So do some of the LPs actually contain the 45 version of it?
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Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 06 November 2021 at 3:36am
No, the version on "Christmas With the Chipmunks" was remixed for that album. The original mono album of "Let's All Sing With the Chipmunks" does contain the 45 version. The 45 version can be identified very clearly by when Alvin sings the words "hula hoop" on the first chorus. His voice cracks badly in the 45 version, and in the later version he hits the right note. (Which is silly, because it takes away the meaning when David Seville says right after that, "Alvin, you were a little flat." In the 45 version, he IS flat.) |
VWestlife wrote:Posted By: Steve Carras
Date Posted: 15 December 2021 at 3:57pm
Don't the chipmunks also, on their very first words on the classic, in the original 45 Liberty mono, sing "CHRIST-mas christ-0MAS time is near"..My friend Tiffany and I heard the now all-too-familiar remake, with "CHRISTmas..ChristrMAS time is near:"(caps, of course, to indicate high accents),..Just as fun as the long version/edit issue IMHO,:), and timely for this time of year! :D ------------- You know you're really older when you think that younger singer Jesse McCartney's related in anyway to former Beatle Paul McCartney. |
Posted By: davidclark
Date Posted: 16 December 2021 at 9:10pm
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Here's (another) challenging question: According to BSN discography, the
original 1959 stereo "Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks" LP was indeed stereo for this track, but "narrow" is indicated. That was indeed the first time the "alternate" version was issued (on that stereo LP - the mono version had the 45). The first time I heard a stereo version of this track, was on 1989 Rhino CD "Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits 1955-Present". It's good stereo there, rather narrow but with Seville in one channel, but a different (split L/R vocals) mix appeared on 1992 EMI CD "Legends Of Christmas Past, A Rock n' R&B Holiday Collection". My question: Is the Rhino mix the same as the 1959 stereo LP? ------------- dc1 |
Posted By: VWestlife
Date Posted: 16 December 2021 at 11:35pm
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Here is the "stereo" vinyl LP version which sounds like an attempt to make a mono recording into something resembling stereo by twiddling with the balance knob and adding reverb (notice the long reverb when Theodore says "OK"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSmG7yv6vo8 The "stereo" version (from CD?) that has the same balance shifting but lacks reverb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdN_8OlJGs0 Here is the full, wide stereo version with Simon in one channel and Alvin in the other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdFhMffotGE |
Posted By: davidclark
Date Posted: 17 December 2021 at 1:57am
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VWestlife:
Your link to the vinyl version is not from the original Liberty LP, which is what my post is concerned with. I'm not interested in any reissue LPs, as most of them use an "e" version, which is what you describe actually. Your next link is not a stereo version, but also an "e" version. Your last link is indeed a stereo version - the mix from the EMI CD I mentioned. ------------- dc1 |
Posted By: VWestlife
Date Posted: 17 December 2021 at 8:05pm
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It turns out my LP is a reissue from 1968 (LST-7256). It has "The Chipmunk Song" in simulated stereo with reverb as I described in my previous post, followed immediately (no track separation) by "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in wide stereo like the rest of the album, with all the Chipmunks in the left channel, David Seville in the right channel, and the instrumental track in the middle.
The stereo version of "The Chipmunk Song" I linked to sounds like a modern remix, as it does not conform to the stereo mixing of the rest of the original album. Is there a true stereo version that does follow the arrangement I listed above? I also noticed the label lists a time of 1:53 for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", while on my record it's less than a minute long. |