An almost perfect Reissue that got Messed up: Buffalo Springfield

Definitely not legit. Shouldn't be on AMG.

 

Is there a chance that any of Doug Hastings guitar parts were left on any of these Bluebird mixes? This would account for anything that doesn't sound like Stills or Young.

 

AMG has listed bootleg releases for years. Should we pretend that there aren't more Basement Tapes recordings than Columbia has seen fit to release? Whatever.

 

I don't care what AMG puts in there, but they seem to include random boot titles for no good reason. I thought AMG was for legit stuff. Whats next? CD-R comps? It just confuses things.

 

Some fascinating stuff, guys. Thanks for all the info about the alternate Bluebird takes. That's more info there than I've read anywhere. God, I love this forum!

When putting Springfield stuff on my iPod, I a/b'd all the versions of Mr. Soul, and for my money, the single mix is just light years better than any of the others. That acetate on the box is mighty interesting, but the awful sound makes it worse than even a boot of a scratchy vinyl 45. I've never known anyone, I should note, who owned a copy of that 45 that didn't have surface noise on it. I got mine a few years after the fact (probably 70-71ish), but every copy I've ever run across was noisy. Were they ALL that way?

No one mentioned one of the tracks that was omitted that I most wanted to get - Richie's Who's the Next Fool (later recorded by Poco as I Guess You Made It -- my fave Poco track). It was presumably recorded, and there's a hand-written list made up by Neil of tracks for the 3rd album that lists it as the lead-off track on the album. What happened to that track?

As for arguments for/against the repetition on Disc 4, I'll just repeat what Neil said at the time - to ICE, IIRC, which is that since the songs were being presented chronologically, and since many new fans would probably buy this box and not own the original albums, he wanted to ensure that new fans could hear the albums as they were originally intended to be heard. While I have to say that as someone who's bought all the variations over the years, I for one wanted EVERYTHING -- all the released stuff, the long Bluebird whether they like it or not, etc. -- I have to say that Neil's right. That IS how you need to hear the Springfield. And if I never personally play disc 4 (well, maybe once ever), I can't thank Neil enough for getting clean, beautifully remastered copies of so much released and unreleased material by a band that to this day I still maintain COULD have been the best American group of all time. God, the potential in that band.

Baby Don't Scold Me is available in stereo?? [groan] Something I don't have (yet).

 

That two pages of this thread have been devoted to a dissection of who plays what on a bootleg, or quasi-bootleg, take of "Bluebird" suggests that there is fan interest in these confusing subjects.

 

If it still exists, then its likely going to stay where it is. I think the Box Set was the best last chance to get unreleased Stills or Furay Buffalo Springfield songs. I was thinking that there might be a take of "Birds" too. I assume they also recorded "Nobody's Fool", with Dewey singing lead. There's a bunch of stuff that could've been included. I think its hard to say though, based on the various sources listing unreleased songs, what might really be in a condition suitable for release. I think we'll see some of Neil's Springfield songs on his Archives.

 

Huh? New fans don't buy expensive box sets...OLD fans do, who already own everything else! So Neil's thinking here doesn't really make sense, IMHO. Seems new fans would buy the individual CDs first before shelling out for a box set. But old fans don't need the first two albums AGAIN...they (us) would appreciate more rarities.

 

For me, the heart of the problem here is the repetition of the exact same MIXES. If NY wanted to provide the first 2 albums in their original context, the least he could have done would have been to provide the alternate STEREO / MONO mixes from what was compiled in the first disks of the set.

I would have been fine with the repetition of tracks on disk 4 if it would have had BS in STEREO (all the BS tracks were presented in MONO on disk 2) and AGAIN in MONO (those tracks were all presented in STEREO). Now, no big deal re BS, as the re-master contains both STEREO and MONO mixes. But the failure to provide AGAIN in MONO -- inexcusable, particularly given that the mono mix does include some alternate guitar & vocal parts, different balances and a real seat-of-the-pants performance on the mixing board. The diff between Mono & Stereo mixes for AGAIN is much more dramatic than that between BS mixes, which NY felt so strongly about he had to totally disparage the STEREO mixes. (Truth is, I think it was less the mixes but more the actual multi-track recording that was the source of disappointment for their first LP.)

Bottom line, tho, it was just plain silly / stupid / insulting to repeat the same tracks verbatim, with no difference for collectors except the enhanced price.

 

On some tracks I haven't seen on any of the Buffalo Springfield LPs, the tracklisting for the box says they are "remixed" So were the outtakes remixed or they just were never mixed before and they mixed them specially for the box?

examples: Neighbor Don't You Worry, Down Down Down, Falcon Lake, etc

 

For what it's worth there are 2 tracks on Disc 4 that don't appear on the first 3 discs -the LP versions of Baby Don't Scold Me and Mr. Soul..

 

Oh, don't get me wrong. I agree with you, Ron. I was pissed about Disc 4 both in advance and when I got it. Just presenting Neil's side. For what it's worth [sorry].

 

No problem, Kent. Like I said earlier, the box set has some serious omissions (I personally believe that Neil enjoys being contrary), but it is also a very enjoyable slab of great 60s rock with a lot of stuff that hadn't even been bootlegged. I'm happy it was released.

It's kinda like Peter Jackson's King Kong -- it may have its flaws, but, at the end of the day, a great work and highly entertaining.