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Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be...

Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=641
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Topic: Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be...
Posted By: aaronk
Subject: Santa Esmeralda - Don’t Let Me Be...
Date Posted: 12 January 2006 at 9:04pm
Although the database lists 45 version but faster for "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Varese Sarabande's Disco Classics compilation, this is not correct. I just compared the actual 45 to the version on the cd, and the edits are completely different.



Replies:
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 14 January 2006 at 12:47am
The version on Disco Classics was taken directly from the 45 (the vinyl) and cleaned up with software, since apparently the master tape couldn't be found for it. So it is the 45 version, but there were actually 2 45 versions -- I remember the store I bought this at had the regular version (maybe around 3:48) and also a completely different 45 that clocked in at over 5 minutes. Maybe you have that 45. Thanks to my friend Mark who contributes to this board, I have the 3:48 version/edit on CD (not from vinyl!) If that's the version you're looking for, I can send you an mp3.


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 14 January 2006 at 7:44am
The 45 I listened to has a printed run time of (3:48), but it does not start off the way the Disco Classics version begins. I did not clock the entire 45 to see how long it ran. I also have a vinyl transfer of the (3:48) edit, and it does not match the Disco Classics version either. Maybe there was more than one (3:48) edit?


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 14 January 2006 at 2:40pm
Gordon & I have been discussing and comparing notes thru e-mail, and we are almost to the conclusion that three different commercial 45s were released for this song. I'm working on getting a dub of my friend's 45 and the label/matrix info to say for sure. That 45 states a run time of (3:48) and I think it runs very close to that. Gordon has the 45 with the Disco Classics edit and the one he mentions that runs 5+ minutes. None of these 45s have any indication of "promo" on the label. More details soon... Please chime in if you have further info.


Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 14 January 2006 at 3:49pm
To clarify, Aaron and I believe there are 2 commercial singles of this song that clock in at 3:48, but are very different edits -- the easiest way to distinguish them is that one begins with a clap and one does not, but of course, like I said, they are very different. In terms of the two 3:48 versions, I've only known the "clap-begin" version -- from the radio and from every 45 I've seen or had.

I also had (though no longer do) a 45 version of this that clocked in at about 5 and half minutes. I bought it at a store that never sold promos, back in the year of release.


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 17 January 2006 at 3:12pm
OK, I just had my friend dub a copy of the 45, and he was also kind enough to Xerox a copy of the label. Although the edit on this 45 does not start off with the clapping, it is the (5:25) edit that is on his 45.

Now, I have this song copied on a CD-R from a different friend, who also did a vinyl transfer, and that edit begins the same way as the (5:25) version---no clapping on the intro---and runs (3:48). HOWEVER, I have not yet confirmed if this edit is one that he created. It sounds to me like he may have transferred the (5:25) version and took a chunk out of the middle. If that's the case, then there is only ONE (3:48) version and the (5:25) version. I'll post the info as soon as I hear back from him. Sorry for the confusion.


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 18 October 2006 at 1:27pm
I just did a digital re-creation of the short 45 version, and I can see why Varese decided to do a vinyl transfer. I counted at least 11 edits, and very few of them were in the same sequence as the LP version. The edit repeats an earlier part, skips toward the end, and then comes back to an earlier part. There's even one splice that lasts less than three seconds. What a hatchet job!


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 18 October 2006 at 1:33pm
While I'm on the subject, I wanted to point out that my source copy (from the Kill Bill soundtrack) has a very slight delay in the right channel. I never really noticed it before, but when you zoom in to view what the wave file looks like up close, you can see that the right side is a fraction of a second behind.


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 19 October 2006 at 10:05am
I just re-created the (5:25) edit, and it's also a real butcher job. There's at least a dozen edits in this one, too, and the fadeout uses an earlier section of the song.


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 21 October 2010 at 8:37pm
Bummer. I just discovered that the Kill Bill soundtrack uses an mp3 source for this song, which is unfortunately the source I used when re-creating the single versions. :(


Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 22 October 2010 at 9:11am
Originally posted by aaronk aaronk wrote:

Bummer. I just discovered that the Kill Bill soundtrack uses an mp3 source for this song, which is unfortunately the source I used when re-creating the single versions. :(

Oh, my God, even back then it was happening?!?


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 22 October 2010 at 12:07pm
Unfortunately, yes.


Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 22 October 2010 at 6:50pm
The best sounding source of this is the Casablanca 45 RPM single. I own a commercial stock copy I bought new in 1977 and I own a promo copy of it with Mono/Stereo. The promo is also pressed on vinyl. My commercial copy is pressed on styrene. Excellent sounding 45 and one of my favorite disco tunes of all time. Every single I have ever heard has the clap intro!

-------------
I turn up the good and turn down the bad!


Posted By: Pat Downey
Date Posted: 23 October 2010 at 7:30am
The actual running time of my commercial 45 is (3:46), starts with handclaps, with a stated running time of (3:48) and has matrix number NB-902A 1A AZ and matches the Varese Disco Classics cd but the cd is sightly faster and fades a few seconds earlier than the vinyl 45. Did anyone ever come up with a vinyl 45 that states a running time of (3:48) but which does not match the Varese Disco Classics version? If so could you please pass along the matrix number and stated and actual running times.


Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 23 October 2010 at 8:23am
Just so people know, the reason for the pitch difference on that Varese Sarabande CD - it was mastered from vinyl and I guess their turntable was slightly fast, which explains the off speed. It must have been faded early to hide the vinyl sounds as the song fades. No record label has ever released the single edit from a tape source. When Varese released the single edit on their CD, they obviously had two choices for releasing the single edit - they could take the single and clean it, or they could take the many 16 minute album versions available on CD (from tape) and edit it. They chose the former. Interestingly, a guy on this site, MMathews, chose the latter and did an amazing job creating the single edit from CD (tape) sources - not just amazing in editing but also in sound and mastering.

Also, I recall I having a 45 of this that ran about 5:25 minutes, but I didn't save it. I bought it at the time the song was climbing the charts, thinking I was buying the single edit I'd been hearing on the radio, and when it wasn't, I went back to the store and returned it for the right version.


Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 23 October 2010 at 9:05am
I agree that this is one of the best disco records of all time!


Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 23 October 2010 at 9:10am
Originally posted by aaronk aaronk wrote:

Now, I have this song copied on a CD-R from a different friend, who also did a vinyl transfer, and that edit begins the same way as the (5:25) version---no clapping on the intro---and runs (3:48). HOWEVER, I have not yet confirmed if this edit is one that he created. It sounds to me like he may have transferred the (5:25) version and took a chunk out of the middle. If that's the case, then there is only ONE (3:48) version and the (5:25) version. I'll post the info as soon as I hear back from him. Sorry for the confusion.


I was just reading all the posts above to refresh my memory. Aaron, regarding the quote above (granted, it was from nearly 5 years ago, so you may not recall!) but you mentioned getting 2 vinyl dubs from 2 friends on CDR - did you ever find out if the 3:48 vinyl version you received on a CDR from the 2nd friend was edited by that friend or taken from his actual 45? Did he supply you with a matrix number for that 45? Due to the fact that no one has come across an actual 3:48 edit on a 45 different from the common one, and the fact that your friend gave you a CDR and not an actual 45, my guess is there is no such 45... but it will be interesting to see what your friend's response was.


Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 23 October 2010 at 9:33am
Yes, I forgot to update it, but I was told that he took the 5:25 version (dubbed from vinyl) and edited it to 3:48. It wasn't an attempt to re-create the short 45; it was merely a way to make ths song shorter for his radio show.



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