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Epic Edits: Classis hits that were edited, sliced and remixed to fit on a 7-inch 45 rpm record....
American Pie (UA/Liberty)- Don McLean
How do you make sure an 8 minute hippie poem about the history of rock n roll with allusions to the counter-culture gets airplay on Top 40 bubble-gum radio stations??? Cut it in half! Despite long songs having been issued on 7-inch singles before and becoming million-sellers (ie. 'Hey Jude', 'MacArthur Park') record companies were still very hesitant in the early 1970s to issue long tracks for public consumption and radio airplay. Mindful of this and realizing that he might have a potential hit single on his hands New York guitarist and vocalist Don McLean decided to take matters into his own hands and prepared a 4 minute version of 'American Pie' when he issued his album of the same name in 1971. Record company officials promptly ignored McLean's version as the song bulleted up the pop charts in 1972. Instead United Artists decided that record buyers deserved to get the entire 8 minute version and issued a new 45 with half of the song on side 1 and half of the song on side 2. Wonderful.
This original edit is a great example of keeping the essence of the song in a not-to-long mix....but was not aired much ever as stations mainly ended up playing the full album version thus allowing Disc-Jockeys to head off down the hall for a break......haha
Regardless of how it was released 'American Pie' is a great song- poetic...whimsical and poignant ...an American classic.
Roundabout- Yes (Atlantic)
Believe it or not the prog-rock band Yed had already issued 8 singles by the time they issued the drastically edited version of 'Roundabout' in 1972. Signed by Atlantic Records in 1969 the folk-meets-electronic band had carved out a distinct corner of the progressive rock universe. Yes, led by vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Rick Wakeman, presented colourful galactic pop that still dropped you back to the English country-side. 'Roundabout' was an 8-minute epic that balanced the cosmos against Led Zeppelin's epic-'Stairway To Heaven' on FM stereo (and quad) radio stations. The very short version was rarely heard at the time and is quite a jolt if you haven't finished your coffee! Rick Wakeman lives!!!!
Beginnings- Chicago (Columbia/CBS)
Also known as 'Only The Beginning' this classic jazzy 1969 ballad is the cornerstone to the original jazz-rock sound of the era. With other jazz-rock pop classics like 'Undun' by the Guess Who (RCA Victor) and 'More Today Than Yesterday' by the Spiral Starecase (Columbia) it provides a backdrop of optimism and love the coloured the mind of many a young man of the day. On the album it is a rambling epic that slides into a funky Santana-esque barrage of percussion. This edited 45 is strange...half of the lyrics edited out and an ending rearranged from a previous section. It finally hit #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart...in 1971! Weird.
Do It Again- Steely Dan (Dunhill/ABC)
By September 1972 Steely Dan principals Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were on the verge of either giving up or achieving enormous success. Luckily for us all they succeeded...probably beyond their dreams. When their niftily edited version of their debuts LP's opening track 'Do It Again' was issued in November of '72 it found immediate success on AM, FM, soul stations and jazz stations. Sliced down from a 6-minute version this 45 version sacrificed the noire-esque nightclub-organ solo but kept in the final verse about "the land of milk and honey'. For sure Fagen had a voice that sounded like he was in an alley in lower Manhattan on his way to the subway but he was perfect for Steely Dan's ominous William S Burroughs influenced lyrics....think about that the next time you're "in a room with your two-timer and you're sure you're near the end.." hahah,
c.2021 SV O'Rourke/Media 314
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