gerry rafferty days gone down...

I reverse-engineered Aaron's edit. This one wasn't simple - it has out-of-sequence edits, repeated sequences, an edit right in the middle of the fade, and somehow sounds seamless. I tip my headphones to the engineer at EMI (or United Artists?) who originally cut this one down.

The LP version sounds great on the UK '80s-era EMI Night Owl CD, where it runs 6:29. (I also highly recommend the UK '80s-era EMI City To City disc, which also sounds great. At some point, they were sold together as a 2-fer.)

Here are instructions for recreating the 45 edit from the UK '80s-era EMI Night Owl CD:

You'll need to cut out five segments from the LP version, then assemble the segments end-to-end, then add the fade. There's no other way to do it, because you'll need to add a fade that extends over more than one segment. Don't count the beats on this one - just follow the times and make your edits just before the beat.

Segment 1
Extends from 0:00.0 to 0:46.8 of the 45 edit and LP version

Segment 2
Extends from 1:02.4 to 1:47.8 of the LP version
Extends from 0:46.8 to 1:32.2 of the 45 edit

Segment 3
Extends from 2:50.3 to 4:46.4 of the LP version
Extends from 1:32.2 to 3:28.3 of the 45 edit

Segment 4
Extends from 3:17.4 to 3:40.5 of the LP version
Extends from 3:28.3 to 3:51.4 of the 45 edit

Segment 5
Extends from 3:25.2 to 3:32.9 of the LP version
Extends from 3:51.4 to 3:59.1 of the 45 edit

Fade
40 beats long
Extends from 3:39.6 to 3:59.1 of the 45 edit

Edited by crapfromthepast

Paul Haney wrote: Just an FYI, the actual title of this song is Days Gone Down, not Days Gone By.

Or, if you believe the U.S. cassette of the song's original parent album, 1979's Night Owl, it's actually "Days Gone Down (Still I Got the Light in Your Eyes)" - and that goes for both the front and back of the cover insert, as well as on the cassette itself! That always threw me, because I've owned the cassette since the late '80s. I never bought the 45 or LP, and when I first noticed the different subtitle in Joel Whitburn's chart books some 25 years ago, my first instinct was to believe that Whitburn & Record Research were the ones who had it wrong - but nope, further investigation revealed it was actually the folks at Rafferty's label, Liberty/UA, who botched it on the cassette. (Indeed, the actual lyrics in the song are "You still got that light in your eyes.") U.S. cassette on eBay w/ excellent photos: GERRY RAFFERTY - "Night Owl" (U.S. cassette) The U.S. 8-track also had the different subtitle, so the vinyl LP was in the minority. U.S. 8-track on eBay: GERRY RAFFERTY - "Night Owl" (U.S. 8-track)

Oh, and just to be fair, ed isn't the first person to make the "Days Gone By" mistake. While I don't have either version myself, I noticed there's a Gerry Rafferty compilation from 2006 on the Raven label out of Australia, and it seems that while the cover art on current copies correctly shows the title as Days Gone Down, the originals gave it as - yep - Days Gone By! On eBay:
GERRY RAFFERTY - "Days Gone Down" CD (original botched cover art)
GERRY RAFFERTY - "Days Gone Down" CD (corrected cover art)